Meriwether Lewis, Western Explorer
Along with William Clark, Meriwether Lewis led the first expedition through the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, revealing the landscape and nature of the...
Peggy Guggenheim, Art Collector
American heiress Peggy Guggenheim was considered to be as intriguing as the art she collected. One of the pioneering collectors of Abstract Expressionism, she...
Brian Wilson, Co-founder of the Beach Boys
From the living room of his parents’ house to the world stage, Brian Wilson worked to establish the classic California surf sound with his...
Jacques Cousteau, Deep Sea Pioneer
Jacques Cousteau is known for developing the aqualung, the one-man submarine and an underwater village off Sudan. While a measure of controversy surrounds his...
Hedy Lamarr, Actress and Inventor
Hedy Lamarr was a woman perpetually ahead of her time. She shocked the world with some racy roles in the 1930s, and a decade...
Auguste Escoffier, Innovative Chef and Inventor of the Chef’s Hat
Modern cuisine owes many of its practices to the great French chef Auguste Escoffier: he changed public dining in hotels and restaurants worldwide by...
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...
Jules Verne, Science Fiction Author
Jules Verne was a pioneer in literature. With a powerful interest in writing and an imagination that was ahead of his time, Verne became...
Charles Atlas, Famed Bodybuilder
Legendary bodybuilder Charles Atlas became an icon in the 1920s as the man who transformed himself from a skinny weakling into a muscle-bound celebrity.
Charles...
Sonia Sotomayor, First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice
Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and the third female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Hailing from a working-class background, Sotomayor...
