Maria Callas was an American born, Greek dramatic coloratura soprano and perhaps the best-known opera singer of the post-World War II period. She combined an impressive bel canto technique with great dramatic gifts. An extremely versatile s...

Idi Amin Dada Oumee 'Butcher of Africa' seizes power in a coup in January 1971. Amin has become the subject of many bizarre rumours and myths. There are stories of cannibalism, of feeding the corpses of his victims to crocodiles, of keeping...

Rainier III ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs in European history. Though internationally known for his marriage to the American actress Grace Kelly, he was also responsible...

Simeon ten Holt is a Dutch composer. Ten Holt studied with Jakob van Domselaer, eventually developing a highly personal style of minimal composition. Ten Holt generally uses consonant, tonal materials and his works are organized in numerous...

Hitler, although extremely evil, was possibly one of the best orators of all time. He could move crowds like no one else with his powerful speeches and yet virtually nothing he said is still quoted today. Why? Because it was not what Hitler...

Robert Mugabe became Zimbabwe's first president after the establishment of majority rule and the official granting of independence from Britain in 1980. He still holds that position today. Mugabe was a hero in the struggle for majority rule...

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States (1977-1981). His one-term presidency is remembered for the events that overwhelmed it -— inflation, energy crisis, war in Afghanistan, and hostages in Iran. After one term in office, voters...

George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st President of the United States (1989-1993), belongs to a political dynasty; he sits in the middle of three generations of politicians, including his father Prescott, a senator from Connecticut; his son Jeb,...

Baldwin was a groundbreaking African-American author known for his novel Go Tell it on the Mountain. He dealt with social taboos such as racism and homosexuality at a time when mainstream literature largely ignored them. In 1948, he left Am...

Benoît B. Mandelbrot was a Franco-American mathematician. Born in Poland, he moved to France with his family when he was a child. Mandelbrot spent much of his life living and working in the United States, acquiring dual French and American...

Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music and a conductor. He is one of the leaders of the post–World War II musical modernism. His compositions have enriched musical culture, and his advocacy of modern and postmode...

Patrice Emery Lumumba, African nationalist leader, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (June-September 1960). Forced out of office during a political crisis, he was assassinated a short time later. In January...

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was an African-American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crime...

Helmut Krone was an art director and is considered to be a pioneer of modern advertising. Krone spent over 30 years at the advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach. He was the art director for the popular 1960's campaign for the Volkswagen Be...

Pol Pot was a Cambodian politician and revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until 1997 and took part in orchestrating the Cambodian genocide. From 1963 to 1981, he served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuch...