Born: January 29, 1954, Kosciusko, Mississippi, U.S. Oprah Winfrey is an American talk-show host and actor, whose nationally syndicated programme became one of the most popular on television. A major factor in the success of the show is Winfrey’s ability to connect emotionally with her guests.Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to unmarried parents who separated after […]
Born: September 20, 1934, Rome, Italy Sophia Loren is an Italian motion-picture actor, who progressed from international sex symbol to Academy Award-winning actress. Born in Rome, Loren was a beauty contest winner and was discovered at the age of 15 by movie producer Carlo Ponti, who later became her husband. She became a star by
Born: May 12, 1907, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.Died: June 29, 2003, Old Saybrook, Connecticut Katharine Hepburn was an American actor, winner of four Academy Awards for the best actress, noted for her unique combination of patrician beauty and spunky earthiness. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, she was educated at Bryn Mawr College. She scored notable success on
Born: September 18, 1905, Stockholm, SwedenDied: April 15, 1990, New York, U.S. Greta Garbo was a Swedish-American motion-picture actor, noted for her beauty and her reticence, who became a virtual recluse while still at the height of her popularity. Born Greta Gustaffson in Stockholm, she was educated at the Royal Dramatic Theater’s school of acting.
Born: April 5, 1908, Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.Died: Oct. 6, 1989, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Bette Davis was an American motion-picture actor, renowned for the intensity and controlled flamboyance of her acting and for her vivid portrayals of eccentric heroines and diabolical schemers. Born Ruth Elizabeth Davis in Lowell, Massachusetts, she decided in high school to become an
Born: Aug. 6, 1911, Celoron, near Jamestown, New York, U.S.Died: April 26, 1989, Los Angeles, California Lucille Ball was an American motion-picture and television actor and comedian, famous for portraying the character Lucy Ricardo in the popular television programme “I Love Lucy” (1951-1957). Born Lucille Desiree Ball in Celeron, New York, she began acting at
Born: c. 978, , Constantinople [now Istanbul, Turkey]Died: 1050, ConstantinopleZoe was a Byzantine empress, by marriage from 1028 and in her own right from 1042.The daughter of the emperor Constantine VIII, Zoe was married to the heir presumptive, Romanus III Argyrus, in 1028 and became empress consort upon his elevation to the throne the same
Born: AD 625, ChinaDied: December 16, 705, ChinaWu Hou rose from concubinage to become empress of China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). She ruled effectively for many years, the last 15 (690-705) in her own name. Wu Zhao entered the palace of the second Tang emperor, Taizong (ruled 626-649), as a junior concubine in 638,
Born: Sept 28, 1839, Churchville, New York, U.S.Died: Feb 18, 1898, New York, N.Y. Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was a American educator and reformer, born in Churchville, New York, and educated at Northwestern Female College. In 1874, she gave up a successful teaching career to become secretary of the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
Born: Dec 23, 1867, near Delta, La., U.S.Died: May 25, 1919, Irvington, New York Sarah Breedlove Walker was a businesswoman and philanthropist generally acknowledged to be the first black female millionaire in the United States.Sarah Breedlove married at the age of 14, and at 20, then a widow, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri. She
Born: May 24, 1819, Kensington Palace, London, EnglandDied: January 22, 1901, Osborne,near Cowes, Isle of Wight Victoria was the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India (1876-1901).Born Alexandrina Victoria on May 24, 1819, in Kensington Palace, London, Victoria was the daughter of Victoria Mary Louisa, daughter of
Born: c. 497Died: June 28, 548, Constantinople [now Istanbul, Turkey]Theodora was a Byzantine empress (527-48), wife of Emperor Justinian I, probably born in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). According to the Byzantine historian Procopius, her father was a trainer of circus animals, and she was an actor and a courtesan before marrying Justinian in 523. Four years
Born: October 13, 1925, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England Thatcher, Margaret Hilda, née Roberts was the first woman to hold the office of prime minister of Great Britain (1979-90). She was born in Grantham and educated at the University of Oxford, where she earned degrees in chemistry; from 1947 to 1951 she worked as a research chemist,
Born: November 7, 1917, Germiston, South Africa Helen Suzman is a South African politician and outspoken opponent of apartheid, South Africa’s system of racial separation. Born Helen Gavronsky in Germiston, in what is now Gauteng province, northeastern South Africa, of Jewish immigrant parents, she was educated at the Parktown Convent until 1933 and then attended
Born: January 23, 1947, Jakarta, Indonesia Sukarnoputri is an Indonesian politician who was the fifth president of Indonesia (2001-04).The daughter of Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, Sukarnoputri studied psychology and agriculture in college but did not take a degree. In 1987, she entered politics and was elected to the People’s Consultative Assembly (national parliament),