t
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Ronan Tynan
Singer / 1960 -
Ronan Tynan is Irish classical singer, most famous for his renditions of "God Bless America" at the Yankee Stadium during important games.
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(1960-)
Singer
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Colm TĂłibĂn
Journalist, Author / 1955 -
Irish author Colm Tóibín is famous for literary works about Irish society, creativity and homosexuality. His most popular novels include The Blackwater Lightship and The Master.
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(1955-)
Journalist, Author
u
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Tim Urban
Guitarist, Singer / 1989 -
American Idol star Tim Urban placed seventh on the ninth eason of the show. His first album, Heart of Me, debuted in 2010.
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(1989-)
Guitarist, Singer
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Ritchie Valens
Songwriter, Singer / 1941 - 1959
Mexican-American musician Ritchie Valens is best known for his hit "La Bamba." His successful career was cut short when he died in a plane crash at age 17.
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(1941-1959)
Songwriter, Singer
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Rudolph Valentino
Film Actor / 1895 - 1926
Italian-American actor Rudolph Valentino was admired as the “Great Lover” of the 1920s.
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(1895-1926)
Film Actor
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Cornelius Vanderbilt
Entrepreneur, Philanthropist / 1794 - 1877
Cornelius Vanderbilt was an industrialist in railroads and shipping. He had accumulated the largest fortune in the U.S. at the time of his death, in 1877.
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(1794-1877)
Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
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William Henry Vanderbilt
Entrepreneur / 1821 - 1885
The son of Cornelius Vanderbilt, William Henry Vanderbilt was a railroad magnate who doubled his family's fortune.
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(1821-1885)
Entrepreneur
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Sid Vicious
Bassist, Singer / 1957 - 1979
Punk rocker Sid Vicious became famous as bassist for the Sex Pistols before his entanglement with drugs and Nancy Spungen ended his career and life.
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(1957-1979)
Bassist, Singer
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Richard Wagner
Songwriter, Conductor / 1813 - 1883
Richard Wagner is best known for creating several complex operas, including Tristan and Isolde and Ring Cycle, as well as for his anti-semitic writings.
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(1813-1883)
Songwriter, Conductor
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Nancy Walker
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Television Actress / 1922 - 1992
Actress Nancy Walker appeared in films and on stage before playing Ida Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rosie in the Bounty paper towel commercials.
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(1922-1992)
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Television Actress
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T-Bone Walker
Songwriter, Guitarist, Singer / 1910 - 1975
Blues guitarist and singer-songwriter T-Bone Walker is best known for his hit song "Stormy Monday" and has been called the Charlie Parker of Blues guitar.
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(1910-1975)
Songwriter, Guitarist, Singer
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Mike Wallace
Radio Personality, News Anchor, Journalist / 1918 - 2012
Mike Wallace is an interviewer and reporter who has been working in TV and radio since 1939. He joined the program 60 Minutes in 1968.
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(1918-2012)
Radio Personality, News Anchor, Journalist
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Fats Waller
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer / 1904 - 1943
American pianist and composer Fats Waller was one of the few outstanding jazz musicians to win wide commercial fame.
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(1904-1943)
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer
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Julia Ward Howe
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Songwriter, Poet / 1819 - 1910
Julia Ward Howe was a women's rights activist, abolitionist and writer who penned the poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
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(1819-1910)
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Songwriter, Poet
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John Wayne
Film Actor / 1907 - 1979
John Wayne, one of the most popular film actors of the twentieth century, remains a popular American icon to this day.
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(1907-1979)
Film Actor
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Jacki Weaver
Film Actress, Theater Actress / 1947 -
Veteran Australian actress Jacki Weaver has received Academy Award nominations for her work in such films as Animal Kingdom (2010) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012).
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(1947-)
Film Actress, Theater Actress
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Steven Weinberg
Academic, Physicist / 1933 -
Steven Weinberg is a U.S. physicist and Nobel laureate who contributed to work on the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles.
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(1933-)
Academic, Physicist
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Orson Welles
Film Actor, Director / 1915 - 1985
Orson Welles wrote, directed and starred in the film Citizen Kane, among others, which remains one of the most influential films ever made.
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(1915-1985)
Film Actor, Director
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Jerry West
Basketball Player, Coach / 1938 -
Jerry West is a former basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers who went on to become the team’s head coach and general manager.
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(1938-)
Basketball Player, Coach
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Laura Wheeler Waring
Educator, Painter / 1887 - 1948
Laura Wheeler Waring was an African-American painter who founded and taught in the art and music departments at Cheyney University.
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(1887-1948)
Educator, Painter
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Lisa Whelchel
Television Actress, Writer / 1963 -
Actress Lisa Whelchel co-starred in the popular 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life.
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(1963-)
Television Actress, Writer
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T.H. White
Journalist, Author / 1906 - 1964
T.H. White was an English writer known for his novel series about King Arthur, The Once and Future King.
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(1906-1964)
Journalist, Author
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Theodore H. White
Journalist / 1915 - 1986
Theodore H. White was an American journalist, best known for his presidential accounts The Making of the President, 1960 and The Making of the President, 1964.
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(1915-1986)
Journalist
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Walt Whitman
Journalist, Poet / 1819 - 1892
Walt Whitman was an American poet whose verse collection Leaves of Grass is a landmark in the history of American literature.
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(1819-1892)
Journalist, Poet
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Brian Williams
News Anchor / 1959 -
Brian Williams is a newscaster and the managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, a show he has hosted since 2004.
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(1959-)
News Anchor
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Mary Lou Williams
Educator, Songwriter, Pianist / 1910 - 1981
Mary Lou Williams was a jazz pianist who performed with and composed for many of the great jazz artists of the 1940s and '50s.
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(1910-1981)
Educator, Songwriter, Pianist
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Wayne Williams
Serial Killer / 1958 -
Serial killer Wayne Williams is known for killing twenty-seven black youths from 1979 - 1981 in Alabama, Georgia.
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(1958-)
Serial Killer
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Hank Williams, Jr.
Singer / 1949 -
The son and namesake of country music pioneer Hank Williams, Hank Jr.'s style combined country with Southern rock and blues.
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(1949-)
Singer
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Ellen Wilson
U.S. First Lady / 1860 - 1914
While her husband Woodrow was president, First Lady Ellen Wilson advocated improved housing conditions for D.C.'s black population.
See full bio
(1860-1914)
U.S. First Lady
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Paul Winfield
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor / 1939 - 2004
Actor Paul Winfield was best known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper in the film Sounder, which earned him an Academy Award nomination.
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(1939-2004)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor
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Mare Winningham
Actress / 1959 -
A versatile performer, actress Mare Winningham has won raves for such films as 1994's Georgia and such television work as 2011's Mildred Pierce.
See full bio
(1959-)
Actress
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Stevie Wonder
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer / 1950 -
Stevie Wonder is an American musician and a former child prodigy who became one of the most creative musical figures of the late 20th century. His hit songs include "Living in the City," "Boogie on a Reggae Woman" and "Isn't She Lovely."
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| Watch video
(1950-)
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer
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Danny Wood
Actor, Music Producer, Singer / 1969 -
Danny Wood is in New Kids on the Block, a boy band of five guys who ruled the charts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and reunited in 2013.
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(1969-)
Actor, Music Producer, Singer
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Herman Wouk
Author / 1915 -
Herman Wouk is best known for his novel The Caine Mutiny.
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(1915-)
Author
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Tammy Wynette
Songwriter, Guitarist, Singer / 1942 - 1998
Tammy Wynette was a Grammy Award-winning country music singer who recorded the hit "Stand By Your Man." She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.
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(1942-1998)
Songwriter, Guitarist, Singer
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Malcolm X
Civil Rights Activist, Minister / 1925 - 1965
African-American leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X articulated concepts of race pride and black nationalism in the 1950s and '60s.
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(1925-1965)
Civil Rights Activist, Minister
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Iannis Xenakis
Songwriter, Writer / 1922 - 2001
Iannis Xenakis was a Greek avant-garde composer of electronic music and musique concrete.
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(1922-2001)
Songwriter, Writer
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Peter Yarrow
Musician / 1938 -
One-third of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, Peter Yarrow co-wrote and sang hits like "Puff the Magic Dragon." He is now a social and political activist.
See full bio
(1938-)
Musician
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Coleman Young
Civil Rights Activist, Mayor / 1918 - 1997
Coleman Young helped found the National Negro Labor Council, which sought jobs for African Americans, and was the first African American mayor of Detroit.
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(1918-1997)
Civil Rights Activist, Mayor
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Chow Yun-Fat
Film Actor, Television Actor / 1955 -
Chow Yun-Fat was named "The Coolest Actor in the World," by the Los Angeles Times in 1995. He starred in the Chinese action film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
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(1955-)
Film Actor, Television Actor
z
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Robert Zemeckis
Director, Producer / 1952 -
Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis is behind Romancing the Stone, the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Tales from the Crypt and Cast Away.
See full bio
(1952-)
Director, Producer
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Mark Zuckerberg
Entrepreneur, Computer Programmer, Philanthropist / 1984 -
Mark Zuckerberg is co-founder and CEO of the social-networking website Facebook, as well as one of the world's youngest billionaires.
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(1984-)
Entrepreneur, Computer Programmer, Philanthropist