Auguste Escoffier, Innovative Chef and Inventor of the Chef’s Hat
Modern cuisine owes many of its practices to the great French chef Auguste Escoffier: he changed public dining in hotels and restaurants worldwide by...
Nat King Cole, Singer and Jazz Pioneer
Nat King Cole’s musical upbringing forged a career that would delve the nuances of the jazz trio and fashion a more subtle approach to...
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...
Saul Bellow, American Novelist
“The backbone of 20th-century American literature”—this was novelist Philip Roth’s assessment of Saul Bellow. His struggle with modernism, his Jewish upbringing, his feelings of...
Stephen Crane, Author of “The Red Badge of Courage”
Although he is considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Stephen Crane’s life and career were cut short before his...
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, the “Father of Microbiology”
The “Father of Microbiology,” Anton van Leeuwenhoek was not a trained scientist, yet he made some of the most astounding scientific discoveries of his...
Charles Darwin, Developer of the Theory of Natural Selection
Charles Darwin was never a great student—but he was an avid collector of beetles. After graduating from college, the budding naturalist accepted a position...
Cecil B. DeMille, Hollywood Director
Cecil B. DeMille was one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. Not only did he produce and direct more than 70 films to...
George Sand, Groundbreaking Writer
She may have adopted a male name and male attire, but French novelist Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, aka George Sand, moved female emancipation and independence forward...
Johann Sebastian Bach, Baroque Organist and Composer
During his lifetime Johann Sebastian Bach was better known as a virtuoso organist, harpsichordist and organ builder than as a composer. It wasn’t until...
