Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, First Elected Female President in Africa

In honor of her October 29 birthday, we look at the life and career of longtime politician and economist-in-exile Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who became the...

Anne Frank, Holocaust Diarist

Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank lived 15 years, yet her legacy has lived on for decades. In the book known in English as...

Oleg Cassini, Fashion Designer

The elegant designs worn by Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly came to embody American fashion during the 1950s and 1960s. The man responsible for...

Alex Haley, Author of “Roots”

Characterized by his slow, honeyed voice, Alex Haley was one of America’s most popular oral and written storytellers. His timeless novel “Roots” illuminates and...

Cole Porter, Broadway Lyricist and Composer

A talented writer and musician, Porter took Broadway by storm with his piercing wit. “Anything Goes” and “Kiss Me, Kate” are considered classics and...

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...

Jacques Cousteau, Deep Sea Pioneer

Jacques Cousteau is known for developing the aqualung, the one-man submarine and an underwater village off Sudan. While a measure of controversy surrounds his...

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...

Charles Dickens, Notable English Novelist

Charles Dickens is best remembered for novels such as “Oliver Twist” and “David Copperfield.” For his dedication to social justice, most notably his humanizing...

John Foster Dulles, Former Secretary of State

John Foster Dulles was hailed as a “master craftsman” of foreign policy. Decades before his work as secretary of state under President Dwight Eisenhower,...