Doris Lessing, Social Commentator and Nobel Prize Winner in Literature
A powerful, politically minded and acerbic Nobel Laureate, Britain's Doris Lessing was a treasured social commentator and novelist who continued her prolific and award-winning...
Flip Wilson, TV’s First Black Superstar
Through his ingenious comedy sketches, Flip Wilson and his eponymous variety show connected a racially divided world with laughter. On his birthday, we remember...
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...
Elinor Ostrom, First Woman to Win the Nobel Prize in Economics
Elinor Ostrom won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics for her against-the-grain studies of how self-imposed regulation of common resources can be more efficient...
Wyatt Earp, Legendary Tombstone Lawman
Wyatt Earp has become an icon in American lore, known as the legendary lawman who, with his brothers and Doc Holliday, battled the Clanton...
Neil Simon, Award-Winning Playwright
Crowned by Time magazine “the patron saint of laughter,” the creator of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, along with a host of other memorable...
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Military Leader
Napoleon Bonaparte is known for being a highly ambitious military leader, leading France in conquests throughout the Middle East and Europe, but he was...
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...
Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Pioneer
Born into a life of religion, Martin Luther King Jr. used his faith to help guide a divided nation toward racial equality, breaking barriers...
Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Emissary of Nationalist China
Known for her political prowess and powerful husband, Madame Chiang Kai-shek led a somewhat transient life, spending significant portions of her 105 years in...
