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...

Anthony Quinn, Iconic Mexican-American Actor

Best remembered for his roles in “Zorba the Greek,” “Viva Zapata!” and “La Strada,” prolific actor Anthony Quinn was an icon of old Hollywood...

Walter Cronkite, CBS News Anchor

To his colleagues, he was “Old Iron Pants,” and to everyone else, he was “The Most Trusted Man in America.” For more than half...

Noam Chomsky, Influential Linguist and Activist

The founder of modern linguistics and one of the most esteemed (and controversial) political theorists and activists of our age, Noam Chomsky has inspired,...

Francis Scott Key, Author of “The Star-Spangled Banner”

Francis Scott Key was a Federalist, a lawyer, attorney general of Washington, D.C., a husband and the father of 11 children. An ancestor 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...

Jean Piaget, Developmental Psychologist

Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget was the first to realize that the cognitive processes of children differ from those of adults. Over his 75-year career...

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...

W.S. Gilbert, Operetta Librettist for “The Pirates of Penzance”

William Schwenck Gilbert, one half of the successful Gilbert and Sullivan duo, had a knack for satire and an eye for staging, producing comic...

Walt Disney, Creator of Mickey Mouse and Disneyland

Although Walt Disney’s first illustration company went broke, the ambitious animator took his sketchbook to Hollywood where he made it big with a mouse...