Empress Kojun

Member of the Imperial House of Japan, wife of Emperor Shōwa, & mother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito.

George Frideric Handel

German & English Baroque composer, born 1685, who was a huge influence on Mozart & Beethoven.

Enrico Caruso

Italian operatic tenor born in 1873 & one of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded.

Michelangelo

Italian sculptor, painter, architect, & poet of the High Renaissance born in 1475.

Alexander McQueen

English fashion designer & couturier & founder of the Alexander McQueen label in 1992.

Marie Vetsera

Austrian noblewoman & Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria’s mistress. Together they committed suicide in 1889.

Edward Gorey

American writer, costume designer, & artist born in 1925. Known for his unsettling illustrated books.

Pierre Boulle

French novelist born in 1912 & known for writing The Bridge on the River Kwai & Planet of the Apes.

Hildo Krop

Dutch sculptor & furniture designer born in 1884. Widely known as the city sculptor of Amsterdam.

Tadd Dameron

American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist born in 1917. Most influential arranger of the bebop era.