Biographies

Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks

She was one of the most influential poets of the 20th century and the first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize (1950).

Ch—AP/Shutterstock.com
Peter Higgs
Claudia Marcelloni/© CERN
Peter Higgs

This British scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for proposing the existence of the Higgs boson.

Claudia Marcelloni/© CERN

Editor's Picks

Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He is perhaps the most important Latin American poet of the 20th century. Neruda was the son of José del Carmen Reyes, a railway worker, and Rosa Basoalto. His mother died within a
Engraving of Solomon Northup, c. 1853. (Twelve Years a Slave, 12 Years a Slave, slavery, African-American, Black History)
9 Mysterious Disappearances of People Other Than Amelia Earhart
People other than Amelia Earhart have disappeared without a trace. Really!
Maya Angelou, 1996.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. Although born in St. Louis, Angelou spent much of her childhood in the care of her paternal grandmother in rural Stamps, Arkansas. When she
Shadow of a man holding large knife in his hand inside of some dark, spooky buiding
7 of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers 
Don’t read this list before bed.
William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English engraver, artist, poet, and visionary, author of exquisite lyrics in Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794) and profound and difficult “prophecies,” such as Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793), The First Book of Urizen (1794), Milton
"John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I" by Henry Gillard Glindoni. Oil painting 18th century. Pentimento, occult, sorcery, magic.
Queen Elizabeth's Court Occultist
Was John Dee a sorcerer or a scholar?
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm made history as the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, serving in the House of Representatives from 1969 to 1983. In 1972 Chisholm also became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Shirley St. Hill was the daughter
Jane Goodall. British ethologist Dr. Jane Goodall (b. 1934) with chimpanzee Freud at Gombe National Park in Tanzania. Goodall researches the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.
10 Women Who Advanced Our Understanding of Life on Earth
Boldly going where no woman had gone before.

Spotlight: Marie Curie

The Polish-born French physicist was famous for her work on radioactivity, becoming the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903 (for Physics), and later becoming the only woman to win a Nobel in two different fields when, in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Quizzes

Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after breaking the world record with a time of 19.30 to win the gold medal as Churandy Martina (left) of Netherlands Antilles and Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe come in after him in the Men's 200m Final at the National Stadium during Day 12 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 20, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Summer Olympics, track and field, athletics)
I Am the Greatest (Athlete)
Think you know a lot about famous athletes? This quiz might get your GOAT.
Wheat Field with Cypresses, oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh, 1889; in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, 73 x 93.4 cm.
Name that Painter!
Can you tell a Monet from a Manet?
a postage stamp printed in USA showing an image of Jackie Robinson, CIRCA 1999.
Who's on that Stamp?
This quiz requires attention—you can't just mail it in.
(From left): First Ladies Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, Pat Nixon, and Lady Bird Johnson at the Dedication of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California; November 4, 1991. (first lady)
First Ladies of the United States Quiz
They have been hostesses, helpers, advisers, gatekeepers, guardians, confidantes, and sometimes formidable powers behind the scenes. How much do you know about the first ladies of the United States?

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David Attenborough: An explorer's life
David Attenborough: An explorer's life
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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