Ursula K. Le Guin, Writer

Novelist, poet and translator Ursula Le Guin is best known for creating worlds of fantasy and of the far future, but that is only...

Samuel Adams, One of the US’s 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...

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...

Leo Szilard, Physicist and Contributor to the Manhattan Project

Leo Szilard, the Hungarian Jewish physicist, molecular biologist and inventor, worked on the Manhattan Project but expressed himself as a “scientist of conscience,” using...

Jean Renoir, French Filmmaker

Lauded after his death as one of cinema’s greatest directors, Jean Renoir earned comparatively few words of praise during his lifetime. From a childhood...

Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Religion

Iranian spiritual leader Bahá'u'lláh founded the Bahá’í religion in 1863. Today, it has five million followers from around the world. Bahá'u'lláh's Early Days Mirza Hoseyn Ali...

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...

Miriam Makeba, Singer and Anti-Apartheid Activist

Miriam Makeba, widely known as “Mama Africa,” was exiled from her home of South Africa for her revolutionary words and songs, but was widely...

Edward Jenner, Physician Who Discovered a Vaccination for Smallpox

An English physician who spent his early years studying fossils and birds, Edward Jenner discovered a vaccination for smallpox disease in 1796. His experiments...

Werner Herzog, Eccentric Filmmaker

Renowned German documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog focuses on the eccentric, the original and the fascinating in people and stories, reflecting his own inner nature....