13 Kids Who Pulled Off Incredible Professional Achievements
![13 Kids Who Pulled Off Incredible Professional Achievements](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/1/7/896017_320x180.jpg)
It's amazing how much these young minds have accomplished and how much they have changed the world. From John von Neumann's groundbreaking work in mathematics to Bill Gates and Paul Allen's founding of Microsoft, these kids have achieved incredible things.
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It's also inspiring to see the stories of everyday kids who have managed to make a difference in the world. From Diane Hartley's engineering breakthrough to Frank Epperson's invention of the Popsicle, these stories kind of show us that anyone can make a difference.
What's even more remarkable is that these kids were able to achieve so much despite their age and lack of experience. From Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson proving the Pythagorean theorem to Alexander Hamilton's letter about a hurricane in the West Indies, these kids were able to do what many thought was impossible.
So sit back and enjoy this list of incredible professional achievements by kids. We hope that it will inspire you to reach for the stars and pursue your dreams, no matter how young or inexperienced you may be. Or just entertain you on a long bus ride to or from work.
Engineering student solves Citigroup mystery.
![CRACKED DIANE HARTLEY Hartley, an engineering student, asked about the Citigroup Center in NYC and how strong the winds were at its corners. This made the chief engineer go back and look at the wind tunnel test results again, and they had to do some emergency repairs. Center Subway](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/5/895625.jpg)
Proved it, they did.
![CRACKED CALCEA JOHNSON AND NE'KIYA JACKSON These two high schoolers from St. Mary's Academy in New Orleans showed off a new proof of the Pythagorean theorem, using trigonometry, which some people thought couldn't be done. a2+b=c2](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/4/895624.jpg)
Letter changed life.
![CRACKED ALEXANDER HAMILTON Hamilton wrote an account of a really bad hurricane hitting the island of St. Croix in 1772. This was printed in a local newspaper, and it was so good, especially from a teenager, that it encouraged people to raise money to send him to the U.S. from the West Indies.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/3/895623.jpg)
A genius before his time.
![CRACKED JOHN VON NEUMANN Не published his first paper on polynomials when he was only 19, then more or less invented half of the 20th century-up to and including the atomic bomb.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/2/895622.jpg)
Solved homework, got famous.
![CRACKED GEORGE DANTZIG Dantzig, a PhD student at UC Berkeley, saw some problems on the chalkboard in a class and thought they were homework. But they were actually unproven statistics theorems and, in solving his homework, he came up with proofs for them.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/1/9/895619.jpg)
Young genius creates life-saving device.
![CRACKED ANYA POGHARIAN Pogharian, an 18-year-old from Montreal, created a low-cost, portable dialysis machine for a science fair project in 2015. It quickly filters blood, and has earned her worldwide recognition and job offers. 400](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/0/895620.jpg)
Young prodigy builds nuclear fusion reactor.
![CRACKED TAYLOR WILSON At 14 years old, Taylor Wilson made history by becoming the youngest person ever to construct a functional nuclear fusion reactor. Kind of a Dexter's Laboratory-in-real-life situation.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/7/895627.jpg)
Farm Boy to Inventor.
![CRACKED PHILO FARNSWORTH When he was 14, Farnsworth had a life-changing idea that eventually resulted in him getting a patent for the first ever all-electronic television system in 1930. Не was a farm boy, and he was inspired by fields being plowed in horizontal lines.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/6/895626.jpg)
Idea takes two centuries to become law.
![GREGORY WATSON CRACKED In 1992, the 27th Amendment was ratified, 203 years after being proposed. This was all thanks to Watson, a college student. Не noticed it could still legally be ratified, didn't give up, and led a successful grassroots campaign to make it happen. UPDATE OF STUDENT ACADEMIC RECORD Watson Gregory Dos BMO watson gd / 1 Student's college/school Business - Spring 1982 3101 36585 11 American Government F 11 3 1 A e one of the following - appropriate - Conversion of k in tems final grade (See rules governing symbol x on - side Explain believe Connection grine due prating or resolve.X recording SymbolX X - extended](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/8/895628.jpg)
Dream big, kids.
![CRACKED BILL GATES AND PAUL ALLEN When Bill Gates was 15 years old, he and his friend Paul Allen started a business called Traf-o-Data. It was a computer program that looked at traffic patterns in Seattle, and they made $20,000 from it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/1/895621.jpg)
Child prodigy joins military, becomes game developer.
![CRACKED JOHN ROMERO Romero was hired by the Royal Air Force when he was a teenager to do some coding for them. I can't tell you what I was programming because that's classified, he said in an interview decades later and he left it at that.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/1/6/895616.jpg)
"Pop's 'sicles" wins out.
![CRACKED FRANK EPPERSON When he was 11 years old, Frank Epperson invented the popsicle, and applied for a patent. His kids called it Pop's 'sicles instead of Eppsicles, which is what he had originally named it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/1/4/895614.jpg)
Folding paper: now a world record.
![CRACKED BRITNEY GALLIVAN Gallivan is famous for being able to fold a single sheet of paper in half 12 times as a high school junior. Before this, 8 was considered the maximum, and she set the Guinness World Record in 2002. She rigorously worked out the math behind it, too.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/1/8/895618.jpg)