Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha”

Warren Buffett, was the richest man in the world in 2008. But despite his fortune, the American investor remains dedicated to the ethics of...

Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

Rosa Parks was a seamstress and NAACP secretary whose simple act of civil disobedience—her refusal to give up her seat on the bus to...

E. E. Cummings, Poet and Painter

American poet, novelist and painter E. E. Cummings was one of the best-selling poets of the 20th century, earning fame for his unique approach...

James P. Johnson, Jazz Pianist

The 1920s were a dynamic time in American history. Flappers tested the limits of fashion. Bootleg liquor fought prohibition. In music, the era became...

Ayn Rand, Proponent of “The Virtue of Selfishness”

Outlier and icon, enemy of altruism and champion of the free market, writer and philosopher, Ayn Rand was too extreme to be categorized by...

Helen Keller, Blind and Deaf Author and Activist

Helen Keller lost her vision and hearing before age 2. But with help from her tutor, Anne Sullivan, Keller learned how to speak, read...

Edward R. Murrow, Pioneering Broadcast Journalist

Reporter during World War II, host of radio and television news shows, and head of the United States Information Agency, Edward R. Murrow was...

William Butler Yeats, Irish Poet and Dramatist

William Butler Yeats, a romantic, poet, playwright and senator, drew on national pride, spiritualism and love, and was credited with helping revive interest in...

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,...

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Father of Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson—essayist, minister, poet and philosopher from New England—was the founding father of the transcendentalist movement and the creator of many literary works...