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Retired American astronaut Jim Lovell commanded the iconic Apollo 13 mission and was one of the first three human beings to fly to the Moon, orbit it, and get back to Earth. He had also been a US Navy captain. Following his retirement, Lovell launched a restaurant in Lake Forest.
While he grew up to be a Harvard math professor, that didn’t stop Tom Lehrer from pursuing his childhood love for music. He gained fame as a satirical composer, with songs such as So Long, Mom, I’m Off to Drop the Bomb and That Was The Year That Was.
James Watson is a geneticist, molecular biologist, and zoologist. He is credited with co-authoring the academic paper that propounded the double helix structure of nucleic acids such as DNA for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. In 1977, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1997, he was awarded the National Medal of Science.
Frank Borman is an American former US Air Force colonel, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, businessman, and NASA astronaut. The commander of Apollo 8, Borman was the first of 24 astronauts to have flown to the Moon. In 1982, Frank Borman was made an inductee of the International Space Hall of Fame.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi is a South African politician who is credited with founding the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). He was widely regarded as one of the most important black leaders during the apartheid era. From 1994 to 2004, he served as South Africa's minister of home affairs. He has also won many awards, such as Nadaraja Award and Magna Award.
Nicolas Roeg was an English cinematographer and film director. He is best remembered for directing films like Performance, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Don't Look Now, and The Witches. A highly influential filmmaker, Nicolas Roeg is credited with inspiring other prominent directors like Christopher Nolan, Steven Soderbergh, and Danny Boyle.
Former US Air Force pilot Joseph Kittinger made many high-altitude balloon records and scripted history as the first person to complete a solo balloon flight across the Atlantic Ocean. He served as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War and had been part of the US high-altitude military projects Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior.
L. K. Advani is a retired Indian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. A co-founder of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he has also been the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha on two occasions. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor.
Robert Indiana was an American artist best remembered for his association with the pop art movement. He is credited with creating the popular Love sculpture. The sculpture, which is situated at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), was the basis for the 1973 US Postal Service LOVE stamp. Indiana's works are preserved in numerous museums, including the McNay Art Museum.
A former naval officer, Jean Vanier began working for intellectually disabled people after he met some of them in Paris, eventually founding L'Arche in order to provide them with shelter and support network. Later, he also cofounded Faith and Light to help those with learning disability. A prolific author; after his death, he was accused of sexually exploiting six women.
Hans Blix is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1978 to 1979. An advocate of world peace, Blix served as the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981 to 1997. In 2007, Hans Blix was honored with the Sydney Peace Prize. In 2014, he received the Fulbright Prize.
Gustavo Gutiérrez is a Peruvian Catholic theologian, philosopher, and Dominican priest. A respected theologian, Gutiérrez has served as a visiting professor in many prestigious universities in Europe and North America. Gustavo Gutiérrez has also taught at the Harvard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Cambridge, and the University of California, Berkeley among other schools.
Peter Munk was a Hungarian-Canadian investor, businessman, and philanthropist. He is credited with founding numerous high-profile business ventures, such as Clairtone Sound Corporation Limited, Barrick Gold Corporation, and TrizecHahn Corporation. He also helped found the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation which has given away over $300 million to various non-profit organizations that aim at improving the lives of Canadians.
A pioneer of optical and kinetic art, Yaacov Agam is best-known for his 3-D creations. The son of a Russian rabbi, he studied art in places such as Jerusalem and Paris. His art includes manipulable sculptures, musical fountains, and fluid geometric forms. He also created the largest menorah in the world.
Reynaldo Bignone was an Argentine general who ruled as a military dictator from 1982 to 1983. He was involved in the kidnapping and murder of people who opposed the military junta during the Dirty War. He also ordered the annihilation of all documentation on the missing people. Reynaldo Bignone was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment in 2010.
Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist educator, author, philosopher, and nuclear disarmament advocate. He is best known for serving as the founding president of the world's largest Buddhist lay organization, Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Daisaku Ikeda has won several international awards like the United Nations Peace Medal, Tagore Peace Award, and Rosa Parks Humanitarian Award.
Desmond Morris is an English ethologist, zoologist, author, and surrealist painter. He is well-known for his book The Naked Ape and for his TV shows, such as Zoo Time. Desmond Morris is also known for his work as the writer and presenter of the popular BBC documentary The Human Animal.
After fleeing to Chile with his family during the Nazi regime, Otto F. Kernberg studied medicine and then psychiatry. He eventually moved to the U.S. on a Rockefeller fellowship and grew up to be one of the finest psychoanalysts of the country. He now teaches at the Weill Cornell Medicine.
Hans Modrow is a German politician best known as East Germany's last communist premier. In 1995, Modrow was convicted of perjury and electoral fraud by the Dresden District Court after the conclusion of Communist rule in Germany. Since German reunification, Hans Modrow has been writing several books on his political experiences.
Nobel Prize-winning Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist Osamu Shimomura is remembered for discovering the green fluorescent protein, or GFP. He was also associated with Princeton University and the Marine Biological Laboratory as a researcher and faculty member. He was named to the US National Academy of Sciences, too.
Arnold Rüütel is an Estonian agricultural scientist and politician. He is best known for his service as the President of Estonia from 2001 to 2006. He also served as the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Estonia from 1990 to 1992.
