Information Source: http://www.geocities.com/laetitialand/hk_main.html

Heidi Klum was born in Hamburg, Germany on June 1st 1973 and grew up nearby in Bergische Gladbach, a small city in Cologne, Germany. At the age of eighteen while still attending High School in Germany, she read a magazine advertisement for a modeling competition and was intrigued by the idea. She had never even fantasized about winning a beauty contest and was reluctant to enter. Her friend, however, encouraged her to enter and to mail in some photos. Needless to say the magazine asked her to compete in the contest.

The model search called the Model '92 Competition had been organized by Petra magazine and a New York Modeling agency. The selection process was very difficult. 30-40 girls entered hoping to win a chance to appear on a German show called Gottschalk. Candidates were eliminated weekly. Heidi was one of 3 finalists, and won Model '92.

While Heidi's entering the contest was done just for fun, it turned out to be an event that has changed her life. She immediately signed a 3 year contract with the Metropolitan Modeling Agency.

Heidi's first modeling assignments were for German clothing catalogs, but then she got work in Paris and Milan and ultimately got work here in the USA in Miami and New York. Before long she received the ultimate modeling offer to become one of Victoria's Secret's Angels. Heidi was now well on her way and appeared on the covers of such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Self, Glamour, and Mademoiselle, but none of this work gave her the recognition that Heidi received as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition's 1998 cover girl (as well as appearing in the '99 and 2000 shoots).

Heidi now enjoys supermodel status and has begun to undertake acting assignments. She was seen on ABC's hit series Spin City and made a hit in her first film appearance in the feature film 54, as a V.I.P. patron.

To the dismay of every single man on the planet, Heidi got married back in 1999 to her hair stylist Ric Pipino and says she is very happy. Heidi Klum is everywhere before the camera. She is seen almost daily on TV advertisements and on magazine covers. The face of Heidi changes daily from cool to hot, lazy to energetic, and from sexually aggressive to sensitive and fragile.

She may well be the world's most beautiful woman.
Edit: I know now that the world's most beautiful woman is Kate Beckinsale. Period.