physicistBorn: 1914Birthplace: Pocahontas, Va. As chair of the Department of Physics at Howard University, Herman Branson helped the scientific community gain new insight into organic molecules and…
Born: Feb. 16, 1959Tennis No.1 player in the world 4 times (1981-84); 4-time U.S. Open champ (1979-81,84); 3-time Wimbledon champ (1981,83-84); played on 5 Davis Cup winners (1978,79,81,82,92); won…
Notable Civil Rights Leaders
The Little Rock Nine pictured with Daisy Bates, the president of the Arkansas NAACP. Browse more African-American biographies by category:…
(Encyclopedia) Lacoste, RenéLacoste, Renérənāˈ läkôstˈ [key], 1905–96, French tennis player. He won the French singles championship (1925, 1927, and 1929), the British singles championship (1925,…
(Encyclopedia) DiskoDiskodĭsˈkō [key], island, 3,312 sq mi (8,578 sq km), in the Davis Strait off W Greenland. It is mountainous (rising to 6,296 ft/1,919 m) and partly glaciated. Telluric iron and…
(Encyclopedia) T'ao Yüan-ming or T'ao Ch'ien, 365–427, Chinese poet. After several bitter experiences in government employment, he became a gentleman farmer. His poems, composed in simple diction at…
(Encyclopedia) Campion or Campian, Thomas, 1567–1620, English poet, composer, and lutenist, a physician by profession. Campion wrote lyric poems that he and other composers set to music. His graceful…
actorBorn: 10/22/1952Birthplace: Pittsburgh Actor whose offbeat style and nontraditional good lucks have provided him with a productive and wide-ranging Hollywood career. Goldblum has had eye-…
jazz saxophonist, composerBorn: 9/23/1926Birthplace: Hamlet, North Carolina Jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist and composer who was a leader of the New Wave jazz movement. Coltrane began his…
(Samuel Goldfish)film producerBorn: 7/1879Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland After emigrating to America at age 13 and a brief career in glovemaking and sales, he partnered with Cecil B. DeMille to found…