IN: Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire (now Gwynedd), Wales in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he fell in love and had a son with Sarah Junner, a young Scotswoman who had been engaged as governess to his daughters. Sarah was the daughter of Elizabeth Junner and John Lawrence, who worked as a ship's carpenter and was a son of the household in which Elizabeth had been a servant. She was dismissed four months before Sarah was born.

The chief elements of the Arab strategy, developed chiefly by Faisal and Lawrence, were firstly to avoid capturing Medina, and secondly to extend northwards through Maan and Deraa to Damascus and beyond. The Emir Faisal wanted to lead regular attacks against the Ottomans, which Lawrence persuaded him to drop. Lawrence wrote about the Bedouin as a fighting force:  "The value of the tribes is defensive only and their real sphere is guerilla warfare. They are intelligent, and very lively, almost reckless, but too individualistic to endure commands, or fight in line, or to help each other. It would, I think, be possible to make an organized force out of them...The Hejaz war is one of dervishes against regular forces-and we are on the side of the dervishes. Our text-books do not apply to its conditions at all".  Medina was an attractive target for the revolt as Islam's second-holiest site, and because its Ottoman garrison was weakened by disease and isolation. It became clear that it was advantageous to leave it there rather than try to capture it, while continually attacking, but not permanently breaking, the Hejaz railway south from Damascus. This prevented the Ottomans from making effective use of their troops at Medina, and forced them to dedicate many resources to defending and repairing the railway line.  The movement north to Damascus and eventually Aleppo is interesting in the context of the Sykes-Picot agreement. While it is not known when Lawrence learned the details of Sykes-Picot, nor if or when he briefed Faisal on what he knew, there is good reason to think that both these things happened, and earlier rather than later. In particular, the Arab strategy of northward extension makes perfect sense given the Sykes-Picot language that spoke of an independent Arab entity in Syria, which would only be granted if the Arabs liberated the territory themselves. The French, and some of their British Liaison officers, were specifically uncomfortable about the northward movement, as it would weaken French colonial claims.

Did they go through with leading the attacks against the Ottomans?

OUT: 


IN: Robert Matthew Van Winkle was born in Dallas, Texas, on October 31, 1967. Van Winkle has never known his biological father; he was given the family name of the Dutch man his mother was married to at the time of his birth. When Van Winkle was four, his mother divorced. Afterward, he grew up moving between Dallas and Miami, where his new stepfather worked at a car dealership.

After almost non-stop touring for the previous three years, Ice took a break from music in 1993 and began competing in jet skiing (becoming the 6th best jet ski racer in the world and obtaining sponsorship from Kawasaki) as well as resuming Motocross racing.  By 1994, Ice received less publicity and became removed from the public spotlight. After becoming more interested with the Rastafari movement, Ice became a vegetarian, grew dreadlocks and talked more openly about smoking cannabis. On March 22, 1994, Ice released his second studio album, Mind Blowin'. Reviews were unfavorable. Entertainment Weekly reviewer James Bernard called the album "more clunky than funky". Rolling Stone reviewer Danyel Smith praised the song "Get Loose" as "snappy", writing that although the lyrics are "inane", "the song is a thumping party, one of the few places where Ice loosens up. He sounds solid at the beginning of 'The Wrath' as well ... In 'Now and Forever,' a wet dream kind of song, Ice goes back to goofy lyrics." Allrovi reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "There isn't a single moment that establishes a distinct musical identity, and the whole thing is rather embarrassing." Primus bassist Les Claypool stated in response to Ice's cannabis-oriented lyrics: "That's all fine and dandy and cute, but it could be misconstrued and manipulated by the wrong people." When asked about the drug oriented sound years later, Vanilla Ice said "A lot of the record is drug oriented because I was doing a lot of drugs at the time". Shortly afterward, SBK went bankrupt.  At around this time, Ice began using ecstasy, cocaine and heroin. During periods of heavy drug use, Ice received many tattoos from artist acquaintances. According to Ice, he "was in [his] binge days. [He] didn't even realize how many [he] was getting". Ice attempted suicide with a heroin overdose on July 4, 1994 but was revived by his friends. After being revived, Ice decided that it was time to change his lifestyle. As a symbol of his attempt to begin anew, he got a tattoo of a leaf on his stomach. After expanding his Mind Blowin tour overseas in 1995, Ice sold his estate in California and took a break from music, rather focusing on motocrossing and jet skiing in Florida. By the summer Ice was the world's No. 6-ranked sit-down Jet Ski racer, competing nearly every weekend and earning a Kawasaki sponsorship.  Uncertain about his future career, Ice studied real estate and started working on the side renovating and selling houses. In late 1995, Ice set up a recording studio in Miami and joined a grunge band, Pickin Scabz. The name was set to reflect Ice's career and how he was healing from his suicide attempt and that he was now "picking up the pieces". Ice expressed an interest in performing hip hop-influenced rock music, but found that the band was unable to produce the sound he was looking for. In 1996, longtime associate and friend Monte Lipman signed Ice as an artist for Universal Republic Records. He did guest vocals with no stage name for the song "Boom" by Bloodhound Gang on their CD One Fierce Beer Coaster.

Did he have drug issues

OUT:
". Ice attempted suicide with a heroin overdose on July 4, 1994 but was revived by his friends.