Civil rights activist Ella Baker worked with the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Bing Crosby sang such hit songs as the ever-popular holiday classic "White Christmas." The beloved crooner was also a star of radio, movies and television.

Bob Hope was a entertainer and comic actor, known for his rapid-fire delivery of jokes and for his success in virtually all entertainment media.

Hall of Fame first baseman Lou Gehrig played for the New York Yankees in the 1920s and 1930s, setting the mark for consecutive games played. He died of ALS in 1941.

George Orwell was an English novelist, essayist, and critic most famous for his novels 'Animal Farm' (1945) and 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949).

Eliot Ness was a law enforcement official in Chicago, best known for his efforts to enforce Prohibition as head of 'The Untouchables.'

Soviet spy William Fisher, a.k.a. Rudolf Abel, was convicted of espionage in the U.S. in 1957 and later exchanged for imprisoned American Francis Gary Powers.

Writer Countee Cullen was an iconic figure of the Harlem Renaissance, known for his poetry, fiction and plays.

English writer Evelyn Waugh is regarded by many as the most brilliant satirical novelist of his day. His works include 'The Loved One' and 'Brideshead Revisited.'

As a fashion journaist who worked for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, Diana Vreeland was an influential figure in American fashion during the 20th century.

John Dillinger was an infamous gangster and bank robber during the Great Depression. He was known as "Jackrabbit" and "Public Enemy No. 1."

Louis Leakey, with wife Mary, was a famed paleoanthropologist who greatly contributed to world knowledge about humanity’s early ancestors.

A pioneer in early hormonal and reproductive research, Gregory Pincus and his team of scientists are credited with formulating the first oral contraceptive for birth control.

Country musician Roy Acuff performed hits suchs as "It Won't Be Long" and "Tennessee Waltz" nearly every weekend on the Grand Ole' Opry during the 1930, 40s and 50s.

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen took his comedy act from vaudeville to radio with his dummy Charlie McCarthy. He was also the father of actress Candice Bergen.

Melvin Purvis was the FBI agent responsible for bringing several notorious criminals to justice, among them were outlaws John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd.

Bandleader and TV performer Lawrence Welk’s TV program featured band music with vocalists, dancers, and instrumental soloists, and was a huge success.

Dr. Spock was best known for his parenting advice book, Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, originally published in 1946.

Marc Rothko is best known as one of the central figures of the Abstract Expressionist movement in American art in the 1950s and '60s.

Walter O'Malley was the influential president of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for nearly 30 years.

Anaïs Nin was a writer of diaries and novels known for their explicit eroticism. She had a famous affair with writer Henry Miller.

Married to Judy Garland and father to Liza Minnelli, film director Vincente Minnelli infused a new sophistication and vitality into movie musicals of the 1940s and '50s.

Clare Boothe Luce was a socialite who satirized New York society, wrote plays, worked as a war correspondent for Life, and served as an ambassador to Italy.