Happy Birthday

A legendary and prolific creator of thought-provoking and edgy television, Rod Serling spent 25 years creating programs on his own terms.

Isador Feinstein Stone found his journalistic calling as a teenager, starting up his own newspaper while in high school. His reporting career spanned six and a half decades, and eight major publications, including The New York Post and The Nation. Stone is best remembered for his newsletter, “I.F. Stone’s Weekly,” wherein he scrutinized the government and the press, exposing injustices of the McCarthy and Vietnam era.

The composer of such famous operas as “Manon Lescaut,” “La Bohème,” “Madame Butterfly” and “Turandot,” Giacomo Puccini’s talent and legacy continues to inspire and impress classical music fans around the world decades after the composer’s death. The richness and complexity of Puccini’s music underscored the drama of his life.

President Hu Jintao of China has been called a “pathbreaking” leader. Hu has worked to bridge his country’s class and regional divides.

Branch Rickey was a brilliant and innovative baseball executive who built championship teams and created the farm system. His legacy extends far beyond baseball, however; his 1947 signing of Jackie Robison—the first black ballplayer in the modern major leagues—left an indelible mark on American society.

Cicely Tyson is an award-winning actress best known for her roles in movies like “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” “Roots” and “Sounder.” On stage, on screen and in real life, she’s been a devoted supporter of civil rights and an outspoken advocate of other important social issues .

A writer whose caustic humor was a trademark of his short fiction, Edwardian author H.H. Munro (better known as Saki) carved a subtle yet indelible place for himself in the literary canon. Comparable to great authors such as O. Henry and Rudyard Kipling, he worked as a journalist and fiction writer throughout his life.

William Safire is one of the foremost authorities on the English language; his career has also included public relations and politics. After stints as a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and a conservative columnist for The New York Times, Safire has defined himself as an expert on writing, grammar and etymology. He has authored numerous works on politics, history and language and maintains the column “On Language” in The New York Times magazine.

Dr. Margaret Mead became one of the world’s most renowned American anthropologists through her extensive cross-cultural work on issues including gender roles, environmental justice, education, race relations, child rearing and nutrition. Known as the “observer’s observer,” she successfully bridged the gap between social anthropology and ethnology as we know them today.

An engineer who helped bring the world some of its most recognizable landmarks, Gustave Eiffel is best known for his eponymous Parisian tower. Eiffel’s creations can be found on several continents.

Tycho Brahe’s perfectionist approach to astronomy and astronomical instruments yielded some of the field’s greatest discoveries.

Aga Khan IV is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, to become the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. He has spent his life working to strengthen the Muslim community through his belief that the ethic of Islam “requires members of the faith to contribute to improving the quality of all human life.”

Patrick O’Brian was a beloved British novelist, biographer and translator; creator of the 21-book, “Aubrey-Maturin” British naval adventure series set during the Napoleonic Wars; and so fluent in the customs of the 19th century that he was described as having “walked out of another era.”

When Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet met a 9-year-old deaf neighbor, he was determined to find a way to communicate with her. After traveling the world researching the language of the deaf, Gallaudet returned to America to found the American School for the Deaf.

Once a reluctant leader, Sonia Gandhi is now one of India’s strongest voices in her role as head of the Indian National Congress, the ruling party in that country.

Through his ingenious comedy sketches, Flip Wilson and his eponymous variety show connected a racially divided world with laughter. On his birthday, we remember the life and laughs inspired by the comedian who declared, “Funny is an attitude.”

The founder of modern linguistics and one of the most esteemed (and controversial) political theorists and activists of our age, Noam Chomsky has inspired, aggravated and astounded many. The first to devise a theory about the biological innateness of language and a vocal critic of American foreign policy and media, he continues to be a source of unparalleled insight and inflammatory remarks.

One of America’s most revered and respected jazz and classical pianists and composers, Dave Brubeck has remained prolific throughout his six decades of performing on stages across the world.

Although Walt Disney’s first illustration company went broke, the ambitious animator took his sketchbook to Hollywood where he made it big with a mouse named Mickey. Disney pioneered the field of animation, creating the first sound-synchronized cartoon, the first cartoon in color, the first full-length feature cartoon and, of course, the first cartoon theme park.

Rainer Maria Rilke spent his life traveling the globe. Despite a variety of lovers and locales—Prague, Munich, Rome, Paris and Switzerland—Rilke remained alone, seeking a level of self-knowledge that only solitude and introspection could offer him. Although he wrote several volumes of poetry, he is best known for a series of letters written in his later years and published as “Letters to a Young Poet.”

Tirelessly devoted to both her renowned father and his revolutionary but controversial psychoanalytic theory, Anna Freud was Sigmund Freud’s youngest daughter, and sole heir to his clinical tradition. She was an innovator in her own right, largely credited with developing theories regarding the emotional lives of  children, as well as a committed teacher and advocate.

Although his artistic career lasted only a decade, Georges Seurat’s influence has stood the test of time. Popularized with his famous work “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” his method of painting with precisely placed small dots is a famous and often imitated technique, blending science and beauty on a single canvas.

After showing early artistic skill, Marie Tussaud apprenticed under one of the greatest wax modelers of her time. She made it—just barely—through the French Revolution and coupled her craft with keen financial acumen to create a business that still thrives today.

It’s findingDulcinea’s first birthday. In celebration, we look back at the company’s first year and discuss our plans for the future.

With a list of achievements spanning the length of his career, Pete Rose is widely considered one of the best players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, "Charlie Hustle" is also well known for his longtime gambling problem. Even though Rose's misdeeds threaten to overshadow his great career, his numerous records and legendary hustle stand as the true testament to his abilities as a player.

Fairy tales may seem to have existed since the beginning of storytelling, but Hans Christian Andersen is the acknowledged father of the modern form.

On April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple Computer Inc., a company that would completely change the way people used technology. Apple personal computers introduced such now-common elements as graphical user interfaces and the mouse. While the company fell on hard times in the mid-nineties, its name is now a household word, thanks to the amazing success of the iPod.

While Keira Knightley’s pout has become somewhat of a trademark for the British beauty, it would seem Ms. Knightley has very little to pout about. With numerous box-office hits, such as the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy, and a long list of award nominations, Knightley has proved she is much more than another pretty face on the big screen.