Isaak Babel was a Russian writer of Jewish descent known for his masterful short stories. He was imprisoned and executed in the Stalin era.
For more than 50 years, comedian Jack Benny was a star of radio, the stage and screen. His radio show, The Jack Benny Program, was a forerunner of the sitcom genre.
Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose is known for working with Albert Einstein on the Bose-Einstein Condensate and as namesake of the boson, or “God particle.”
Gala Dalí is best known as the wife, business manager and muse of Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí.
Edward VIII became king of the United Kingdom following the death of his father, George V, but ruled for less than a year. He abdicated the throne in order to marry his lover, Wallis Simpson, thereafter taking the title Duke of Windsor.
An Academy Award-winning director, John Ford is considered to be one of the best filmmakers of all time. He is best known for directing Westerns.
Sociologist E. Franklin Frazier blazed a trail in the 1940s and 50s for African American academics who studied black culture.
Lyricist and movie producer Arthur Freed brought us Singin' in the Rain (1952), An American in Paris (1952) and Gigi (1958).
Martha Graham is considered by many to be the 20th century's most important dancer and the mother of modern dance.
Dashiell Hammett was an American writer of hard-boiled crime fiction, including the novels The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man.
Adolf Hitler appointed Rudolf Hess deputy of the Nazi party in 1939. Following World War II, Hess was convicted at the Nuremberg Trials and sentenced to life in prison.
James Johnson was an influential African-American jazz pianist and a key figure in musical transition from ragtime to jazz. He's known for his hit "Carolina Shout."
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev publicized Stalin's crimes, initiated the Cuban Missile Crisis and established a more open form of Communism in the USSR.
Biologist Alfred Kinsey wrote Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, which was based on research he and his colleagues conducted at the Institute for Sex Research.
Fritz Pollard was the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl, the first African-American NFL coach and one of the NFL's first black players.
French director Jean Renoir, son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, directed C'est la Revolution and wrote a biography of his father in the 1960s.
Jazz and blues vocalist Bessie Smith's powerful, soulful voice won her countless fans and earned her the title "Empress of the Blues."
Poet, novelist and short-story writer Jean Toomer was a major figure during the Harlem Renaissance. He is best known for his first book, Cane.