Michael Phelps, Record-Breaking Swimmer
Michael Phelps is one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history, with 28 total medals, 23 of which are gold. At the 2008 Beijing...
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...
Saul Bellow, American Novelist
“The backbone of 20th-century American literature”—this was novelist Philip Roth’s assessment of Saul Bellow. His struggle with modernism, his Jewish upbringing, his feelings of...
Samuel Adams, One of the United States’ Founding Fathers
Rebel, patriot and politician Samuel Adams helped organize protests against the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Tea Act of 1773 and developed a...
Leonardo da Vinci, Painter, Scientist and Thinker
Leonardo da Vinci will forever be known for “The Last Supper” and “Mona Lisa.” But there was more to the man than his art....
Claude Monet, Leader of the Impressionist School of Painting
French painter Claude Monet was the central figure of the Impressionist movement in the late 19th century, producing colorful, vibrant studies of natural and...
Ed Asner, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s” Lou Grant
Actor and political activist Ed Asner has earned critical acclaim both on Broadway and in Hollywood. He is best known for his Emmy and...
Enrico Fermi, Nuclear Physicist
Enrico Fermi’s pioneering work in the field of nuclear fission won him a Nobel Prize, and ushered in the nuclear age. His discoveries led...
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,...
Jackie Robinson, Baseball Pioneer
Jackie Robinson was an accomplished multi-sport athlete who in 1947 became the first black baseball player in the modern major leagues. He displayed courage...
