Blue
29/4/24
National Superhero Day!
Yesterday was National Superhero Day! Do you like superheroes? Who is your favourite superhero? National Superhero day was started by Marvel Comics, the creators of superheroes in the Marvel Universe, such as Spiderman, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Black Panther. It is a celebration of the fun superheroes you can read about or watch on tv and an opportunity for us to think about real life heroes too.
There are two superhero worlds, Marvel and DC. They started off as comics, both starting in the 1930’s. Superman was the first superhero from DC and then shortly after Phantom was the first superhero from Marvel. Since then many more superheroes have been created in the comic book universes, other story books have been written and tv programmes and films created about them too.
The superheroes in these stories have amazing superpowers, Spiderman can climb like a spider, Thor is amazingly strong, Black Panther can run extremely fast…and they use these superpowers for good. If you could have one superpower what would it be and how would you use it to help others?
Our Superheroes
Superheroes in stories are amazing. They help others, protect them from harm and try and stop characters that are up to no good. But if you think about it there are lots of real life superheroes too. Real people who fight as hard as superheroes to protect others and to help them when they are in need.
Doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, fire fighters and life guards are all real life superheroes. Their job is to protect people and keep them safe. During covid this was especially true and so many people put themselves at risk to protect others. If you have ever had a teacher who really supported and helped you you might see them as your superhero too. Or maybe you see your Mum or Dad as your superhero, someone who supports and loves you over everything else and would fight as hard as a superhero to protect you!
Who would your real life superheroes be?
Captain America
Hulk
Black Panther
Iron Man
10 Real Life Superheroes
There are so many amazing real life superheroes, it would be impossible to pick ‘a top 10’. But here are 10 real life people, in no particular order, who have done amazing things in very different ways. What might have made people think that they were superheroes? Read about them and have a think…
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela lived in South Africa when there was a huge divide between the quality of life of black and white people. ‘Apartheid’ was a law passed in 1948 which made the divide even worse. It meant that black and white people had to keep separate in public spaces, such as restaurants and public transport or even weren’t allowed to attend the same schools. Nelson Mandela knew this was wrong and fought hard to change it. He was arrested and accused of treason against the government and spent 27 years in jail. There were calls for Nelson Mandela to be freed and for apartheid to end, but this took a very long time. In 1990 Nelson Mandela was freed and continued his fight, just as he had from jail. In 1991 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for finally bringing an end to the apartheid laws and incredibly in 1994, when finally everyone was allowed to vote Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa.
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the leaders of the suffragette movement. They were a group of women who were fighting for equal rights for women in this country. At the time women weren’t seen as equal to men. They weren’t given a good education, weren’t allowed to vote or have important jobs, such as being a doctor. Emmeline Pankhurst thought this was unfair and with the other suffragettes fought for women to have equal rights to men. There were protests, and lots of the suffragettes, including Emmeline Pankhurst were arrested. When the First World War broke out the suffragettes had to pause their campaign to help the war effort, taking on the jobs men would usually do while they were away fighting in the war. After the war in 1918 women were finally given the vote, if they were married and over 30 years old! Then 10 years later all women over 21 could finally vote.
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person on a bus in America in 1955. At the time black and white people were segregated in America and had to keep separate and weren’t allowed to mix in public places either. She was arrested because of her refusal to give a white person her seat, but her brave actions of standing up for what she knew to be wrong eventually caused a change in the law. As part of the civil rights movement the law was changed so that all people should have equal rights.
Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther King Jr was also involved in the same civil rights movement as Rosa Parks. He grew up in America and was treated differently because of the colour of his skin as were so many other people unfairly. Just like Rosa Parks he knew this wasn’t right and fought for the laws to be changed. In 1963 he gave a famous speech called ‘I have a dream’. It was all about his dream that one day soon all people in America would be treated fairly and in the same way. That everyone would be equal. Part of his speech said ‘I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.’
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was a scientist. She lived at a time when it was thought that women weren’t clever enough to be scientists. She proved them wrong! Her and her husband, who was also a scientist, discovered radioactivity. This discovery was then developed for medical use and is the science behind x-ray machines. During World War One these x-ray machines were used on the battlefield to help treat soldiers who had been shot or had broken bones. Her discoveries were also used to treat cancer. She was the first ever woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in fact she won two!
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale was a nurse during the Crimean War, a war fought where Russia meets Ukraine now. Soldiers from this country went there to fight and then soon Florence Nightingale and others went there to help the soldiers who had been hurt fighting. The conditions of the hospitals there was very poor and she found patients sleeping on the floor, starving from not being fed properly and actually getting sicker from the spread of disease in the unclean conditions. Florence Nightingale and the others worked quickly to improve the conditions, getting proper medical equipment, beds and food for the soldiers as well as cleaning the hospital to prevent so many diseases from spreading. She saved many lives. Once the war was over Florence Nightingale continued to be a nurse in this county, improving conditions here too.
Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II was queen for 70 years! She was the longest ever reigning king or queen of this country, which is pretty impressive. Although she led a very privileged life, she dedicated it to serving the people of the Commonwealth and worked right up until she died.
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was one of the Prime Ministers of this country during the second world war. He helped lead the fight against the Nazis. He made many speeches to inspire the people of this country and to try and reassure everyone that lots was being done to try and protect them and beat Hitler and the Nazi’s from winning.
Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt is an incredible athlete from Jamacia, who has now retired. He is thought to be the greatest sprinter of all time. When he was racing he competed in the 100 and 200 metres, as well as the 100 metre relay with other Jamaican team mates. He broke the world record for all the races he competed in, his 100 metre time was 9.58 seconds and his 200 metre time was 19.19 seconds. Both of these world records were broken at the World Championship Athletic Competition in 2009 in Berlin. So far no one has managed to run faster and break his record, some think his 100 metre record will never be broken as it was so amazingly fast!
Lional Messi
Lional Messi is a famous footballer from Argentina. He currently is the captain for Inter Miami and his national team of Argentina. He previously played for FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain as well.
Queen Elizabeth II
Nelson Mandela
Emmeline Pankhurst
Winston Churchill
Usain Bolt
All photos in this post are from Madame Tussauds in London, past and present. You can find out more about visiting yourself on the Madame Tussauds website.
All photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots and Shutterstock Images.
Other images on the site may be Public Domain or Creative Commons Images, which are credited appropriately.