Name at birth: Annelies Marie FrankAnne Frank is the best-known victim of the Jewish genocide known as the Holocaust, which was ordered by Germany's Adolf Hitler during World War II. When German…
Name at birth: Gabriel Charles Dante RossettiDante Gabriel Rossetti helped found the English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a school of painting (1848) that advocated a return to the Italian style…
Dean Koontz has been a regular on American bestseller lists since the 1980s, famous for mainstream suspense novels such as Watchers (1987) and Midnight (1989). Koontz grew up in Pennsylvania and…
James Surowiecki writes a financial column for the magazine The New Yorker. A graduate of the University of North Carolina (1988), Surowiecki has written for New York and Fortune magazines, and…
(Encyclopedia) Rolle of Hampole, RichardRolle of Hampole, Richardrōl [key], c.1300–c.1349, English religious writer, a Yorkshire hermit. He wrote mainly in Latin, but his English works are important…
Ahmed Best is the actor, musician and dancer from the theater troupe Stomp who was chosen by George Lucas to play Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999, co-starring Ewan…
English writer Alex Garland made a splash with his first novel, The Beach, but has since become better known for his screenplays for the films 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Ex Machina. Garland studied…
Welsh actor Luke Evans has come to be known as a period-piece action hero, thanks to his roles in movies such as The Immortals, The Hobbit and Dracula Untold. A graduate of the London Studio Centre,…
civil-rights attorneyBorn: 1895Birthplace: Washington, D.C. Houston, a powerful advocate of civil rights, helped gain ground for the movement by taking the fight to the court system. Houston earned…
Born: June 7, 1943poetBirthplace: Knoxville, Tennessee A leading poet of the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni's work reflects her radical politics. In 1967 she graduated from Fisk University and…
