Walter Cronkite, CBS News Anchor
To his colleagues, he was “Old Iron Pants,” and to everyone else, he was “The Most Trusted Man in America.” For more than half...
Jackie Robinson, Baseball Pioneer
Jackie Robinson was an accomplished multi-sport athlete who in 1947 became the first black baseball player in the modern major leagues. He displayed courage...
Samuel Adams, One of the United States’ Founding Fathers
Rebel, patriot and politician Samuel Adams helped organize protests against the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Tea Act of 1773 and developed a...
Richard Wright, Groundbreaking Author of “Black Boy” and “Native Son”
Richard Wright, the first African-American man to make a living as an author, is known for landmark books like “Native Son” and “Black Boy.”
Richard...
Cornel West, Author, Professor and Hip-Hop Artist
Cornel West, a popular professor of religion at Princeton University, has received widespread notoriety for both his intellectual abilities and his knack for sparking...
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...
Jack Kerouac, Beat Author of “On the Road”
Jack Kerouac’s beatnik persona has reached near mythical levels. But the author of “On the Road” never enjoyed his celebrity status, and lived a...
Jerry Seinfeld, Comedian and Actor
Jerry Seinfeld is most famous for playing himself on the hit TV show “Seinfeld,” as well as in the documentary “Comedian.” “Seinfeld” the show...
Stephen Jay Gould, Paleontologist and Science Writer
Renowned for both his revolutionary contributions to evolutionary biology and his ability to make science accessible to the public, Stephen Jay Gould drew upon...
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...
