Bill Gates

Bill Gates

When one thinks of computer software, one must think of Microsoft. In fact if you use a computer, chances are that you will have some type of program on there that is developed by Microsoft. The CEO, chairman, cofounder, and owner of 147 billion shares of Microsoft is Bill Gates.

William Henry Gates III was born in the midst of a scenic Seattle on

Thursday, October 28, 1995 to his parents Mary and William Henry Gates Jr. His childhood was uneventful and was well raised. He went to Sunday school at the

Congregational church and sang in the choir. He was a Boy Scout but never showed interest for either of these activities. Gates was an unusual child who spent long periods in his room in deep thought. He loved science and showed great skill in the area of math. In fact he scored a perfect on the math section of the SAT. His high school English teacher Anne Stephens was amazed at

Gates' memory. She commented on how Gates had remembered a 3-page soliloquy for a school play in one reading. He read often, tried to take up the trombone, had no interest in philosophy but rather thought of himself as a "scientist." His science teacher, William Dougall, remembers if the teacher wasn't going fast enough, "Bill always seemed on the verge of saying, 'But that's obvious.'" Gates once said to a teacher that some day he would be a millionaire. A grossly underestimated statement. Today Gates is one of the richest men in the world.

In the fall of 1968, Bill Gates was entering the 8th grade at lakeside School, and his best friend Paul Allen, entered the 10th grade. Lakeside invested $3,000 into a Teletype machine which could connect to the business computer via a phone line. When the computer courses began in January 1969, both Gates and Allen discovered their passion for programming. Since very few teachers knew anything about computers, the boys taught themselves with every manual they could get their hands on. Some days both would cut gym to gain extra time on the terminal.

Gates first program was a ticktacktoe game. Gates and Allen would soon be restricted to time on the terminal because the school's electric bill was ever increasing. In a long series of mishaps Gates and Allen would soon be programming away at Lakeside. The math teacher that had been assigned to do class scheduling, manually, died in an airplane accident. Gates and Allen were offered $2,400 worth of computer time in exchange for a class scheduling program.