Peter the Great, Czar of Russia
Peter the Great became czar of Russia when he was only 10 years old. As a young man, he showed little interest in politics...
Tim Burton, Director and Animator
Tim Burton is a maverick auteur in a world where filmmakers are often relegated to pleasing Hollywood studios and producers. But his quirky and...
Jack Kerouac, Beat Author of “On the Road”
Jack Kerouac’s beatnik persona has reached near mythical levels. But the author of “On the Road” never enjoyed his celebrity status, and lived a...
Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights Lawyer and Supreme Court Justice
Before Thurgood Marshall became the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court, he was also the most successful person to argue cases before the...
Beverly Cleary, Author of the “Ramona” Books
Beverly Cleary captured the experiences of childhood and created a world of fiction that children have enjoyed for decades. Beloved characters such as Ramona...
Roger Staubach, America’s Quarterback
Modest, patient and undeniably talented, Roger Staubach took a long route to NFL stardom, but once there he became one of the most accomplished...
Arthur Schopenhauer, “Pessimistic” Philosopher
A notoriously pessimistic philosopher who aspired to give meaning to the human condition through the appreciation and analysis of art, Arthur Schopenhauer challenged the...
Anne Frank, Holocaust Diarist
Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank lived 15 years, yet her legacy has lived on for decades. In the book known in English as...
Stephen Jay Gould, Paleontologist and Science Writer
Renowned for both his revolutionary contributions to evolutionary biology and his ability to make science accessible to the public, Stephen Jay Gould drew upon...
Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement
Rosa Parks was a seamstress and NAACP secretary whose simple act of civil disobedience—her refusal to give up her seat on the bus to...
