Mark Twain: The Whited Sepulchre
Often lauded as one of America’s literary giants, Samuel Langhorne Clemens—better known as Mark Twain—lived a life filled with great joys, exciting journeys and investments, and a number of bitter defeats.
Cupid's Disheartening Past
Despite his perpetually youthful appearance, Cupid is no neophyte. History shows that this veteran Valentine has been plying his trade since ancient times. Myth and legend grew over the millennia, providing him with many names and roles since his first appearance in the cradle of civilization.
Rachel Carson: A Voice That Broke the Silence
The mid-20th-century boom of scientific and technological discoveries created a new society of consumers drunk with the power of instant gratification. The idea that life could become easier prevented many from seeing problems with advances in convenience, particularly any potentially negative effects on the earth or even on future generations. But some did see problems and cautioned restraint; perhaps the first and most notable—at least among Americans—was Rachel Carson.
John Calvin: Geneva's Iron Hand
John Calvin's quincentenary was commemorated this year with an internationally touring interdisciplinary conference. Even as 2009 draws to a close and the multiple conferences and commemorations celebrating his legacy diminish, few can deny the impact this controversial figure has made on the modern Protestant movement.
Mulling over Müller
Paul Hermann Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948 for his discovery that DDT could be used as a contact poison against malaria-bearing mosquitos and other health threats. But after Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published, public perception of the chemical rapidly deteriorated. In the midst of this storm, Müller died on October 13, 1965. Seven years later, the nonemergency use of DDT was banned in the United States.
George Hale: To Know the Stars and Sunbeams
Step by step, inch by inch, sometimes by luck, and often against great adversity, the human race has waded into the cosmos. The last century was an extraordinary time of cosmic exploration, and George Hale’s contribution to that exploration was in building tools that have given us greater access to the universe.
Neil Armstrong: A Man Out of Time
July 20 marked the 40th anniversary of our first steps beyond the Earth. For almost anyone alive on July 20, 1969, the first words from the Moon and man’s first steps are flashbulb events.
Alan B. Shepard, Jr.: Spam in a Can?
Alan B. Shepard, Jr. lived twice as long as many people expected. The first American in space, Shepard lit the American public’s enthusiasm to rally behind the space program.
George Orwell: Writing a Revolution
Various life experiences undoubtedly played their part in producing what is possibly George Orwell’s best known work, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which still has the ability to shock some 60 years after it was first published.
Ayn Rand: Fantasyland
It is unusual to find someone who not only retains their early views but builds a whole superstructure of philosophical meaning atop them. Ayn Rand was such a person.
Robert E. Peary: Arctic Adventurer
In April of 1909, Robert Edwin Peary recorded in his diary that he had finally achieved his life goal: becoming the first man to reach the North Pole. However, he would arrive back in civilization to find that Frederick A. Cook claimed to have completed the same trip a year earlier. Whether either of them truly reached the right spot—and if so, who—is a question still debated 100 years later. Nevertheless, Peary has made an indelible mark on the history of exploration.
King Bhumibol of Thailand
In 1946 His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the ninth king of the Chakri dynasty, ascended to the Thai throne.
Geronimo: Finding Peace
The Apache warrior Geronimo was a controversial figure who faced severely troubled times before his death on February 17, 1909. Considering our own troubled world a century later, perhaps people of all races have something to learn from Geronimo: particularly in regard to his willingness to discard old ideas and envision a new way of life.
Fritz Haber: Plowshares and Swords
The prophet Isaiah wrote of a time when swords would be turned into plowshares—when instruments of war would be turned into implements for farming—heralding lasting peace for humankind. But history reveals that plowshares turn into swords when knowledge used for good becomes knowledge used for evil.
Queen Elizabeth II: Duty Comes First
Despite controversies in recent years, history will probably record that Queen Elizabeth's reign has been one of the most successful in British history.
David Ben-Gurion: For the Love of Zion
That Zionist ideology formed the core of Ben-Gurion’s identity there can be little doubt. From his youth, the importance of settlement in the land was central to his views.
Sir Edmund Hillary: Feet on the Ground and Eyes on the Stars
Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand will forever be honored for the feat of becoming the first man on top of the world. But Mt. Everest was just a foothill compared to the mountain of philanthropic work he scaled during the rest of his lifetime.
Just Who Is Santa Claus?
Today we may know him as Santa Claus, but the omnipresent, omniscient, jovial fellow's image evolved gradually through the years, adapting itself to different cultures around the world. By working backward through history, we find that he has been with us in various guises for thousands of years.
Edwin Hubble: King of the Hill
Hubble became known as the man who made the smartest man in the world change his mind about the structure of the universe. Einstein’s subsequent reconfiguring of what he called his biggest blunder brought Hubble’s astronomical observations of a mysterious expanding universe into the mainstream of scientific and public acceptability.
Special Report: How the Bible Became More Widely Available
Today people all over the world can read their own Bibles in their own languages, and they take their easy access to it for granted. But for more than 1,000 years the Bible was generally available only in Latin and thus mostly unavailable to the common people in any of their vernaculars. And even the Latin Bibles had to be copied by hand as printing had not yet been invented. The result was that the vast majority were utterly oblivious to what the Bible taught. But beginning in the late 14th century things slowly began to change.
William Wilberforce: The Persevering Parliamentarian
The hope of William Wilberforce was to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire.
John Maynard Keynes: Capitalism's Savior?
Few have influenced the social consequences of economic thought more than John Maynard Keynes.
Adam Smith: Capitalism's Founding Father
Modern capitalism traces its roots to Adam Smith and his Wealth of Nations.
Constantine: The Man and the Church
The Roman Emperor who single-handedly changed the Western world. What were his motivations?
Polycrates: Unity or Truth
Early Church leader Polycrates was not afraid to hold fast to his beliefs in the face of persecution.
Polycarp: The Apostolic Legacy
Personally taught by the apostle John, Polycarp remained totally faithful to the teaching of the apostles.
Max Weber: A Compulsion for Work
Author of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber had a more significant role in shaping 20th-century political and social concepts than most people might recognize.
Eusebius Pamphilus: Father of Church History
Best known today for his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius has been described as “the father of church history.”
Origen: Platonic Christian
Origen blended the truth of the Bible with Greek philosophy and has produced centuries of confusion on the subject of life after death.
John Wycliffe: Setting the Stage for Reform
Wycliffe set the stage for the great work of translation from the original languages that would be undertaken by William Tyndale.
J.R.R. Tolkien: Speaker of Footnotes
Tolkien's knack for stepping outside the box, coupled with his keen attention to detail, later enabled him to create not only a gripping story but an entirely new world for his readers.
Kathleen Kenyon: Larger Than Life
One of the great archaeologists of the 20th century, Kathleen Kenyon will be greatly remembered for her substantial contributions to the field.
William Tyndale: A Bible for the People
William Tyndale was the first to translate the Bible into English from its original languages.
Augustine: A Giant Out of his Time
Aspects of Augustine's copious written works are foundational to both Roman Catholic and Protestant theology.
Auguste Comte: High Priest of Humanity?
Comte introduced the philosophy of positivism and had a profound effect on the most noted philosophers of the 20th century.
Bertrand Russell: Philosophy's Wallpaper
One of the intellectual and philosophical giants of the the 20th century, Bertrand Russell was one of the most widely read philosophers of his time.
George Washington Carver
Can the life of a humble teacher of botany who lived at a much simpler time offer insight for a world caught up in the fast-paced information age?
Muhammad: Turning the World Upside Down
As the central figure in Islam, Muhammad was, according to biographer Maxime Rodinson, “one of the rare men who have turned the world upside down.”
Friedrich Nietzsche: “God Is Dead”
Friedrich Nietzsche's influence on countless artists, writers, sociologists and philosophers of the 20th and 21st century has, in part, relegated religion to a backseat and humanistic ideals have taken over.
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon: The Indomitable Queen Mum
The Queen Mum had the ability to relate to people of all backgrounds and social classes, a quality that endeared her to the British people.
Anne Frank: A Young Girl With a Vision
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is second only to the Bible in nonfiction sales. Although Anne's life was cut short, the dedication she applied to her life goal actually resulted in its realization—possibly beyond her wildest hopes.
Nicolaus Copernicus: Stopping the Sun to Move the Earth
His theories revolutionized the way we use science. Nicolaus Copernicus wanted to correct the science of astronomy, even though that might invite the wrath of the most powerful intellectual elite.
Alfred Nobel: Lord of Dynamite, Patron of Peace
Founder of the world's most prestigious scientific and humanitarian prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize, Alfred Nobel was seemingly able to ignore the way his own powerful inventions were used.
Thomas Edison: Symbol of a Dawning Age
Many of the products and industries that today's society depends on today had their roots in the fertile imagination of the renowned inventor Thomas Edision.
Woodrow Wilson: Making the World Safe for Democracy
President Woodrow Wilson is probably most remembered for his devotion to the cause of world peace in the forming of the League of Nations.
Marie Curie: Blazing a Trail
Having discovered polonium and radium, Marie Curie, with her husband Pierre, believed that their discovery was “an accident by which [they] must not profit.”
Johann Gutenberg: Adventure and Art
In the space of about 500 years, the world has seen what amounts to two communications explosions. In each instance, one person comes to mind as a key player.
Bill Gates: Pioneering Capitalist
Pioneering genius, quintessential capitalist and one of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates has left his mark on the 20th century.
Martin Luther: The Fearful Philosopher
Luther had a profound impact on traditional Christianity. He was successful in beginning a movement to reject repression. Yet by attacking God's law and those who were seen to uphold it, he became a proponent of misunderstanding and hatred.
John Paul II: A Pope With a Purpose
Without question, John Paul II has been one of the 20th century's most influential leaders.
Benjamin Spock: Physician, Heal Thyself
Vision looks at the life of Benjamin Spock, who was instrumental in a child-rearing revolution.
Dolly: Send in the Clones
After hundreds of attempts, scientists in Edinburgh, Scotland, were able to clone the first sheep.
George Washington: The Man Who Would Not Be King
Unlike many in politics, Washington was not motivated primarily by power.
Niccolò Machiavelli: Fairly Misjudged
Machiavelli's Il Principe features at times stark, emotionless evaluations and prescribes actions that grant little or no feeling of a leader toward his subjects.
Shimon Peres: From Hawk to Dove
Vision looks at former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, whose progressive ideas may well change the face of the Middle East.
David Hume: Stripping Away Hope in the Name of Enlightenment
Hume is widely considered the greatest English philosopher and one of the principal architects of the Enlightenment.
Charles Darwin: Natural Selection: Explaining How Evolution Might Work
Darwin's observations gradually germinated into an idea that served to revolutionize almost every aspect of Western thought.
Albert Einstein: Father of Relativity, Not Relativism
Albert Einstein is perhaps the most famous scientist of the 20th century, best known for the Special and General Theories of Relativity.
Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis and Sexual Repression
Freud's effect on our modern world is that his message is largely responsible for the unwillingness of so many to see themselves as accountable for their actions and personal problems.
Karl Marx: Failed Solution to Capitalism's Excesses
Marx believed that the rules of culture and government in general are formulated primarily to suppress the poorer classes and should be forcibly abandoned.
|