Tammy Wynette, Country Music’s First Lady

By the age of 20, Tammy Wynette was divorced with three children, and working two jobs. At the time, the singer performed just to...

Rainer Maria Rilke, Author of “Letters to a Young Poet”

Rainer Maria Rilke spent his life traveling the globe. Despite a variety of lovers and locales—Prague, Munich, Rome, Paris and Switzerland—Rilke remained alone, seeking...

Charles Dickens, Notable English Novelist

Charles Dickens is best remembered for novels such as “Oliver Twist” and “David Copperfield.” For his dedication to social justice, most notably his humanizing...

Harvey Pekar, Author of the ‘American Splendor’ Comic Books

Harvey Pekar has made a career out of being an ordinary man. As a comic book writer, he documented the most mundane details of...

Charles Lindbergh, American Aviator

Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly a plane non-stop across the Atlantic at age 25. Though he experienced fame for his heroism,...

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...

Gwendolyn Brooks, First African-American Pulitzer Prize Winner

Gwendolyn Brooks, renowned poet, was the author of many memorable works centered on the black experience in America and the issues of the Civil...

Fats Waller, Jazz Entertainer and Composer

Fats Waller's piano virtuousity and outsize personality made him a jazz legend. But his talents didn’t stop there; he was also a vaudeville performer,...

Roger Federer, Record-Breaking Tennis Player

Roger Federer is leading men’s tennis into a new generation of high intensity, skillful play. But this emotional phenom has had to overcome heartache,...

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer of “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker”

Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky has given the world many classical music compositions, including the famous holiday staple “The Nutcracker,” and other memorable pieces like “1812...