Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen won acclaim as a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theater Company in the 1960s and later as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company. On film his ... more

Willy Messerschmitt

Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer whose fighter plane, the Bf-109, was the pride of the Nazis during World War II. Messerschmitt built model ... more

Michelle Yeoh

Named Miss Malaysia in 1983, Michelle Yeoh went on to become one of Asia's top film stars. Known for action films -- and for performing many of her own stunts ... more

Amy Ryan

Amy Ryan had been on the New York stage for fifteen years when she "broke out" in films as the wretched mother from the 2007 thriller Gone Baby Gone. She began her professional career right ... more

Gene Kelly

Screen legend Gene Kelly is best known for dancing through movie musicals of the 1940s and '50s, especially An American in Paris (1951) and ... more

John Cage

John Cage is the 20th century conceptual artist who famously "composed" the piano piece titled 4' 33" (1952), which consists of the pianist(s) sitting at a piano and not playing for ... more

Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page was a studio session guitarist before joining the U.K. rock band The Yardbirds in 1965. In late 1968 Page joined Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones to form ... more

James Smithson

James Smithson was an English chemist and mineralogist who left his fortune to the United States to found what became the Smithsonian Institution. Smithson ... more

Jane Addams

A co-founder of Chicago's Hull-House social settlement, Jane Addams was a reformer whose efforts earned her the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize (shared with Nicholas Murray Butler). Addams and her longtime ... more

James McAvoy

James McAvoy is a blue-eyed Scot who became a Hollywood leading man after his strong performance opposite Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006). ... more

Ed Sullivan

Host Ed Sullivan showcased talent on The Ed Sullivan Show, one of America's most popular television shows from 1948 until 1971. A newspaper reporter and columnist in New York during the 1920s, ... more

Christian Slater

Christian Slater made a splash early in his screen career as a rebellious youth in Heathers (1989) and Pump Up the Volume (1990). A professional actor since childhood, his early film ... more

Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow developed the theory of human motivation now known as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. A psychologist, Maslow noted that some human needs were more powerful than others. He divided those ... more

Flavius Josephus

Flavius Josephus is best known for his histories of the Jews, including a first-hand account of the revolt against the Romans (66-73 A.D.) and historical ... more

Creflo Dollar

Creflo Dollar has built a multi-million-dollar ministry on the message that "it is the will of God for you to prosper in every way." He preaches that Christian ... more

P.T. Barnum

P.T. Barnum bought the American Museum in New York City in 1841 and turned it into an exhibition hall for the presentation of "freaks" such as ... more

Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson is a successful writer-director-producer whose credits include the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and the box office hits Rain Man ... more

Courteney Cox

Courteney Cox played the skinny and motherly Monica on the super-popular sitcom Friends from 1994-2004. The blue-eyed brunette dropped out of Mount Vernon College for Women in 1983 to sign ... more

Tori Spelling

Tori Spelling's fame rests on her family name as well as her various acting appearances. Her father, Aaron Spelling, was the TV superproducer behind hits like The Love Boat and Dynasty. ... more

Hayden Christensen

Hayden Christensen plays Padawan Anakin Skywalker in episodes two and three of the Star Wars movie series by George Lucas. ... more