Gustav Klimt was born in Vienna, which in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis. In 1897, he helped to found the Vienna Secession, an artistic movement which broke with the academic tradition and was closely associated with Art Nouveau. In just 50 minutes, you will find out how Klimt revolutionized the artistic scene both in...
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Henry Ford was an American industrialist and the founder of the Ford Motor Company. His innovative approach to manufacturing made cars accessible to ordinary people, revolutionized industry and caused the explosion of mass production. He doubled his workers’ salaries, introduced the division of labor and indirectly caused the development of mass consumption. In just 50 minutes, you will find out how...
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On 6 August 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The second bomb followed days later, hitting Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. The attacks caused the complete destruction of two major Japanese cities, brought about the immediate surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War, and led to the beginning of the...
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John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. Although he actively fought against Communism and established the Peace Corps, Kennedy is probably known most of all for his unexpected assassination in 1963, during his visit to Texas, when he was shot in the head by Lee Harvey Oswald. His murder sent shockwaves around the world. In just 50 minutes, you will...
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John Paul II was the 264th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and is remembered as one of the most important figures in the shaping of 21st century Catholicism. Known in particular for the modernization of the Catholic Church and the implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, John Paul led the Catholic Church during a period of great...
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Learn about the ideas of Joseph Stiglitz in just 50 minutes with this practical and concise book. Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and one of the best-known figures of New Keynesian economics. His work spans multiple domains of economics, including in particular political economics, development economics and econometrics. He is also a pioneer of information economics and an outspoken...
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Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was known in particular for being the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century, not to mention for being the first woman to have ever held the office. It did not take long for...
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Marie Curie was a pioneering chemist and physicist at a time when few women had the opportunity to pursue a career in science and research. She is particularly well-known for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity and her discovery of radium, which revolutionized cancer treatment and challenged scientific theories that had endured since antiquity. Along with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri...
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Martin Luther King was an American pastor who played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Known in particular for his role in raising awareness of the racial problems in the United States and in the emancipation of African-Americans, King was a supporter of non-violence and made considerable progress towards a more equal America....
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Learn about the ideas of Milton Friedman in just 50 minutes with this practical and concise book. Friedman was a Nobel Prize-winning economist who lived through many of the most significant economic periods in the USA: he witnessed the roaring twenties, the Wall Street Crash and the Second World War. His work spans multiple domains of economics, including in particular consumption...
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On 21 July 1969, the American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the commander of the Apollo 11 spaceship, became the first person in history to set foot on the Moon. This crucial event marked the peak of the Space Race, which pitted the Cold War rivals the USA and the USSR against one another as they sent artificial satellites, probes and eventually humans...
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Nelson Mandela was the leading figure in the fight against the apartheid regime in South Africa. He swiftly rose to become one of the most influential members of the African National Congress (ANC), but his activism saw him arrested in 1962 and sentenced to life imprisonment two years later. Much of his sentence was served at the notoriously tough Robben Island...
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