Biographies
Ma Rainey
Known as the "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey was widely regarded as the first great blues vocalist.
Archive Photos
Leo XIV
He's the first pope to hail from the United States and is expected to steer the church in the same direction set by his predecessor.
© Alberto Pizzoli—AFP/Getty Images
Editor's Picks
Princess Diana: A Life in Pictures
Princess Diana lived a short but remarkable life. Once known as “Shy Di,” she became one of the world’s biggest celebrities, noted for both her glamor and her humanitarian work, and she forever changed the British monarchy. Decades after her death in 1997, Princess Diana’s legacy endures. list,
America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)
Cryptic codes. Threatening notes. Romantic rendezvous gone wrong. Not every murder gets solved. For all the amateur sleuths out there, we’ve collected the United States’ five most notorious cold cases: list, true crime, cold case, murder, United States, Zodiac killer, cipher, California, Arthur
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer and singer who symbolized the beauty and vitality of Black American culture, which took Paris by storm in the 1920s. Baker grew up fatherless and in poverty. Between the ages of 8 and 10 she was out of school, helping to support her family. As a
12 Influencers Throughout History
Though we might think of today’s influencers as people with millions of followers on Instagram or TikTok, both of which are relatively recent inventions, the role of an influencer is not so specific to the 21st century. In fact, centuries before social media even existed, trendsetters inspired
Dalip Singh Saund
Dalip Singh Saund was the first Asian American, first Indian American, and first Sikh to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Before serving, he helped change a law so that Indians could become U.S. citizens. Saund was born in Chhajjal Wadi, in the Punjab province of northern India, which at the time
10 Queens of the Athletic Realm
Whether it’s on the pitch, the links, the ice, the courts, or the tracks, women have always excelled at sport, and here we’ve selected 10 of the greatest women athletes of all time. Winnowing it down to 10, of course, is always difficult. Did we miss one of your favorites? This list was adapted
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician known for his contributions to infinite series, number theory, and the properties of the partition function. Ramanujan’s early life was unconventional for a mathematician. Born into a poor Brahmin family, he had little access to formal education and
list of Summer Olympic athletes
When sports fans look back and remember the Olympics of years gone by, it is not only their favorite sports that they remember but also the dynamic, talented, and inspiring athletes that made the Games worth watching. Below are select past and future Summer Olympic Games competitors and the
Spotlight: Marie Curie
The Polish-born French physicist was famous for her work on radioactivity, becoming the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903 (for Physics), and later becoming the only woman to win a Nobel in two different fields when, in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Quizzes
I Am the Greatest (Athlete)
Think you know a lot about famous athletes? This quiz might get your GOAT.
Name that Painter!
Can you tell a Monet from a Manet?
Who's on that Stamp?
This quiz requires attention—you can't just mail it in.
First Ladies of the United States Quiz
They have been hostesses, helpers, advisers, gatekeepers, guardians, confidantes, and sometimes formidable powers behind the scenes. How much do you know about the first ladies of the United States?
Videos
Who is Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut?
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Actors
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn was an indomitable American stage and film actress, known as a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity. She introduced into her roles a strength of character previously considered to be undesirable in Hollywood leading ladies. As an actress, she was noted for her brisk
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian American actor, director, and producer who broke the color barrier in the U.S. motion-picture industry by becoming the first African American to win an Academy Award for best actor (for Lilies of the Field [1963]) and the first Black movie star. He also redefined roles
Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge was an American singer and film actress who was the first black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress. Dandridge’s mother was an entertainer and comedic actress who, after settling in Los Angeles, had some success in radio and, later, television. The young
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier was a towering figure of the British stage and screen, acclaimed in his lifetime as the greatest English-speaking actor of the 20th century. He was the first member of his profession to be elevated to a life peerage. The son of an Anglican minister, Olivier attended All Saints
Philosophers
Avicenna
Avicenna was a Muslim physician, the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of the medieval Islamic world. He was particularly noted for his contributions in the fields of Aristotelian philosophy and medicine. He composed the Kitāb al-shifāʾ (Book of the Cure), a vast
Plato
Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates (c. 470–399 bce), teacher of Aristotle (384–322 bce), and founder of the Academy. He is best known as the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence and is one of the major figures of Classical antiquity. Building on the
Cornel West
Cornel West is an American philosopher, scholar of African American studies, and political activist. His influential book Race Matters (1993) lamented what he saw as the spiritual impoverishment of the African American underclass and critically examined the “crisis” of Black leadership in the
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, and social reformer, a founding figure in the analytic movement in Anglo-American philosophy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Russell’s contributions to logic, epistemology, and the philosophy of mathematics established
Aviation Legends
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was an American aviator, one of the world’s most celebrated, who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her disappearance during a flight around the world in 1937 became an enduring mystery, fueling much speculation. Earhart’s father was a railroad lawyer, and her
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh was an American aviator, one of the best-known figures in aeronautical history, remembered for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York City to Paris, on May 20–21, 1927. Lindbergh’s early years were spent chiefly in Little Falls, Minnesota, and in
Harriet Quimby
Harriet Quimby was an American aviator, the first female pilot to fly across the English Channel. Quimby’s birth date and place are not well attested. (She sometimes claimed 1884 in Arroyo Grande, California.) By 1902, however, it is known that she and her family were living in California, and in
Wright brothers
Wright brothers, were American inventors and aviation pioneers who achieved the first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight (1903). Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana, U.S.—May 30, 1912, Dayton, Ohio) and his brother Orville Wright (August 19, 1871, Dayton—January