The very first Casa dei Bambini (The Children's House) was established on January 6, 1907 in San Lorenzo Rome, Italy by Maria Montessori.There are now an estimated 4,000 Montessori schools in the United States and 7,000 worldwide.
Some famous Montessori students include:
Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon.com)
Larry Page and Sergey Brin (co-founders of Google)
Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia)
Anne Frank (famous child diarist from World War 2)
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (editor and First lady)
T. Berry Brazelton (noted pediatrician and author)
Prince William and Prince Harry (English royal family)
Helen Hunt and George Clooney (Academy award winning actors)