Powell's job was to kill the Secretary of State, William H. Seward, which he failed to do.

Funny story about Powell's distinctive jawline: He was kicked in the head by a mule as a kid, and it grew back wonky. The story goes as follows: "An animal lover, he was always bringing strays home and caring for the injured ones about the farm, earning him the nickname of "Doc" from his sisters. The nickname stuck.

Lewis had a pet mule which he had raised and which followed him around like a dog. One morning, when Lewis was about twelve years old, he was playing outside by the back door and was attempting to do something with the animal when it kicked him. The injury was severe, resulting in a broken left jaw and a lost molar. His mother was understandably upset and wanted his father to sell the mule. The Rev. Powell demurred, saying that to sell the animal would break Lewis's heart. The boy loved his pet, and inasmuch as he had raised and cared for him, Lewis should be allowed to keep him." Powell would later be hanged on July 7th, 1865, together with Mary Surratt, David Herold, and George Atzerodt, at the Washington Arsenal, in Washington, D.C.

He single-handedly killed 90 enemy soldiers, earning the nick-name 'One-Man Regiment'. As he charged the crest of a hill on Iwo Jima, he fired his rifle from his hip, which later inspired John Wayne to do the same in his films

Left is SSG Abraham Aranoff, Boston, Mass., right is Private Henry W. Beyer of Grand Rapids, Michigan. These men, from E Company, 1st Battalion, 317th Infantry, had been fighting for 27 days straight, most of it during the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes. They’d just been pulled out of the lines for a short, well-deserved break.

Dumas is probably one of the most widely read French authors, and his works have been translated into nearly 100 languages, and made in to nearly 200 films. Photograph taken ca. 1855

He was held as a prisoner of war immediately following the actions that earned him the medal of honor, which was kept secret until his release.

Miyamura was born in Gallup, New Mexico to Japanese immigrant parents. He is a Nisei, which means that he is a second generation Japanese-American.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on April 24–25, 1951, near Taejon-ni, Korea, while serving as a corporal in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. His was the first Medal of Honor to be classified Top Secret. Miyamura was captured by the North Koreans and held as a prisoner of war immediately after the actions that led to his award. As Brigadier General Ralph Osborne explained to Miyamura and a group of reporters upon notifying them of his medal, "If the Reds knew what he had done to a good number of their soldiers just before he was taken prisoner, they might have taken revenge on this young man. He might not have come back." Following his release on August 20, 1953, he was repatriated to the United States and honorably discharged from the military shortly thereafter. His medal was presented to him by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in October 1953 at the White House.

Born in Germany on March 14, 1879, Einstein is one of the most celebrated scientists of the Twentieth Century. His theories on relativity laid the framework for a new branch of physics, and his "E = mc2" on mass-energy equivalence is one of the most famous formulas in the world. In 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to theoretical physics and the evolution of Quantum Theory.

Einstein is also well known as an original free-thinker, speaking on a range of humanitarian and global issues. After contributing to the theoretical development of nuclear physics and encouraging F.D. Roosevelt to start the Manhattan Project, he later spoke out against the use of nuclear weapons.

Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Einstein settled in Switzerland and then, after Hitler’s rise to power, the United States. Einstein was a truly global man and one of the undisputed genius’ of the Twentieth Century

Ruth was eligible for the draft during the first World War, but never called in to service, and didn't try to dodge the draft due to his sport or celebrity status. He often made public appearances on behalf of the military, and during the second World War, he was active in fundraising efforts to sell War Bonds.

Seen here a few years in to his first term. He had previously served as Vice President under President William McKinley, who was assassinated in September of 1901, leaving Roosevelt to take over the reins. He is, together with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson, depicted on Mount Rushmore.

He lead The U.K. to victory during the second World War, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, and early in his life served as a Major in the British & Territorial army, in which he fought in three separate wars (Mahdist War, Second Boer War, and WWI). After a sensational rise to prominence in national politics before World War I, Churchill acquired a reputation for erratic judgment in the war itself and in the decade that followed. Politically suspect in consequence, he was a lonely figure until his response to Adolf Hitler’s challenge brought him to leadership of a national coalition in 1940. With Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin he then shaped Allied strategy in World War II, and after the breakdown of the alliance he alerted the West to the expansionist threat of the Soviet Union. He led the Conservative Party back to office in 1951 and remained prime minister until 1955, when ill health forced his resignation.

This photograph was featured in Life magazine around the same time, and with it came a few statements from Eisenstaedt on the character of Hemingway, famously saying Hemingway was '... the most difficult man I ever photographed'. Hemingway was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Additional works, including three novels, four short story collections, and three non-fiction works, were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature.

Her natural and unpretentious beauty and her immense acting talent made her one of the most celebrated figures in the history of American cinema. Bergman is also one of the most Oscar-awarded actresses, tied with Meryl Streep, both second only to Katharine Hepburn.

Gardner was signed to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953), and also received BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for other films.

Gardner appeared in several high-profile films from the 1940s to 1970s, including The Hucksters (1947), Show Boat (1951), Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), 55 Days at Peking (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), The Night of the Iguana (1964), The Bible: In the Beginning (1966), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). Gardner continued to act regularly until 1986, four years before her death in London in 1990 at the age of 67.

Gardner is also listed 25th among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

Seen here shortly after his promotion to four-star General in 1930.

Twain was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "The Great American Novel". Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. His humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention and was even translated into French. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.

Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, but he invested in ventures that lost most of it—notably the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter that failed because of its complexity and imprecision. He filed for bankruptcy in the wake of these financial setbacks, but he eventually overcame his financial troubles with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers. He chose to pay all his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, even after he had no legal responsibility to do so.

Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well; he died the day after the comet returned. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist this country has produced", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature".

Acclaimed as a great beauty, she became established as a leading lady, and was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the film Laura in 1944 - she was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven in 1945. Tierney's other roles include Martha Strable Van Cleve in Heaven Can Wait, Isabel Bradley Maturin in The Razor's Edge, Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Ann Sutton in Whirlpool, Maggie Carleton McNulty in The Mating Season, and Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God.

Heydrich had insatiable greed for power and was a cold, calculating manipulator without human compassion who was the leading planner of Hitler's Final Solution in which the Nazis attempted to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe. He was assassinated in 1942 by Czech freedom fighters, with the help of the British government.

Directed such movies as Psycho, North by Northwest, Vertigo, and Rear Window, just to name a few all-time greats. Date unknown.

For anyone interested in the golden age of Arctic Exploration, Shackleton is a person to read upon. He took part in the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition on the ill-fated ship, Endurance. He endured almost a year stuck in ice on the ship, before abandoning it when it sunk into the ice. They subsequently lived on the ice for some months, before shackleton and five others went south by ocean, and traversed 1300km to find a whaling station and send help to the rest of the men stuck. 28 men went on the voyage, and thanks to Shackleton, 28 men returned home. Two of the survivors would go on to die on the sea during the first world war, and the last to die out of the 28 wouldn't do so until 1979.

His death in 1871, and his father's assassination in 1865, as well as the untimely death of two of his brothers, led to the severe depression and mental breakdown of his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln, and would later lead to her death.

Beginning his army career in 1869, Mackensen served in various campaigns, received successive promotions, and, during World War I, took command of the combined German-Austrian 11th Army in western Galicia (Poland; April 1915). Then, ably assisted by his chief of staff, Hans von Seeckt, Mackensen achieved the great German breakthrough in the Gorlice-Tarnów area (Poland), for which he was promoted to field marshal (June 20, 1915). The breakthrough was the beginning of a series of victories for Mackensen: the defeat of the Russians at Brest-Litovsk and at Pinsk (August–September 1915), the overrunning of Serbia (October–November 1915), and the occupation of Romania (1916–17). After the Armistice, Mackensen was interned for a year. He retired from the army in 1920 and was made a Prussian state councillor in 1933 by Hermann Göring. Mackensen, a nationalist rather than a National Socialist, frequently appeared at Nazi functions wearing his imperial cavalry uniform; he became a major symbol of the integration of the Second and Third Reichs.

The photograph was taken on the behalf of Lee's son, Major General George Washington Custis Lee, who had invited Mathew Brady to his father's rented house in Virginia. Their old family home, Arlington, had famously been turned in to what is today known as Arlington Cemetery. When Lee heard Brady was coming, he thought Brady was coming on official Federal business, and as such he donned his full uniform and ordered that his son and his aide-de-camp, Colonel Walter Taylor, do the same.

One thing to note is that at the time of this photograph, Abraham Lincoln had died just yesterday morning.