Hiram Bingham III (November 19, 1875 – June 6, 1956) was an American academic, explorer and politician. In 1911, he publicised the existence of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu which he rediscovered with the guidance of local indigenous farmers. Later, Bingham served as the 69th Governor of Connecticut for a single day in 1925—the shortest term in history. He had…
Frédéric Chopin was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin 1st of March 1810 in Zelazowa, Wola, Poland. The Polish composer was a virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. Chopin arrived in Paris on 5 October 1831; he would never return to Poland, thus becoming one of many expatriates of the…
Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress and singer, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers (1962–1964), Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964), Albert R. Broccoli said Blackman was cast opposite Sean Connery in the Bond film because of her success in the British…
Gillian Anderson, OBE (born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies’s film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama television series The Fall, sex therapist…
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who, as the commander of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot and university professor. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Apollo…
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at 2,430 meters (7,970 ft). Often referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”, it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is in the Machu Picchu District within the Urubamba…
Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created spontaneously and portrayed in drama and comedy films. Williams is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time. He received numerous accolades including an…
Sylvester Stallone (born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Critics’ Choice Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA Awards. Stallone is one of only two…
Erin Brockovich (née Pattee; born June 22, 1960) is an American paralegal, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California for attorney Ed Masry in 1993. Their successful lawsuit was the subject of the Oscar-nominated film, Erin…
Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world’s highest-paid actresses since the late 1990s. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Volpi Cup,…
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic “blonde bombshell” characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era’s sexual revolution. She was a…
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series Rawhide, Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the “Man with No Name” in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy of spaghetti Westerns during the mid-1960s and as antihero cop Harry Callahan…
Sir Ian McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has…
Udo Lindenberg (born 17th May 1946) started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit and appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Michael Naura, Knut Kiesewetter). In 1970, he collaborated as a drummer with jazz saxophonist Klaus Doldinger in Munich. In 1971 Passport, a band…
Audrey Hepburn (4th of May 1929 – 20th of January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema and was inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List. Born…
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997 and held various shadow cabinet posts from 1987…
Steven Seagal (born April 10, 1952) is an US actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan where he became the first American to teach in an aikido dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he…
Albert Einstein was born 14 March 1879 in Ulm Germany. He was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely held as one of the most influential scientists. Best known for developing the theory of relativity, Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from special…
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. The tower is one of three structures in Pisa’s Cathedral Square, which includes the cathedral and Pisa Baptistry. The tower began to lean during construction…
Today we celebrate the 113th Birthday of one of Britain’s great classics – the short story writer, novelist, journalist, and social critic Charles Dickens. Born as Charles John Huffam Dickens on the 7th of February 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England he created some of literature’s best-known fictional characters like Ebenezer Scrooge. Today Dickens is…
Today we celebrate Bob Marley’s posthumous 80th Birthday. Born as Robert Nesta Marley on the 6th of February 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica the singer, songwriter and guitarist is considered one of the pioneers of reggae. He fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive vocal…