Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Alva Edison

Born: February 11, 1847

Died: October 18, 1931

The phonograph and the motion-picture projector were only a few of Thomas Alva Edison's more than 1,000 inventions. One of the most famous inventors in the history of technology, Edison also created the first industrial research laboratory, in Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876.

Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead

Born: December 16, 1901

Died: November 15, 1978

I have spent most of my life studying the lives of other peoples, faraway peoples, so that Americans might better understand themselves.

Margaret Mead was just 26 years old when she published her first book, 'Coming of Age in Samoa' about adolescence in the South Seas. The book was very popular and Mead became one of the most famous anthropologists of all time. She also was a writer and used social science techniques to study subjects ranging from nutrition, child development, race relations, and beyond. Mead believed that anthropology could be a tool for social change and improving the world.

Muhammad Ali

Sally Ride

Born: May 26, 1951

In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. She was a mission specialist on the Challenger, the seventh space shuttle flight. She embarked on this career in 1977 and was one of the six women selected for a group of 35 new astronauts in 1978. Ride flew again in 1984 and in 1986 was part of the presidential commission investigating the Challenger explosion. She left NASA in 1987 to accept a fellowship at the Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control.