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Biography Timeline Templates

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Biography timeline, also known as biographical timeline or biography, is a process through which we can improve your understanding of a person by learning about his/her history. By using a modern graphic design tool like Visual Paradigm Online, biography timeline design has become much faster and easier. With Visual Paradigm Online, all you need to do is to select a suitable biography timeline template, replace the person's photo and edit the events!

Worry about the timeline being uncreative? Don't worry! Visual Paradigm Online's biography timeline maker has a large number of professionally designed biography timeline templates.

Visual Paradigm Online allows you to customize those biography timeline template, too. The Visual Paradigm Online asset library contains millions photos, icons, shapes, clipart and other graphical assets that are in high quality yet free! There are also hundreds of fonts to choose from.

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Timeline Template For Biography

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Biographies are powerful stories that transport us through the lives of extraordinary individuals. But behind every captivating biography lies meticulous organization and structure. That's where ClickUp's Timeline Template for Biography comes in!

This template is a game-changer for writers and biographers, helping you:

• Chronologically map out the life events and milestones of your subject
• Seamlessly organize research materials, interviews, and primary sources
• Create a clear and coherent narrative flow, ensuring a captivating reading experience

Whether you're capturing the life of a historical figure or a modern-day icon, ClickUp's Timeline Template for Biography is your secret weapon to crafting compelling stories that resonate with readers. Start creating your masterpiece today!

Timeline Template For Biography Benefits

When using the Timeline Template for Biography, you can enjoy the following benefits:

• Streamlined organization: Easily arrange and visualize the subject's life events in chronological order.
• Clear narrative flow: Maintain a coherent and engaging story by structuring the biography with a timeline format.
• Efficient research: Keep track of important dates, milestones, and historical context for accurate and comprehensive storytelling.
• Collaboration made easy: Work seamlessly with editors, researchers, and other team members by sharing the timeline template for collaborative editing and feedback.

Main Elements of Biography Timeline Template

ClickUp's Timeline Template for Biography provides writers and biographers with the perfect tool to chronologically organize and structure the life events and milestones of their subjects. Here are the main elements of this template:

• Custom Statuses: Use the "Open" and "Complete" statuses to track the progress of each event or milestone in the biography, ensuring a clear and organized narrative flow.
• Custom Fields: Utilize 6 different custom fields like "Days Suggested Formula," "Allocated Days," and "Task Completion" to input and visualize important information about each event or milestone, such as suggested duration, allocated time, and completion status.
• Different Views: Access different views, such as the Timeline view, to visualize the chronological order of events and milestones, ensuring a coherent and well-structured narrative flow.

How To Use Timeline Template For Biography

If you're looking to create a timeline for a biography, follow these steps to effectively organize and present the key events in a person's life:

1. Gather the necessary information

Start by collecting all the relevant information about the person's life that you want to include in the biography timeline. This can include important dates, significant events, milestones, achievements, and any other details that help tell their story.

Use the Calendar view in ClickUp to input and organize all the important dates and events for the person's biography.

2. Create the timeline structure

Decide on the format and structure of your biography timeline. Determine if you want a linear timeline that spans the person's entire life or if you want to focus on specific periods or themes. Consider adding images or icons to enhance the visual appeal of the timeline.

Use the Gantt chart in ClickUp to create a visually appealing and interactive timeline. You can easily adjust the timeline's duration and add milestones to mark significant events.

3. Add events and milestones

Start adding the key events and milestones to your timeline. Begin with the person's birth and continue chronologically with important events such as education, career milestones, personal achievements, and any other notable moments in their life.

Create tasks in ClickUp to represent each event or milestone, and use custom fields to add details such as dates, descriptions, and images.

4. Review and refine

Once you've added all the events and milestones, review the timeline to ensure it accurately reflects the person's life. Check for any gaps or missing information and make adjustments as needed. Consider adding additional context or annotations to provide more insight into the person's achievements and impact.

Use the Whiteboards feature in ClickUp to collaborate with others and gather feedback on the biography timeline. Make revisions based on the feedback received to create a comprehensive and engaging timeline.

By following these steps and using ClickUp's features like Calendar view, Gantt chart, tasks, custom fields, and Whiteboards, you can create a visually appealing and informative biography timeline that effectively highlights the key events in a person's life.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Timeline Template For Biography

Writers and biographers can use the ClickUp Timeline Template for Biography to efficiently organize and chronologically structure the life events and milestones of their subjects.

First, hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a compelling biography:

• Use the Timeline View to visually map out the subject's life events and milestones in chronological order
• Customize the six custom fields: Days Suggested Formula, Allocated Days, Task Completion, Actual Cost, Project Phase, Allocated Budget, to track and analyze progress and budget
• Assign tasks to team members and designate a timeline for each event or milestone
• Update statuses as you progress through tasks to keep stakeholders informed of completion
• Utilize the Open and Complete statuses to track the progress of each event or milestone
• Collaborate with other team members to gather research, conduct interviews, and write the biography
• Monitor and analyze tasks to ensure a coherent and engaging narrative flow
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How to Write a Biography (Examples & Templates)

A biography is a written account of a person’s life that details their life in chronological order. Another person usually writes this detailed account, and it contains reports of their childhood, career, major life events, relationships, and social impact. It also details their relationships with their family, children, and life accomplishments.

The best way to find out more about a popular figure is through reading their biographies, so you need to make sure you get the correct information. Before writing a biography, you need to do a lot of research and interviews to represent a person’s life accurately.

Types of Biography

A biography is the story of someone’s life as written by another writer. Most biographies of popular figures are written years, or even decades, after their deaths. Authors write biographies of popular figures due to either a lack of information on the subject or personal interest.

A biography aims to share a person’s story or highlight a part of their life.

There are different types of biographies, depending on the story. Some biographies are written true to the story, while some are written as fictional works. Biographies can give you true understanding of a person on an internal as well as external level along with a lot of life lessons.

Autobiography

An autobiography is different from a biography because it is written by the subject of the story, themselves. The author writes in the first-person narrative, and it flows step-by-step like a story of their life. Autobiographies contain personal accounts of the subject’s life, along with their perspectives and opinions on events in their life.

How To Write a Biography

Pick a subject.

Picking a subject is the first step in writing a biography. You can pick an already famous person or a relatively unknown person with a great life story. If you already have a few in mind, you can start by asking yourself some questions such as;

• What has the subject accomplished that makes them a good subject?
• Have they had an impact on society?
• Is the subject a celebrity or a well-known personality?
• Will the biography appeal to a wide audience?

Get Permission

When you pick a subject, the next thing to do is to get permission from them or their family or rights owners. Although, with some historical figures, there may not be any need for permission. Getting permission from your subject makes it easier for you to get stories to put into your book. You can get the chance to obtain additional personal stories and anecdotes that will make your book more interesting by doing so as well.

Do The Research

Research is the most important part of a biography’s process as the entire content of the book is dependent on it. Irrespective of what you know about the subject, you need to carry out as much research as possible to get the story’s facts precisely.

Biography research comes from various sources, depending on the book’s subject. Firsthand reports from family, friends, or personal accounts from the subjects are primary sources. They are usually the most accurate and reliable, and they are crucial for a biography. Secondary sources come from other sources like magazines or documentaries.

Pick a Format

Biographies come in various formats, with each of them having their pros and cons. A typical biography will start at the beginning, usually with the birth and childhood of the subject. Yet, if the biography’s theme involves a different event in their life, the author may want to explore the flashback option or one with concurrent events from different times.

Usually, biographies have a theme or a general life lesson at the center. The author’s role is to tell the subject’s story leading up to the major event.

Which-ever format you choose should place the theme at the center, with the other events detailing the journey.

Create a Timeline Of The Story

Since a biography takes place in chronological order, there needs to be a timeline of the events in the right order. The timeline should contain the key events in the subject’s life, in the order the author plans on revealing them. A great way to declutter the story and keep it interesting is to use flashbacks . This way, the author can introduce past events and explain later events excluding the element of monotony.

Add In Your Thoughts

The good thing about biographies is that you don’t have to stick to the hard facts only. As the author, you can share your opinions and emotions in writing. The author has the freedom to do this by commenting on a significant action by the subject in a manner that describes why they feel the subject may have done what they did.

The author can also include commentary on events depicted in the biography – how it was influenced society or its impact on the lives around them. Recounting these events through a different perspective can make the biography more relatable and interesting to read.

FAQ’s

Why is a biography template important.

A biography template has an outline that makes the writing easier for the author. Biography templates usually contain a sample timeline, format, and questions that provide more information about the subject. With a great biography template, you can cut your writing time in half and spend less time coming up with an outline.

How are biographies better in comparison to autobiographies

Since a different person writes biographies, they tend to be more objective and somewhat accurate than autobiographies. An autobiography tells things from the author’s perspective, so their views and perspective cloud it. Thus, a biography will likely tell a more factual story.

These are the important steps you need to take to help you write a great biography. Now, to make things easier for you, we have a free customizable autobiography and biography template that you can use to start your first book. Get the template and start writing today

What are some of the most important elements to keep in consideration while writing a biography?

Any author looking to write a biography must consider the factors below. They aren’t the only important factors, but a biography isn’t complete without them. • Date and place of their birth • Academic background • Professional expertise • Death, if deceased • Facts and anecdotes about the person • Main accomplishments • Detailed accounts of their child and adult life

Biographies tell the untold stories of some incredibly relevant people in the world. But biographies are not always strictly accurate. So, every biographer needs to follow the necessary steps to provide a biography with all the requirements.

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How to Write a Biography

Learn how to write a biography with our comprehensive guide.

Last updated on Dec 8th, 2023

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Table of Contents

How to write a biography can be a fun challenge as you share someone’s life story with readers. You may need to write a biography for a class or decide to write a biography as a personal project. Once you’ve identified the subject of your biography, do your research to learn as much as you can about them. Then, immerse yourself in writing the biography and revising it until it’s best. What I am going to share with you in today’s post is how to write a biography. If you want to know the rules of how to write a biography correctly then this post of ours is essential for you. 

Introduction

While it’s true that most biographies involve people in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. But most of the time, famous or not, the person we’re talking about has an incredible life. Although your students may have a basic understanding of How to write a biography, you should take some time before putting pen to paper to come up with a very clear definition of biography.

Before knowing how to write a biography, let’s first understand what a biography is. A biography is an account of a person’s life written by someone else. Although there is a genre called fictional biography, by definition biographies are mostly non-fiction. In general, biographies trace the subject’s life from early childhood to the present day or until death if the subject is deceased. 

Biography writing is not limited to describing the bare facts of a person’s life. Instead of just listing basic details about their upbringing, interests, education, work, relationships, and deaths, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of a person’s personality as well as that person’s life experiences.

Tips and Tricks For How To Write a Biography

1. ask the subject’s permission to write a biography.

Here are the first tips on how to write a biography. Before starting your research, make sure you get your subject’s consent to write their biography. Ask them if they’re ready to be the subject. Getting their permission will make writing a biography much easier and ensure that they are open to information about their lives.

If the theme does not allow you to write a bio, you can choose another theme. If you decide to publish a profile without the subject’s permission, you may be subject to legal action from the subject. 

If the topic no longer exists, you don’t need to ask permission to write about them. 

2. Research primary sources on the topic

Primary sources may include books, letters, photographs, diaries, newspaper clippings, magazines, Internet articles, magazines, videos, interviews, existing biographies, or autobiographies on the subject. Find these resources in your local library or online. Read as much as you can about the topic and highlight any important information you come across in your sources. 

You can create research questions to help you focus your research on this topic, such as: 

What do I find interesting about this topic? Why is this topic important to readers? 

3. Conduct interviews with subjects and their relatives

Interviewing people will turn your research into reality: the people you interview will be able to tell you stories you can’t find in history books. Interview the subject as well as people close to them, such as spouses, friends, business associates, family members, co-workers, and friends. Interview in person, over the phone, or via email.

For in-person interviews, record them with a voice recorder or voice recorder on your computer or phone. You may need to interview the subject and others multiple times to get the documents you need.

4. Visit places important to the topic

Whenever you want to know how to write a biography, to understand the history of the subject, spend time in places and areas that are significant to the subject. This may be the subject’s childhood home or neighborhood. You can also visit the subject’s workplace and regular meeting places. 

You may also want to visit areas where the subject made important decisions or breakthroughs in their life. Being physically present in the area can give you an idea of what your subjects may have felt and help you write about their experiences more effectively.

5. Research the time and place of the subject’s life

Contextualize your subject’s life by observing what’s going on around them. Consider the period in which they grew up as well as the history of the places they lived. Study the economics, politics, and culture of their time. See current events happening where they live or work.

When you studying how to write a biography, ask yourself about time and place: 

What were the social norms of this period? 

What happened economically and politically? 

How has the political and social environment influenced this topic?

6. Make a timeline of a person’s life

To help you organize your research, create a timeline of a person’s entire life, from birth. Draw a long line on a piece of paper and sketch out as many details about a person’s life as possible. Highlight important events or moments on the timeline. Include important dates, locations, and names. 

If you think about how to write a biography You can also include historical events or moments that affect the topic in the timeline. For example, a conflict or civil war may occur during a person’s lifetime and affect their life.

7. Focus on important events and milestones

Major events can include marriage, birth, or death during a person’s lifetime. They may also achieve milestones like their first successful business venture or their first civil rights march. Highlights key moments in a person’s life so readers clearly understand what’s important to that person and how they influence the world around them.

For example, you might focus on one person’s achievements in the civil rights movement. You could write an entire section about their contributions and participation in major civil rights marches in their hometowns.

8. Cite all sources used in  biography

Most biographies will include information from sources such as books, journal articles, magazines, and interviews. Remember to cite any sources that you directly quote or paraphrase. You can use citations, footnotes, or endnotes. If the biography is for a course, use MLA, APA, or Chicago Style citations according to your instructor’s preference.

9. Reread the biography

Check the biography for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Circle all punctuation marks in the text to confirm they are correct. Read the text backward to check for spelling and grammar errors. 

Having a biography full of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors can frustrate readers and lead to poor grades if you submit your work to the class.

10. Show your biography to others to get their feedback

It is a momentous step of how to write a biography. Once you have completed your draft biography, show it to your colleagues, friends, teachers, and mentors to get their feedback. Ask them if they have a good understanding of someone’s life and if the biography is easy to read. Be open to feedback so you can improve the biography and make it error-free. Revise profile based on feedback from others. Don’t be afraid to trim or edit your biography to suit your readers’ needs.

11. Use flashbacks

Flashbacks happen when you move from the present to the past. You can start with the present moment, and then bring in a scene from the person’s past. Or you could have one chapter focusing on the present and one focusing on the past, alternating as you go.

The flashback scene must be as detailed and realistic as the present-day scene. Use your research notes and interviews with subjects to better understand their past to reminisce. 

For example, you can move from a person’s death in the present to reminiscing about their favorite childhood memory.

12. Outline Your Story Chronologically 

This is another important step in how to write a biography is to write an outline that describes your story in chronological order. An outline is a tool that helps you visualize the structure and key elements of your story. This can help you organize your story into chapters and sections. 

You can write your plan in a digital document or draw it with pen and paper. Remember to store your outline in an easily accessible place so you can refer to it throughout the writing process.

What citation style should I use for my biography?

Use MLA, APA, or Chicago Style citations based on your instructor’s preference when citing sources in your biography.

Should I include personal opinions in a biography?

No, a biography should be objective and based on facts. Avoid injecting personal opinions or bias into the narrative.

What’s the difference between a biography and an autobiography?

A biography is written by someone else about a person’s life, while an autobiography is written by the subject themselves about their own life.

Can I write a biography about a living person?

Yes, you can write a biography about a living person with their consent. Ensure you respect their privacy and follow ethical guidelines when writing about them.

Conclusion 

Other than creating a sense of closure, there are no set rules about how a biography ends. An author may want to summarize their main points about the subject of their biography. If the person is still alive, the author can inform the reader about their condition or circumstances. If the person has died, inheritance can be discussed. Authors can also remind readers how they can learn from the biographical subject. Sharing a closing quote or about a person can leave the audience with a point to consider or discuss in more detail.

For further insights into writing and to avoid common mistakes, check out our article on Most Common Mistakes in Writing . Additionally, explore the Best Writing Tools for Writers to enhance your writing skills and discover the tools that can assist you. If you’re looking to improve your typing speed and accuracy, our article on How to Type Faster with Accuracy offers valuable tips.

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We keep our articles up-to-date regularly to ensure accuracy and relevance as new information becomes available.

• Current Version
• Dec 8th, 2023
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How to Write a Biography: A 7-Step Guide [+Template]

From time to time, nonfiction authors become so captivated by a particular figure from either the present or the past, that they feel compelled to write an entire book about their life. Whether casting them as heroes or villains, there is an interesting quality in their humanity that compels these authors to revisit their life paths and write their story.

However, portraying someone’s life on paper in a comprehensive and engaging way requires solid preparation. If you’re looking to write a biography yourself, in this post we’ll share a step-by-step blueprint that you can follow. 

How to write a biography: 

1. Seek permission when possible 

2. research your subject thoroughly, 3. do interviews and visit locations, 4. organize your findings, 5. identify a central thesis, 6. write it using narrative elements, 7. get feedback and polish the text.

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Biography Outline Template

Craft a satisfying story arc for your biography with our free template.

While you technically don’t need permission to write about public figures (or deceased ones), that doesn't guarantee their legal team won't pursue legal action against you. Author Kitty Kelley was sued by Frank Sinatra before she even started to write His Way , a biography that paints Ol Blue Eyes in a controversial light. (Kelley ended up winning the lawsuit, however).  

Whenever feasible, advise the subject’s representatives of your intentions. If all goes according to plan, you’ll get a green light to proceed, or potentially an offer to collaborate. It's a matter of common sense; if someone were to write a book about you, you would likely want to know about it well prior to publication. So, make a sincere effort to reach out to their PR staff to negotiate an agreement or at least a mutual understanding of the scope of your project. 

At the same time, make sure that you still retain editorial control over the project, and not end up writing a puff piece that treats its protagonist like a saint or hero. No biography can ever be entirely objective, but you should always strive for a portrayal that closely aligns with facts and reality.

If you can’t get an answer from your subject, or you’re asked not to proceed forward, you can still accept the potential repercussions and write an unauthorized biography . The “rebellious act” of publishing without consent indeed makes for great marketing, though it’ll likely bring more headaches with it too. 

✋ Please note that, like other nonfiction books, if you intend to release your biography with a publishing house , you can put together a book proposal to send to them before you even write the book. If they like it enough, they might pay you an advance to write it.  

Book Proposal Template

Craft a professional pitch for your nonfiction book with our handy template.

Once you’ve settled (or not) the permission part, it’s time to dive deep into your character’s story.  

Deep and thorough research skills are the cornerstone of every biographer worth their salt. To paint a vivid and accurate portrait of someone's life, you’ll have to gather qualitative information from a wide range of reliable sources. 

Start with the information already available, from books on your subject to archival documents, then collect new ones firsthand by interviewing people or traveling to locations. 

Browse the web and library archives

Put your researcher hat on and start consuming any piece on your subject you can find, from their Wikipedia page to news articles, interviews, TV and radio appearances, YouTube videos, podcasts, books, magazines, and any other media outlets they may have been featured in. 

Establish a system to orderly collect the information you find 一 even seemingly insignificant details can prove valuable during the writing process, so be sure to save them. 

Depending on their era, you may find most of the information readily available online, or you may need to search through university libraries for older references. 

For his landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow spent untold hours at Columbia University’s library , reading through the Hamilton family papers, visiting the New York Historical Society, as well as interviewing the archivist of the New York Stock Exchange, and so on. The research process took years, but it certainly paid off. Chernow discovered that Hamilton created the first five securities originally traded on Wall Street. This finding, among others, revealed his significant contributions to shaping the current American financial and political systems, a legacy previously often overshadowed by other founding fathers. Today Alexander Hamilton is one of the best-selling biographies of all time, and it has become a cultural phenomenon with its own dedicated musical. 

Besides reading documents about your subject, research can help you understand the world that your subject lived in. 

Try to understand their time and social environment

Many biographies show how their protagonists have had a profound impact on society through their philosophical, artistic, or scientific contributions. But at the same time, it’s worth it as a biographer to make an effort to understand how their societal and historical context influenced their life’s path and work.

An interesting example is Stephen Greenblatt’s Will in the World . Finding himself limited by a lack of verified detail surrounding William Shakespeare's personal life, Greenblatt, instead, employs literary interpretation and imaginative reenactments to transport readers back to the Elizabethan era. The result is a vivid (though speculative) depiction of the playwright's life, enriching our understanding of his world.

Many readers enjoy biographies that transport them to a time and place, so exploring a historical period through the lens of a character can be entertaining in its own right. The Diary of Samuel Pepys became a classic not because people were enthralled by his life as an administrator, but rather from his meticulous and vivid documentation of everyday existence during the Restoration period.

Once you’ve gotten your hands on as many secondary sources as you can find, you’ll want to go hunting for stories first-hand from people who are (or were) close to your subject.

With all the material you’ve been through, by now you should already have a pretty good picture of your protagonist. But you’ll surely have some curiosities and missing dots in their character arc to figure out, which you can only get by interviewing primary sources.

Interview friends and associates

This part is more relevant if your subject is contemporary, and you can actually meet up or call with relatives, friends, colleagues, business partners, neighbors, or any other person related to them. 

In writing the popular biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson interviewed more than one hundred people, including Jobs’s family, colleagues, former college mates, business rivals, and the man himself.

🔍 Read other biographies to get a sense of what makes a great one. Check out our list of the 30 best biographies of all time , or take our 30-second quiz below for tips on which one you should read next. 

Which biography should you read next?

Discover the perfect biography for you. Takes 30 seconds!

When you conduct your interviews, make sure to record them with high quality audio you can revisit later. Then use tools like Otter.ai or Descript to transcribe them 一 it’ll save you countless hours. 

You can approach the interview with a specific set of questions, or follow your curiosity blindly, trying to uncover revealing stories and anecdotes about your subject. Whatever your method, author and biography editor Tom Bromley suggests that every interviewer arrives prepared, "Show that you’ve done your work. This will help to put the interviewee at ease, and get their best answers.” 

Bromley also places emphasis on the order in which you conduct interviews. “You may want to interview different members of the family or friends first, to get their perspective on something, and then go directly to the main interviewee. You'll be able to use that knowledge to ask sharper, more specific questions.” 

Finally, consider how much time you have with each interviewee. If you only have a 30-minute phone call with an important person, make it count by asking directly the most pressing questions you have. And, if you find a reliable source who is also particularly willing to help, conduct several interviews and ask them, if appropriate, to write a foreword as part of the book’s front matter .

Sometimes an important part of the process is packing your bags, getting on a plane, and personally visiting significant places in your character’s journey.

Visit significant places in their life

A place, whether that’s a city, a rural house, or a bodhi tree, can carry a particular energy that you can only truly experience by being there. In putting the pieces together about someone’s life, it may be useful to go visit where they grew up, or where other significant events of their lives happened. It will be easier to imagine what they experienced, and better tell their story. 

In researching The Lost City of Z , author David Grann embarked on a trek through the Amazon, retracing the steps of British explorer Percy Fawcett. This led Grann to develop new theories about the circumstances surrounding the explorer's disappearance.

Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with jaguars and anacondas to better understand your subject’s environment, but try to walk into their shoes as much as possible. 

Once you’ve researched your character enough, it’s time to put together all the puzzle pieces you collected so far. 

Take the bulk of notes, media, and other documents you’ve collected, and start to give them some order and structure. A simple way to do this is by creating a timeline. 

Create a chronological timeline

It helps to organize your notes chronologically 一 from childhood to the senior years, line up the most significant events of your subject’s life, including dates, places, names and other relevant bits. 

You should be able to divide their life into distinct periods, each with their unique events and significance. Based on that, you can start drafting an outline of the narrative you want to create.  

Draft a story outline 

Since a biography entails writing about a person’s entire life, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can pick where you want to end the story, depending on how consequential the last years of your subject were. But the nature of the work will give you a starting character arc to work with. 

To outline the story then, you could turn to the popular Three-Act Structure , which divides the narrative in three main parts. In a nutshell, you’ll want to make sure to have the following:

• Act 1. Setup : Introduce the protagonist's background and the turning points that set them on a path to achieve a goal. 
• Act 2. Confrontation : Describe the challenges they encounter, both internal and external, and how they rise to them. Then..
• Act 3. Resolution : Reach a climactic point in their story in which they succeed (or fail), showing how they (and the world around them) have changed as a result. 

Only one question remains before you begin writing: what will be the main focus of your biography?

Think about why you’re so drawn to your subject to dedicate years of your life to recounting their own. What aspect of their life do you want to highlight? Is it their evil nature, artistic genius, or visionary mindset? And what evidence have you got to back that up? Find a central thesis or focus to weave as the main thread throughout your narrative. 

Or find a unique angle

If you don’t have a particular theme to explore, finding a distinct angle on your subject’s story can also help you distinguish your work from other biographies or existing works on the same subject.

Plenty of biographies have been published about The Beatles 一 many of which have different focuses and approaches: 

• Philip Norman's Shout is sometimes regarded as leaning more towards a pro-Lennon and anti-McCartney stance, offering insights into the band's inner dynamics. 
• Ian McDonald's Revolution in the Head closely examines their music track by track, shifting the focus back to McCartney as a primary creative force. 
• Craig Brown's One Two Three Four aims to capture their story through anecdotes, fan letters, diary entries, and interviews. 
• Mark Lewisohn's monumental three-volume biography, Tune In , stands as a testament to over a decade of meticulous research, chronicling every intricate detail of the Beatles' journey.

Finally, consider that biographies are often more than recounting the life of a person. Similar to how Dickens’ Great Expectations is not solely about a boy named Pip (but an examination and critique of Britain’s fickle, unforgiving class system), a biography should strive to illuminate a broader truth — be it social, political, or human — beyond the immediate subject of the book. 

Once you’ve identified your main focus or angle, it’s time to write a great story. 

While biographies are often highly informative, they do not have to be dry and purely expository in nature . You can play with storytelling elements to make it an engaging read. 

You could do that by thoroughly detailing the setting of the story , depicting the people involved in the story as fully-fledged characters , or using rising action and building to a climax when describing a particularly significant milestone of the subject’s life. 

One common way to make a biography interesting to read is starting on a strong foot…

Hook the reader from the start

Just because you're honoring your character's whole life doesn't mean you have to begin when they said their first word. Starting from the middle or end of their life can be more captivating as it introduces conflicts and stakes that shaped their journey.

When he wrote about Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild , author Jon Krakauer didn’t open his subject’s childhood and abusive family environment. Instead, the book begins with McCandless hitchhiking his way into the wilderness, and subsequently being discovered dead in an abandoned bus. By starting in medias res , Krakauer hooks the reader’s interest, before tracing back the causes and motivations that led McCandless to die alone in that bus in the first place.

You can bend the timeline to improve the reader’s reading experience throughout the rest of the story too…

Play with flashback 

While biographies tend to follow a chronological narrative, you can use flashbacks to tell brief stories or anecdotes when appropriate. For example, if you were telling the story of footballer Lionel Messi, before the climax of winning the World Cup with Argentina, you could recall when he was just 13 years old, giving an interview to a local newspaper, expressing his lifelong dream of playing for the national team. 

Used sparsely and intentionally, flashbacks can add more context to the story and keep the narrative interesting. Just like including dialogue does…

Reimagine conversations

Recreating conversations that your subject had with people around them is another effective way to color the story. Dialogue helps the reader imagine the story like a movie, providing a deeper sensory experience. 

One thing is trying to articulate the root of Steve Jobs’ obsession with product design, another would be to quote his father , teaching him how to build a fence when he was young: “You've got to make the back of the fence just as good looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know. And that will show that you're dedicated to making something perfect.”

Unlike memoirs and autobiographies, in which the author tells the story from their personal viewpoint and enjoys greater freedom to recall conversations, biographies require a commitment to facts. So, when recreating dialogue, try to quote directly from reliable sources like personal diaries, emails, and text messages. You could also use your interview scripts as an alternative to dialogue. As Tom Bromley suggests, “If you talk with a good amount of people, you can try to tell the story from their perspective, interweaving different segments and quoting the interviewees directly.”

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These are just some of the story elements you can use to make your biography more compelling. Once you’ve finished your manuscript, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback. 

If you’re going to self-publish your biography, you’ll have to polish it to professional standards. After leaving your work to rest for a while, look at it with fresh eyes and self-edit your manuscript eliminating passive voice, filler words, and redundant adverbs. 

Then, have a professional editor give you a general assessment. They’ll look at the structure and shape of your manuscript and tell you which parts need to be expanded on or cut. As someone who edited and commissioned several biographies, Tom Bromley points out that a professional “will look at the sources used and assess whether they back up the points made, or if more are needed. They would also look for context, and whether or not more background information is needed for the reader to understand the story fully. And they might check your facts, too.”  

In addition to structural editing, you may want to have someone copy-edit and proofread your work.

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Importantly, make sure to include a bibliography with a list of all the interviews, documents, and sources used in the writing process. You’ll have to compile it according to a manual of style, but you can easily create one by using tools like EasyBib . Once the text is nicely polished and typeset in your writing software , you can prepare for the publication process.  

In conclusion, by mixing storytelling elements with diligent research, you’ll be able to breathe life into a powerful biography that immerses readers in another individual’s life experience. Whether that’ll spark inspiration or controversy, remember you could have an important role in shaping their legacy 一 and that’s something not to take lightly. 

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How to Write a Biography

Last Updated: April 13, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Stephanie Wong Ken, MFA . Stephanie Wong Ken is a writer based in Canada. Stephanie's writing has appeared in Joyland, Catapult, Pithead Chapel, Cosmonaut's Avenue, and other publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction and Creative Writing from Portland State University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,857,602 times.

Writing a biography can be a fun challenge, where you are sharing the story of someone’s life with readers. You may need to write a biography for a class or decide to write one as a personal project. Once you have identified the subject of the biography, do your research so you know as much about them as possible. Then, dive into the writing of the biography and revising it until it is at its finest.

Researching Your Subject

• If the subject does not give you permission to write the biography, you may want to choose a different subject. If you decide to publish the biography without the subject’s permission, you may be susceptible to legal action by the subject.
• If the subject is no longer alive, you obviously do not need to ask permission to write about them.

• You may create research questions to help focus your research of the subject, such as, What do I find interesting about the subject? Why is this subject important to readers? What can I say that is new about the subject? What would I like to learn more about?

• For in person interviews, record them with a tape recorder or a voice recorder on your computer or phone.
• You may need to interview the subject and others several times to get the material you need.

• You may also want to visit areas where the subject made a major decision or breakthrough in their life. Being physically in the area can give you a sense of how the subject might have felt and help you write their experiences more effectively.

• When researching the time period ask yourself: What were the social norms of that time? What was going on economically and politically? How did the social and political climate affect the subject?

• You may also include historical events or moments that affected the subject on the timeline. For example, maybe there was a conflict or civil war that happened during the person’s life that affected their life.

Writing the Biography

• You may end up focusing on particular areas of the person’s life. If you do this, work through a particular period in the person’s life chronologically.

• For example, you may have a thesis statement about focusing on how the person impacted the civil rights movement in America in the 1970s. You can then make sure all your content relates back to this thesis.

• Flashbacks should feel as detailed and real as present day scenes. Use your research notes and interviews with the subject to get a good sense of their past for the flashbacks.
• For example, you may jump from the person’s death in the present to a flashback to their favorite childhood memory.

• For example, you may focus on the person’s accomplishments in the civil rights movement. You may write a whole section about their contributions and participation in major civil rights marches in their hometown.

• For example, you may notice that the person’s life is patterned with moments of adversity, where the person worked hard and fought against larger forces. You can then use the theme of overcoming adversity in the biography.

• For example, you may note how you see parallels in the person’s life during the civil rights movement with your own interests in social justice. You may also commend the person for their hard work and positive impact on society.

Polishing the Biography

• Revise the biography based on feedback from others. Do not be afraid to cut or edit down the biography to suit the needs of your readers.

• Having a biography riddled with spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors can turn off your readers and result in a poor grade if you are handing in the text for a class.

• If the biography is for a class, use MLA , APA , or Chicago Style citations based on the preferences of your instructor.

Biography Help

Community Q&A

• Be careful when publishing private or embarrassing information, especially if the person is not a celebrity. You may violate their "Right of Privacy" or equivalent. Thanks Helpful 31 Not Helpful 5
• Have the sources to back up your statements about the subject's life. Untruthful written statements can lead to litigation. If it is your opinion, be clear that it is such and not fact (although you can support your opinion with facts). Thanks Helpful 16 Not Helpful 15

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/how-to-write-a-biography.html
• ↑ https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-bio
• ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/how-to-write-a-biography.html
• ↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/3-tips-for-writing-successful-flashbacks
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-bio/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://www.plagiarism.org/article/how-do-i-cite-sources

About This Article

Before you write a biography, gather as much information about the subject that you can from sources like newspaper articles, interviews, photos, existing biographies, and anything else you can find. Write the story of that person’s life, including as much supporting detail as you can, including information about the place and time where the person lived. Focus on major events and milestones in their life, including historical events, marriage, children, and events which would shape their path later in life. For tips from our reviewer on proofreading the biography and citing your sources, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Biography Timeline Template

If you’d like to summarize the special events in a person’s life, here is are a few printable biography timeline templates to help you do so. Record the key moments in the lives of the people that are important to you:  Your role model,  your grandfather, or even yourself!

There are four versions of the worksheet template available. Click on your favorite one. A high resolution PNG version of the biography timeline template will open in your browser. Right-click on it and press “Save Image As…” to save it to your computer. Then open it in an image viewing program.

Biography Timeline Templates

Worksheet Information

Title: Biography Timelines Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School, College. Audience: Students, Teachers, Homeschooling Parents Subject Areas: History, Social Studies, World History, European History Relevant Projects: Book Reports, Social Studies Fair, Biography Reports, About Me Projects Format: PNG, (3300 pixels x 2550 pixels) Terms: Free for personal and educational use. Commercial Use prohibited. Copyright: Dutch Renaissance Press LLC

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Biographies: Creating Timelines of a Life

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Studying the lives of others and reading biographies is of interest and value to young learners. In this lesson, students explore multiple sources to create a timeline about the life of a person of their choosing. The experience requires students to work together and to research and resolve potentially conflicting pieces of information about the life they research. Extension activities include developing essays from the original research.

Featured Resources

Interactive Timeline : Use this online tool to help students record events in a selected person's life.

From Theory to Practice

In order to fill the void in her students' knowledge of people with "admirable qualities," Michele Keating introduced them to the genre of biography. She states: "My objective was to expose students to the many people, past and present, who are worthy of admiration and to explore together the dedication, creativity, and achievements of these people." (66) In the end, the biographical study "broadened their view of people worth admiring." (69)

Biographies can expose our students to a whole world of people who can inspire and motivate them. In this lesson students select their own person of interest and consult multiple sources to get to know them.

This lesson was originally developed with Maggie Chase and Bess Berghoff, Indiana University 1990.

Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

Materials and Technology

• Biography text sets, created using the provided Websites
• Information on your personality of choice
• Strips of paper for timeline note taking (half a sheet of legal paper, 4.25"x14"), pens or pencils) optional instead of online Interactive Timeline)
• Internet access

Biography Selection & Rationale

Preparation

• Review the written lesson and suggested links. Gather sufficient materials to introduce the lesson—ideally 3-4 information resources for up to six personalities, to include 1) biographies written at the 2nd-5th grade level, preferably including numerous pictures and charts, 2) video tapes, and 3) Web resources. Potential personalities include famous presidents [Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy], inventors [Franklin, George Washington Carver, Madame C.J. Walker], scientists [Marie Curie, Edwin Hubble, Samuel Lee Kountz, Jr.], space explorers [Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, John Glenn], or athletes [Jim Thorpe, Ichiro Suzuki, Lance Armstrong]. This initial selection must often be limited to personalities for whom you can locate multiple resources, but should include a range of ages, gender, cultures, occupations, and historical and modern day figures.
• Review use of the Interactive Timeline .
• Conduct a short inquiry of your own on a personality of interest as a means of introducing the lesson. Amelia Earhart is one personality for whom you are likely to find disparate information and various hypotheses regarding her disappearance. See The Last Flight Website for information and additional Web sources.

Student Objectives

Students will

• negotiate with peers to select persons of interest for their study.
• use a variety of information resources to synthesize, create, and communicate what they've learned on a timeline.
• negotiate with peers to select key events.
• research further to resolve conflicting information.

Session One: Introducing the Lesson

• Share your interest in the chosen personality and your quest for more information about that person. Leaf through a magazine article or book, sharing key events, show short clips from a video, and/or share several pieces of information on a Website.
• Highlight instances when the authors of the resources emphasize different aspects of the personality's life or when you run across conflicting dates or information. Share that resolving such conflicts is always a challenge for researchers, and generate with students an initial list of ways they might resolve conflicting source information.
• Introduce the initial set of resources, and invite groups of students to select and support with rationale two personalities worthy of the group's study among the collected resources, as well as two additional personalities (browsing the  Resources section is one source for additional names). Students can make their selections on loose sheets of paper, in a bound notebook, or on the included Biography Selection & Rationale .
• Ask students to work in small groups to make the selections and generate the rationale. If there is time, ask a spokesperson to share how different group members made their selections.
• Create a whole group list of preferred choices, dividing into those for whom resources are already gathered and those that will require a search and gathering of sources.
• Ask students to make an initial choice by adding their initials after the listed name of their choice. Indicate a deadline when resources must be collected for newly generated names—over the weekend is a workable timeframe—and join the students' search for those resources. The personality from the initial set of resources can serve as a "default" choice if resources can't be located, yet note that the quality of the research is enhanced by student commitment to a personality of interest so it can be well worth the effort to help students gather resources.

Session Two: Small Group Research

• Students are seated in groups of 3-5 with sufficient resources so that each student has his or her own text on the same personality (book, magazine article, CD-ROM, Website, video).
• Ask students to browse their texts quietly, mapping the key events on their timeline paper strip. Encourage sufficient flexibility for students to invent their own ways of taking notes on the timeline. Advise that including page numbers, URLs and counter information will aid them in revisiting information if necessary.
• All begin working quietly. Circulate to encourage those who are reading page-by-page to browse key subtitles, charts or photograph annotations. The independent work period should be limited to no more than 30-40 minutes.
• As the small groups begin to finish browsing their texts, encourage them to share the gathered information among themselves. What have they found? What information is new? of interest? a surprise?
• Ask the group to agree on 6-10 key events in the life of their personality. If computer access is limited and the online timeline tool must be shared, create a schedule so each group has the opportunity to enter the key events. Note that entering data and printing out the timeline must be accomplished in one sitting.

Session Three: Debriefing the Initial Research

• Conduct a full group discussion of the groups' work: What went well, what was a challenge? Which texts were helpful? Which were less helpful? How did the group decide on key events? How will they further explore conflicting information?
• Revisit the initial list of strategies to resolve conflicting information. Add strategies as necessary. Try the strategies out on one or two key conflicts as applicable.
• Post the class-generated strategies in the school library for on-going reference.
• Schedule additional small group work time to resolve conflicting information.
• Help teams develop short bibliographies of their resource text set, sharing the protocols for citation of the various sources.
• Create individual online timelines on figures of interest related to another course of study, i.e. world leaders, scientists, women explorers.
• Create autobiographical timelines.
• Recreate paper timelines, using colored pencils or fine tip markers to add illustrations.
• Use timelines as "notes" to write a fuller biography essay. One potential online tool that helps students manage their ideas and writing can be found at The Biography Maker Website .
• Begin another round of biography research, challenging students to research alone or in pairs, using the strategies developed in these introductory lessons.
• Categorize the attributes of the famous people you have studied. See the Images of Greatness Website as one example by a 4th/5th grade class.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Group conversation
• Calendar Activities
• Student Interactives
• Strategy Guides

Students generate descriptive timelines and can include images in the description.

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Free Editable Biography Graphic Organizer Examples

A biography graphic organizer is an excellent tool for historians, educators, students, and professionals. Making a graphic organizer create someone's biography is hard and takes time, and using templates and examples is the most efficient way to create these graphic organizers. Here, we will talk about biography templates, how to write a biography with EdrawMax Online, and a few example topics.

1. What is Biography Graphic Organizer

A biography graphic organizer visually represents a person's biography from a third-person perspective. We use it to brainstorm and organize essential information about people, historical figures, characters in novels and movies. Most of the biographies we create or read are typically based on famous people. Still, you can create a biography of anyone with key information about their lives and major events. It helps you visualize details about someone’s early life, adult life, family life, and related exciting facts.

2. The Biography Graphic Organizer Examples

You can use biography graphic organizers to gather key information about any person, and you can arrange that information logically based on the major events and that person's life. It is easy to read and understand someone's biography; however, making a biography is entirely different. It takes a lot of time to write a memoir, and without a proper template, you will also have to put in extra effort to do the framework. There are many formats of biography templates, each with its uses and benefits. Check out our biography graphic organizer examples will help to pick a suitable template for your task.

Example 1: Biography Graphic Organizer

A biography graphic organizer depicts a person's biography by gathering their major life events and organizing them logically to represent their various life aspects. You can use various graphic organizers to create a biography, such as a pamphlet. There are three sides to this template, one with different information about a person's biography. Teachers use such templates to give assignments and tests to their students. The person's picture and intro go on the first page with the writer's name. We got the bibliography and blank space for the teacher's comments on the second page. The person's key facts and family details are on the last page of the pamphlet.

Example 2: Free Printable Biography Graphic Organizer

You can easily create someone's biography with a free printable biography graphic organizer. There is no standard format to make a biography, and that is why you can use various graphic organizers such as broachers or charts. This template follows a simple layout with the important person's name at the top. After that, there are empty boxes where you can enter the person's date of birth and death in question. There are three blank areas labeled as facts. Here you can write three major events or key points about the person. In the end, you can write about the lesson you learned from this biography

Example 3: Biography Graphic Organizer PDF

A biography graphic organizer PDF is best when you don't know how much information you will add to the biography. People use it to make worksheets to organize and gather all the information about the important person. These templates come with their benefits, such as no space limit. You can expand your worksheets with incoming data, unlike those graphic organizers where you get limited space to write details and information. The person's name goes at the center of the chart. At the top, we got some relevant information, such as their background and major accomplishments.

Example 4: Biography Graphic Organizer Middle School

A biography graphic organizer in middle school is an excellent tool for students to gather information of the important personalities they read about in their books or novels and create a biography. A Martin Luther King biography is typical for middle school students. This template comes with a picture of the important person, and key information goes to the boxes around the image. You start with writing the birth and death date of the person. Write their famous quotes and give a little intro to why that person is famous. You can add some character traits to make it perfect.

Example 5: Graphic Organizer for Biography

This is a standard graphic organizer for biography. It comes in a simple format with the writer's name at the top. After that, there is the person's name or the title of your biography. You start introducing that person by listing some information about that person early. There is also an option to add a picture on the right side. After the early life comes the major events of their family life. There is also bank space to write the accomplishments that made this person famous. You can end the biography by listing a few interesting facts about that person.

Example 6: Stalin Biography Report Graphic Organizer

This is a complete Stalin biography report graphic organizer template. If you are writing a Stalin biography, then use this template and modify the text, and you get a perfect memoir. The template follows the standard format of listing the writer's name above the topic title and person's name. There is blank space for you to write about that person's early and family life. In the accomplishments section, you write about the reason for that person being famous and their deeds. Close your biography with a list of interesting facts.

Example 7: Free Biography Graphic Organizer

A free biography graphic organizer is a standard tool students use to create biographies for their assignments. Most students use free templates such as this one to complete projects, and it helps them gather information about the famous person and organize it without wasting their time creating a framework from scratch. Any student can make a biography by writing the correct details and information in the right boxes. The name and title go at the top, and there is a blank space to write the date and destination of birth and death. Then, you got a huge area to write the accomplishments of the famous person.

Example 8: Biography Graphic Organizer 3rd Grade

A biography graphic organizer 3rd grade helps primary school students write biographies of famous people and characters from movies and novels in the correct format. Teachers use these templates to improve their students' reading and writing skills. The biography starts with the writer's and the famous person's name at the top. The students write a summary about that person's life like an intro, and there is also bank space to add that person's photograph. After that, students list some key facts, write some of their quotes and end the biography with some exciting events in that person's life.

Example 9: Biography Writing Graphic Organizer

You can structure information for brainstorming sessions and idea generation with a cluster word web. It also helps create outlines for various writings and pre-write your presentations or reports. The number of clusters in your diagram depends on your ideas and critical elements. You don't have to follow a specific format and limit the number of items you add to your diagram. In this example, the main idea is at the centre, with related details and themes in a logical structure.

3. How to Write a Biography

Follow these steps to learn how to write a biography.

Step 1 : Create a graphic organizer yourself or customize a template to gather and organize information about the important person.

Step 2 : You can gather key information by researching multiple resources and collecting data to conduct comprehensive and efficient research.

Step 3 : Collaborate with your peers to do your thesis and create a proper framework before writing the biography.

Step 4 : Create a timeline and add your ideas to the biography.

Step 5 : Add key information about that person's life, achievements, the reason for success and exciting facts.

4. Topics for Biography

The topic for biography depends on the name of the person you plan to write about. You can write about famous people and characters from movies and novels. If you can't find a suitable person, you can write about historical figures or people who made huge contributions to humanity. You can also base your title on people who discovered new lands and invented new technology. Here are some famous biography topics.

• Albert Einstein
• Alexander Fleming
• Alexander Graham Bell
• Alexander the Great
• Amelia Earhart
• Benjamin Franklin
• Charles Lindbergh
• Clarence Birdseye
• Eli Whitney
• Elie Wiesel
• George Washington Carver

5. Online Biography Maker

A biography graphic organizer is a fantastic tool that helps gather, organize and visually represent key information about famous and influential personalities. Teachers use these graphic organizers to give their students home assignments and test papers that help improve their writing and storytelling skills. EdrawMax is the best biography maker with creative customizing tools and features that makes your job much easier. It comes with a comprehensive template and symbol library that you can employ with a few clicks. It also gives you the option to export your diagram in any format you want.

6. Key Takeaways

A biography graphic organizer is commonly used to conduct research about famous and famous people and visualize the key information about their life. Historians and professionals use it to create autobiographies and generate timelines. You can learn everything you need to know from our biography examples. It makes it easy to understand someone's life achievement; however, it is hard to make a graphic biography organizer. EdrawMax Online is the best online biography maker. You can use its templates to make any online to save your time and effort. It supports various document formats and creative customization tools. Find more graphic organizer templates in the templates community.

Free Editable Lotus Diagram Examples

Free Editable Cluster Diagram Examples

Free Editable Hamburger Paragraph Examples

Free Editable Hierarchy Chart Examples

Free Editable Main Idea and Details Graphic Organizer Examples

Best Ideas on Designing a Father's Day Cards

Timeline creator for students

Timepath is the free online timeline tool for students to build beautiful timelines. Whether it's exploring a subject, delving into a specific topic, or profiling an influential person, Timepath transforms lessons into dynamic experiences, making education both enjoyable and impactful.

11 June 1940

The French fall, was the invasion by the Nazi Germany of France, Netherlands, the Luxembourg and Belgium, in the beginning of World War II. France had declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, when Poland was invaded by Germany.

Until then, the Nazis had faced small countries with few human and material resources, with almost no military tradition, easy to fight. It was expected that France would resist more against Hitler's army, as it also had the collaboration of a British expeditionary corps. The French armies had an equivalent number of men, tanks, aviation, and positional advantage, in addition to having been victorious in 1914-1918. However, the French catastrophe was a great milestone for the Nazi Germany.

Hitler and the Brown shirts in front of Eiffel Tower, Paris.

22 June 1941

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the Axis Powers' invasion of the Soviet Union, beginning on June 22, 1941, during World War II. It was an operation designed with the ideological goals of Hitler and Nazi Germany in mind to take over the western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by the Germans, to use Slavic peoples as a slave labor force for the Axis and Axis war effort. take advantage of the Caucasus' oil reserves and the agricultural resources of the Soviet territories.

German forces won important victories and occupied many important economic areas of the Soviet Union, mainly Ukraine, all with many deaths. Despite these Axis successes, the German offensive came to a halt at the Battle of Moscow and then the Soviet counterattack.

and the cold made the Germans retreat.

German soldiers advancing towards the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa

7 December 1941

The attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the conflict between Japan and the United States during World War II. The bombing was a failed attempt to destroy the main US naval fleet that was in Hawaii. The destruction of the American fleet was essential for Japan to continue with its project of conquest and territorial expansion of the Pacific Islands.

Once World War II began, Japan quickly expanded to other regions of Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Burma, defeating French and British forces. The clashes in these regions report the countless cruelties and war crimes committed by Japanese soldiers. They wanted to expand more and more, so they sought the pacific.

Navy soldiers watching the first wave of the attack.

4 June 1942

The Battle of the Midway was between 4-6 June in 1942 and took place in Midway Atoll, a part of a chain of atolls, volcanic islands, and portions of lands in Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean.

One of the big goals that Japan aims to achieve during World War II was to remove the United States as a power in the Pacific to gain territory in East Asia and the islands of the Southwest Pacific. The midway will be a perfect beginning to this plan.

An SBD-3 dive bomber from Bombing Squadron Six, and a battle-wrecked aircraft on the deck of the USS Yorktown.

23 August 1942

The Battle of Stalingrad was the biggest battle fought during World War II. War by the German and Soviet armies between July 1942 and February 1943, resulting in the death of approximately 2 million people. The gigantic effort undertaken by the Soviets and the depletion of the strength of the German armies resulted in a Soviet victory fundamental to the fate of the conflict.

Soviet soldiers in Stalingrad.

8 November 1942

The Operation Torch began on November 8, 1942, the date on which the allies landed in North Africa, opening a new battlefront for Afrika Korps troops, an Germany African Corporation.

The first landings were in Algeria and Morocco. The offensive was proposed because it would drive Axis troops out of North Africa, intensify Allied control of the Mediterranean Sea, and set the stage for an invasion of southern Europe in 1943. The conflicts ended in 1943 with a victory on the part of the Allies.

Allies troops invading the North Africa.

25 August 1944

Since 1940, the French capital was occupied by the Germans. It would take until mid-August 1944 for Allied troops to advance towards Paris.

In the days before the liberation of the city, there were strikes by the police, the post office and the Paris metro. The radio suspended their transmissions and, on August 19, 1944, the Paris Liberation Committe called on the population to rebel.

On August 25, 1944, after more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris was liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the US 4th Infantry Division.

March of Parisian citizens after the liberation of the city.

16 December 1944

The Offensive of the Ardennes, also known as the Battle of the Bulge, was a major Nazi offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II which began in 16 December 1944 and ending 25 January 1945. The Germans were defeated by the Allies in the Ardennes on January 25, 1945, thus ending the war.

American soldiers fighting in the Ardennes.

6 August 1945

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States used atomic bombs for the first time in human history. They were dropped over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The purpose of this act was to force Japan to surrender and prevent a likely invasion of that country, which would result in thousands of Allied soldiers being killed.

The conflict between Japan and the United States during World War II began after the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The Japanese attack forced a US declaration of war against Japan.

Mushroom cloud formed during the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, Japan.

History timeline maker

Timepath is the ultimate online history timeline maker. Students can create beautiful timelines about a subject, a personal or a topic. Whether you are history student, journalist student or any other student with Timepath you can make your lessons fun and interactive. You can even do fun quizzes with our history timeline tool.

Easily customize timelines

With Timepath students can customize fonts and colors so it matches their style. They can choose different timeline templates that fit their needs. We have templates for history timelines and personal timelines.

The birth of Timepath

Timepath was born from a simple yet powerful mission: to revolutionize timeline creation by making it efficient and universally accessible. Fueled by the belief that everyone should have the tools to express their stories visually, the platform is designed to be both user-friendly and free of charge.

Frido van Driem

Engage more with your classroom with our timeline creator

Let your students build beautiful stories and watch how your students will engage more in your classes and learn more. Start today for free!

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A Recent Timeline of the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar Beef

T he long-simmering beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has exploded in recent days as the rappers repeatedly lobbed insults and allegations about one another’s families and personal lives in a series of escalating diss tracks that has also invoked other hip-hop greats, including Metro Boomin and DJ Mustard.

The feud, in which each rapper has made numerous unverified allegations, prompted Drake to respond in a song on Sunday that he’s “disgusted” by Lamar’s claims about him, including that he has a secret child and engages in sex with underage girls, which he denies.

In “The Heart Part 6”—a title that references Lamar’s “The Heart” song series—Drake said he would have “been arrested” were there any truth to the allegations about him having inappropriate relationships with underage girls. The 37-year-old Canadian rapper, who has a 6-year-old son, also suggested that he leaked false information about having a daughter to Lamar, singing: “We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/ A daughter that’s eleven years old, I bet he takes it.”

The fight between the two men reached its climax (at least, to date) over the weekend, resulting in the release of multiple songs by and featuring the two artists. While their tense relationship dates back years, the origins of this most recent dispute can be traced to Drake’s song “First Person Shooter,” which was released as part of his album, For All the Dogs, last October. During that track, featured guest J. Cole called himself, Drake, and Lamar the “big three.” When Lamar was featured on Future’s “Like That” on March 22, he ripped into Cole and Drake for suggesting they are on the same level.

Read More: Why Drake Had to Take Down His Song That Featured AI-Tupac Vocals

The ensuing drama has brought forward serious, unverified claims, and shows no signs of slowing down. It is the latest chapter in a long tradition of rap feuds that has seen rivalries between the likes of Jay-Z and Nas and Tupac and Biggie. 

Here’s a recent timeline of the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. 

The backstory and "First Person Shooter”

Both rappers achieved mainstream fame at around the same time in the early 2010s. They’ve worked together in the past; on Drake’s 2011 album, Take Care , Lamar is featured on an interlude, and Lamar had Drake on his second studio album, 2012’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City , on the song “Poetic Justice.” 

The first sign of trouble seems to have cropped up around 2013, when Lamar appeared on Big Sean’s “Control.” Lamar called out Drake and several other rappers on the song, but Drake didn’t engage at first, suggesting in interviews at the time that he was not going to take the bait.

Instead, Drake's beef with Meek Mill in 2015 consumed much of his time, and later, in 2018, he got into it with Pusha T, who revealed that Drake was hiding a secret baby in the song “The Story of Adidon”—which Drake later admitted was true.

It wasn’t until “First Person Shooter” came out last year that Drake reopened the conflict with Lamar, intentionally or not, after Cole referred to himself, Drake, and Lamar as the “Big Three.” 

Kendrick’s featured verse on “Like That” 

Lamar, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for his album DAMN. , took offense to the idea that he and Drake are on the same skill level. The standout line in Future’s song “Like That,” which is produced by Metro Boomin, is, “Motherf-ck the big three, it’s just big me.” 

He also refers to Drake’s most recent album, For All The Dogs , rapping, “‘Fore all your dogs gettin' buried/ That's a K with all these nines, he gon' see Pet Sematary .”

J. Cole enters the beef with “7-Minute Drill,” but quickly bows out

Shortly after “Like That” came out, Cole released a surprise album called Might Delete Later, and one of the songs, “7 Minute Drill,” includes a diss directed at Lamar. 

In it, he raps, “Your first sh-t was classic, your last sh-t was tragic/ Your second sh-t put n----s to sleep, but they gassed it/ Your third sh-t was massive, and that was your prime,” a line that many listeners took issue with because Cole suggests that To Pimp a Butterfly (an album widely regarded as Lamar’s best) was boring. He says in the song that people don’t care about Lamar, rapping, “He averagin’ one hard verse like every thirty months or somethin’/ If he wasn’t dissin’, then we wouldn’t be discussin’ him.”

However, Cole then decided to distance himself from the beef. He later said that the song “didn’t sit right with his spirit” and removed it from streaming services on April 12, saying his actions are some of the “lamest, goofiest sh-t” he’s participated in.

Drake tells Lamar he needs to do some “Push Ups”

Rap fans waited with bated breath for Drake’s response, and he returned to the beef with not one song, but two, “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” released on April 19. The Toronto rapper attempts to put Lamar in his place, calling him a “pipsqueak” and rapping, “How the f-ck you big steppin’ with a size-seven men’s on?” Drake also attempts to make fun of Lamar for doing features on pop songs. “Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty/ Then we need a verse for the Swifties," he raps on “Push Ups,” referring to the 2015 remix of Swift’s “Bad Blood” and “Don’t Wanna Know” with Maroon 5 the following year. 

But Lamar isn’t the only person called out on this record. Drake also dissed Future, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, NBA player Ja Morant, Metro Boomin, and Cole on the song.

“Taylor Made Freestyle,” AI Tupac and Snoop Dogg

Following “Push Ups,” Drake briefly released “Taylor Made Freestyle,” sharing the song in a now-deleted Instagram post on April 19 with the caption: “While we wait on you, I guess.” In the song, Drake alleged Lamar did not release a response to his diss track because Taylor Swift had just put out her latest album The Tortured Poets Department . “Now we gotta wait a f-cking week 'cause Taylor Swift is your new top, and if you boutta drop, she gotta approve,” rapped Drake.

Read More: How AI is Wreaking Havoc on the Fanbases of Taylor Swift, Drake, and Other Pop Stars

But the track was short-lived after Drake was served a cease-and-desist letter from Tupac Shakur’s estate for using AI-generated vocals from the rap legend, who died in 1996. Drake was then forced to remove “Taylor Made Freestyle” from all public platforms. The estate said they would have never approved of using Shakur’s voice for the track. 

The song also featured AI vocals from Snoop Dogg, who joked about it on Instagram.

“6:16 in LA” and the multiple meanings behind the title

Lamar dropped a second song in the same week he released “Euphoria,” with multiple possible meanings behind the cryptic title. He released “6:16 in LA” as an Instagram Reel on his page on Friday. The cover art for the song features a single black glove, seemingly a nod to the O.J. Simpson trial —which began on June 16, 1995. Tupac’s birthday is also on June 16, as is Father’s Day this year. It's also the day the television show Euphoria dropped its first episode. There is also a Bible verse, Corinthians 6:16, that could be read as a dig at Drake’s alleged taste in women: “Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’”

One of the most surprising aspects about the song was the inclusion of Jack Antonoff’s name on the producer credits. The Bleachers frontman is known for working closely with Taylor Swift and hasn’t previously been publicly involved in this rap feud. Lamar digs further into Drake to suggest that the Toronto rapper might have moles on his team, feeding him information.

“Family Matters”

Drake responded to Lamar by questioning the true father of Lamar’s child with fiancé Whitney Alford, and possibly alleging that Lamar is unfaithful and physically abusive in his current relationship in “Family Matters.” “You the Black messiah wifin' up a mixed queen. And hit vanilla cream to help out with your self-esteem,” Drake raps on the track released on May 3. (Lamar has not directly addressed these claims, although he did say in his response track “Meet the Grahams,” “This supposed to be a good exhibition within the game/ But you fucked up the moment you called out my family's name/ Why you had to stoop so low to discredit some decent people?”) 

Later in that verse, Drake specifically names Dave Free, a record executive who works as Lamar’s manager, saying, “I heard that one of 'em little kids might be Dave Free.” Drake also called Lamar and his body of work, which often addresses racism, inauthentic, saying, “Always rappin’ like you ‘bout to get the slaves freed/ You justin actin’ like an activist, it’s make-believe.” 

The music video shows the destruction of a van used in the 2012 album cover of Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City . As of Monday morning, the track is #1 on “trending for music ” on YouTube.

“Meet the Grahams”

Less than an hour after Drake released “Family Matters,” Lamar put out “Meet the Grahams.” The track is arguably the most aggressive of songs released in the past few months, and starts with Lamar apologizing to Drake’s son for having him as a father. Lamar then goes on to claim without evidence that Drake takes Ozempic, and used photos of medication with Drake’s legal name, Audrey Drake Graham, on it, as the cover art for the song. (The images have not been verified as legitimate.) He alludes to gossip that Drake has had a Brazilian butt lift (a rumor—which Drake has not directly responded to—that prompted Rick Ross to coin the nickname “BBL Drizzy”), and even mentions the way that Drake hid his son from the public eye. “Don't be ashamed 'bout who you wit', that's how he treat your moms. Don't have a kid to hide, a kid to hide again,” Lamar raps.

In the second verse, Lamar makes severe implications about Drake by comparing him to Hollywood sex offender Harvey Weinstein, saying, “Him and Weinstein should get fucked up in a cell for the rest they life.” (Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was recently overturned in New York, which has opened a new chapter in his case.)

Lamar dedicates the third verse to Drake’s daughter, claiming that Drake is “not active” in her life and calling him a “narcissist, misogynist.” Drake denied claims he has a daughter on his Instagram story on Saturday. 

“Not Like Us”

Lamar doubled down on his allegations against Drake, releasing another four-and-a-half-minute track not even a full 24 hours later on Saturday evening. The cover art is allegedly a photo of Drake’s mansion in Toronto with red markers that seem similar to the ones used to mark homes where sex offenders reside. “Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young,” Lamar rapped. 

He also says that Drake is not a “colleague” but a “colonizer.”

Lamar also called out Drake for using Tupac’s AI voice: “You think the Bay gon' let you disrespect Pac, n---a? I think that Oakland show gon' be your last stop.”

Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” 

Metro Boomin—one of the producers on “Like That”—put his foot in the game when he shared a post on X about a “BBL Drizzy Beat Giveaway” on May 5. The rapper encouraged fans to rap over the beat, which looks to be a sample of a parody song written by comedian and AI storyteller King Willonious, according to Complex . 

Drake mentioned Metro Boomin by his legal name in “Family Matters,” calling him “lame” and also alleging that he influenced disagreements between Drake and Future. 

Drake commented on an Instagram post sharing one of Metro Boomin’s tweets about him writing , “you just cheffed a beat about my a-s?”

“The Heart Part 6”

The most recent response to the beef came on Sunday night, when Drake released “The Heart Part 6.” In a post to X , he wrote, “And we know you’re dropping [six] minutes after, so instead of posting my address, you have a lot to address.” He denies the allegations that Lamar lobbed at him, saying he purposefully fed Lamar fake information to see if he’d fall for it and tells him that he should get better at fact-checking. Drake called this beef a “good exercise” and laughed it off, suggesting that Lamar would be a “worthy competitor if [he] was really a predator.”

Drake also directly mentioned Stranger Things actor Millie Bobby Brown, saying that he “Only fuckin' with Whitneys, not Millie Bobby Browns, I'd never look twice at no teenager.” This marks at least the second time Drake has responded to online criticism about his friendship with the actress, whom he first met when she was a young teen . Drake previously addressed comments about her in his song “Another Late Night.”

The Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef seems to have no end in sight as the two continue to trade disses with ever-increasing severity in the allegations made towards each other.

More Must-Reads From TIME

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• How Far Trump Would Go
• Why Maternity Care Is Underpaid
• Saving Seconds Is Better Than Hours
• Welcome to the Golden Age of Ryan Gosling
• Scientists Are Finding Out Just How Toxic Your Stuff Is
• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Write to Moises Mendez II at [email protected]

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A Timeline of the History Between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump

Nearly two decades after they met in Nevada, Daniels and Trump met face to face again in a Lower Manhattan courtroom in the first criminal trial against a former United States president.

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By Matthew Haag and Michael Rothfeld

• Published May 7, 2024 Updated May 9, 2024

Nearly two decades after Stormy Daniels and Donald J. Trump met in Nevada, they came face to face again in a Lower Manhattan courtroom, where the first criminal trial against a former United States president is taking place.

Here is a timeline of their history:

Mr. Trump attended the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nev., where Wicked Pictures, the production company whose adult films Ms. Daniels starred in, had set up a tent.

According to Ms. Daniels, the two met at the event, then met again for dinner and had consensual sex in a hotel room. She said that Mr. Trump told her that she could appear on his reality television show, “The Apprentice.”

Mr. Trump had been married to his current wife, Melania, for about a year. His youngest son, Barron, had been born several months before. There are photos of Mr. Trump and Ms. Daniels at the tournament, but he has denied having sex with her.

January 2007

Ms. Daniels attended a Trump Vodka launch party at Les Deux, a club in Los Angeles.

Ms. Daniels flew to New York City and met Mr. Trump outside his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. Later that month, she attended a Miss USA event in Los Angeles with tickets that she said Mr. Trump had set aside at the box office.

A year after the Lake Tahoe golf tournament, Mr. Trump invited Ms. Daniels to his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss her possible appearance on “The Apprentice,” she recalled in a 2018 interview with “60 Minutes.” She never appeared on the show.

Ms. Daniels considered selling her account of sex with Mr. Trump for $15,000 to Bauer Publishing, the publisher of “Life & Style” magazine, The Wall Street Journal reported in March 2018 . Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, heard about the possible deal and intervened. Ms. Daniels was not paid.

Ms. Daniels took a polygraph test that supported her account of having had sex with Mr. Trump.

October 2011

A gossip website, The Dirty, reported that Ms. Daniels “had sex with Donald after one of his golfing events.”

Mr. Trump secured the Republican Party’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

October 2016

After The Washington Post published a recording of Mr. Trump making lewd remarks on the set of “Access Hollywood,” the damage to his campaign gave Ms. Daniels new leverage to sell her story.

Her agent negotiated a deal with the editor of The National Enquirer, but David Pecker, then the tabloid’s publisher, declined to pay.

But Mr. Pecker had agreed to help Mr. Trump suppress bad news, as he testified. So he and Dylan Howard, the editor, tipped off Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer. They referred him to Ms. Daniels’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, to negotiate the hush-money deal.

Mr. Davidson and Mr. Cohen then exchanged emails and phone calls about a possible hush-money deal to bury Ms. Daniels’s account. Mr. Howard was also part of the negotiations.

Near the end of the month, Mr. Cohen wired Ms. Daniels $130,000 from a newly formed entity, Essential Consultants.

November 2016

Mr. Trump won the presidential election.

February 2017

The repayment to Mr. Cohen began and continued throughout the year in installments. The payments totaled $420,000, which included a reimbursement for the hush-money deal, a bonus and additional cash for tax considerations.

The Trump Organization recorded the payments as “legal expenses,” citing a legal retainer with Mr. Cohen. Prosecutors say there was no retainer and that recording the payments as “legal expenses” was a falsification of business records — the basis of the criminal charges against Mr. Trump.

January 2018

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ms. Daniels received $130,000 to stay silent about her account of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen made the payment to her days before the 2016 election.

Ms. Daniels denied having had an affair with Mr. Trump in a statement later in the month. Ms. Daniels later disavowed that statement and said that she felt she had no choice but to sign it.

The F.B.I. executed a search warrant on Mr. Cohen’s Rockefeller Center office and Park Avenue hotel room.

August 2018

Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting to having made illegal campaign contributions to support Mr. Trump in 2016, including his payment to Ms. Daniels.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office opened an investigation into the hush-money deals involving Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records stemming from Ms. Daniels’s hush-money deal.

Ms. Daniels and Mr. Trump met again at a Lower Manhattan courtroom in his criminal trial.

The Links Between Trump and 3 Hush-Money Deals

Here’s how key figures involved in making hush-money payoffs on behalf of Donald J. Trump are connected.

Matthew Haag writes about the intersection of real estate and politics in the New York region. He has been a journalist for two decades. More about Matthew Haag

Michael Rothfeld is an investigative reporter in New York, writing in-depth stories focused on the city’s government, business and personalities. More about Michael Rothfeld

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

News and Analysis

Custodial witnesses, who are used to authenticate documents and events, have provided some of the more ordinary testimony in the trial, discussing FedEx labels, Sharpie usage and stapling protocol. Here’s how they’ve affirmed the basic facts  of it all.

Donald Trump, the onetime president, and Stormy Daniel s, the longtime porn star, despise one another. But when Daniels returned to the witness stand at Trump’s criminal trial, his lawyers made them sound a lot alike .

Justice Juan M. Merchan ended a long day of testimony by issuing a blistering ruling from the bench  denying a request for a mistrial, marking the second time in days that he rejected an attempt by one of Trump’s lawyers to seek a mistrial,

More on Trump’s Legal Troubles

Key Inquiries: Trump faces several investigations  at both the state and the federal levels, into matters related to his business and political careers.

Case Tracker:  Keep track of the developments in the criminal cases  involving the former president.

What if Trump Is Convicted?: Could he go to prison ? And will any of the proceedings hinder Trump’s presidential campaign? Here is what we know , and what we don’t know .

Trump on Trial Newsletter: Sign up here  to get the latest news and analysis  on the cases in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.

A Complete Timeline of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Royal Romance

From their first blind date to their famous royal exit and current low-key family life.

Long before she was a royal, Meghan Markle was asked in an interview whether she would date Prince William or Prince Harry, to which she offhandedly replied, "Harry, sure." Now, the two are happily married with two kids.

Ahead, see highlights from the pair's relationship throughout the years.

May 10, 2024: They look so in love on visit to Nigeria.

Ahead of the Invictus Games, the couple arrives in Nigeria for a days-long trip to meet with locals about sports, mental health programs, leadership initiatives, and more.

At a school visit in the morning, Harry delivers a touching speech about mental wellness to some young kids, prompting wife Meghan to gush about him once he’s done.

“Every single person in this room—the youngest, the oldest, every single person—has mental health,” the prince says. “And the more you talk about it, the more you can kick stigma away—far, far away into long grass—and then everybody will have the opportunity to be able to share how they’re feeling, how they’re coping, and then you can help other people.”

As Harry hands over the mic, Meghan says, “You see why I’m married to him?” There are cheers and a whoop. “It so inspiring, because he speaks the truth,” she adds.

March 4, 2023: Harry says Meghan "saved" him.

In a livestream conversation with Dr. Gabor Maté, author of The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture , the prince opens up about the way Meghan changed his life and helped "save" him from himself during a time when he felt "stuck" within the royal institution.

"My wife saved me. I was stuck in this world, and she was from a different world and helped draw me out of that," Harry says. "But none of the elements of my life now would have been possible without me seeing it for myself."

He continues, "My partner is an exceptional human being, and I'm eternally grateful for the wisdom and the space that she has been able to give me."

January 10, 2023: Harry releases his memoir, Spare .

In his much-awaited book, the prince reveals one shocking personal truth after another—including the way he lost his virginity, the day he re-created his mother's last moments, and the brutal physical fight he had with his brother, Prince William.

He also writes a lot about his wife, reflecting on her relationship with Will and Princess Kate , giving details about their life together in England, recalling Meghan's mental health battle , and speaking of the moment they knew they had to step away from the royal family.

December 8, 2022: Their Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, premieres .

The royal pair drop their Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan , which offers intimate glimpses into their relationship in its beginning stages, their life and struggles in the royal family, and their current lifestyle now.

October 19, 2022: Meghan opens up about her and Harry's life at home.

In a rare video interview with Variety , Meghan shares new details surrounding her quiet home life in Montecito with Harry, which involves working collaboratively on their projects and raising their two kids, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1—a packed routine Meghan calls a "true blessing."

"We share an office. We work from home, as most people started to do during lockdown," Meghan says. "It allows us to have significant time with our kids at this really special moment in their lives. We'll never get this time back."

She adds that on a normal day, "I make breakfast, and we get the kids set for the day. We do a lot of joint calls and Zooms, but also try to divide what we can focus our energies on so we can accomplish even more."

September 10, 2022: They reunite with the royals at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.

Harry and Meghan return to the United Kingdom to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8 at Balmoral Castle. The two are photographed with William and Kate, who share newly minted titles as Prince and Princess of Wales.

October 23, 2021: They release Harry & Meghan: An African Journey .

The two release their documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey , which gives a glimpse into their royal tour in South Africa. The project reveals a first glimpse of baby Archie , as well as details on the intense media scrutiny and rumored royal rifts the Sussexes have faced.

In one interview, Meghan gets candid for the first time about the extent of her struggles within the royal family and reflects on her naiveté surrounding what she thought it would be like living in the spotlight as an American-born royal.

"In all fairness I had no idea, which probably sounds difficult to understand and hear," Meghan says. "But when I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy, but my British friends said to me, 'I'm sure he's great but you shouldn't do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life.'"

She continues, "And I very naively—I'm American, we don't have that there—[I said], 'What are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense. I'm not in any tabloids.' I didn't get it. So it's been, yeah, it's been complicated."

June 4, 2021: Princess Lilibet is born.

Meghan and Harry welcome their second child, Princess Lilibet of Sussex, at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California. Their newborn daughter's name, "Lilibet Diana," takes after the pet name of great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth and honors her paternal grandmother, the late Princess Diana.

May 21, 2021: Harry discusses Meghan's mental health struggles.

In an episode of The Me You Can't See , Harry's Apple TV series dedicated to de-stigmatizing mental health, the prince gets candid about the devastating toll royal life has had on Meghan, and recalls his concern at her suicidal thoughts.

"Meghan decided to share with me the suicidal thoughts and the practicalities of how she was going to end her life," the Duke of Sussex explains. "The scariest thing for her was her clarity of thought. She hadn't lost it. She wasn't crazy. She wasn't self-medicating, be it through pills or through alcohol. She was absolutely sober. She was completely sane."

Harry continues, "The thing that stopped her from seeing it through was how unfair it would be to me after everything that happened to my mum and to now be put in the position of losing another woman in my life with a baby inside of her, our baby."

March 7, 2021: They break their silence on their royal leave in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Following months spent away from the limelight after leaving the royal family, the two make an official public reappearance in a bombshell interview on Oprah Winfrey's Emmy-nominated television special, Oprah with Meghan and Harry . During the talk, they reveal unnerving new details surrounding the extent of their traumatic experiences with the royal family—from the overt racism Meghan experienced from unspecified royal members, to the ongoing harassment and slander against the pair by the British tabloids.

In a heartbreaking part of the interview, the duchess confesses that around six months into her first pregnancy, during the height of royal tensions, she was suffering so much that she "didn't want to be alive anymore."

"I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever, it just got met with total silence, total neglect," Harry later adds. "We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job. But Meghan was struggling."

January 8, 2020: They announce their royal exit.

Following months of tabloid attacks on Meghan—and ongoing rumors surrounding the Sussexes' rising tensions with the rest of the royal family—the duke and duchess finally announce in an official joint statement shared to their Instagram page that they have decided to step down as senior members of the royal family.

" After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution," their message reads. "We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."

They continue, "It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity."

In the months following Harry and Meghan's royal exit, the pair spend time in both Canada and the United States. They have since moved permanently to California.

May 6, 2019: Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is born.

The two welcome their first royal child together, Prince Archie of Sussex.

In his first television interview fresh off the birth, Harry says elatedly, "I'm so incredibly proud of my wife. As every father and parent would ever say, your baby is absolutely amazing. But this little thing is absolutely to die for. So I'm just over the moon."

December 25, 2018: They spend the holidays with William and Kate.

Harry and Meghan spend their first Christmas as a royal pair with the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

July 10, 2018: The Sussexes and Cambridges make their first major appearance.

In their first major royal event as royal newlyweds, the Sussexes get together with William and Kate to honor the Centenary of the RAF at Buckingham Palace, where they observe a flypast for the occasion.

May 19, 2018: They get married.

Harry and Meghan marry at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in a star-studded ceremony that becomes the most-watched royal wedding in the world.

On this day, Meghan is officially granted her royal title at the occasion: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Notable attendees at the wedding include Serena Williams, George Clooney, and James Corden, as well as several of Meghan's Suits costars: Patrick J. Adams (Mike Ross), Gabriel Macht (Harvey Specter), and Sarah Rafferty (Donna Paulsen).

Idris Elba , a longtime friend of Harry's, is also in attendance, and deejays at the reception, where upon Meghan's request, he plays Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" during the new royal's first dance with Harry.

February 28, 2018: They appear with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The fiancés appear publicly for the first time with Prince William and Kate Middleton—who at the time are expecting their third royal child, Prince Louis—at the first annual Royal Foundation Forum held at Aviva.

November 27, 2017: They announce their engagement.

Kensington Palace announces that the pair have officially gotten engaged following about a year of dating.

Meghan's parents, Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland, express their congratulations in a public statement shared by the palace on Twitter.

"We are incredibly happy for Meghan and Harry," they write in the statement. "Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person. To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us as parents. We wish them a lifetime of happiness and are very excited for their future together."

The Prince and Princess of Wales additionally offer their congratulations to the new fiancés.

"We are very excited for Harry and Meghan," the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge say of the engagement, via their Twitter . "It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together."

Following the confirmation from Kensington Palace, the newly engaged couple make an appearance on BBC for their first-ever joint interview, divulging fresh details surrounding their relationship—including how they first met and how they've been looking ahead to their future royal roles.

At this time, Meghan expresses her excitement over what's in store for her as a soon-to-be duchess and says how she plans to utilize her new platform.

"You realize, once you have access or a voice that people are willing to listen to, with that comes a lot of responsibility, which I take seriously," Meghan says. "At the same time, I think in these beginning few months, and now being boots on the ground in the U.K., I'm excited to just really get to know more about the different communities here, smaller organizations who are working on the same causes that I've always been passionate about under this umbrella, and also being able to go around to the Commonwealth."

"I think it's just the beginning of a—," she continues, at which point Harry chimes in to say, "There's a lot to do."

September 2017: They meet each other's family members.

The pair make an affectionate joint appearance in Toronto for the Invictus Games—which Harry also hosts—where they are joined by Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland.

Later in the month, Us Weekly reports that Meghan has been introduced to Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.

September 5, 2017: Meghan publicly acknowledges her relationship for the first time.

Meghan discusses her relationship with Harry during a cover interview for Vanity Fair .

"We're in love," she tells the magazine. "I'm sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. This is for us. It's part of what makes it so special, that it's just ours. But we're happy. Personally, I love a great love story."

She also gets candid about the relationship's accompanying challenges.

"It comes in waves," she says, "some days it can feel more challenging than others."

She adds, "Right out of the gate it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boyfriend's support."

May 6, 2017: They attend their first public event together.

The two are captured sharing a kiss during a polo event in Ascot, in what marks their first public appearance together as a couple.

November 8, 2016: Their relationship is Kensington confirmed.

Following romance rumors that began the previous month, Kensington Palace releases a statement on social media confirming Harry and Meghan's relationship. In a reprimanding address, the palace implores the public to stop their ongoing harassments of Harry and "his girlfriend, Meghan Markle."

"Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle's safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her," the note reads. "It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm."

A month later, in December, the two are photographed together for the first time, followed by another sweet outing in London around the holidays.

August 2016: They take a trip to Africa.

Following their electric first date, Harry and Meghan take a trip to Botswana, and their romantic connection blossoms.

"It was three, maybe four, weeks later that I managed to persuade her to come join me in Botswana, and we camped out with each other, under the stars," Harry recalls of the romantic trip during their post-engagement BBC interview . "She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic. Then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other."

The following summer, Meghan and Harry return to Botswana to celebrate their first anniversary , per Vanity Fair .

Months later, the prince gets down on one knee, proposing to her with an engagement ring featuring an African stone, as well as two smaller diamonds from one of Princess Diana's brooches.

July 2016: They meet through a mutual friend.

The prince and Suits actress first connect online through a mutual friend. Harry later reveals in the first episode of Harry & Meghan that a Snapchat photo of their friend and Meghan using the dog filter piqued his interest and prompted him to reach out to ask who Meghan was.

"Meghan and I met over Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had a video of the two of them, like a Snapchat," Harry explains. "With dog ears. That was the first thing. I was like, 'Who is that?'"

Following direct messages over Instagram, the two go out on a blind date in London, while Meghan is in town for Wimbledon—and Harry shows up late.

"You were late," Meghan points out to Harry, adding, "And I didn't know him. So I was like, 'Oh, is this what he does?'"

The quick date eventually leads to sparks, and in light of their long-distance circumstances, the two set a schedule to see each other every several weeks.

Sabrina Park is a Digital Fellow at HarpersBAZAAR.com where she covers news, fashion, and culture stories. When she’s not writing she loves hanging out with her cat, reading outdoors and scrolling the depths of TikTok.

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Ascension: 'We do not have a timeline' for networks to be restored after cyberattack

The nation's largest Catholic health system said it was postponing some elective procedures, tests and appointments “out of an abundance of caution” after a cyberattack earlier this week paralyzed Ascension's computer network and other technological systems.

The network continued to be disrupted Friday at all 140 Ascension hospitals nationally, including 15 in Michigan, and the St. Louis-based nonprofit hospital chain acknowledged "we do not have a timeline" for when it will be restored.

Ascension said it is working to investigate the source of the breach, contain it and restore its systems. In the meantime, many hospitals are diverting ambulances to other health care facilities "to ensure emergency cases are triaged immediately."

“Systems that are currently unavailable include our electronic health records system, MyChart (which enables patients to view their medical records and communicate with their providers), some phone systems, and various systems utilized to order certain tests, procedures and medications," Ascension's statement said .

Appointments that are "temporarily paused" during the outage will be rescheduled, and Ascension is urging patients who seek treatment at this time to:

Bring notes detailing their symptoms and medical history to appointments.

Bring a list of current medications and the prescription numbers or the prescription bottles to appointments so refills can be manually called in to pharmacies.

Employees noticed the computer network problems about 7 a.m. Wednesday, said three workers who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of job repercussions.

"There was a security concern, so they shut down the system," one physician told the Free Press at the time. "It's affecting everything."

Ascension, which also owns 40 senior living facilities, said it is working with  Mandiant , a cybersecurity consulting company, to investigate and help determine what information, if any, was compromised in the cyberattack.

More: Cyberattack hits Ascension hospitals' computer networks: 'It's affecting everything'

More: Increasingly common, health care cyberattacks now even target patients with ransom

"Should we determine that any sensitive information was affected, we will notify and support those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines," Ascension said in a statement.

CNN reported Friday that Black Basta ransomware was involved in the Ascension cyberattack, which involved hackers who tried to lock the health system's computer network and steal its data.

Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly common in health care , often affecting protected health information along with other data, such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses.

In April, Cherry Street Services Inc., also known as Cherry Health, alerted 180,747 Michigan residents that their personal information had been compromised in a ransomware attack that occurred Dec. 21.

"Third-party forensic experts were retained to assist in an investigation of the nature and scope of the breach," said Danny Wimmer, press secretary for state Attorney General Dana Nessel. "While unable to pinpoint (the) root cause of the breach, through the investigation, Cherry was able to discern the types of data compromised: full name, address, date of birth, phone number, health insurance information, patient ID number, provider name, service date, diagnosis/treatment information, prescription information, financial account information and/or Social Security numbers, and the identity of the persons impacted."

And more than 1 million Michiganders were  affected by a cybersecurity breach  at Welltok Inc., a software company contracted to provide communication services for Corewell Health's southeastern Michigan properties, along with a healthy lifestyle portal for Priority Health, an insurance plan owned by Corewell. Though the breach occurred in May 2023, it wasn't until November 2023 that people were notified.

A  ransomware attack led McLaren Health Care to take down the computer network at its 14 Michigan hospitals in late August and early September 2023, affecting about 2.5 million patients. The health system acknowledged that the attack also could have leaked some patient data onto the dark web. A ransomware gang known as  BlackCat/AlphV  claimed responsibility, posting online that it stole six terabytes of McLaren's data.

In late August 2023, the University of Michigan  shut down its campus computer network  after a hacker got access to the personal information of students and applicants, alumni and donors, employees and contractors, as well as the personal health information of research study participants, and patients of the University Health Service and the School of Dentistry.

In Michigan, Ascension has 15 acute-care hospitals, but is in the midst of trying to close deals that would  split off eight of its southeastern Michigan hospitals  and combine them with Detroit-based Henry Ford Health. Additionally, three of its hospitals in mid-Michigan and northeastern Michigan, along with a stand-alone emergency center and nursing home,  are to be acquired  by Midland-based MyMichigan Health.

If those deals are completed, only the following Ascension Michigan hospitals will remain as part of the health system's national holdings:

Ascension Allegan Hospital in Allegan

Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo

Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital in Dowagiac

Ascension Borgess-Pipp Hospital in Plainwell

Contact Kristen Shamus: [email protected]. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cyberattack forces Ascension to divert ambulances, postpone procedures

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X-Men Movie Chronological Timeline Guide

Avengers fans will be perplexed at the state of the X-Men movie timeline.

Country Living editors select each product featured. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Why Trust Us?

The X-Men movie timeline can be difficult to parse unless you know the comics like the back of your hand. With so many prequels, spinoffs, and other adaptations floating around, here’s a handy starting point if you have no idea which movie to watch first. Honestly, even the worst-received X-Men movie is a lot of fun. The heroes are unique and classic, they touch on issues that always feel relevant, and the movies have shown off some very stylish action scenes throughout the years. Also, pretty much anyone whose anyone in Hollywood has had a big role in at least one X-Men movie.

The franchise will be expanding even further with Deadpool vs. Wolverine releasing on July 26, 2024, where we'll see Hugh Jackman team up with Ryan Reynolds.

X-Men: Apocalypse

While it’s mostly a chronological follow-up to X-Men: Days of Future Past , the film begins by setting up the villain, En Saban Nur aka Apocalypse, in Ancient Egypt around 2000 B.C. Apocalypse is a powerful mutant who is suddenly betrayed and left dormant for thousands of years. He is awakened in 1983, deciding that humanity has lost its way and resolving to cleanse it from the Earth. Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) recruits new X-Men to face the cataclysmic threat including a young Jean Grey and Scott Summers (aka Cyclops). If you want this to make the most sense, put it on after Days of Future Past and not first, but Ancient Egypt certainly is a far leap back for the series.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

One of the most-derided X-Men films, X -Men Origins: Wolverine also begins with a prelude in the past where we meet a young Wolverine when he was James Logan in 1845, who fights through the biggest wars of history, joining a strike force of mutants that carries out terrible atrocities after discovering his mutation with his half-brother Victor Creed (aka Sabretooth). After leaving the squad, Logan becomes a target of Sabretooth and gets his adamantine skeleton to go on a quest for revenge after Victor seemingly kills his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox. This is a pretty standalone story and isn’t necessary viewing to get caught up on the timeline.

X-Men: First Class

A shot in the arm for the franchise, this prequel film was perfectly cast, and stood strong as its own story while also informing the original trilogy. It takes place in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, with the first scene in 1944 showing the origins of the villain Magneto as young mutant Erik Lehnsherr in the Auschwitz concentration camp. While seeking vengeance on a Nazi officer who killed his mother, he teams up with a young Charles Xavier and the first class of mutant recruits at what would become the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Lensherr and Xavier eventually find themselves at odds due to their clashing views on mutant/human relations.

Even though this is third on the list, it's probably the best starting point if you aren't interested in watching all the films in release order.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

It gets a little funky here. X-Men: Days of Future Past combines the casts of the original trilogy and prequel trilogy, with the future timeline following the mutants in 2030 struggling to survive against robotic Sentinels programmed to kill all mutants, and humans with genetic potential to become them. As a last-ditch effort to avert this timeline, Wolverine’s consciousness is sent back to 1973 to rally the younger X-Men against this threat, only to find the Academy closed and its members separated. James McAvoy gives a great performance as a struggling young Charles Xavier lost in despair and alcohol dependence. This movie is all worth watching for the Quicksilver scene alone. If you know, you know.

Stream Here

Dark Phoenix

Following up X-Men: Apocalyps e in the 1990s, Dark Phoenix rounds out the prequel series with a movie focusing on Sophie Turner’s young Jean Grey, adapted from “The Dark Phoenix Saga” comics storyline by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Some critics didn’t feel it hit the same high as the comics, but there are some cool moments, and Jessica Chastain gives a bizarre performance as the alien villain Vuk.

That’s a lot of movies before you get to the first-ever X-Men adaptation! It’s set in the present day when it was released, in 2000, introducing us to Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen’s iconic takes on Wolverine, Professor X, and Magneto respectively. It follows Wolverine and Anna Paquin as Rogue, two mutants who get caught in a conflict between the X-Men and the human-hating extremist Brotherhood of Mutants, who seek to kidnap an anti-mutant Senator. It’s up to you whether you want to start with the prequels first or kick off here with the 2000 X-Men, but those are two of the best starting points.

X2 is a favorite among many of the film fans for good reason. It’s got a propelling plot following up soon after the first movie, and introduces great comic characters like Nightcrawler, and the terrifying villain William Stryker (played by Succession’s own Brian Cox). The X-Men find themselves having to team up with the Brotherhood as Stryker begins a full-on assault on all mutants around the world, including the innocent students of Professor Xavier’s School.

X-Men: The Last Stand

This was a bit of a fumble to cap off an excellent X-Men film trilogy. Also set in its release year of 2006 after a couple of flashbacks, The Brotherhood and X-Men contend with the new development of a mutant cure that may have mysterious side effects, and Jean Grey returns after (spoilers) sacrificing herself at the end of X2 , having awakened the destructive Dark Phoenix persona. Aside from some of the X-Men showing up in Days of Future Past, this is the last time we see members of trilogy one’s full ensemble cast together, so it’s a good watch even if it doesn’t hit the same highs.

The Wolverine

The Wolverine lands between The Last Stand and the disastrous future timeline of Days of Future Past , with Logan distraught after having to kill Jean at the end of the former movie. This movie feels like it comes out of left-field, with a Japanese setting facing Wolverine against Yakuza members, and weakening the iconic hero by stripping him of his classic healing abilities. It’s not a necessary watch but fans of the character still defend it, even if its events are technically undone when the mutants successfully revert the timeline at the climax of Days of Future Past to a more peaceful one where we see several X-Men who were killed back again.

After playing the loud-mouthed mercenary Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (although with some strange changes), Ryan Reynolds produced and starred in this R-rated spinoff which is mostly a standalone origin story for the anti-hero, but also has some blink-or-you-’ll-miss-it shots of Xavier’s School and a couple of X-Men, namely Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, that are involved. This is a diverged timeline from the classic trilogy even if it lands around 2016, so there wouldn’t have been much chance for an Ian McKellen cameo, and it’s not important in the continuity of the other movies.

Set two years after the original Deadpool, you’ll enjoy this one just as much if you were into the violence, humor, and wild stunts of the first movie. Wade is left devastated after his girlfriend Vanessa is killed by an assassination target he fails to kill, deciding to join the X-Men after recovering from his devastating loss. New mutants like Domino (played by Zazie Beetz) and the young, unstable mutant Firefist (played by Julian Dennison) aren’t X-Men household names but have much more involved roles in the plot than the X-Men did in the last film.

The New Mutants

A standalone story based on the Marvel Comics characters created by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod, we follow a group of younger mutants who are trapped in a strange medical facility. It was initially pitched to take place a few years after X-Men: Apocalypse , but it was changed to one of the most modern entries in the series, occurring in the good Days of Future Past timeline where Sentinels were never created.

After so many movies in the 20th-century era, it was very cool when Logan was released with a slightly futuristic setting in 2029, in which no mutants have been born for 25 years. Also, several mutants have been killed by disastrous telepathic seizures that Charles Xavier now suffers from. Most fans consider this a standalone timeline, and Hugh Jackman even said something similar . It fosters a unique tone and atmosphere, but Jackman is as great as ever as the now-aging hero who has lost his healing ability and cares for the ailing Professor X.

Jacob is a Temporary Partnerships Editor at Hearst based in Queens, New York with his partner and cat Tiger. He loves learning and writing about Film and TV, Video Games, and the weird histories of unexpected subjects.

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A timeline of the twists and turns since 'Baby Reindeer' was released, as 'real Martha Scott' Fiona Harvey speaks to Piers Morgan

Posted: May 10, 2024 | Last updated: May 10, 2024

• Netflix's true crime drama "Baby Reindeer" has blown up since it was released in April. 
• It sparked controversy when audiences hunted for the woman behind the stalker character.
• Here is a full timeline of events leading up to Piers Morgan interviewing Fiona Harvey, "the real Martha Scott.'

Since its release in April, Netflix's true crime drama " Baby Reindeer " has become a huge pop culture phenomenon.

The series was created by its lead actor, Richard Gadd , who plays a fictional version of himself called Donny Dunn. It's based on his experiences with being stalked by a woman earlier in his career, when he was trying to make it as a comedian.

Buzz around the show quickly snowballed, as audiences tried to track down the real-life people the show's characters are based on, particularly Dunn's stalker, Martha Scott , and his abuser, Darrien.

Forensic psychologist, Dr. Ruth Tully, told Business Insider that true crime shows like "Baby Reindeer" can turn audiences into armchair detectives because the genre blurs the lines between entertainment and reality.

The speculation culminated on Thursday when Piers Morgan interviewed Fiona Harvey , a 58-year old Scottish woman who fans outed as "the real Martha Scott."

Here's a complete timeline of the "Baby Reindeer" drama.

"Baby Reindeer" was released on April 11, 2024.

After its debut, the show was met with widespread praise from audiences and critics alike, earning itself a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes .

11 days after "Baby Reindeer" was released, Netflix announced that it was submitting the show for consideration at the 2024 Emmys, Deadline reported .

Audiences instantly speculated over who Gadd's real stalker and abuser were.

Because "Baby Reindeer" is based on a true story, it wasn't long before fans started searching for the real people involved with the show.

According to Google Trends , fans were mostly searching for "Baby Reindeer real Martha," as well as Gadd, and a man viewers thought was his real-life abuser.

Because the show uses the real messages and emails that Gadd said the stalker sent him, some people cross-referenced them on social media. Toward the end of April, some TikTok users concluded that they found the woman who stalked Gadd.

@theogpopqueen #greenscreen #babyreindeer #netflix #martha #fiona #trending #news #viral #fyp ♬ Creepy and simple horror background music(1070744) - howlingindicator

Gadd asked fans to stop speculating after writer Sean Foley was harassed online.

Fans also tried to piece together who might have sexually assaulted Gadd when he was an aspiring comedian. In the show, the perpetrator is a powerful TV producer called Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill).

There was intense speculation that the character was based on writer, actor, and producer Sean Foley, who coincidentally stepped down from his role as the artistic director at the Birmingham Repertory Theater on April 18.

Four days later, on the evening of Monday 22, Gadd made a statement defending Foley and asked fans to stop speculating who the characters are based on.

An unnamed woman claiming to be "the real Martha Scott" told a British tabloid that Gadd was "bullying an older woman on television for fame and fortune."

On April 27, the Daily Mail published an interview with an unnamed woman who claimed to be the person that Gadd based Scott on in "Baby Reindeer." The outlet did not reveal her name.

The woman criticized Gadd, and said: "He's using 'Baby Reindeer' to stalk me now. I'm the victim. He's written a bloody show about me."

She also said that a lot of the show is false, and that she was considering legal action against Gadd and Netflix.

At the end of the show, Scott explains that a baby reindeer toy was the only thing that gave her comfort during her difficult childhood, which is why she nicknamed Dunn "baby reindeer."

Harvey said that was false: "I've never owned a toy baby reindeer, and I wouldn't have had any conversation with Richard Gadd about a childhood toy either."

Gadd said he doesn't see his stalker as a "villain."

Netflix hosted a "Baby Reindeer" screening and Q&A session on May 7 in Los Angeles with both Gadd and Gunning in attendance.

When asked about how he depicted the real people depicted as characters in the show, Gadd said he feels "toxic empathy" toward his stalker.

"I never saw someone who was a villain," Gadd said. "I saw someone who was lost by the system, really. I saw someone who needed help and wasn't getting it. At the end of the day, she's just someone who's in a lot of pain."

Piers Morgan announced that he interviewed Fiona Harvey.

On May 8, Piers Morgan announced that he had interviewed Fiona Harvey, the woman who the stalker is allegedly based on.

Harvey said that Morgan "used" her during the interview.

Before the episode of "Piers Morgan Uncensored" dropped on Thursday, Harvey spoke to Scottish newspaper, the Daily Record about the interview.

She claimed that Morgan only paid her £250 for her appearance, and said that he "used" her.

"I have my own thoughts on it that I'd like to keep to myself but I wouldn't say I was happy. It was very rapid to try to trip me up," Harvey said. "He did it fast paced to catch me off guard."

Morgan's representatives did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.

During the interview, Harvey denied that she stalked Gadd, and called him "psychotic."

In the 54-minute long interview, Harvey denied that she stalked Gadd , and claimed that she didn't send him 41,000 emails as Gadd claimed in a 2019 interview with The Independent .

"I don't think I sent him anything. There may have been a couple of emails, jokey banter, but that is it," Harvey told Morgan.

She also alleged that Gadd propositioned her for sex, but she declined.

When Morgan asked if she'd watched "Baby Reindeer, Harvey said: "No, I think I'd be sick. It's taken over enough of my life. I find it quite obscene. I find it horrifying, misogynistic," she explained. "He's making money out of my misery. He's making money out of untrue facts. He's the ultimate misogynist."

Gadd has not responded to Harvey's claims. His representatives did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

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