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...
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, First Elected Female President in Africa
In honor of her October 29 birthday, we look at the life and career of longtime politician and economist-in-exile Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who became the...
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...
William Faulkner, American Novelist
William Faulkner, revered modernist writer, historian and sociologist, is known for capturing the raw beauty of the rural South in all its dark complexity....
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...
Elizabeth Blackwell, First Female Physician in America
When Elizabeth Blackwell was born in 1821, there were no formally trained female physicians in the Western world. But Blackwell graduated first in her...
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;...
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”...
Candice Bergen, Film and Television Star
Candice Bergen came from a show business family and starred in numerous films in the 1960s and 1970s. But it wasn’t until her 10-year...
Omar Khayyam: Persian Mathematician, Astronomer and Poet
Omar Khayyam was a brilliant mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and physician of the 11th century. He contributed to the basic principles of algebra and developed...
