MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in
Atlanta, Georgia. King, both a Baptist minister and civilrights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in
the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among
many efforts, King headed the SCLC. Through his
activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal
segregation of African-American citizens in the South
and other areas of the nation, as well as the creation of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of
1965. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964,
among several other honors. King was assassinated in
April 1968, and continues to be remembered as one of
the most lauded African-American leaders in history,
often referenced by his 1963 speech, "I Have a Dream."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of America's
greatest heroes due to both his incredible impact on the
nation and his unique appeal. His is a remarkable story
of the rise from humble beginnings to achieve the
highest office in the land; then, a sudden and tragic
death at a time when his country needed him most to
complete the great task remaining before the nation.
Lincoln's distinctively human and humane personality
and historical role as savior of the Union and
emancipator of the slaves creates a legacy that endures.
His eloquence of democracy and his insistence that the
Union was worth saving embody the ideals of selfgovernment that all nations strive to achieve.
HARRIET TUBMAN
Harriet Tubman was an American bondwoman who
escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading
abolitionist before the American Civil War. She was
born in Maryland in 1820, and successfully escaped in
1849. Yet she returned many times to rescue both
family members and non-relatives from the plantation
system. She led hundreds to freedom in the North as the
most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad,
an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized
for that purpose.
GENERAL GEORGE PATTON
George Patton was born in San Gabriel, California on
November 11, 1885. Considered one of the most
successful combat generals in U.S history, he was the
first officer assigned to the Tank Corps in WWI. During
WWII, he helped lead the Allies to victory in the
invasion of Sicily, and was instrumental to the liberation
of Germany from the Nazis. He died on December 21,
1945 in Heidelberg, Germany.
MOTHER TERESA
Baptized on August 27, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia,
Mother Teresa taught in India for 17 years before she
experienced her 1946 "call within a call" to devote
herself to caring for the sick and poor. Her order
established a hospice; centers for the blind, aged, and
disabled; and a leper colony. She was summoned to
Rome in 1968, and in 1979 received the Nobel Peace
Prize for her humanitarian work.
Mahatma Gandhi
Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India, Mahatma
Gandhi studied law and came to advocate for the rights
of Indians, both at home and in South Africa. Gandhi
became a leader of India's independence movement,
organizing boycotts against British institutions in
peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was killed by a
fanatic in 1948.
NEIL ARMSTRONG
Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on
August 5, 1930. After serving in the Korean War and
then finishing college, he joined the organization that
would become NASA. He joined the astronaut program
in 1962 and was command pilot for his first mission,
Gemini VIII, in 1966. He was spacecraft commander for
Apollo 11, the first manned lunar mission, and became
the first man to walk on the moon. He died in Cincinnati,
Ohio, in 2012.