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Actor and singer, Walter Brennan, was one of the best known Hollywood actors in the mid-20th century. The veteran actor was the recipient of three Academy Awards, becoming one of only three male actors to do so. In an extensive career spanning almost five decades, he had appeared in over a hundred films and TV shows.
Legendary American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner is still regarded as the fastest woman in the world. Her world records in both the 100m and 200m categories have still not been broken. The three-time Olympic gold medal winner was also known for her six-inch nails and her unconventional outfits.
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher. He was among the first Western philosophers to affirm important tenets of Indian philosophy, such as denial of the self and asceticism. Schopenhauer's work has had a tremendous posthumous impact on disciplines like science, literature, and philosophy. His work influenced personalities like Albert Einstein, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Sigmund Freud, George Bernard Shaw, and Leo Tolstoy.
Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and playwright. Scott's ability as a writer and his knowledge of history made him a pioneering figure in the formation of the historical novel genre. An influential writer, many of his works remain classics of Scottish as well as English-language literature. Scott was admired by other prominent writers like Letitia Elizabeth Landon.
Chief Joseph, a leader of the Nez Percé tribe of Native Americans, had initially agreed to the U.S. demand of them moving into a reservation in Idaho. However, fearing retaliation after his men killed a few whites, he attempted an escape to Canada, leading his people through an arduous trek.
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian poet, writer, and correspondent of Petrarch. An important Renaissance humanist, Boccaccio was also one of the most prominent personalities of 14th-century European literature. A versatile writer, Giovanni Boccaccio is often viewed as the most important European prose writer of his generation. His works influenced popular personalities like Geoffrey Chaucer and Miguel de Cervantes.
Jackie Stallone was an American dancer, astrologer, and kayfabe promoter of Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Jackie Stallone was the first woman to host a daily TV program on weight lifting and exercise. She later established Barbella's, a women-only gym. Perhaps her biggest contribution to the world is giving birth to Sylvester Stallone, who went on to become a popular actor.
Leonid Rogozov was a Soviet general practitioner remembered for performing his own appendectomy as he developed appendicitis while stationed at Novolazarevskaya Station; he was part of the sixth Soviet Antarctic Expedition in 1961 when he developed appendicitis. The self-surgery, which was documented by Rogozov’s colleagues, resulted in a change of policy and health checks were made mandatory during such expeditions.
Orlando Letelier was a Chilean politician, economist, and diplomat. After his arrest due to his participation in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, Letelier was exiled from Chile. In 1975, Letelier left for Washington D.C., where he achieved popularity as an economist and teacher. Orlando Letelier was murdered in 1976 by agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional.
Luisa Spagnoli was an Italian businesswoman best remembered for creating the popular women's clothing and chocolate brand Perugina. Spagnoli's chocolate brand Baci Perugina became so famous that it was marketed in foreign countries, such as the United States of America.
Romanian economist and politician Armand Călinescu served as Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister before becoming Prime Minister of Romania. He was believed to be very close to King Carol II and possibly the real-power behind the throne during the King’s royal-dictatorship. Călinescu detested Iron Guard and anti-Semitism and was eventually assassinated by Iron Guard members with Nazi support.
Napoleon Chagnon was a cultural anthropologist considered a pioneer of scientific anthropology. He did long-term ethnographic fieldwork among the Yanomamö indigenous people, in which he used an evolutionary approach to understand social behavior. This work received both praise and criticism, making him a controversial figure. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.
Dingiri Banda Wijetunga was a Sri Lankan political leader best remembered for his service as the President of Sri Lanka from 1993 to 1994. An influential politician, he also served as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1993. In 1993, Dingiri Banda Wijetunga was honored with the prestigious Sri Lankabhimanya, Sri Lanka's highest civilian honor.
German-born director Henry Koster experimented with cartooning, painting, and even scriptwriting, before directing his debut film, Thea Roland. Following the rise of the Nazi regime, he moved to the U.S. His rich body of work consists of his Oscar-nominated direction in The Bishop's Wife and his equally popular Harvey.
British astrophysicist and cosmologist Edward Arthur Milne was a brilliant student and a Cambridge scholar. Remembered for his work on kinematic relativity, he introduced the Milne model, too. He applied the Saha equation in his studies on the spectral lines of stars and also lectured on Christianity.
Roman general Flavius Aëtius, also known as the Last of the Romans, was a Roman general during the final years of the Western Roman Empire. He had a huge influence over Emperor Valentinian III. He resisted Attila’s invasion in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. He was eventually assassinated by Valentinian.
Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano is best known for his iconic work Ars magna, or The Great Art, which contributed immensely to the field of algebra. Throughout his illustrious life, he had been a physician, a math lecturer, and an astrologer. He was also the first to describe typhus fever clinically.
Bernardo Houssay was an Argentine physiologist best remembered for winning the 1947 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine and becoming the first Argentine Nobel Prize winner in the field of sciences. Bernardo Houssay won the award for discovering the role of the pituitary hormones in regulating the amount of glucose in animals.
Japanese pearl farmer and entrepreneur Mikimoto Kōkichi pioneered the cultured pearl industry. He later monopolized the industry, organizing exhibitions and launching sales offices worldwide. A crown manufactured by the Mikimoto Pearl Company was later used by Ms. Universe winners, while the company also designed for the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants.
Sven Hassel was a Danish writer best remembered for his novels that focus on the stories that revolve around the German combatants during the Second World War. A popular literary figure, Sven Hassel is often counted among the bestselling Danish authors of all time.
Kurt Adler began studying music at age 6 and delivered his first public piano performance at 14. Though his parents were killed in a Nazi concentration camp, Adler fled to the U.S. and settled in New York. The master conductor is best remembered for his association with the Metropolitan Opera.
Nils Bohlin was a Swedish inventor and mechanical engineer remembered for inventing the three-point safety belt in vehicles. The safety belt is considered one of the most important inventions in the history of automobiles. In 1974, he was honored with the Ralph Isbrandt Automotive Safety Engineering Award. In 1999, Bohlin was made an inductee of the Automotive Hall of Fame.
