THOMAS Paine was a quarrelsome, headstrong man,

who liked to drink brandy more than he liked to work.

But he was also a brave man, who believed in liberty

and was not afraid to say so--even at the risk of his life.

The man who has been called the "godfather of the

United States" was born in Thetford, England, in 1737.

His father, Joseph, earned his living making corsets for the

ladies of the village. As soon as Tom finished grammar

school, he was put to work learning to cut and measure

fabric and to insert the whalebone stays that gave the

corsets their shape.