engineer, inventorBorn: 5/23/1820Birthplace: Lawrenceburg, Ind. With little formal education, he began his career as a purser on a Mississippi River steamboat in 1838. He began a business in 1842…
financial speculatorBorn: 4/1/1834Birthplace: Bennington, Vt. Known as the “Barnum of Wall Street” in part for his childhood job in a circus, but more for his flamboyant approach to business, he…
actorBorn: 4/18/1947Birthplace: Vernal, Utah Woods made his Broadway debut in Borstal Boy (1970) and his film debut a few years later in The Way We Were (1973). His other movies include The Onion…
(James Aurness)actorBorn: 5/26/1923Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota Arness became one of television's best-known heroes during the twenty years he spent on the series Gunsmoke (1955–75), playing…
actorBorn: 2/7/1960Birthplace: Boston Spader made his film debut in 1981's Endless Love. He went on to co-star, often as a confused member of the upper class, in Pretty in Pink (1986), Wall Street…
actor, directorBorn: 3/26/1939Birthplace: Queens, New York He gained fame as the dying football player Brian Piccolo in Brian's Song (1971) and as the eldest Corleone son in Francis Ford Coppola's…
biographer, art criticBorn: 2/28/1926Birthplace: Gloucester, Massachusetts An art critic for The New York Times, Mellow is best known as a biographer of prominent figures in literature. His works…
(James Laughlin IV)editor, publisher, poetBorn: 10/30/1914Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Laughlin founded the publishing company New Directions in 1936. Preferring the work of experimental…
(Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavelle)screenwriter, director, producer, novelistBorn: 10/10/1924Birthplace: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Although he wrote the screenplays for a number of…
actorBorn: 8/31/1928Birthplace: Laurel, Nebraska Academy Award-winning actor best known for his distinctive deep voice and playing tough guys and villains in numerous westerns and action films. He…
