Napoleon Bonaparte was so damn cool, damn. Napoleon Bonaparte is seen by many today as a careless dictator who oppressed his people and cared only about his personal power. Although this was an important part of his personality, Napoleon was much more than this. Napoleon Bonaparte was a strategic military genius who conquered much of the European continent and also made advances in French civil liberties. Napoleon Buonparte's first cry was heard in the city of Ajaccio, an island in Corsica, France, on August 15, 1769. As the fourth of eleven children, he was born into an already large family destined to grow. He had "the same privileges as the French nobility" (Napoleon I) because his father was considered a form of lesser royalty. At the age of ten, he was sent to the College of Autun in Burgundy, France, to acquire a military education alongside his older brother. Unfortunately, the brothers were separated the following year when Napoleon was sent to the College of Brienne while his brother remained there. He remained in Brienne for another five years and achieved numerous awards during his education. Only five years later, in 1784, he enrolled in the prestigious École Militaire in Paris. From here he began working with Louis XVI, later joining an artillery unit in France, where he received much of the training that would influence his later military roles. Napoleon rose to the rank of second lieutenant, but his ambitions lay in his home, which was the epicenter of his dreams and thoughts. (Napoleon I) He was granted extended leave in 1786 to take care of the upset caused by his father's death. He returned to Corsica several times over the course of eight years, but later turned his primary attention... to the medium of paper... to the effort to regain his empire. However, his invasion did not last long as, after the Battle of Waterloo (in which he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the English), he was again forced to abdicate. and the remote island of St. Helena. Napoleon Bonaparte died of what some thought was stomach cancer on May 5, 1821. Although Napoleon wished to be buried among his people, he was instead buried alone on the island. However, he was later taken to France where he is still welcomed as a national hero today. Today, the Arc de Triomphe stands in the center of Paris as a monument to his conquests throughout Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte was an expert leader and military strategist whose plans are studied even today. His Napoleonic code is still used in the political sphere. He was a fantastic man.