Heinrich Wieland (1877)

Wieland was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1927 for determining the molecular structure of bile acids, which are produced by the liver. His work provided insight into the mechanism by which bile acids aid in the resorption of food in the intestines and led to the establishment of the close relationship between cholesterol and the bile acids. How did Wieland help students who were persecuted under the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Ransom E. Olds (1864)

Olds was a pioneer of the American automobile industry and the namesake of the Oldsmobile and Reo car brands. After developing an internal combustion engine and incorporating it into a car, he opened the Olds Gasoline Engine Works. In 1899, he moved to Detroit, formed the Olds Motor Works, and designed and produced the popular Oldsmobile. With its low price and stylish curved dashboard, it was the first car to be produced in quantity. When was the Oldsmobile brand discontinued? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Martha Washington (1731)

Martha Washington was the wife of first US president George Washington. They married in 1759, nearly two years after the death of her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. During the American Revolution, she spent winters in army camps with her husband and organized a women’s sewing circle to mend clothes for the troops. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she is considered the first “First Lady” of the US. She is also the only woman whose portrait has appeared on what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Marilyn Monroe (1926)

Monroe was an American actress, world-famous sex symbol, and cultural icon. The onetime model made her screen debut in 1948 and was at first patronized by critics, but she studied acting and eventually won more challenging roles. Her private life, including her marriages to baseball star Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, has been subject to intense scrutiny, and her death from a barbiturate overdose at age 36 only increased her mystique. Why was her childhood particularly tumultuous? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Francis Younghusband (1863)

Younghusband was a British Army officer and explorer remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia. In 1887, he journeyed from China to India, crossing the Gobi desert and the Mustagh Pass of the Karakorum range. In 1904, he led a military expedition that participated in the massacring of Tibetan troops and forced a treaty upon Tibet that opened it to Western trade. Apparently, he later regretted his role in these events. What changed his mind? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Peter Carl Fabergé (1846)

Famed for the decorative eggs that bear his name, Fabergé was a Russian goldsmith and jeweler. After inheriting his father’s jewelry business, Fabergé decided to expand its scope to include the production of objects made with precious materials like silver, gold, and gems. His studio’s opulent, intricate, and ingenious Easter eggs, which were often commissioned as gifts by tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II, are perhaps his most enduring legacy. Why did Fabergé eventually flee Russia? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Oswald Spengler (1880)

Spengler was a German historian and philosopher whose major work, The Decline of the West, brought him worldwide fame. In it, he contends that every civilization passes through a life cycle, blossoming and decaying like a natural organism, and that Western culture has passed its creative stage and entered the period of decline. He was ostracized after 1933 for refusing to support Nazi ideas of racial superiority. What major historic event occurred on the ninth anniversary of his death? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Carl Larsson (1853)

Larsson was a popular and imaginative Swedish illustrator and painter whose watercolors, particularly of his family and home, became popular worldwide. He is perhaps best known, however, for his last monumental work, Midvinterblot, or “Midwinter Sacrifice,” a large oil painting depicting a scene from Norse mythology. Considered Sweden’s most debated painting, it was commissioned by the National Museum in Stockholm but was rejected by the board upon its completion. Where does it now hang? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894)

Louis-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of French writer and doctor Louis-Ferdinand Destouches. Considered one of the most influential French writers of the 20th century, he developed a writing style that aimed to capture the rhythm of everyday speech. He remains, however, a controversial figure, partly due to his virulent anti-Semitism. After World War II, France convicted him of being a Nazi collaborator but later granted him amnesty. What punctuation mark was he especially fond of? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

John Wayne (1907)

An American actor and enduring icon of rugged masculinity, Wayne is best known for playing the archetypal Western hero in films like Stagecoach, The Alamo, and Rio Bravo. He appeared in some 250 films before his work in True Grit earned him his first—and only—Academy Award. An outspoken supporter of conservative political causes, notably America’s role in Vietnam, Wayne also appeared in a number of war films, including The Green Berets. What was his real name? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary