Amartya Sen, Nobel-Winning Economist

Economist and philosopher Amartya Sen has been called the “Mother Teresa of economics” for helping improve the lives on the poor through his work...

Salvador Dalí, Spanish Surrealist Artist

The artistic career of surrealist master Salvador Dalí transcends the limitations of medium, encompassing painting, writing, sculpture and filmmaking. Dalí’s wild imagination made a...

W.S. Gilbert, Operetta Librettist for “The Pirates of Penzance”

William Schwenck Gilbert, one half of the successful Gilbert and Sullivan duo, had a knack for satire and an eye for staging, producing comic...

Amelia Earhart, Record-Breaking Pilot

Amelia Earhart set the gold standard for “enlightened feminism.” She was dubbed “Lady Lindy” because of her likeness to aviator Charles Lindbergh, and because...

Brigham Young, Mormon Prophet

He led a church through its infancy, guided thousands of pioneers on a historic cross-country migration, helped settle the state of Utah and was...

Paul McCartney, Legendary Musician and Songwriter

Paul, the “cute” Beatle, attained international fame as one of the Fab Four at the age of 21. He launched a second and a...

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...

Sonia Sotomayor, First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice

Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and the third female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Hailing from a working-class background, Sotomayor...

Katharine Hepburn, Legendary Actress

For more than six decades, Katharine Hepburn mesmerized audiences with her regal accent, classic beauty and exceptional acting. Her fiercely independent, unconventional persona and...

Sultan Abdulhamid II, Ruler of the Ottoman Empire

Sultan Abdulhamid II, who ruled the Ottoman Empire for more than 30 years, earned a reputation both as an oppressive leader and a champion...