Rachel Morgan

10/16/05

American History #2

Biography of Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle, Washington, to the parents William H. Gates II and Mary Gates. He attended and public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. He gained an interest in software and started programming computers at the age of 13. In 1973 he entered Harvard as a student. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair. While a junior, he left Harvard to devote his time to the Microsoft Company that he had created in 1975 with a good friend Paul Allen. Gates believed that there would come a time when everyone would be using computers, whether it is for home, school, or work. In 1980, Gates and Allen developed a system for IBM, the system was called MS-DOS. In 1983 Allen left the company. By 1986 Gates was a billionaire. On January 1, 1994 Bill Gates married Melinda French. 1995, Gates wrote the book, The Road Ahead. In 1999, Microsoft was split into two companies due to monopolization over computers and the internet browsers. Also, this year he wrote, Business @ the Speed of Thought. In 2005 he received the honor of becoming one of the Knights of the British Empire. He can't use Sir in front of his name since he is not a commonwealth citizen, but he can use KBE after his name. He and his wife have donated a lot of money to various aide and research organizations. He currently has three children. He also currently lives in Medina, Washington.

Credits:

Thanks To:

1. http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/bio.asp

2. http://www.answers.com/topic/bill-gates

3. http://www.biography-online.com/biographies/celebrity/bill-gates.shtml