Woody Guthrie, Folk Musician

Woody Guthrie was a folk music master. During his career, he gave the world more than 1,000 songs, including notable classics like “This Land...

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...

Andrea Bocelli, Opera and Pop Singer

An idyllic farm surrounded by vineyards and olive groves in the Tuscan countryside was the setting for Andrea Bocelli’s childhood. But this soft-spoken singer,...

Lincoln Steffens, One of the First Muckrakers

Lincoln Steffens was an American journalist active during the early 20th century. A famous muckraker, Steffens is remembered for pioneering a style of critical,...

Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Author of “Out of Africa”

Karen Blixen may be the best-known Danish writer of the 20th century, authoring books such as “Seven Gothic Tales,” “Winter’s Tales” and “Out of...

Georges Seurat, Pointillist Painter

Although his artistic career lasted only a decade, Georges Seurat’s influence has stood the test of time. Popularized with his famous work “Sunday Afternoon...

Madeleine Albright, First Female Secretary of State

Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, served as the face of U.S. foreign policy during Bill Clinton's second term as president....

Mildred Loving, Activist for Interracial Marriage

Mildred Loving, a black woman married to a white man, missed her home in Virginia. But a state ban against interracial marriage prevented the...

Sidney Poitier, Pioneering African-American Actor

Sidney Poitier was the child of tomato farmers in the Bahamas. He moved to New York as a teenager and worked as a dishwasher...

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...