Secret Heroes: Everyday Americans Who Shaped Our World, by Paul Martin, is a remarkable collection of stories that spotlight 30 unknown champions, explorers, inventors, and innovators who were forgotten in the pages of American history textbooks. Instead of George Washington, we learn about the tailor who saved his life…twice.
A new project to record the stories of America's Greatest Generation was launched by a Boy Scout who lost his grandfather at an early age. Of the 16 million men and women galvanized during World War II, fewer than two million are still alive and many of them have never spoken about what they did during the war.
Last year in Timbuktu, an irreplaceable trove of manuscripts at risk of being destroyed by advancing fundamentalist rebels, was secretly evacuated at great personal risk by a team of archivists, librarians, and couriers. The manuscripts were saved from immediate destruction, but today they are still jam packed in footlockers used for their evacuation, while enduring higher humidity than ever before, without protection. Now, an internet campaign launched to fund the purchase of archival bags and boxes to protect these documents has engaged people around the globe and raised $42,500.
Archaeologists using revolutionary airborne laser technology have discovered a lost mediaeval city that thrived on a mist-shrouded Cambodian mountain 1200 years ago. The stunning discovery of the city, Mahendraparvata, includes temples hidden by jungle for centuries - temples that archaeologists believe have never been looted -- the city that founded the Angkor Empire in 802 AD.
An Iowa woman working in public relations found a passion for redecorated bedrooms for sick kids. "She wanted to help, not only children with illnesses but also those injured in accidents or dealing with disabilities."
Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs, but today he is a motivational speaker traveling the world bringing hope to millions. In these inspiring excerpts he speaks about the importance of Perspective, Vision and Choices, which helped him go "from a life without limbs to a life without limits".
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant, 40-year-old David Holmes, uses a rap rhythm & rhyme to get people to listen to his pre-flight announcements. He has become an airline celebrity since people began posting YouTube videos of his cabin raps.
Operation Heroes & Hounds gives injured or traumatized members of the U.S. armed forces the chance to work with shelter dogs. Using a positive, playful approach called The Loved Dog method the program makes a difference in the lives of homeless animals, while the soldiers get a chance to rebuild their self esteem, sense of purpose, and lives as civilians.
21 people were named Wednesday by the Carnegie Hero Fund to receive the Carnegie medal, given to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
Like white knights, dressed in their hazmat suits, a band of 180 men have volunteered to continue working in extreme conditions, to help keep strangers safe from nuclear radiation at the Fukushima plant.
It's only been a week since Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi, fell into the hands of pro-democracy rebels. But already the uprising has its own pantheon of heroes. Among them are a human-rights lawyer, an air force pilot who wouldn't bomb his own people, and a balding, middle-aged oil executive.
After his brother was murdered by Hamas, Yuval Roth turned his loss into a way to promote peace. He and his organization, On the Road to Recovery, transport sick Palestinians into Israel so they can receive quality medical care.
Gov. Mitch Daniels joined with officials to publicly grieve at a memorial service today on the site of the tragic Indiana State Fair stage collapse that killed five on Saturday. They also praised the reactions of hundreds of ordinary citizens and off-duty rescue workers who rushed to help the victims.
CNN Hero Wilma Melville founded the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, and has since given hundreds of rescued shelter dogs a new life -- as rescuers. They have since deployed at major disasters on 9/11, in Haiti and the Japan tsunami.
A group of New York firefighters have always credited bookkeeper Josephine Harris with saving their lives after the World Trade Center attack. Nine years later they would return the favor, as a final salute.
On Sunday, 343 firefighters from across Texas donning their heavy coats and gear gathered in downtown Dallas to honor the lives of New York firefighters who died on 9/11. They climbed 100 flights of stairs at Dallas's Renaissance Tower to commemorate the lives of 343 from the New York Fire Department who died saving others on that day.
CNN announced its Top 10 CNN Heroes for 2011, while opening online voting that will determine the winner of the $250,000 grand prize. All ten heroes will be featured on the 5th annual celebrity-filled award gala airing in December. These ten will each receive $50,0000 to continue their world-changing work.
A 21-year old motorcyclist who collided with a BMW on the campus of Utah State University was lying unconscious beneath the burning wreckage when bystanders rushed to help.
The world lost an island of genius yesterday when Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple died at age 56 of pancreatic cancer. There is no better tribute to Mr. Jobs than the script from a famous Apple TV commercial. Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently...
Every Thursday morning around 10:30 Dan walks into a Starbucks in Metro Detroit, takes out a list and proceeds to order dozens of drinks. The number depends on who is in the Michigan Cancer Center for chemotherapy treatments. Since his father's death in 2007, he keeps going back and buying coffee. Now, Starbucks fans are donating to the cause.