Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com See a sample reprint in PDF format.Order a reprint of this article now OPINIONAPRIL 14, 2011 The author of “Atlas Shrugged” was an individualist, not a conservative, and she knew big business was as much a threat to capitalism as government bureaucrats. By DONALD L. LUSKIN Tomorrow’s release of the movie version of “Atlas Shrugged” is focusing attention on Ayn Rand’s 1957 opus and the free-market ideas it espouses. Book sales for…

Artist Biography Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States’ national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”.   Francis Scott Key was born to Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Captain John Ross Key at the family plantation Terra Rubra in what was Frederick County and is now Carroll County, Maryland. His father John Ross Key was a lawyer, a judge and an officer in the Continental Army. His great-grandparents were Philip Key and Susanna Barton Gardiner, both born in London, England, immigrated to Maryland in 1726. He studied law at St.…

An article from Biography.com ( 1954 – )

An article from Biography.com Pablo Picasso Biography in full Pablo Ruiz y Picasso ( 1881 – 1973 ) (born October 25, 1881, Málaga, Spain—died April 8, 1973, Mougins, France) Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century and the creator (with Georges Braque) of Cubism. The enormous body of Picasso’s work remains, and the legend lives on—a tribute to the vitality of the “disquieting” Spaniard with the “sombre . . . piercing” eyes who superstitiously believed that work would keep him alive. For nearly 80 of his 91 years Picasso devoted himself to an artistic production that…

An article from Biography.com Barack Obama Biography Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. ( 1961 – )   QUICK FACTS Born: August 4, 1961 (Hawaii) Lives in: Chicago, Illinois Zodiac Sign: Leo Height: 6? 1? (1.87m) Family: Married wife Michelle in 1992, 2 daughters Malia and Sasha Parents: Barack Obama, Sr. (from Kenya) and Ann Dunham (from Kansas) –U.S. Senator from Illinois, 2005-2008 RELATED WORKS Books 1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance 2006 The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream Watch Barack Obama videos in the news… April 13, 2011 At George Washington University, President Barack Obama tackled one of the country’s most challenging issues—the federal…

An article from Biography.com Donald Trump Biography in full Donald John Trump ( 1946 – ) Real estate developer, mogul. Born Donald John Trump, on June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York, the fourth of five children of Frederick C. and Mary MacLeod Trump. Frederick Trump was a builder and real estate developer who came to specialize in constructing and operating middle income apartments in the Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn. Donald Trump was an energetic, assertive child, and his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy at age 13, hoping the discipline of the school would channel his energy in a positive manner. Trump did well at…

An article from Biography.com Martin Luther King Jr. Biography original name Michael Luther King, Jr. ( 1929 – 1968 ) Watch Martin Luther King Jr. videos >> View special MLK feature with Photo Gallery and more. (born Jan. 15, 1929, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.—died April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tenn.) Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. His leadership was fundamental to that movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States. King rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian…