Emily Brontë, Author of “Wuthering Heights”

“Emily Brontë wrote so little in her short life that it is difficult to appraise her work...One point is generally agreed upon: that in...

Chiune Sugihara, the “Japanese Schindler”

Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese consul during World War II who helped save the lives of thousands of Polish Jewish refugees by signing visas...

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...

Tammy Wynette, Country Music’s First Lady

By the age of 20, Tammy Wynette was divorced with three children, and working two jobs. At the time, the singer performed just to...

Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-Winning Economist

Milton Friedman was inspired by the dire financial circumstances of the Great Depression, and became convinced that economic burdens could be lifted through encouraging...

Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Pioneer

Born into a life of religion, Martin Luther King Jr. used his faith to help guide a divided nation toward racial equality, breaking barriers...

Georges Seurat, Pointillist Painter

Although his artistic career lasted only a decade, Georges Seurat’s influence has stood the test of time. Popularized with his famous work “Sunday Afternoon...

Nelson Mandela, First Black President of South Africa

Nelson Mandela was elected during the first election when South African blacks were allowed to vote. A leader of the resistance for years, Mandela...

Ayn Rand, Proponent of “The Virtue of Selfishness”

Outlier and icon, enemy of altruism and champion of the free market, writer and philosopher, Ayn Rand was too extreme to be categorized by...

Margaret Thatcher, Former British Prime Minister

Known as the “Iron Lady,” British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the first woman to lead a Western democracy, a position she held for...