When President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States, the country celebrated. Not only would the Supreme Court welcome its third woman justice but also its first Hispanic member. Many Americans saw the appointment of the first Hispanic justice as an important step in the civil rights movement.

On March 17, 2011, social media channels buzzed with excitement. Fans of The Hunger Games had hotly debated which actors would bring their beloved characters to life in the upcoming movie. The movie's director, Gary Ross, had finally selected the lead character, Katniss. His pick: Jennifer Lawrence. Jennifer started acting professionally in 2004 at age fourteen. But she quickly proved her major talent. For the 2008 movie The Burning Plain, she earned...

What's more popular than Tumblr? This microblogging site has taken the Web by storm since its founding in 2007. Not much can top it when it comes to capturing its fans' imaginations, except for perhaps its creator, David Karp. Karp developed Tumblr after he tried to start a blog and found the process daunting. With most platforms, a blogger faces a huge, empty text box that begs to be filled with words. It was intimidating for a guy who'd never...

On December 5, 2013, former South African President Nelson Mandela passed away at the age of 95. People around the world mourned the death of this human rights activist. Thousands of South Africans waited hours to walk past his casket to pay their respects, and world leaders and celebrities attended his funeral, including Pope Francis, several US presidents, and Bono. Mandela was born in 1918 in South Africa. While in law school, he joined the African...

Michael Jackson's journey to fame began in 1966 at age eight, when he started singing with his brothers in the Jackson 5. In the early 1970s, he launched a solo career, accumulating a dozen number-one singles. His record-breaking album, Thriller, has sold an estimated 110 million copies worldwide. He won seventeen Grammy awards and was introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. In 2009, people of all ages mourned Michael's sudden death....

On April 27, 2015, a packed Senate gallery watched as Loretta Lynch became the first African American woman to be named US attorney general. Long before Lynch became attorney general, she found herself immersed in politics. When she was fourteen, her father ran for mayor of Durham, North Carolina. This inspired a passion for politics in Lynch. Upon graduation from law school, Lynch quickly rose through the ranks at a high-powered law firm, and eventually...

Ivanka Trump may have come to fame as the daughter of prominent businessman, TV personality, and President Donald Trump - but she has plenty to be proud of on her own. In establishing herself as a well-known fashion and jewelry designer, Ivanka quickly proved that she could contribute to her family's legacy. She has overseen million-dollar deals, cofounded the luxury hotel company Trump Hotels, and pioneered a rapidly growing lifestyle brand. Now...

Experimenting with style, genre, and society's expectations of him as an African-American performer, Prince Rogers Nelson defied labels. Follow Prince's journey to superstardom, and learn how this talented, prolific, and often-controversial musician touched the hearts of fans around the world.

John Lewis is known as one of the most courageous leaders of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Inspired as a boy by the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Lewis would go on to spend more than fifty years fighting for equal rights. Lewis used nonviolent protest methods, participated in sit-ins, helped organize the March on Washington, and led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. In 1986 Lewis won a seat in US Congress, and has...

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has always loved programming. Find out how he translated his childhood passion for writing code into a multi-million dollar career as the mind behind Minecraft!