One of America's most beloved comedians, Lucille Ball is particularly known for her iconic TV show I Love Lucy.
Considered one of history's most influential jazz musicians, Count Basie was known for his piano style and command of big bands such as the Count Basie Orchestra, and for songs like "Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Taxi War Dance" and "Miss Thing."
On April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln while he was watching Our American Cousin at Ford Theater in Washington, D.C.
Country singer and songwriter George Jones was born into poverty, but became a successful musician later in life. His first hit was the 1955 song "Why Baby Why."
Gypsy Rose Lee rose from an early life in vaudeville to America's most famed burlesque performers, becoming the subject of the Broadway show Gypsy.
Canadian poet E.J. Pratt is the author of several collections of verse, including The Titans (1926) and Brébeuf and His Brethren (1940).
Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos received the Premio Cervantes prize in 1989 for books like I, the Supreme (1947).