Biographies
Cesar Chavez
Chavez was a labor organizer for migrant American farmworkers, and cofounded with Dolores Huerta of the National Farm Workers Association in 1962.
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Office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
The trailblazing politican was the first woman to serve as a senator for California, and the first female mayor of San Francisco.
Office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
Editor's Picks
Who Was the First Woman to Run for President of the United States?
Before women could vote, Victoria Woodhull ran for U.S. president.
Karl Popper
Karl Popper, Austrian-born British philosopher of natural and social science who subscribed to anti-determinist metaphysics, believing that knowledge evolves from experience of the mind. Although his first book, Logik der Forschung (1934; The Logic of Scientific Discovery), was published by the
5 Famous Battle-Axes
The weaker sex? Not these women.
Selena
Selena, American singer who was a vivacious entertainer and whose fluid voice celebrated the sound of Tejano, a fast-paced, accordion-based Latin dance music that combines elements of jazz, country, and German polka. It is sung in Spanish and is rooted in the Hispanic community in South Texas. Fans
Was Dracula a Real Person?
What is the real story behind the prince who may have inspired the character Dracula?
8 of Nellie Bly's Most Sensational Stories
Discover the extraordinary lengths Nellie Bly went to for some of her most astounding stories.
6 Teenagers Who Made History
Youth wasn’t wasted on these young people.
Nina Otero-Warren
Nina Otero-Warren, American public official and activist who was a leader in the fight for women’s suffrage in New Mexico. She was also the first Hispanic woman to run (1922) for a seat in the U.S. Congress and the first female superintendent of public schools (1917–29) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Spotlight: Marie Curie
The Polish-born French physicist was famous for her work on radioactivity, becoming the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903 (for Physics), and later becoming the only woman to win a Nobel in two different fields when, in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Quizzes
I Am the Greatest (Athlete)
Think you know a lot about famous athletes? This quiz might get your GOAT.
Name that Painter!
Can you tell a Monet from a Manet?
Who's on that Stamp?
This quiz requires attention -- you can't just mail it in.
First Ladies of the United States Quiz
They have been hostesses, helpers, advisers, gatekeepers, guardians, confidantes, and sometimes formidable powers behind the scenes. How much do you know about the first ladies of the United States?
Videos
Learn how Johannes Kepler challenged the Copernican system of planetary motion
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Galleries
Charles Darwin
Royal Weddings
Aristotle
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Actors
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn, indomitable American stage and film actress, known as a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity. She introduced into her roles a strength of character previously considered to be undesirable in Hollywood leading ladies. As an actress, she was noted for her brisk
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier, Bahamian American actor, director, and producer who broke the colour barrier in the U.S. motion-picture industry by becoming the first African American to win an Academy Award for best actor (for Lilies of the Field [1963]) and the first Black movie star. He also redefined roles for
Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge, American singer and film actress who was the first black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress. Dandridge’s mother was an entertainer and comedic actress who, after settling in Los Angeles, had some success in radio and, later, television. The young Dorothy
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier, a towering figure of the British stage and screen, acclaimed in his lifetime as the greatest English-speaking actor of the 20th century. He was the first member of his profession to be elevated to a life peerage. The son of an Anglican minister, Olivier attended All Saints Choir
Philosophers
Avicenna
Avicenna, Muslim physician, the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of the medieval Islamic world. He was particularly noted for his contributions in the fields of Aristotelian philosophy and medicine. He composed the Kitāb al-shifāʾ (Book of the Cure), a vast philosophical
Plato
Plato, ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates (c. 470–399 bce), teacher of Aristotle (384–322 bce), and founder of the Academy, best known as the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence. Building on the demonstration by Socrates that those regarded as experts in ethical
Cornel West
Cornel West, American philosopher, scholar of African American studies, and political activist. His influential book Race Matters (1993) lamented what he saw as the spiritual impoverishment of the African American underclass and critically examined the “crisis of black leadership” in the United
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, logician, and social reformer, founding figure in the analytic movement in Anglo-American philosophy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Russell’s contributions to logic, epistemology, and the philosophy of mathematics established him as
Aviation Legends
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart, American aviator, one of the world’s most celebrated, who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her disappearance during a flight around the world in 1937 became an enduring mystery, fueling much speculation. Earhart’s father was a railroad lawyer, and her
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh, American aviator, one of the best-known figures in aeronautical history, remembered for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York City to Paris, on May 20–21, 1927. Lindbergh’s early years were spent chiefly in Little Falls, Minnesota, and in
Harriet Quimby
Harriet Quimby, American aviator, the first female pilot to fly across the English Channel. Quimby’s birth date and place are not well attested. (She sometimes claimed 1884 in Arroyo Grande, California.) By 1902, however, it is known that she and her family were living in California, and in that
Wright brothers
Wright brothers, American brothers, inventors, and aviation pioneers who achieved the first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight (1903). Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana, U.S.—May 30, 1912, Dayton, Ohio) and his brother Orville Wright (August 19, 1871,