McNeill Designs: Board Games for Brighter Minds

From Chicago, Illinois, Alphonsus Capone was America's best known gangster. He figured prominently in the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition Era and was known for being a ruthless criminal. www.chicagohistory.org/history/capone.html
www.crimelibrary.com/capone/caponemain.htm
www.answers.com/topic=al_capone

Annie Oakley, born Phoebe Ann Moses, was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Oakley's amazing talent led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, propelling her to become the first American female superstar.

http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/oakl-ann.htm
http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdannie.htm
http://www.historynet.com/annie-oakley.htm

Born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, England, Bob Hope became one of the most recognized comedic talents in the world. Bob made many movies, including the popular “Road to …” series with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour and donated much time to entertaining the troops with the USO during World War II, the Korean, and the Vietnam wars.
www.imdb.com/name/nm0001362/
www.classicmovies.org/articles/aa052800a.htm
www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0154786.html

Booker Taliafero Washington was born a slave and became a noted author, prominent educator, and spokesperson for African American citizens of the US in the late 19th and early 20th century.
www.wvculture.org/history/booker.html
www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/washington_b.htm
www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0851531.html

Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole was a Quaker seamstress and upholsterer who is said to have been commissioned by George Washington to sew the first American Flag in 1776. Whether this claim is true has been hotly debated by historians for many years.
www.ushistory.org/betsy/
www.betsyrosshouse.org/
www.answers.com/topic=betsy_ross

Babe Ruth was an American baseball player and national sports icon. His record of 60 home runs in the 1927 season stood for 34 years.
www.answers.com/topic=babe_ruth
www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0109607.html
www.thebaseballpage.com/players/ruthba01.php

Born Harry Lillis Crosby, this famous singer of White Christmas was one of the biggest music and Oscar-winning movie stars of the mid-20th century. His long-running comic feud with comedian Bob Hope was milked for laughs and they costarred in the musical comedy films known as The Road to ... series.
www.answers.com/topic/bing-crosby
www.thegoldenyears.org/crosby.html
www.imdb.com/name/nm0001078/

Legendary outlaw William H. (McCartey) Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was a cattle rustler, thief, and gunfighter. He fought in a lengthy feud between two factions in Lincoln County, Arizona which became known as the Lincoln County War. Convicted of the murder of a sheriff and a deputy, he was sentenced to death by hanging. He escaped, killing two guards. He was eventually captured, shot, and killed.
www.aboutbillythekid.com/
www.desertusa.com/mag98/oct/papr/billykid.html
www.crimelibrary.com/americana/kid/

Born Robert Schmidt, this popular radio and television star of the 1940s and 1950s is most famous for bringing the puppet, Howdy Doody, to life on The Howdy Doody Show. www.howdydoodytime.com/bobscorner.htm
www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/howdy-doody.htm
www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/TV/9807/31/buffalo.bob.wrap/

Entertainer and silent film movie star whose trademark look included a black trimmed moustache and dark eyebrows, baggy pants, tight frock coat, large shoes on the wrong feet, and a black derby hat.
www.classicmovies.org/articles/aa042201a.htm
www.imdb.com/name/nm0000122/
www.clown-ministry.com/History/Charlie-Chaplin.html

This controversial Swiss psychiatrist is considered to be the founder of analytical psychology.
www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/KeyTheorists/Jung.htm
www.answers.com/topic=carl_jung
www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Carl-Jung.htm

Young won more games than any other baseball pitcher in history! Cy Young pitched the first perfect game in American League history when he led the Boston Red Sox to victory over Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics on May 5, 1904.
www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/young_cy.htm
www.baseball-reference.com/y/youngcy01.shtml
www.answers.com/denton_true_young

One of the great literary geniuses of all time and one of the most popular in all of English literature, Dickens wrote popular novels depicting life in Victorian England such as Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and David Copperfield.

www.online-literature.com/dickens/
www.answers.com/topic=charles_dickens

Prince Vlad III Dracula was the Prince of Walachia, and as legend suggests, he was born in Transylvania, which at that time was ruled by Hungary. He led a very bloody and murderous reign and was eventually overthrown and executed. The legend of Count Dracula as a blood-sucking vampire is purely fictional. www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Dracula.html

www.romaniatourism.com/dracula.html

www.answers.com/topic=count dracula

An Oscar winning movie star whose films include the epic Gone with the Wind, It Happened One Night, and Call of the Wild. Considered to be a bit of a playboy, he had an affair with Loretta Young, which resulted in the birth of child out of wedlock, and was married for three years to Carole Lombard, who died in plane crash in 1942, leaving Gable heartbroken.

www.thegoldenyears.org/gable.html

www.imdb.com/name/nm0000022/

www.classicmovies.org/articles/aa012801a.htm

This Italian explorer sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a route to India in order to trade for spices. He made a total of four trips to the Caribbean and South America on the behalf of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain during the years 1492-1504. His first and most famous trip was completed using the ships the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/c/columbus.shtml

www.answers.com/topic/christopher-columbus?method=8

www.surfnetkids.com/christopher_columbus.htm

David (Davy) Crockett was a frontiersman, politician and folk hero from Tennessee who joined Texas forces in 1836 and was killed in battle at the Alamo. www.answers.com/topic/davy-crockett

www.historynet.com/we/blfrontierherodavycrockett/

www.aboutfamouspeople.com/article1024.html

This famous African American Civil Rights leader organized peaceful demonstrations to try to gain equal rights for black Americans in the United States. Thanks to his efforts, there is federal legislation providing access and legal protection in the areas of public accommodations, housing, voting rights, schools, and transportation. Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.

www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/mlking.htm

www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/king.html

www.educationworld.com/holidays/archives/mlking.shtml

America's most decorated officer during World War I, MacArthur climbed to the rank of Brigadier General. He recovered from a humiliating defeat during World War II to make a triumphant return to the Philippines. In the Korean War, he engineered a bold invasion only to suffer a bitter reversal at the hands of the Chinese. Fired by President Harry Truman in one of the most controversial presidential decisions in history, he still returned home to the greatest hero's welcome ever.

www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/index.html

www.answers.com/topic=Douglas_Macarthur

www.juntosociety.com/hist_speeches/gma_dhc.htm

This world famous medical doctor and researcher developed a vaccine against the crippling childhood disease polio in 1955, to the relief of parents everywhere.

www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/sal0bio-1

www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/citation_polio_vaccine.shtml

www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/polio.html

This African American actress won an Academy Award for the lead role in the film Carmen Jones in 1954. She helped break down racial barriers and pave the way for today's successful black actors.

www.africanamericans.com/DorothyDandridge.htm

www.thegoldenyears.org/dandridg.html

www.answers.com/topic=Dorothy_Dandridge

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Boone was a pioneer and explorer who achieved lasting fame by guiding land-hungry settlers to the Kentucky frontier and fighting to defend them against Indian attack.

www.bocomo.org/dboone.htm

www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/boone.html

www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/b/boone.shtml

Elvis Aaron Presley was the rock and roll sensation known as The King, whose hip gyrations and soulful singing style created a sensation during the late 1950s and 1960s. He also starred in a series of musical films such as Jailhouse Rock, Blue Hawaii, and Girls! Girls! Girls! Depressed when his career floundered, he died of a drug overdose in August 1977.

www.elvispresleynews.com

www.fiftiesweb.com/elvis.htm

www.classicmovies.org/articles/aa081102a.htm

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas is especially known for his stunning depictions of ballet dancers and other women, as well as numerous paintings of racehorses. His style is most often considered to be Impressionistic, but some of his work shows classical, realist, and romantic influences.

www.biography.com/impressionists/artists_degas.html

www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/degas_edgar.html

www.answers.com/topic=edgar_degas

One of the great American novelists and short-story writers of the 20th century, Ernest Miller Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. During the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway served as a correspondent on the loyalist side. He fought in World War II and then settled in Cuba in 1945. After his expulsion from Cuba by the Castro regime, he moved to Idaho. He was increasingly plagued by ill health and mental problems, and in July, 1961, he committed suicide by shooting himself. www.hemingwaysociety.org/virthem.htm

www.lostgeneration.com

www.literarytraveler.com/issue/ernest_hemingways_places.aspx

Edward Estlin Cummings was a poet, playwright, and prose writer most famous for his radical new style of expression.

www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/156

www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0814259.html

www.search.com/reference/E._E._Cummings

A symbol of the Easter holiday, the Easter Bunny is said to be a messenger in a season when all things are possible and all things can begin anew.

www.easter-traditions.com/html/the_easter_bunny.html

www.holidays.net/easter/bunny1.htm

www.chiff.com/a/easter-bunny.htm

French artist and painter who, although he sympathized and associated with the artists in the Impressionist movement, never exhibited with them. He considered himself to be mainly a studio and figure painter. In his later years, his style became more Impressionistic and he is often associated with this era in art.

www.biography.com/impressionists/artists_manet.html

www.discoverfrance.net/France/Art/Manet/Manet.shtml

www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mane/hd_mane.htm

A famous American poet and imaginative short story writer whose Murders in the Rue Morgue is considered to be the first modern detective story. Other well-known Poe works include The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, and the poem The Raven.
www.eapoe.org/

www.poemuseum.org

www.online-literature.com/poe/

Fred McFeely Rogers, better known to millions of American children as the beloved Mr. Rogers, was the creator and executive producer of the longest-running children's program on public television, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/fred_rogers

www.education-world.com/a_curr/profdev016.shtml

www.wgbh.org/generic/rogers

During the Great Depression and World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt guided America through some of its greatest challenges. Nicknamed FDR, he implemented a series of programs known as The New Deal, enacting some of the most far-reaching social and economic legislation in American history. His presidency spanned twelve years. While President, Roosevelt dealt with paralysis from polio and lead the United States and its Allies to the brink of victory during World War II.
www.americanpresident.org/history/franklindelanoroosevelt/

www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/fdr.html

www.historycentral.com/bio/presidents/f_roosevelt.html

A mythical symbol of Time. He is often shown as an elderly man with a long grey beard, wearing a robe, and carrying an hourglass and a scythe. Father Time is said to connect the passage of time to the eventuality of death.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Time

www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/father_time

www.novareinna.com/festive/oft.html

Born a slave, and finally freed at the age of 27, he fought for the freedom of all slaves and for women's rights. Douglass became a recruiter for the first regiment of black soldiers during the Civil War and was a close advisor to Abraham Lincoln, influencing him to issue of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing all slaves.

www.americancivilwar.com/colored/frederick_douglass.html

www.answers.com/topic=Frederick_douglass

www.americanwriters.org/writers/douglass.asp

On Sept. 14, 1814, while onboard a ship, Francis Scott Key saw an enormous flag still waving proudly even after a daylong British attack of Baltimore's Fort McHenry. Key was inspired to write a poem, The Star Spangled Banner, which was later set to music and became the National Anthem of the United States of America.

www.francisscottkey.org

www.marylandtheseventhstate.com/article1014.html

www.historycentral.com/documents/StarSpangled.html

Known as The Voice, Sinatra was a winsome romantic crooner whose deep tenor love songs such as My Way, Strangers in the Night, and New York, New York made him a star. His role in the film From Here to Eternity earned in an Oscar in 1954.

www.nj.com/sinatra/

www.imdb.com/name/nm0000069/

www.classicmovies.org/articles/aa120901a.htm

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was a noted writer and short story author during the 1920s and 1930s. He is best known for the tragic novel The Great Gatsby, as well as his own tragic true life love story with wife Zelda, who spent much of their married life in mental institutions.

www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/

www.pbs.org/kteh/amstorytellers/bios.html

www.answers.com/topic=f._scott_fitzgerald

After a successful military career in the British army, Mr. Washington retired and became a gentleman farmer overseeing his very successful family properties at Mount Vernon in Virginia from 1759-1775. From 1775-1783, he lead a colonial army of 10,000 in an eight year battle to overthrow British rule of the American Colonies. After the success of the Revolutionary War, he helped to write the Constitution of the United States and was unanimously elected as its first President, serving from 1789-1797.

www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet_george/index.cfm/

www.earlyamerica.com/lives/gwlife/index.html

www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/pres/washington/

A United States patriot and delegate from Virginia at the U.S. Constitutional Convention, Mason is known as the Father of the Bill of Rights.

www.answers.com/topic=george_mason

www.gunstonhall.org

www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_mason.html

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a national icon who led the struggle for India's independence from British Colonial Rule. He refused to use terrorism or violence to gain freedom for tens of millions of Indian citizens. His philosophy of nonviolence, for which he coined the term satyagraha, has influenced national and international nonviolent resistance movements to this day.

www.answers.com/topic/mohandas-gandhi

www.gandhiinstitute.org/AboutGandhi/index.cfm

www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mohandas_gandhi.html

Born in Stockholm, Sweden as Greta Gustavsson, Greta Garbo was a Hollywood actress whose popular films included Mata Hari (1931), Anna Karenina(1935), and Nitotschka (1939).

www.eonline.com/Facts/People/0,12,5839,00.html

www.thegoldenyears.org/garbo.html

www.imdb.com/name/nm0001256/

The first Democrat elected after the Civil War in 1885, Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later in 1893. He is known for reinforcing a strong executive branch in government, using his power to veto quite often. He dealt strongly with striking railroad workers, and attempted to lead the country out of a severe economic depression.

www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gc2224.html

www.americanpresident.org/history/grovercleveland/

www.presidentsusa.net/cleveland.html

First published as a poem written by Rudyard Kipling, it was made into a popular adventure film in 1939 about a slave/water boy, a native Hindu who desperately wants to be a first class soldier for the British army. The film starred Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Cary Grant.

www.reelclassics.com/Articles/Films/gungadin-article.htm

www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Rudyard_Kipling/kipling_gunga_din.htm

www.imdb.com/title/tt0031398/

Adolph Arthur Marx, was better known to the world as Harpo Marx, part of the famous comedy team the Marx Brothers which also included Leonard (Chico), Julius (Groucho), Milton (Gummo), and Herbert (Zeppo) Marx. Harpo was known for being a hilarious pantomime and playing the harp. The brothers made a number of popular comedy films including Animal Crackers (1930), Duck Soup (1933), and Monkey Business (1931).

www.marx-brothers.org/

www.harpomarx.net

www.clown-ministry.com/History/marx-brothers/harpo-marx.html

According to Greek mythology, Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world and was married to King Menelaus of Sparta. Her abduction by Prince Paris of Troy outraged the King who led an attack on Troy to win her return. Troy was destroyed by the Spartans who sneaked into the city by hiding in a large wooden horse left as a gift, which was wheeled into the city and secretly brought Spartan soldiers inside its walls.

www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Helen.html

www.ancienthistory.about.com/od/helen/

www.stanford.edu/%7eplomio/helen.html

Hughes was a handsome entrepreneur and adventurer. Inheriting the Hughes Tool Company at age 19, he ran the business and pursued his obsession with the foundling aviation industry. He became a pilot and set a number of aviation records. He founded Hughes Aircraft in the 1930s and held a controlling interest in the commercial airline company Trans World Airways (TWA), which made him one of the richest men in the world. Hughes perhaps is most famous for his final years, living as a wealthy, paranoid, recluse.

www.answers.com/topic/howard-hughes

www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Aerospace/Hughes/Aero44.htm

www.who2.com/howardhughes.html

Truman was the 33rd President of the United States, succeeding Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who died suddenly before the end of his last term on April 12th, 1945. Beginning his presidential term near the end of World War II, Truman made some of the most monumentous decisions in U.S. history. Soon after V-E Day, the war against Japan had reached its final stages and Japan refused to surrender. Truman ordered atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed. In his second elected term as president he dealt with Communist crises with the Soviet Union and Korea.

www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html

www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760617.html

www.potus.com/hstruman.html

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. was the Vice President of the United States under President Lyndon Johnson, elected in 1964. In the election of 1968 Humphrey, the Democratic presidential candidate, was narrowly defeated by Republican Richard Nixon. A champion of civil rights and social reform, he remained on the political scene, serving in the US Senate from 1971 until his death in 1978.

www.suite101.com/article.cfm/4996/95600

www.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569508/Hubert_Humphrey.html

www.answers.com/topic/humphrey-hubert-horatio

Hippocrates is perhaps history's most famous medical doctor. He established a system of classifying diseases through scientific observation and eschewed the then superstitious beliefs surrounding medicine and the treatment of the sick. Known as the Father of Modern Medicine, he gave the world the Hippocratic Oath, a code of ethics for physicians which is still sworn by graduates of medical school.

www.answers.com/topic/hippocrates

www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0823777.html

www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Hippocrates.htm

U.S. baseball outfielder known for his powerful wrists, Aaron was among the first African Americans to play his entire career in the major leagues (1954-1976). In 1974, he broke Babe Ruth's long-standing record of 714 home runs. Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, Aaron is baseball's career leader in homeruns (755), runs batted in (2,297), and extra-base hits (1,477). In 1976, he became one of the first black baseball executives, beginning a long career with Atlanta Braves management team.

www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/aaron_hank.htm

www.baseball-reference.com/a/aaronha01.shtml

www.answers.com/Hank-Aaron

Duncan was a pioneer of 20th-century American dance. Performing barefoot in free-flowing Grecian style dresses, she kept audiences entranced with her radical new style. Founding dance schools throughout the world, Duncan was also an early feminist who did not believe in marriage. She was killed in a freak accident when her scarf became tangled in the rear axle of her car.

www.answers.com/isadora-duncan

www.sfmuseum.org/bio/isadora.html

www.worldhistory.com/wiki/I/Isadora-Duncan.htm

Considered by many to be the father of modern science, English scientist and mathematician, Newton studied and helped to define the laws of gravity and the motion of the planets, investigated the laws of color and light, and co-founded the field of calculus. Newton was knighted in 1705.

www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/glossary/Newton.shtml

www.lucidcafe.com/library/95dec/newton.html#related

www.answers.com/topic/sir-isaac-newton

Ivan IV was the first ruler of Russia to assume the title of Tsar (a male monarch or emperor). He is also known as Ivan the Terrible and led a long and bloody series of wars to capture more territory for the Russian empire. During his life, Ivan IV was the wealthiest monarch in all of Europe

www.teachersparadise.com/ency/en/wikipedia/i/iv/ivan_iv_of_russia.html

www.factbites.com/topics/Ivan-IV-of-Russia

www.bestofrussia.ca/ivan.html

James Byron Dean was an American film actor and heartthrob. Dean played the moody, rebellious son in the film East of Eden(1953) and a troubled youth in his second film, Rebel without a Cause (1954). Dean was killed when his racing car crashed the day after he finished work on the movie Giant(1955).

www.jamesdean.com/index.php

www.answers.com/topic/james-dean

www.imdb.com/name/nm0000015/

Joseph Paul DiMaggio was one of the most talented batters in baseball's history. Nicknamed The Yankee Clipper, he played center field as is renowned for his streak of hitting safely for 56 consecutive games in 1941. He played all of his 13 seasons for the New York Yankees, retiring in 1951. In 1954 he was briefly married to actress Marilyn Monroe.

www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/D/DiMaggio_Joe.stm

www.answers.com/topic/joe-dimaggio

www.classbrain.com/artbiographies/publish/joe_dimaggio.shtml

Legendary outlaw Jesse Woodson James started his career as a Confederate soldier in the U.S. Civil War. After the war, Jesse and his brother Frank formed a gang of outlaws, starting a crime spree that spanned fifteen years. They robbed mostly banks and trains, eluded law enforcement, and became folk heroes until James was betrayed and murdered by fellow gang member Bob Ford for reward money.

www.legendsofAmerica.com/WE-JesseJames.html

www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters%5Foutlaws/outlaws/james/

www.suite101.com/article.cfm/old_west/24809

Born Marion Michael Morrison, Wayne was a tall, charismatic Hollywood actor nicknamed the Duke, whose films include many westerns and classics such as Stagecoach(1939) and The Quiet Man (1952). Wayne won an Academy Award for his performance of the tough marshal Rooster Cogburn in the film True Grit (1969).

www.amctv.com/person/detail?CID=619-1-EST

www.thegoldenyears.org/wayne2.html

www.jwayne.com/

Carson hosted television's The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He was known for his dry comic wit, delivering nightly monologues and hosting celebrity guests with sidekick Ed McMahon.

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Johnny_Carson

www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-01-23-carson-obit_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA

www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/carsonjohnn/carsonjohnn.htm

Adams helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in 1785 he became the first American Minister to London. He served as the first Vice-President under George Washington. He defeated Thomas Jefferson in 1796 to become the second President of the United States.

www.americanpresident.org/history/johnadams/

www.answers.com/topic/john-adams

www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/presidents/adams_john.html

American author whose detailed and humorous accounts of life in wealthy American suburbs won him much acclaim. He won a Pulitzer Prize for The Stories of John Cheever (1978).

www.todayinliterature.com/biography/john.cheever.asp

www.nationalbook.org/dirletter_jcheever.html

www.answers.com/John_Cheever

A witty and intelligent performer, Hepburn acted in many stage productions and starred in more than fifty films during her long career. Nominated for a record-setting 12 performances, the legendary actress won Academy Awards for the movies “Morning Glory”(1933), “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” (1967), “A Lion in Winter”(1968), and “On Golden Pond”(1981).

www.thegoldenyears.org/khepburn.html

www.imdb.com/name/nm0000031

www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/9602/9602_index.html

German philosopher and sociologist, Marx co-wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867–1894) with Friedrich Engels. These writings mark the beginnings of Communist theory and greatly influenced social and political movements during the last century.

www.historyguide.org/intellect/marx.html

www.philosophypages.com/ph/marx.htm

www.radicalacademy.com/philmarx.htm

Also known as Santa Claus, the name Kris Kringle is derived from the German Christkindl or Christkindlein (Christ child) and was commonly used in the United States through the middle of the 20th century.

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus

www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/christmas/santa5.html

www.santaswarehouse.com.au/history_of_christmas/who_is_kris_kringle.shtml

John reigned as King of England from April 1199 until his death. He rose to power as the younger brother of King Richard I (known as "Richard the Lionheart"). John's reign was a disastrous one in English history, losing Normandy to France and leading England into civil war. In 1215, he was forced by his barons to sign the Magna Carta, the most famous document in English constitutional history.

www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/history/highmiddle/john.htm

www.answers.com/topic/john-of-england

www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon28.html

Ken Elton Kesey was an American novelist. While a student, he volunteered in a medical study of mind-altering drugs, and worked as an attendant in a psychiatric ward. These experiences led him to write the famous “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” (1962; film, 1975). He was also known as the leader of the Merry Pranksters, a group who traveled the United States in a psychedelically decorated bus in 1964, taking LSD and writing about their experiences.

www.rooknet.com/beatpage/writers/kesey.html

www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/sixties/kesey.html

www.cosmik.com/aa-december01/ken_kesey.html

Born Nikolaus Karl Günther Nakszynski and regarded as one of the most talented German actors of the last century, Kinski had a unique macabre appearance, and was often cast as dark, evil characters. His films include

“A Time to Love and a Time to Die” (1958),“Doctor Zhivago”(1965), “For a Few Dollars More” (1966), and “Nosferatu the Vampyre” (1979).

www.imdb.com/name/nm0001428

www.hollywood.com/celebs/detail/id/193962

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Kinski

Sir Lancelot (Lancelot du Lac, or Lancelot of the Lake; also Launcelot) is perhaps the most famous of the Knights of the Round Table. In most Arthurian works, he is described as the most trusted and heroic of Arthur's knights. Lancelot’s affair with Arthur’s Queen Guinevere leads to Arthur’s downfall.

www.answers.com/topic/lancelot

www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/launcelot.asp

www.arthurian-legend.com/more-about/more-about-arthur-6.php

Italian artist, scientist, inventor, and “Renaissance Man,” Da Vinci painted the portrait of the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, among many other works. Many of his sketchbooks survive today and include incredible renderings of the human body, animals, and plants. Some of his sketches portray versions of modern inventions such as the airplane and the tank.

www.mos.org/leonardo/

www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/davinci.htm

www.answers.com/topic/leonardo-da-vinci

American author of the classic Little House series of children's books, Laura Ingalls Wilder was encouraged by her daughter to write about her own incredible and everyday experiences as a child traveling with her pioneer family across the country. The first novel in the series, Little House in the Big Woods (1932), was published when she was 65. The extremely successful books have been translated into 40 languages and were the basis for the popular television series“Little House on the Prairie”(1974-1982).

www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/

www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0801303.html

www.teach-nology.com/teachers/child_lit/authors/wilder/

A British actor of stage and film, Laurence Olivier is well known for portrayals of the characters of William Shakespeare’s plays, winning an Academy Award for his role as the title character in the 1949 film version of “Hamlet.” He also appeared in many other classic films including “Wuthering Heights”(1939), “Rebecca” (1940), and “Pride and Prejudice” (1940). For his contributions to the acting world, he was knighted in 1947.

www.classicmovies.org/articles/aa051902b.htm

www.thegoldenyears.org/olivier.html

www.reelclassics.com/Actors/Olivier/olivier.htm

Alfred “Lash” Larue was a movie actor known for his roles as cowboys in various Westerns. His nickname "Lash" was the result of the 15-foot long bullwhip, which he used on his foes.

www.answers.com/topic/lash-la-rue

www.accomics.com/accomicswesterns/lash.htm

www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/lash.htm

Born Norma Jeane Mortensen, later baptized as Norma Jeane Baker, this blonde bombshell American actress was famous for her roles in movies such as “The Seven Year Itch” (1955), “Some Like It Hot”(1959), and “The Misfits” (1961). Marilyn was married to baseball player Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller. She was also rumored to have had affairs with Frank Sinatra and President John F. Kennedy, among others. She died from a drug overdose in 1962.

www.marilynmonroe.com/about/bio.html

www.bombshells.com/gallery/monroe/monroe_bio.php

www.popstarsplus.com/actress_marilynmonroe.htm

This American actress is best known for her TV roles as Sally Ann in “My Three Sons” and Billie Jo on “Petticoat Junction.”

www.meredithmacrae.com/home.html

www.imdb.com/name/nm0534297/

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_MacRae

This American actor’s first famous role was on Broadway in 1947 as Stanley Kowalski in the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. He also starred in the film version of the play in 1951 and continued his acting career in movies such as “On the Waterfront” (1954), for which he won an Academy Award, “Mutiny on the Bounty”(1962), “The Godfather”(1972), and “Last Tango in Paris”(1972).

www.answers.com/topic/marlon-brando

www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-27-2005-67671.asp

www.thegoldenyears.org/brando.html

Mario Gabriele Andretti is an American racecar driver. During his very successful career, he won the Champcar title four times. As of 2005, Andretti is the only driver ever to win the Formula One World Championship, the Indy 500, and the Daytona 500.

www.espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/andretti_mario.html

www.andrettiracing.com

www.andretti.com

As the wife of King Louis XVI, Marie was Queen of France from 1774–1793. During the French Revolution in 1789, she was imprisoned and charged with treason, the result of her lavish personal spending and insensitive attitude toward the French masses (She is quoted as saying “Let them eat cake!” when told of the peasants starving because they had no bread to eat.) She was eventually tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal and beheaded.

www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/antoinette.html

www.royalty.nu/Europe/France/MarieAntoinette.html

www.answers.com/topic/marie-antoinette

Born Loretta Mary Aiken, Moms Mabley was an African-American vaudeville entertainer and comedienne, appearing at Carnegie Hall in 1962 and on television during the 1960s.

www.bookrags.com/biography-mabley-moms-1897-1975-sjpc-03/

www.imdb.com/name/nm0531098/bio

www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/539/Moms_Mabley_comic_pioneer

This Queen of ancient Egypt was the favorite wife of Akhenaten (XVIII Dynasty) and aunt of Tutankhamen. A well-known exquisite limestone bust of Nefertiti shows her to have been a woman of great beauty.

www.crystalinks.com/nefertiti.html

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nefertiti.htm

www.mysteries-megasite.com/main/bigsearch/nefertiti.html

Born Napoleon Bonaparte in Corsica, he was the Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814. With a brilliant military mind, he attempted to capture Continental Europe but failed with Great Britain. After conducting a disastrous winter campaign in Russia in 1812, he was forced to give up his crown in 1814. Exiled to the island of Elba, he escaped and briefly returned to power. Eventually he was defeated at Waterloo in 1815 and was again exiled to the island of St. Helena. His Napoleonic Code became what is known as French civil law today.

www.napoleonguide.com/

www.answers.com/topic/napoleon-bonaparte

www.factbites.com/topics/Napoleon-Bonaparte

Born Horace Stewart, Nick started out as a boxer, but quickly became an entertainer. He was the voice of Br’er Bear in the 1946 Disney film “Song of the South” and played the janitor named Lightnin’ in the popular radio series “Amos and Andy.” He founded the Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles, giving many black performers a chance at an acting career.

www.imdb.com/name/nm0829695/

www.songofthesouth.net/news/stewart.html

www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/753/Nick_Stewart

A British actor, Nigel Hawthorne was well known for his role in the TV series “Yes, Minister.” He also acted in many films and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in “The Madness of King George”(1994). He was knighted in 1999.

www.imdb.com/name/nm0001329/bio

www.tv.com/nigel-hawthorne/person/19441/summary.html

www.hollywood.com/celebs/detail/id/189140

Best known for his role as David on the Public Television series, “Sesame Street,” Calloway was also a popular stage actor, starring in “Pippin.”

www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=77889

www.imdb.com/name/nm0130590

www.sesameworkshop.org/aboutus/newsletter_article.php?contentId=98160&type=sesame

The lead singer of the band, The Flamingos, Nathanial Nelson is famous for performing the hit song “I Only Have Eyes for You.” He was also part of the successful singing group The Platters.

www.answers.com/topic/the-flamingos?method=8

www.soul-patrol.com/soul/flamingos.htm

www.vocalhalloffame.com/Inductees/flamingos.htm

A main character in William Shakespeare's tragic play Hamlet, she is the daughter of Polonius, advisor to the King, and Hamlet is in love with her. Her character symbolizes the loss of innocence.

www.shakespeare-online.com/playanalysis/opheliachar.html

www.answers.com/topic/ophelia-literary-character

www.absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/hamlet/hamlet.htm

In Greek mythology, Orion is a Boeotion hunter who is a favorite companion of the goddess Artemis. He offends the god Apollo, who tricks Artemis into shooting Orion. In her grief, she immortalizes Orion by placing him as constellation in the night sky. The constellation is prominent in the night sky in the northern hemisphere during the winter.

www.answers.com/orion-mythology

www.skyscript.co.uk/orion.html

www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Orion.html

A Greek hero in the Trojan War, Odysseus is the central character of the ancient epic tale The Odyssey by the storyteller Homer. Odysseus helped bring about the destruction of Troy through the use of the Trojan horse. After the Trojan War, Odysseus spent ten years trying to return home to his wife Penelope in the town of Ithaca, having many adventures along the way.

www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/odysseus.htm

www.answers.com/topic=odysseus

www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Odysseus.html

A silversmith and engraver by trade, Paul Revere was a Revolutionary War hero. On April 18, 1775, he made his midnight ride, made famous in Longfellow’s poem, warning patriots of a British advance on the towns of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.

www.u-s-history.com/pages/h653.html

www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/paulreveredef.htm

www.answers.com/topic=paul_revere

Pablo Ruiz Y Picasso was a world famous Spanish artist known for his long career. He is perhaps best remembered for his modern cubist style paintings and collages, and was a well recognized celebrity even in his time.

www.time.com/time100/artists/profile/picasso.html

www.artchive.com/artchive/P/picasso.html

www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso_biography.htm

Margaret “Peg” Phillips began acting at age 65 after retiring from a career as an accountant. She is best known for her portrayal of Ruth-Anne Miller, the shop-keeper in the TV series “Northern Exposure” (1990). She also had numerous other roles and guest appearances on TV shows and in movies.

www.moosefest.com/peg/peg.htm

www.imdb.com/name/nm0680697/bio

www.historylink.org/output.cfm?file_id=4019

Giovanni Battista Montini was born in Italy and led the Roman Catholic Church from 1963 until his death in 1978. He was known as a reformer, easing rules concerning fasting, abstinence, and interfaith marriages. He also worked to improve relations between the Catholic Church and communist countries.

www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/

www.answers.com/topic/pope-paul-vi

www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0837898.html

After a 15-year career as an elementary school teacher, Peggy Parish became an author, publishing over 40 children’s books, including the still popular Amelia Bedelia series.

www.harperchildrens.com/catalog/author_xml.asp?authorid=12571

www.kidsreads.com/series/series-amelia-author.asp

www.yourlibrary.ws/childrens_webpage/e-author72000.htm

Patrick Layton Paulsen was a comedian noted for appearances on the TV series “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” earning an Emmy in 1968. As a spoof, he campaigned to be the President, actually appearing on New Hampshire’s primary ballot several times (and receiving some votes!).

www.imdb.com/name/nm0667323/

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Paulsen

www.paulsen.com/

The 26th President of the United States (1901–1909), Roosevelt was a hero of the Spanish-American War and assumed the presidency when President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. Some noted achievements during his presidency were the construction of the Panama Canal and establishment of a national park service, setting aside millions of acres of land for public benefit. A Nobel Peace Prize winner, he was adept at foreign policy and is known for his motto “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tr26.html

www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760610.html

www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/tr.htm

Tyrus Raymond Cobb was an American baseball player and manager. He set many major league records including his lifetime batting average of .367, which is still a record today. He was also the first player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame (1936).

www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/Cobb_Ty.htm

www.answers.com/topic/ty-cobb

www.espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Cobb_Ty.html

Born Truman Streckfus Persons, Capote was a well-known American author. His works include the “non-fiction novel,” (a genre which he introduced to the public), In Cold Blood (1966), the short story Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) and Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948).

www.answers.com/topic/truman-capote

www.hollywood.com/celebs/detail/id/199064

www.kirjasto.sci.fi/capote.htm

Born Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka, Ted Knight is perhaps best known for his Emmy Award winning role as the dim-witted, white-haired newscaster Ted Baxter on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970 – 1977). Ted had many roles in film and television and his other credits include “Caddy Shack”(1981), “Psycho”(1960), and the TV series “Too Close for Comfort” (1980 – 1986).

www.billjerome.com/tedknight/index2.html

www.who2.com/tedknight.html

www.imdb.com/name/nm0461095/

Tiny Tim Cratchit is a famous character from the Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol. He is the crippled, yet hopeful, youngest son of beleaguered office clerk Bob Cratchit, who is doomed to perish if Ebenezer Scrooge doesn’t mend his parsimonious ways. His most famous line from the story is “God bless us every one!”

www.answers.com/topic/a-christmas-carol

www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/carol.html

www.dickensfordummies.homestead.com/carol.html

Born Thomas Terence Hoar-Stephens, Terry Thomas was a British comic actor famous for the pronounced gap in his front teeth. His films include “The Green Man” (1956), “Private’s Progress”(1956), “Lucky Jim” (1957), “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963), and “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” (1966).

www.imdb.com/name/nm0856103/

www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/461962/

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry-Thomas

The third president of the United States (1801 – 1809), Jefferson was a highly educated man, graduating from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and studying law. While serving as a member of the Continental Congress, he drafted the Declaration of Independence (1776). His presidency is noted for the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and organizing the Lewis and Clark expedition (1803 -1806). A multi-talented man, Jefferson designed his own estate, Monticello, as well as buildings for the University of Virginia. He passionately believed that a nation of educated men could govern itself effectively, yet condoned slavery.

www.monticello.org/

www.answers.com/topic/thomas-jefferson

www.americanpresident.org/history/thomasjefferson/

British playwright and poet largely considered one of the greatest in history. His works include historical plays such as Richard II, many comedies, among them A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado about Nothing and As You like It, and the tragic plays Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth. His prolific writings also include 154 sonnets. His plays are still performed today and studied in schools all over the world. www.absoluteshakespeare.com

www.answers.com/topic/william-shakespeare

www.buzzle.com/editorials/1-22-2005-64634.asp

William T. Piper, Sr. was an aircraft designer and manufacturer and founded Piper Aircraft Corporation. He was often called the “Henry Ford of Aviation” and was famous for the popular aircraft called the Piper Cub.

www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/GENERAL_AVIATION/piper/GA6.htm

www.answers.com/topic=willy_piper

www.pipermuseum.com/about.html

Born Wilhelm Weiller, “Willy Weiller” is considered to be one of the greatest Hollywood directors of the 20th century. His credits include the films “Wuthering Heights” (1939), “The Letter”(1940), “Mrs. Miniver”(1942), “The Best Years of Our Lives”(1946), “Roman Holiday” (1953) and “Ben Hur” (1959), each of which earned Wyler an Oscar nomination for best director.

www.reelclassics.com/Directors/Wyler/wyler.htm

www.thegoldenyears.org/wyler.html

www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0154988.html

Sir Winston Leonard Spenser Churchill was a famous British politician, serving as Prime Minister and helping to lead the British to victory during World War II (1940–1945) and serving again from 1951–1955. Churchill also published several books, including The Second World War (1948–1953), winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953.

www.winstonchurchill.org/

www.answers.com/winston-churchill

www.buzzle.com/editorials/1-18-2005-64436.asp

Wagner was an attractive and athletic actress in films and on television. Hollywood film roles include “Wagon Train” (1957), and“Sea Hunt”(1959), where she worked as an underwater stuntwoman, and “The Green Hornet” (1966).

www.polarblairsden.com/superherogreenhornet1966wendewagner.html

www.starpulse.com/celebrity/Wende_Wagner/p74081/0/

www.imdb.com/name/nm0906147/

William Avery Bishop was a famous and highly decorated Canadian fighter pilot during World War I, with 72 confirmed victories. He was nicknamed “The Lone Hawk,” due to his preference to fly his missions solo.

www.firstworldwar.com/bio/bishop.htm

www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/bishop.html

www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/bishop.htm