James Brown was an American singer, dancer, composer, producer, bandleader, and philanthropist.

From The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English
African-American playwright, novelist, short-story writer and actress on Broadway, in film and on television.

From The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music
The king of the twist, Checker was to the early sixties what Vernon and Irene Castle and Victor Silvester were to earlier generations of dancers.

From Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
Comedian, satirist, writer, and television host Stephen Colbert is one of America's most influential political and cultural provocateurs.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US boxer. Nicknamed ‘Smokin' Joe’, he was world heavyweight champion 1970–73.

Born on October 21, 1917, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie received his early musical training in his native Cheraw, South Carolina.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US baseball player. He was banned from baseball in 1921 for his involvement in the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ scandal.

Jasper Johns is a painter, sculptor, and printmaker of the neo-dada movement of the 1950s and early 1960s and an important precursor of pop art.

From The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music
Songstress and actress, Kitt developed a coquettish, self-mocking style - often performing reclining on a fur rug, for example - that recalled Marlene Dietrich.

Mickey Spillane is a well-known American writer of crime novels. He is best known for his Mike Hammer series of books and he wrote many other crime fiction works.

From African American Almanac
Christopher Julius Rock III was born in Andréws, South Carolina, on February 7, 1965.

In From Suffrage to the Senate: America's Political Women
In 1936, she became the first black woman to head a federal agency, serving in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.

American statesman and political philosopher, b. near Abbeville, S.C., grad. Yale, 1804. He was an intellectual giant of political life in his day.

US Democrat politician, vice-presidential candidate in 2004.

In From Suffrage to the Senate: America's Political Women
Republican Nikki Haley became governor of South Carolina in 2011, the first woman and the first racial minority to hold the office.

The seventh American president, Andrew Jackson, is called by many historians the first popularly elected president of the United States.

Jesse Jackson has worked diligently on behalf of civil rights, but he may be most recognized for the dynamic way he has crafted a message of inclusion and reform.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American political leader and diplomat, b. Charleston, S.C

In From Suffrage to the Senate: America's Political Women
Democrat Corrine Riley of South Carolina served in the U.S. House of Representatives from April 10, 1962 to January 3, 1963.

From Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
He was involved in many issues during his decades as a legislator, but as a central figure in southern politics during a period of sweeping change, he was best known for his opposition to desegregation.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1734–1832, American Revolutionary officer.