Ira Aldridge was a 19th century African-American actor who became a renowned interpreter of Shakespearean tragedy on the European stage.
1807-1867
Benedict Arnold was an American Revolutionary War general best known for his defection from the Continental Army to the British side of the conflict in 1780.
1741-1801
John Jacob Astor V, the fifth member of the American Astor family to bear the name John Jacob, became owner and chairman of The Times of London in 1922.
1886-1971
Nancy Astor (1879–1965) was the first woman to serve in the British Parliament, where she advocated temperance, women's rights and German appeasement.
1879-1964
William Waldorf Astor was a wealthy descendant of John Jacob Astor who became a New York State senator and a member of the New York State Assembly.
1848-1919
Politician and publisher Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor became a member of Parliament and was the publisher of the London Observer from 1915 to 1945.
1879-1952
Josephine Baker was a dancer and singer who became wildly popular in France during the 1920s. She also devoted much of her life to fighting racism.
1906-1975
1896-1956
Art Buchwald is known for writing humor columns for Paris newspaper The Herald Tribune, and for winning a Pulitzer Prize for Outstanding Commentary in 1982.
1925-2007
Stokely Carmichael was a Trinidadian-American political activist, best known as the leader of the civil rights group SNCC in the 1960s.
1941-1998
Artist Elizabeth Catlett celebrates African-American workers in sculptures and prints. She's known for works like "Negro Woman," "Sharecropper" and "Survivor."
1915-2012
1888-1959
1738-1815
1882-1975
Abolitionist Martin Robison Delany was both a physician and newspaper editor, and became one of the most influential and successful anti-slavery activists of the 19th century.
1812-1885
W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most important African-American activists during the first half of the 20th century. He co-founded the NAACP and supported Pan-Africanism.
1868-1963
Isadora Duncan was a trailblazing dancer and instructor whose emphasis on freer forms of movement was a precursor to modern dance techniques.
1877-1927
T.S. Eliot was an American-born English poet, playwright, and literary critic, arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century.
1888-1965
Bobby Fischer is best known for being the first American grandmaster of chess.
1943-2008
Marcus Garvey was a proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, inspiring the Nation of Islam and the Rastafarian movement.
1887-1940
1948-
1940-
Washington Irving was a popular 19th century American author, best known for the stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
1783-1859
Janet Jagan co-founded the People's Progressive Party. She was the first woman to become prime minister of Guyana and was also Guyana’s first female president.
1920-2009
Jim Jones was best known as the cult leader of the Peoples Temple who led more than 900 followers in a mass suicide via cyanide-laced punch known as the Jonestown Massacre.
1931-1978
1953-
Stanley Kubrick was an American filmmaker best known for directing Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket.
1928-1999
The first professional African-American and Native-American sculptor, Edmonia Lewis earned critical praise for work that explored religious and classical themes.
1844-1911
Sol Lewitt was an American artist best known for helping to launch Conceptual Art and Minimalism of the Post-War era.
1928-2007
Aviator Charles Lindbergh became famous for making the first solo transatlantic airplane flight in 1927.
1902-1974
Poet Ezra Pond authored more than 70 books and promoted many other now-famous writers, including James Joyce and T.S. Eliot.
1885-1972
Tokyo Rose, whose real name was Iva Toguri, was an American-born Japanese woman who hosted a Japanese propaganda radio program aimed at U.S. troops during World War II.
1916-2006
Novelist William Styron won a Pulitzer Prize for The Confessions of Nat Turner and wrote Sophie’s Choice, the basis of an Academy Award-winning film.
1925-2006
Henry Ossawa Tanner was an American painter who frequently depicted biblical scenes and is best known for the paintings "Nicodemus Visiting Jesus," "The Banjo Lesson" and "The Thankful Poor." He was the first African-American painter to gain international fame.
1859-1937
Jazz musician Ben Webster (1909–1973) played tenor saxophone with jazz greats like Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Art Tatum.
1909-1973
Victoria Woodhull was a spiritualist, activist, politician and author who was the first woman to run for the presidency of the United States.
1838-1927
1916-2002