Curated playlist
1916 births
- Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas insisted on giving blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo an on-screen credit for Spartacus.
- Harold WilsonAt ten, Harold Wilson told his mother he would be prime minister. He went on to win four general elections.
- Roald DahlRoald Dahl was blinded for six weeks after crashing his fighter plane in the desert in 1940.
- Francis CrickFrancis Crick was editing a manuscript on his death bed. He co-deciphered the DNA double helix in 1953.
- François MitterrandFrançois Mitterrand, who ended France's death penalty, once urged rejecting mercy in 80% of cases.
- Walter CronkiteWalter Cronkite took off his glasses and told America President Kennedy had died.
- Claude ShannonClaude Shannon built a mechanical mouse that learned its way through a maze. He named the 1950 machine Theseus.
- Herbert A. SimonHerbert Simon argued that people don't pick the best option, they settle for good enough. He called it satisficing.
- Shelby FooteShelby Foote wrote every page by hand with a nib pen, then typed up a clean copy. He thought of himself first as a novelist. Yet he is remembered for a three-volume history of the American Civil War. He expected that history to take nine…
- Alexander ProkhorovWhile studying ruby in 1957, physicist Alexander Prokhorov realized it could serve as a laser's active medium.
- Jack VanceJack Vance memorized an eye chart to join the Merchant Marine. He later kept writing novels after going legally blind.
- I. J. GoodAlan Turing once stopped speaking to a codebreaker for napping on the floor.