Movies & Media
This 1952 musical comedy was directed and choregraphed in part by Gene Kelly, and stars he, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor
Singin' in the Rain
Rome's first emperor, who ruled from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD and initiated the Pax Romana era during his rule.
Augustus (also known as Octavian)
Said to have started with a falling apple in 1666, Sir Isaac Newton discovered this scientific law and published it in his famous book in 1687.
Law of Universal Gravitation (Gravity)
This son of Zeus was a demi-god with superhuman strength, who was tasked with completing The Twelve Labors by King Eurystheus.
Hercules
This author is famously known for his dystopian novels, including 1984 and Animal Farm.
George Orwell
This 1960 adventure film follows a slave by the same name of the movie, who survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the Roman Republic.
Spartacus
This famous conqueror was the founder and first Khan of the Mongolian Empire.
Genghis Khan
In 1928, this first true antibiotic was discovered by Scottish physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming, Professor of Bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in London.
Penicillin
These three Greek Gods rule over the Sky, Sea, and Underworld respectively.
Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
This author with the initials J.S. published this famous novella featuring characters George Milton and Lennie Small - two displaced migrant ranch workers - as they move from place to place in California, searching for jobs during the Great Depression
John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
This 1946 Christmas movie stars James Stewart as George Bailey, and Henry Travers as his guardian angel Clarence.
It's a Wonderful Life
This famous young pharaoh ruled Egypt from 1332 to 1323 BCE, and his royal tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter almost completely intact!
King Tut (Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen)
in 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick mapped out this genetic code structure.
DNA double helix
This Trojan War hero faced a series of divine challenges during his 20-year journey home, as told in Homer's famous epic poems.
Odysseus
This author was a professor at the University of Oxford, a close friend of C.S. Lewis, and famous for these high-fantasy novels set in Middle Earth - leading him to be widely regarded as the father of modern fantasy literature.
J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
This 1975 movie follows a rebellious convict sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation in 1963 Oregon, who encourages his docile companions to take more control of their lives and defy the tyrannical head nurse.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
This king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20, and spent most of his reign conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Asia and Egypt.
Alexander the Great
Nikola Tesla is widely credited for the modern application of this natural-force discovery.
Electricity
This Athenian prince successfully navigated the Cretan labyrinth with magical thread from Princess Ariadne, and slayed the minotaur within.
Prince Theseus
This novella, written by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, explores the wonders of childlike imagination (among other themes) following a young royal's adventures through space.
The Little Prince (original: Le Petit Prince)
This 1987 romcom starring Cher and Nicholas Cage follows an Italian-American widow named Loretta Castorini and her tumultuous love life.
Moonstruck
Born in Corsica and of Italian origin, this emperor of the French is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, and his tactics are still studied at military schools worldwide.
Napoleon Bonaparte
This scientist discovered germ theory, which led to the process of heating microbes to destroy them; this process was then named after him and is used in commercial dairy products today.
Louis Pasteur
Pasteurization
These two original Greek deities birthed the titans.
Gaia & Uranus
Published in 1868 by this female author, this novel follows the lives of four sisters, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.
Lousia May Alcott
Little Women