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Marie Curie: The Scientist Who Brought X-Rays to the Battlefield
Marie Curie brought mobile X-ray equipment to hospitals near the front during the First World War.
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Rosalind Franklin: The Scientist Who Photographed DNA and Died One Day Before Seeing Her Final Discovery
Photograph 51 revealed the hidden architecture of life, but Rosalind Franklin’s scientific legacy extended far beyond DNA.
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Romy Schneider: The Actress Who Escaped a Princess and Lent Her Name to a Rebellion
The young empress who conquered Europe abandoned a reliable formula, rebuilt her career in France, and turned her own name into an…
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Marlon Brando: The Actor Who Turned an Oscar into a Protest
In 1973 he refused the Oscar for The Godfather and transformed the greatest recognition of his career into a protest against Hollywood.
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James Dean: The Actor Who Needed Only Three Films to Become a Legend
Only one of his three starring films had opened when he died. The next two expanded his legend.
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Marilyn Monroe: The Star Who Challenged Hollywood—and Won
In 1955 she left Hollywood, formed her own production company, and forced Fox to renegotiate her terms.
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Édith Piaf: The Singer Who Nearly Lost Her Career over an Unsolved Murder
Louis Leplée’s unsolved murder connected Édith Piaf to the Paris underworld and nearly destroyed her emerging career.
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Federico García Lorca: The Poet Whose Murder Was Recorded in a Secret Report
In 1965, a secret Francoist police report acknowledged how Federico García Lorca had been arrested, shot, and secretly buried.
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Edgar Allan Poe: The Writer Who Made New York Believe a Balloon Had Crossed the Atlantic
In 1844, Edgar Allan Poe made New York believe a balloon had crossed the Atlantic in seventy-five hours.
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Virginia Woolf: The Writer Who Turned Her Dining Room Into a Publishing House
In 1917, Virginia Woolf installed a small hand press in her dining room. That domestic project became the Hogarth Press.
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Egon Schiele: The Painter Who Watched a Judge Burn His Drawing
He was imprisoned on grave charges that were ultimately dropped. Before releasing him, a judge publicly burned one of his drawings.
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Caravaggio: The Knight Expelled Before His Own Masterpiece
The Order of Malta made him a knight for his talent. Less than five months later, it expelled him before the only…
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