(b. Sept. 12, 1897, Paris, France-d. March 17, 1956, Paris) The French physical chemist Irène Joliot-Curie was awarded, with her husband, the 1935 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery of new radioactive isotopes prepared artificially. She was the daughter of Nobel Prize winners Pierre and Marie Curie. Irène Curie from 1912 to 1914 prepared […]
(b. Jan. 29, 1954, Kosciusko, Miss., U.S.) One of the richest and most influential women in the United States is the American television personality, actress, and entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey. Her syndicated daily talk show was among the most popular of the genre. Winfrey moved to Milwaukee, Wis., at age six to live with her mother.
(b. May 21, 1944, Ballina, County Mayo, Ire.) The Irish lawyer, politician, and diplomat Mary Robinson served as president of Ireland (1990–97) and as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR; 1997–2002). Robinson, born Mary Teresa Winifred Bourke, was educated at Trinity College and King’s Inns in Dublin and at Harvard University in the
(b. June 19, 1945, Rangoon, Burma [now Yangon, Myanmar]) The Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Aung San (a martyred national hero of independent Burma) and Khin Kyi (a prominent Burmese diplomat), and winner in 1991 of the Nobel Prize for Peace. Aung San Suu Kyi was 2 years old
Roy Acuff was a pioneer in the development of country music-as a singer, fiddler, songwriter, and music publisher, and as the spiritual figurehead of the Grand Ole Opry. One of the best-loved figures in the genre, he was the first living person to be elected as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Nathan Abshire was a Cajun accordion player whose talent as a musician, vocalist, and songwriter, together with his amiable personality, made him a favourite with Cajun and non-Cajun audiences alike. His postwar recordings helped bring the accordion back to a position of prominence in Cajun music, and his songs captured the joys and sorrows that
The Italian conductor Claudio Abbado is one of the superstars of late 20th-century concert music-renowned for his work in both the concert hall and the opera house. He is an outstanding interpreter of operatic and modern music and works extensively with young musicians. Abbado was born on June 26, 1933, into a highly musical Milanese
(fl. c. 62 CE, Alexandria, Egypt) Heron (or Hero) of Alexandria was a Greek geometer and inventor whose writings preserved for posterity a knowledge of the mathematics and engineering of Babylonia, ancient Egypt, and the Greco-Roman world. Heron’s most important geometric work, Metrica, was lost until 1896. It is a compendium, in three books, of
(b. 27th century BCE, Memphis, Egypt) Imhotep (Greek: Imouthes) was a vizier, sage, architect, astrologer, and chief minister to Djoser (reigned 2630–2611 BCE), the second king of Egypt’s third dynasty, who was later worshipped as the god of medicine in Egypt and in Greece, where he was identified with the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius.
(b. 62? CE, Guiyang [now Leiyang, in present-day Hunan province], China-d. 121, China) Cai Lun (courtesy name [zi] Jingzhong) was a Chinese court official who is traditionally credited with the invention of paper. Cai Lun was a eunuch who entered the service of the imperial palace in 75 CE and was made chief eunuch under