Ella Fitzgerald was one of the most exciting jazz singers of her time and, because of the naturalness of her style, had a popular appeal that extended far beyond the borders of jazz.
The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a legendary figure of the 1920s, was an extremely observant artist, a beautiful writer, and an exceptional craftsman.
The French novelist Gustave Flaubert was one of the most important forces in creating the modern novel as a deliberate art form and in introducing this objective form of writing in France.
Millionaire Malcolm Forbes was the publisher of Forbes magazine from 1957 to 1990. He was a man known for his business sense and his lavish lifestyle.
After founding the Ford Motor Company, the American industrialist Henry Ford developed a system of mass production based on the assembly line and the conveyor belt which produced low-priced cars that were affordable to middleclass Americans.
The Italian religious leader St. Francis of Assisi founded the religious order known as the Franciscans.
B enjamin Franklin was a leader of America's revolutionary generation. His character and thought were shaped by his religious upbringing, the philosophy of the historical era known as the Enlightenment, and the environment of colonial America.
The work of Sigmund Freud, the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, marked the beginning of a modern, dynamic psychology by providing the first well-organized explanation of the inner mental forces determining human behavior.
Betty Friedan is a leader of the feminist (women's rights) movement, author of The Feminine Mystique, and a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Abortion Rights Action League (an organization that supports a woman's right to end a pregnancy), and the National Women's Political Caucus. She helped spark the women's movement in the 1960s.
Robert Frost was a traditional American poet in an age of experimental art. He used New England expressions, characters, and settings, recalling the roots of American culture, to get at the common experience of all.
John Kenneth Galbraith became a leading scholar and arguably the most famous economist in the second half of the twentieth century. His views are a severe criticism of the modern society that upholds personal achievement and material well-being over public interest and needs.
The Greek physician Galen was one of the originators of the science of anatomy (the study of the structure of living things) and was probably the most important physician of all time. His surviving writings make up about half of all ancient writings on medicine.
The Italian scientist Galileo is famous for his contributions to astronomy, physics (the science that deals with matter and energy), and scientific thought.
George Gallup was a pioneer in the field of public opinion polling. He developed methods for perfecting the selection of sample populations (a small group that resembles the population as a whole), interviewing techniques, and formulation of questions.
Indira Gandhi, a prime minister of India, was the most effective and powerful politician of her day in that country. Considered a hero by her supporters and cursed by her enemies, who later assassinated her, Indira Gandhi paved the way for democracy in India during the twentieth century.
Mohandas Gandhi was an Indian revolutionary and religious leader who used his religious power for political and social reform. Although he held no governmental office, he was the main force behind the second-largest nation in the world's struggle for independence.
Gabriel GarcĂa Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, and journalist whose works have earned him the reputation of being one of the greatest living writers in Spain and Latin America.
Judy Garland starred in films, musicals, and on the concert stage.
Marcus Garvey, a black man from the West Indies, was the first to forcefully speak about the concept of African nationalism—of black people returning to Africa, the continent of their forefathers, in order to build a great nation of their own. His writings and ideas would inspire many leaders of the civil rights movement during the second half of the twentieth century.
Microsoft cofounder and chief executive officer Bill Gates has become the wealthiest man in America and one of the most influential personalities in the ever-evolving computer industry.
The French painter and sculptor Paul Gauguin sought exotic environments, first in France and later in Tahiti. He frequently combined the people and objects in his paintings in novel ways, bringing to mind a mysterious, personal world in the process.
The German mathematician Karl Friedrich Gauss made outstanding contributions to both pure (studied for its own sake) and applied (studied in order to solve specific problems) mathematics.
Hans Geiger was a German nuclear physicist (a person who studies the inner core of the atom) best known for his invention of the Geiger counter, a device used for detecting and counting atomic particles, and for his work in nuclear physics with Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937).
Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote the popular children's books The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hatches the Egg, and many more.
Genghis Khan was the creator of the Mongol nation and the founder of one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen.
J. Paul Getty was a billionaire independent oil producer who founded and controlled the Getty Oil Company and over two hundred other related companies.
Kahlil Gibran, baptized Gibran Khalil Gibran, the oldest child of Khalil Gibran and his wife Kamila Rahme, was born January 6, 1883, in Besharri, Lebanon, then part of Syria and the Ottoman Turkish Empire. His childhood in a village beneath Mt.
Althea Gibson is noted not only for her exceptional abilities as a tennis player, but for breaking the color barrier in the 1950s as the first African American to compete in national and international tennis.