1834-1923
1879-1988
Kurt Vonnegut was an American author best known for the novels Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions.
1922-2007
LeRoy Walker was the first black coach of an American Olympic team and the first black president of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
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.
1918-2012
Sam Walton was an American businessman best known for founding the retail chain Wal-Mart, which grew to be the world’s largest corporation.
1918-1992
American singer and guitarist Muddy Waters may have been born in Mississippi, but he defined Chicago blues with songs like "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man."
1915-1983
1903-1966
1924-1996
1861-1912
1787-1870
American comedian Jonathan Winters was once described by talk-show host Jack Paar as "pound for pound, the funniest man alive."
1925-2013
1588-1649
Carter G. Woodson was an African-American writer and historian known as the "Father of Black History Month." He penned the influential book The Mis-Education of the Negro.
1875-1950
1770-1850
Frank Lloyd Wright was a modern architect who developed an organic and distinctly American style. He designed numerous iconic buildings.
1867-1959
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.
1942-1998
Boris Yeltsin was the first freely elected President of Russia. He voluntarily resigned from the post after nine years, leaving the job to Putin.
1931-2007
Emiliano Zapata was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), during which he formed and commanded the Liberation Army of the South, an important revolutionary brigade. Followers of Zapata were known as Zapatistas.
1879-1919