Pope John Paul II
18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005

The first non-Italian pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 400 years, originally from Poland. He is referred to by Catholics as St. John Paul the Great

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832

A German writer, artist, and politician

Richard Nixon
9 January 1913 – 22 April 1994

37th President of the United States

Oscar Wilde
16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900

An Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet

Robert Edward Lee
19 January 1807 – 12 October 1870

An American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865

Vladimir Lenin
22 April 1870 – 21 January 1924

A Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy
29 May 1917 – 22 November 1963

35th President of the United States, serving from January 1961 until he was assassinated in November

Elvis Presley
8 January 1935 – 16 August 1977

The "King of Rock 'n' Roll," was the leading American singer for two decades and the most popular singer of the entire early rock 'n' roll era

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
25 April 1840 – 25 October 1893

Russian composer and pianist. The first Russian composer whose music became known and revered internationally

Richard Wagner
22 May 1813 — 13 February 1883

A French Romantic composer. His influence was critical for the further development of Romanticism

Michael Jeffrey Jordan
born 17 February 1963

Basketball player. He is one of the most successful, popular, and wealthy athletes in college, Olympic, and professional sports history

Edgar Allan Poe
19 January 1809 – 7 October 1849

An American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre

Thomas Woodrow Wilson
28 December 1856 – 3 February 1924

28th President of the United States. Wilson was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize, the second of three sitting presidents so honored

Sergey Bubka
born 4 December 1963

President of the National Olympic Committee in Ukraine. The first athlete to have broken the six metre barrier in the pole vault

Mark Twain
30 November 1835 – 21 April 1910

A famous American humorist and novelist. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Mahatma Gandhi
2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948

The preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India

Sigmund Freud
6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939

Founding father of psychoanalytic theory and the discipline of psychoanalysis

Franklin D. Roosevelt
30 January 1882 – 12 April 1945

32nd President of the United States. Helped America get out of the Great Depression. He is the only president to serve more than two terms

Friedrich Nietzsche
15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900

German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, and Latin and Greek scholar. Considered one of the most insightful philosophers of the 19th century