Tim Burton, Director and Animator

Tim Burton is a maverick auteur in a world where filmmakers are often relegated to pleasing Hollywood studios and producers. But his quirky and...

Peter Sellers, Impressionist and Comedic Actor

The shape-shifting aspects of Peter Sellers made him one of the most versatile actors around—his many faces, voices and impressions lending themselves to characters...

Anne Frank, Holocaust Diarist

Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank lived 15 years, yet her legacy has lived on for decades. In the book known in English as...

Jack Dempsey, Legendary Boxer

Jack Dempsey was one of the great figures of the “golden age of sports” in the 1920s, a ruthless fighter known for brutal early-round...

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel, Daredevil

Evel Knievel was one of the world’s most famous daredevils. In honor of his birthday, we explore his rise to fame, his bone-breaking stunts...

Maxim Gorky, Russian Writer and Activist

Political activist, author and playwright Maxim Gorky gave a voice to the unheard majority of Russia before, during and after the Russian Revolution. From...

Thurgood Marshall, Civil Rights Lawyer and Supreme Court Justice

Before Thurgood Marshall became the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court, he was also the most successful person to argue cases before the...

T.S. Eliot, Nobel Prize Winning Writer

As a philosopher, theologian, poet, playwright and essayist working in the early 20th century, T.S. Eliot saw and described the American and European landscape...

Jim Thorpe, the “Greatest Athlete in the World”

Jim Thorpe is acknowledged to be one of the greatest ever all-around athletes, a man who excelled in football, track, baseball and any other...

Fats Waller, Jazz Entertainer and Composer

Fats Waller's piano virtuousity and outsize personality made him a jazz legend. But his talents didn’t stop there; he was also a vaudeville performer,...