Military and Defense

Adler-Collins, Je Kan

Adler-Collins was the child of a military family who was taken into care at the age of three when his mother shot his father during a domestic dispute. He was abused in care for years, but ... [more]

Alexander the Great

Alexander was one of the greatest generals in history. His empire stretched from Greece to Egypt, Asia Minor and as far east as the River Ind in India. He was born the son of Philip II of ... [more]

Antonius Pius (under Roman Empire)

Ancient Roman society institutionalized the adoption of adults. It was relatively common for a wealthy Roman couple to adopt an adult man, even a slave, as heir if they did not have any son... [more]

Baker, Josephine

Baker (the surname of her second husband) was born Josephine Carson to an unmarried couple in the slums of St. Louis, Missouri. Her father abandoned the family before she was a year old, an... [more]

Banks, John

Banks was a New Zealand National Party MP from 1981 to 1999 and has been Minister of Tourism; Sport, Fitness and Leisure; Local Government; and Civil Defence (he resigned his cabinet posts ... [more]

Bokassa I

Jean-Bédel Bokassa was born to a married couple, and his father was a chief. His father was murdered by the French colonial occupiers when he was six, and his mother committed suicide a wee... [more]

Bolívar, Simón

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar, “The Liberator,” was born into a wealthy Creole family in Venezuela, but his father died when he... [more]

Boone, Daniel (under Honorific Adoption)

It is not unusual for adults to be adopted as honorary members of a family, clan or tribe. There are two main types. One is the publicity-stunt adoption of politicians, usually western l... [more]

Bustamante, William Alexander

Little is known for certain about Bustamante's early life, which he seems to have deliberately concealed or fabricated, but he was probably born in Jamaica into poverty, one of 13 children,... [more]

Carl Louis John

Carl was the birth son of Emperor Leopold II but was adopted by his uncle, Duke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen. He was sent to be governor of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794, by which time he w... [more]