Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s “Dear Leader”
Kim Jong Il assumed power a few years after his father suffered a heart attack. The dictator had a reputation as a somewhat erratic...
Sandra Day O’Connor, First Female Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor endured a great deal of gender-based prejudice before she became the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice. During...
Aimee Semple McPherson, Founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
Some people see Aimee Semple McPherson as one of the first feminists, while others believe she is one of the 20th century’s greatest spiritual...
Isadora Duncan, Mother of Modern Dance
One of the most active dancers and choreographers of her time, Isadora Duncan is considered the inventor of Modern Dance. Using dance to express...
Carl Jung, Founder of Analytical Psychology
A Swiss-born psychologist, Carl Jung is best known for his identification of synchronicity, the Collective Unconscious and the concept of archetypes that dictate human...
Noah Webster, Educator and Dictionary Writer
Noah Webster was a pioneering thinker devoted to books and learning. After the American Revolution, he set out to help the United States develop...
George Pullman, Inventor of the Sleeper Car
Inventor and industrialist George Pullman literally raised Chicago from the sewer and built luxury railroad cars for the elite. The media praised his “utopian”...
Niccolò Machiavelli, Author of “The Prince”
Niccolò Machiavelli lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in Italian history. An early alliance with the wrong faction suspended his political career;...
Orville Wright, First Man to Fly an Airplane
Orville Wright was a leading aviation pioneer of the early 20th century. He and his older brother Wilbur are credited for being the first...
Franz Kafka, Author of “The Metamorphosis”
Living a life tortured by his own insecurity and lack of connection to the world around him, Franz Kafka found comfort in his writing,...
