Helen Keller was born deaf and blind in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. At age 6, she was connected with teacher Anne Sullivan who helped breakthrough Helen's world of silence by getting her to understand the connection between the manual alphabet signals for "w-a-t-e-r" and the sensation of water flowing over her hand at a well-pump. Within 6 months, Helen had learned 625 words and by age 10 had mastered Braille and sign language. She went on to graduate cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1904.