Remembering heroes

Countries, cities and people all have their own heroes. There are different kinds of heroes: politicians, soldiers, film stars, sport stars and musicians. And there are many different ways of remembering them, too. Here are some of the things that we do to make sure that we don’t forget our heroes.
• Sometimes we build statues or sculptures of heroes, especially of politicians and soldiers, but sometimes of writers too. Many cities in South America have a statue of Simon Bolivar (he helped lead many South American countries to independence). And the famous Mount Rushmore in the USA remembers four US presidents of the past.
• We often remember soldiers and other people who died in war with a monument, like the Monument to the People’s heroes in Beijing, China, or a memorial, like the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris.
• Some countries have a special remembrance day, like the one every January in the USA for Dr Martin Luther King, the human rights leader.
• When Lady Diana Spencer died in 1997, in Paris, many people left flowers and messages near the place where the car accident happened. Now there is a ‘Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain’ in Hyde Park in London.
• Sometimes places are named after famous people: for example, Liverpool, in England and Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil both have airports named after local musicians, John Lennon and Tom Jobim.
• In Hollywood, The Walk of Fame has the names of film, TV and music celebrities in stars on the pavement. Very famous celebrities have their handprints, footprints and autographs in concrete at Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Different countries and people remember their heroes in different ways, including many ways that are not mentioned here. Perhaps in your country there are some different ways