Robert Louis Stevenson, Author of “Treasure Island”

Although weak in health himself, Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson will always be associated with vigorous adventure, thanks to such thrilling tales as “Kidnapped”...

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....

Omar Khayyam: Persian Mathematician, Astronomer and Poet

Omar Khayyam was a brilliant mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and physician of the 11th century. He contributed to the basic principles of algebra and developed...

Edward R. Murrow, Pioneering Broadcast Journalist

Reporter during World War II, host of radio and television news shows, and head of the United States Information Agency, Edward R. Murrow was...

Mark Spitz, Swimming Legend

Mark Spitz was a brash swimming prodigy who overcame disappointment in the 1968 Olympics to win seven gold medals in 1972, setting a record...

Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States

Early on, it hardly seemed as if Harry S. Truman—a farmer, an army captain in World War I and a haberdasher—was on track to...

Romualdo Pacheco, California’s First Latino Governor

Romualdo Pacheco, born October 31, 1831, was the first Hispanic representative of a state in Congress and to date, California’s only Latino governor. Romualdo Pacheco's...

D.H. Lawrence, Author of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”

At the end of his life, D.H. Lawrence wrote, “For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be...

Abraham Lincoln, “The Great Emancipator”

Abraham Lincoln worked his way from a log cabin to the White House, teaching himself law and earning the faith of the electorate through...

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...