In today's Internet world, we would like to focus not only on technology but also on important personalities. And where else to start than with Bill Gates, one of the most famous names in the IT industry. The founder of Microsoft and until recently the richest man in the world was involved in the creation of Windows, as well as several other interesting projects that fundamentally influenced the development of modern technologies and programs. A lot of articles have been written about Bill Gates, but we will try to tell you lesser-known yet interesting facts that may surprise you.
Everyone knows the name Bill Gates, but do you know his full name? His full name is William Henry Gates III. William commonly refers to Bill in English. You will think about the third. Bill was simply the third male member of the Gates family to bear the name. To better differentiate, his family chose the addition of a noble numeral. Even in his childhood, he had the nickname Trey, which is based on the English "The Third" literally third.
His interest in computers began to show when he began attending a private Lakeside School at the age of thirteen. He even created a simple game on a school computer. Later, he began going to a special center (CCC) with his friends, which allowed him to work on PDP-10 systems for a limited time. However, Gates and his classmates soon bypassed the time limit and gained free time on the computer for free. When the management found out, it banned all four friends (including Paul Allen in addition to Gates) from using the systems as punishments for some time. After the ban expired, CCC companies offered to look for errors in their source code in exchange for free time. This cooperation lasted until 1970 when the company ceased operations. Besides, when the school learned about Bill Gates' programming skills, it offered him to create a program for creating schedules and generating the composition of individual courses. Gates seized the opportunity and smuggled a special section into the program code to ensure that he would take courses with a lot of interesting girls for Bill.
Bill Gates is one of the richest people on earth. He believes that an excess of suddenly inherited money would not be in the best interests of the children, so he decided to leave $ 10 million for each of his descendants. He wants to bequeath all the remaining money to charity, which is a truly unprecedented move given its volume.
The generous intention to donate the estate to charity does not mean that Bill is ashamed to use his money for his needs and interests. In addition to a private Bombardier BD-700 jet worth about $ 40 million, he also owned the ancient Codex Leicester, a scientific paper by Leonardo da Vinci. Another interesting property of Bill Gates is Porsche 959, which was detained by the American customs administration for an incredible 13 years in the port of San Francisco due to failure to meet the conditions for safety and ecology.
Bill Gates' residence is also ambitious. It covers an area of 6,100 m² and partially coincides with the surrounding terrain. It is also protected from the eyes of the curious by a large number of trees and shrubs. His residence features a huge library with a glass dome and milking secret chambers, a special room with a trampoline and a ceiling of more than six meters high, a reception with 150 seats or a swimming pool in a separate building. There are 24 bathrooms and 10 kitchens to relax in. The whole house is interwoven with technologies that are powered by a central server system also located directly in the house. These are, for example, ubiquitous screens worth more than three million crowns, on which you can display your favorite paintings or photographs. Of course, there is also a music system that can ensure that the music "travels" home with you anywhere, underwater speakers are built even in the pool. A complete specialty is the system of sensors, heating, and air conditioning, which can maintain the temperature in any room according to the preferences of the guest present. Its gigantic headquarters is nicknamed Xanadu 2.0.
The last interesting thing is that in 2005 the British Queen Elizabeth II. praised Bill Gates for his contribution to the whole world in modern technology and charitable activities by the Order of the British Empire, thus elevating him to the status of knight-commander. His full name, including the title, reads "William Henry Gates III., KBE".