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...
Tony Kushner, Writer of “Angels in America”
“My day job is playwright. My citizen job is activist...I succeed and fail at both my jobs, but I try to do them both.”...
Scott Joplin, Ragtime Composer of “The Entertainer” and “Maple Leaf Rag”
American composer Scott Joplin, the “King of Ragtime,” composed dozens of legendary ragtime songs in the late 1800s and early 1900s, including such iconic...
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...
Sir Laurence Olivier, Stage and Screen Actor
Considered by many to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, Laurence Olivier changed the landscape of theater and film in his time,...
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, Engineer and Psychologist
Lillian Moller Gilbreth fought the social conventions of her time to become one of the first PhD-holding female engineers. She was also a psychologist...
Federico García Lorca, Spanish Poet and Playwright
Before the Spanish Civil War, scholars, literary figures and artists from all of Europe found a home in Spain, a nation of contrasts, diverse...
Luciano Pavarotti, World Famous Opera Singer
Luciano Pavarotti, the so-called “King of the High Cs,” brought opera to the masses with his clear, pitch-perfect voice. In a life that began...
Percival Lowell, First to Imagine Life on Mars
A naturally gifted mathematician, Percival Lowell shunned convention to pursue theories that walked the line between science fiction and scientific prophecy. He was compelled...
Doris Lessing, Social Commentator and Nobel Prize Winner in Literature
A powerful, politically minded and acerbic Nobel Laureate, Britain's Doris Lessing was a treasured social commentator and novelist who continued her prolific and award-winning...
