Hans Christian Andersen, Poet and Author of Fairy Tales

Fairy tales may seem to have existed since the beginning of storytelling, but Hans Christian Andersen is the acknowledged father of the modern form....

Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

“Nietzsche’s actual thought is a…system, at the beginning of which stands the death of God…the ensuing nihilism, and at its end the self-surmounting of...

Jacques Cousteau, Deep Sea Pioneer

Jacques Cousteau is known for developing the aqualung, the one-man submarine and an underwater village off Sudan. While a measure of controversy surrounds his...

James Audubon, Artist, Ornithologist and Naturalist

Many a bird watcher will recognize the name of John James Audubon, the famous naturalist who made a name for himself by painting and...

Charles Dickens, Notable English Novelist

Charles Dickens is best remembered for novels such as “Oliver Twist” and “David Copperfield.” For his dedication to social justice, most notably his humanizing...

Jane Addams, Social Settlement Worker

Jane Addams was a pioneer in the field of social work and co-founder of the Hull House, a settlement house for lower class immigrants...

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...

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...

Maimonides, Jewish Philosopher and Theologian

Maimonides’ ability to harmonize philosophies of the Greco-Roman, medieval Western, Jewish and Islamic civilizations in the context of his own religious beliefs has established...

Fred Rogers, Host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”

For more than 30 years Fred Rogers welcomed children and their parents into a realm of imagination on his show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Through...