• Tom & Joan Braden

    Tom Braden (b. February 22, 1917; d. April 3, 2009) was most recently known as co-host for the CNN show Crossfire , but his long career also included stints as a CIA operative, newspaper journalist and most notably, as the author of his autobiographical book Eight is Enough , which told of his misadventures as a father of eight children. Joan Ridley Braden started…more»

  • Helen Churchill Candee

    Helen Churchill Candee (b. October 5, 1858; d. August 23, 1949) was an American journalist and one of the country's first professional interior decorators. She is best known, however, as being a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Candee was researching a book on tapestry in Europe when she was called back to the U.S. on emergency because her son…more»

  • Top Chef

    Top Chef is a reality show based on the highs, lows and heated excitement of culinary competition. The show, which airs on the Bravo network, pits chefs against each other in the kitchen and subjects them to the scrutiny of well-known chefs and foodies. The fact that the competitors all live in the same house during the competition only adds to the drama of…more»

  • Alexander Graham Bell

    Alexander Graham Bell (b. March 3, 1847; d. August 2, 1922) is best known for inventing the telephone in 1876 and founding the Bell Telephone Company. However, he spent over half a century exploring everything from artificial respiration and hydrofoils to airplanes and sheep breeding. Bell is also credited with inventing the photo phone, a building block of fiber-optic communications and lasers, and the…more»

  • Donald Hornig

    Donald Hornig (b. March 17, 1920; d. January 21, 2013) was a former president of Brown University. A brilliant chemist, he was better known as one of the inventors of the atom bomb. Hornig graduated from Harvard in 1943 and worked for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and then the Los Alamos Laboratory. In 1945, when he was just 25 years old, Hornig helped…more»

  • Ted Leonsis

    Ted Leonsis (b. January 8, 1957) is much more than an internet entrepreneur; he is an internet pioneer. Leonsis was a senior executive with AOL for a number of years, and now sits on the boards of a number of major corporations, including Groupon, SnagFilms and American Express. He also owns majority shares in the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics and the Verizon…more»

  • Charles Lindbergh

    Charles Lindbergh (b. February 4, 1902; d. August 26, 1974) was the first American aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean without stopping. Lindbergh studied mechanics and engineering, but flight represented something much grander for him. In 1927, just after the flight that made him an international hero, he said, “The life of an aviator seemed to me ideal. It involved skill. It…more»

  • MTV Real World DC

    The Real World is a reality television series on MTV. The first episode aired way back in 1992, making it the longest running show in MTV history. It has hit on major issues, such as relationships, sexuality, AIDS and politics, and has become a cultural phenomenon. Over 27 seasons, the show pimped out houses in cities like New York, Seattle, Paris, Las Vegas and…more»

  • Kenneth Starr

    Kenneth Starr (b. July 21, 1946) was the special prosecutor who led the Whitewater investigation during the Clinton Administration. The investigation centered on the Clinton's Whitewater real estate investments and the death of White House counsel Vince Foster and whether it was a suicide or a murder cover-up. The Whitewater investigation led to many others, including President Clinton's extramarital affair with White House intern…more»

  • Jack Valenti

    Jack Valenti (b. September 5, 1921; d. April 26, 2007) was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). He was a stalwart on issues of copyright infringement and is credited with making sweeping changes within the movie and TV industry. Though this was his most famous role, Valenti’s career is so varied that it reads like a…more»