Jean Renoir, French Filmmaker
Lauded after his death as one of cinema’s greatest directors, Jean Renoir earned comparatively few words of praise during his lifetime. From a childhood...
Thor Heyerdahl, Human Migration Theorist and Explorer
Norwegian archeologist and anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl made harrowing transoceanic expeditions in reconstructions of ancient vessels to gain evidence for his controversial theories on human...
Primary Sources About George Washington, Father of Our Country
As commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, George Washington led American troops to victory against the more powerful British forces in the Revolutionary War. After...
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...
Sir Isaac Newton, Mathematician and Physicist
Physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton was one of the most influential figures of the scientific revolution. He made significant contributions to calculus and his...
Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star and Human Rights Activist
Arthur Ashe was one of the most accomplished tennis players of his generation and the only African-American man to win a Grand Slam title,...
William Shakespeare, Playwright, Poet and Actor
“He was not for an age but for all time,” said Ben Jonson in the dedication to William Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio. It may...
Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize-Winning Author
Toni Morrison grew up in a house of African-American storytellers and developed a love for books. After earning a masters degree in English and...
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,”...
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...
