Paul Robeson, Entertainer and Social Activist
Paul Robeson was a renaissance man. Revered for his abilities on stage, on the football field, in the classroom and in the campaign for...
Mary Lyon, Champion of Women’s Higher Education
Mary Lyon was a progressive educator and pioneer of women’s higher education. In 1837 she founded the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley,...
Charles Atlas, Famed Bodybuilder
Legendary bodybuilder Charles Atlas became an icon in the 1920s as the man who transformed himself from a skinny weakling into a muscle-bound celebrity.
Charles...
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...
Pablo Picasso, Groundbreaking Painter
From his Cubist works to his famous Blue Period, painter Pablo Picasso changed the face of art forever.
Picasso's Early Days
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born...
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...
Rupert Murdoch, Media Mogul
Rupert Murdoch and his conglomerate News Corporation own divisions in virtually every form of today’s media: book publishing, newspapers and television. Whether fan or...
Ricardo Montalbán, “Fantasy Island’s” Mr. Roarke
For years, Mexican-born actor Ricardo Montalbán played Latin lovers, shady villains and a host of ethnic bit parts. But everything changed when he was...
Gabriel García Márquez, Author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude”
Gabriel García Márquez grew up in a home filled with storytelling and the supernatural. His seminal work of fiction, “One Hundred Years of Solitude,”...
Malcolm X, Civil Rights Activist
Though often eclipsed by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the historical record, Malcolm X was a leading figure of the mid-20th century civil rights...
