Niccolò Machiavelli, Author of “The Prince”

Niccolò Machiavelli lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in Italian history. An early alliance with the wrong faction suspended his political career;...

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...

Charles Atlas, Famed Bodybuilder

Legendary bodybuilder Charles Atlas became an icon in the 1920s as the man who transformed himself from a skinny weakling into a muscle-bound celebrity. Charles...

Neil Armstrong, First Man to Walk on the Moon

A pilot at 16, astronaut Neil Armstrong’s early years were spent in the skies, but his later years have been grounded in academia and...

Oskar Schindler, Keeper of “List” That Saved 1,200 Jews

Oskar Schindler was a Nazi party member, philanderer and war profiteer who saved approximately 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Schindler is now revered as...

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...

John Philip Sousa, “The March King”

John Philip Sousa is the American composer behind such marching band classics as “The Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Semper Fidelis.” John Philip Sousa's Early...

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...

Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, Non-Violent Leader in Indian Independence Movement

With a far-reaching legacy of peace and equality, Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. In honor of...

Marshall McLuhan, Canadian Philosopher

As a prolific lecturer, author and communication theorist, Marshall McLuhan explored the implications of technology on society, encouraging people to reconsider their relationship with...