Venus Williams, Tennis Star

Twenty-one Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals and a host of other tournament wins make Venus Williams one of the most recognizable figures...

Horace Mann, “Father of American Education”

Horace Mann was an educational pioneer. At a time when many saw considerable problems in American education, he stepped forward to address the issues,...

Stevie Wonder, Musician, Producer and Activist

Stevie Wonder, the Motown sensation, chart topper, producer and humanitarian, has been in the spotlight for four decades. Early Days Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born prematurely...

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...

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...

Johnny Cash, Country, Folk and Rockabilly Musician

Johnny Cash—the “Man in Black”—is an American legend. His music epitomizes the life and landscape of the American South, and has influenced generations of...

Pearl Buck, 1938 Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature

Pearl Buck is best known for her novel “The Good Earth,” which received the Pulitzer Prize in 1935 and helped earn her the Nobel...

Joseph Haydn, “the Father of the Symphony”

Known as “the Father of the Symphony,” Joseph Haydn's contribution to the world of music can be heard in every arrangement of melody, rhythm...

Mark Spitz, Swimming Legend

Mark Spitz was a brash swimming prodigy who overcame disappointment in the 1968 Olympics to win seven gold medals in 1972, setting a record...

Marie Curie, Discoverer of Radium

The first woman in France to receive a doctorate degree, scientist Marie Curie is remembered for her discoveries in radioactivity and radioactive elements. Her...