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...

Václav Havel, Playwright and Former President of the Czech Republic

Václav Havel was a revolutionary, a poet, a playwright and a president. Although he was reluctant to become a public figure, he has been...

Madame Marie Tussaud, Wax Sculptor and Museum Owner

After showing early artistic skill, Marie Tussaud apprenticed under one of the greatest wax modelers of her time. She made it—just barely—through the French...

Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

“Nietzsche’s actual thought is a…system, at the beginning of which stands the death of God…the ensuing nihilism, and at its end the self-surmounting of...

Stanley Kunitz, American Poet

Stanley Kunitz was destined to be a poet. Kunitz once said, “There was so much joy in playing with the language that I couldn’t...

Carole King, Chart-Topping Singer-Songwriter

Carole King started playing the piano at age 4 and hasn’t stopped since. Out of college in the 1960s King was writing some of...

Noah Webster, Educator and Dictionary Writer

Noah Webster was a pioneering thinker devoted to books and learning. After the American Revolution, he set out to help the United States develop...

Alfred Hitchcock, Master of Suspense Films

Known for thrillers like “Rear Window” and “The Birds,” Alfred Hitchcock is a master of bringing audiences to the edge of their seats. Alfred Hitchcock’s...

Cole Porter, Broadway Lyricist and Composer

A talented writer and musician, Porter took Broadway by storm with his piercing wit. “Anything Goes” and “Kiss Me, Kate” are considered classics and...

D.H. Lawrence, Author of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”

At the end of his life, D.H. Lawrence wrote, “For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be...