Cornel West, Author, Professor and Hip-Hop Artist

Cornel West, a popular professor of religion at Princeton University, has received widespread notoriety for both his intellectual abilities and his knack for sparking...

Melissa Etheridge, Musician, Cancer Survivor and Gay Rights Activist

An Oscar winner and two-time Grammy Award winner, the prolific Melissa Etheridge is renowned for her blend of pop-infused folk rock and her advocacy...

Eliot Ness, Leader of the Prohibition-Era “Untouchables”

Eliot Ness had a distinguished career in law enforcement. He and his team of “Untouchables” fought against Al Capone and illegal bootlegging in Chicago...

William Faulkner, American Novelist

William Faulkner, revered modernist writer, historian and sociologist, is known for capturing the raw beauty of the rural South in all its dark complexity....

Steve Jobs, Creator of Apple Computers

Derided by some, held up as a technological savior by others, Steve Jobs helped launch a wave of personal computer use that has redefined...

Jimmy Stewart, Award-Winning Actor and War Hero

Whether playing a sardonic journalist, earnest politician, recalcitrant cowboy or a man at his wit’s end, Jimmy Stewart stuttered and shuffled his way into...

Oleg Cassini, Fashion Designer

The elegant designs worn by Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly came to embody American fashion during the 1950s and 1960s. The man responsible for...

Marlene Dietrich, Glamorous Siren of the Silver Screen

1901 An icon of sexuality and sensuality who captured her public with understated beauty and nonchalant charm, the German-born Marlene Dietrich was one of the...

Niccolò Paganini, Violinist and Composer

Playing with a skill so dazzling and in so eerie a manner that it was seen as supernatural, violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini is...

Samuel Johnson, Dictionary Writer and Biographer

Not only did Samuel Johnson’s work define the literature of the 18th century, his dictionary defined the language. Sometimes called “the great convulsionary” for...