Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry is best known as the big, sassy grandma Madea from the movies Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005) and Madea's Family Reunion (2006). From his home base in Atlanta, Georgia, ... more

Fernand Lamaze

The namesake of the Lamaze Method, Dr. Fernand Lamaze was a French obstetrician who championed the idea of painless childbirth. Based on ideas he had developed after visiting the U.S. S. R. and ... more

Warren Harding

Warren Harding was president of the United States from 1921 until his sudden death in 1923. One can almost feel sorry for Harding, who consistently gets ranked as one of the worst presidents of all ... more

Florence Kling Harding

Florence Harding was the wife of U.S. president Warren G. Harding and served as First Lady from 1921 until the president' ... more

Rembrandt van Rijn

One of the great Dutch painters and printmakers of the 17th century, Rembrandt van Rijn is best known for his expressive use of chiaroscuro, especially in portraits. Raised in Leiden, he studied ... more

Christa McAuliffe

Christa McAuliffe was a high school teacher from Concord, New Hampshire who died with six other astronauts in the 1986 explosion of the U.S. space ... more

Pat Nixon

Pat Nixon was the wife of U.S. president Richard Nixon and served as First Lady from 20 January 1969 to 8 August 1974. ... more

Robin Hood

Robin Hood is a legendary hero of English folklore. In the old tales, Robin Hood is an expert archer and good-hearted outlaw who lives in England's Sherwood Forest and "robs from the rich and gives ... more

Medgar Evers

Medgar Wiley Evers was a black civil rights activist murdered in 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi. A World War II veteran and a graduate of Alcorn College, Evers began working in 1952 for the National ... more

Keith Richards

Keith Richards and a schoolmate, Mick Jagger, fell in together in the early 1960s and formed the rock band The Rolling Stones with Brian Jones. Losing and adding a few ... more

Eva Braun

Eva Braun was the mistress of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler from 1932 until their deaths in a suicide pact at the end of World War II. She was working as a photographer's ... more

Frank Zappa

Guitarist Frank Zappa was also a production wizard whose early work with The Mothers of Invention displayed terrific musical knowledge and an outrageous sense of humor. His foul and funny lyrics ... more

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming is the creator of the fictional superspy James Bond. Bond is a suave, lady-killing British agent who travels the globe, battles super-villains bent on world ... more

James K. Polk

A lawyer and former congressman from Tennessee, James Knox Polk became a "dark horse" candidate for the Democratic Party in 1844. He narrowly defeated Whig Henry Clay in the general ... more

George Hearst

Near the end of the 19th century, George Hearst was one of the richest men in the United States, a U.S. Senator from California who had made his fortune in mining. He grew up in Franklin County, ... more

Umberto Eco

Before he was a best-selling novelist, Umberto Eco's reputation rested on his academic writings on language and semiotics (the study of symbols). An Italian critic, philosopher and historian ... more

William McKinley

A Republican congressman from Ohio, William McKinley beat out William Jennings Bryan in 1896 to become the 25th president of the United States. McKinley called for war against Spain in 1898, partly ... more

Dr. Demento

Dr. Demento is the on-air name of Barry Hansen, the host of a syndicated radio show in the U.S. that features novelty and comedy records. Hansen studied music ... more

Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin was a television host and entrepreneur who started two of the most famous game shows in history, Jeopardy! and ... more

George Boole

Mostly a self-taught mathematician, George Boole rose to prominence and earned a teaching position based on his writings on differential equations and algebraic problems. During the 1840s and 1850s ... more