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...
Chuck Yeager, American Pioneer of Flight
Driven by an unshakable sense of duty and a love of life in the air, Chuck Yeager has spent decades pushing the boundaries of...
Stanley Kunitz, American Poet
Stanley Kunitz was destined to be a poet. Kunitz once said, “There was so much joy in playing with the language that I couldn’t...
John Philip Sousa, “The March King”
John Philip Sousa is the American composer behind such marching band classics as “The Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Semper Fidelis.”
John Philip Sousa's Early...
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...
Louis Henri Sullivan, Renowned American Architect
“The skyscraper poet” is how Time magazine referred to Louis Sullivan in 1951. The description holds true today, as Sullivan is widely recognized as...
William Butler Yeats, Irish Poet and Dramatist
William Butler Yeats, a romantic, poet, playwright and senator, drew on national pride, spiritualism and love, and was credited with helping revive interest in...
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Composer of Musical Theater
Considered one of the most successful contemporary composers, Andrew Lloyd Webber has consistently created works that garner international appeal and success. He has created...
W.E.B. Du Bois, Civil Rights Pioneer and Social Historian
A tireless activist and scholar, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote “The Souls of Black Folk” and was a founding member of the National Association for...
Charles Darwin, Developer of the Theory of Natural Selection
Charles Darwin was never a great student—but he was an avid collector of beetles. After graduating from college, the budding naturalist accepted a position...










