Biographical profile of Amelia Earhart. Earhart's disappearance has mesmerized the American public ever since her fateful around-the-world flight in 1937. However, the public's fascination with Lady Lindy began long before her disappearance as she ventured into what was an almost exclusively male domain: airplanes and flight, flaunting convention with panache. This is her story.

Joseph P. Day, the great salesman, sold about a third of the Bronx, a third of Queens and large swaths of Brooklyn during his lifetime. In one 12-hour auction he sold 1,574 properties. Day was the quintessential New Yorker. Day's story is a text-book lesson on what it takes to become a great salesman, and his 10 rules for success a menu on the qualities and characteristics he espoused.

Biographical profile of Steve Jobs the founder of Apple Computers and the man who led an evolution in American technology and culture. He ushered in the world of personal computing with the Apple and Mac line of computers changed the way we buy and listen to music with the iPod iTunes and the iTunes Store introduced us to a new wave of animated films and technology through Pixar with such hits as "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo" and gave us a new paradigm for mobile telep...

Microsoft founder Bill Gates writes: "Genuine pioneers don't stop after just one discovery or innovation. They are driven to build on their accomplishments and to follow them into new frontiers." He was speaking about Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com which ushered in the brave new world of internet commerce; and the mind behind Kindle, the ebook platform that blazed the road for what has become the eBook Reformation or eBook Revolution, affecting, even transforming, publishers, auth...

William Marcy Tweed was a big man at 300 pounds, a charming, garrulous man whose personality matched his girth. He could disarm the most disagreeable person; few could resist his charms. And like most big men, Tweed had a big appetite, but his craving was not just for food; it was for money and power. In a span of just five years, Tweed amassed both and became the "boss" of New York. However, he gained his wealth through graft, greed and corruption, at times unfortunate staples of American po...

Biographical profile of George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Co. and inventor of the Kodak and Brownie cameras that revolutionized photography. In roughly 30 years beginning in 1880, Eastman changed the world of photography. Instead of cameras the size of microwave ovens, and the need for a tent, chemicals, glass plates and enormous patience, the camera alone priced at nearly 50, Eastman ultimately introduced a camera that cost only 1 with film priced at 15 cents a roll. All the custo...

Famed aviation pioneer Donald Douglas once said "Every airplane flying today has some Jack Northrop in it." Northrop was an aviation genius who was more interested in developing new technology than selling airplanes or making a fortune. The Northrop story is the story of American aviation history; he worked with the Loughead brothers (who changed their name to Lockheed) and Donald Douglas designing some of America's greatest airplanes from the Vega to the DC-3 and ultimately to the most ...

Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old founder of Facebook, is the youngest self-made billionaire in history. He is also considered by many to be one of the most influential persons in the information age. His impact on American culture is virtually unprecedented. The recent film, "Social Network" does not portray him in the kindest light, but is it a work of fact or fiction? Separating fiction from fact, award-winning author Daniel Alef, tell the true story of Zuckerberg's meteoric rise and h...

Biographical profile of one of America's iconic automobile pioneers, Walter Chrysler, a man Time magazine described as a "doctor of sick automobile companies." The Chrysler Building in New York, topped by its world-famous art deco tower, an enduring symbol of America's industrial evolution, is also a standing tribute to its namesake. Walter Chrysler was a monumental pioneer in the automobile industry, helping Buick, General Motors, Willys and Maxwell survive before starting his own ...

Biographical profile of Cornelius Vanderbilt entrepreneur shipping and railroad magnate and one of the wealthiest and best known tycoons in American history. Uneducated and coming from a poor background Vanderbilt built an empire beginning with sailboats before graduating to steamships. His shipping interests extended from California to Europe generating substantial income for the gruff tall and unbending titan. When American railroads began their spread westward Vanderbilt decided to control...

On Jan. 2, 1910, leading aviators from around the globe converged on Dominguez Hills near Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Air Meet. During the 10-day event, 226,000 spectators saw a dazzling display of airplanes and flight. Many world records were shattered; one pilot soared to 4,164 feet, while Glenn Curtiss hit a blistering 55 mph with a passenger on board. The planes so fascinated one onlooker, 29-year-old William Edward Boeing, that he left a lucrative business and embarked on a new caree...

Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were staunch opponents of a national bank. When President Jackson let the charter of the second bank lapse after 20 years it left the nation unprepared and powerless to respond quickly or effectively to major economic declines or emergencies. J. Pierpont Morgan became America's central bank initiating monetary policies that saved the nation from a severe depression on more than one occasion. During the Panic of 1907 Pierpont called a meeting of all the l...