Carole King, Chart-Topping Singer-Songwriter

Carole King started playing the piano at age 4 and hasn’t stopped since. Out of college in the 1960s King was writing some of...

Edmund Hillary, First Man to Summit Mt. Everest

An explorer at heart, humble New Zealand beekeeper Edmund Hillary became the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest in 1953, and...

Gregory Peck, Cinema’s Unflappable Leading Man

Placed in Hollywood’s limelight by a mix of hard work and simple good luck, Gregory Peck was known for a blend of honesty, strength...

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...

Roger Bannister, First Runner to Break the Four-Minute Mile

In 1954, British medical student Roger Bannister became the first man to break the four-minute mile barrier, earning him international admiration and to receive...

Johnny Cash, Country, Folk and Rockabilly Musician

Johnny Cash—the “Man in Black”—is an American legend. His music epitomizes the life and landscape of the American South, and has influenced generations of...

Stephen Jay Gould, Paleontologist and Science Writer

Renowned for both his revolutionary contributions to evolutionary biology and his ability to make science accessible to the public, Stephen Jay Gould drew upon...

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Author and Abolitionist

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s most memorable contribution to society was her book, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The responses to Stowe’s work were so powerfully divisive that...

Alberto Giacometti, Sculptor

Famous for his sculptures of stick-thin figures with razor-sharp, fine features, Alberto Giacometti was an artist who defied categorization. His work flirted with nearly...

Salvador Dalí, Spanish Surrealist Artist

The artistic career of surrealist master Salvador Dalí transcends the limitations of medium, encompassing painting, writing, sculpture and filmmaking. Dalí’s wild imagination made a...