May 19, 1930 — Lorraine Vivian Hansberry is born to Carl Augustus Hansberry, Sr. and Nannie Louise Hansberry in Chicago, Illinois. 1937 — Carl moves his family to a home in the Woodlawn neighborhood’s all-white Washington Park subdivision in defiance of a restrictive covenant. Local backlash against the Hansberry family eventually results in a legal […]
Early Life May 29, 1903 — Leslie Towns Hope is born in Eltham, England, the fifth of seven sons, to William Henry Hope and Avis Towns Hope. 1908 — The Hope family emigrates to the United States, settling in Cleveland. 1924 — Hope, working as one-half of a comedy dance team, joins a vaudeville revue […]
Early Life 1910 (Oct. 25) — Tyrus Wong (Wong Gaing Yoo) is born in Nom On, Guangzhou, China, to Wong Sai Po and Lee See 1919 (Dec. 30) — Tyrus immigrates to the U.S. under the paper name of Look Tai Yow (or Yu) on the S.S. China with his father, whose paper name was […]
Jascha Heifetz Biography From the Jascha Heifetz Biography at www.JaschaHeifetz.com, © 2010 John and John Anthony Maltese More than a century after his public debut, the name Jascha Heifetz (1901 – 1987) continues to evoke awe and excitement among fellow musicians. In a performing career that spanned 65 years, he established an unparalleled standard of […]
August Wilson (1945 – 2005) was an award-winning American playwright whose work illuminated the joys and struggles of the African-American experience in the United States during the 20th century. August Wilson’s Childhood Wilson’s rise from humble beginnings to Broadway was unlikely. Born Frederick August Kittel on April 27, 1945, in the Hill District community of […]
Follow entertainer Bing Crosby’s remarkable life, from growing up in Spokane, Washington, to his death after a good game of golf at a course in Madrid, Spain. He had four sons with his first wife Dixie Lee, who died at the age of 40 of cancer, and two sons and a daughter with his second […]
The years 1946 to 1964 define the post-war baby boomer generation, when the United States saw a spike in its birth rate. The American economy flourished and supported larger families, advances in technology made it easier to share ideas and culture, and space exploration took off. But the boomers’ era was also marked by great […]
