(Mya Harrison)singer, songwriterBorn: 10/10/1979Birthplace: Washington, D.C. Mya secured her first recording contract at age 16, after abandoning her childhood ambition to become a professional…
actressBorn: 5/14/1969Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia Born to a Texan father and an Australian mother, the Blanchett was 10 years old when her father died. A student of economics and fine arts at…
founder of the Mali EmpireBorn: c. 1210Birthplace: Kangaba State (in present-day Mali) West Africa An ethnic Malinké (also known as Mandinka), Mari Diata was the son of Nare Maghan, ruler of the…
actressBorn: 4/30/1982Birthplace: Point Pleasant, N.J. Dunst has been in show business almost her entire life. She began modeling and appearing in commercials at age 3 and made her feature film…
musician, poet, activistBorn: Feb. 15, 1946Birthplace: Omaha, Neb. John Trudell, the son of a Santee Sioux father and a Mexican mother, grew up around the Santee reservation near Omaha. He joined…
Pinckney Benton StewartAmerican Reconstruction-era politician Born: May 10, 1837Birthplace: Macon, Georgia Pinchback was born to a freed slave and her former master, who lived together as a couple…
Senator from Mississippi; first African American senatorBorn: September 27, 1827Birthplace: Fayetteville, N.C. Born a free Black man, Revels worked as a barber and as a minister in the African…
Sioux chiefBorn: c.1831Birthplace: on Grand River, S.D. Sitting Bull was a Sioux warrior of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe. He fought his first battle at age fourteen and quickly became known for his…
director, writerBorn: 10/23/1954Birthplace: Pingtung, Taiwan Ang Lee first gained fame for his second feature film The Wedding Banquet (1993), which was described as “a cross-cultural, gay Green…
actor, directorBorn: 7/1/1952Birthplace: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada The grandson of a Canadian Mountie, he veered away from his study of criminology in college to pursue his interest in acting. He…
