6/22/2014

The 30+ Coolest People of the 20th Century


It's come to my attention that the National Portrait Gallery will soon be debuting a "Coolest People of the 20th Century" exhibit. If you're like me, you're now wondering "how the heck do you define cool?" 

My knee-jerk reaction was to instantly summon up mental images of Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable and George Clooney.  But then I started thinking a little more deeply - surely "cool" has to be more than savoir faire and a good wardrobe, yes?  After much mental deliberation (seriously, I thought of almost nothing else the half mile drive to the nearest 7-11 to pick up a pint of Ben & Jerrys) I finally decided that what truly "cool people" have in common is that they are courageous enough to adopt lifestyle decisions that set them apart from what was "normal" at their time, with such confidence and courage that they actually shifted the definition of normal. 

In keeping with this definition, I hereby nominate the following as belonging on MY list of coolest people of the 20th century.  Have I missed anyone?
  1. Nikola Tesla
  2. F. Scott Fitzgerald
  3. T.H. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia")
  4. Eleanor Roosevelt
  5. Babe Ruth
  6. Al Capone
  7. Albert Einstein
  8. Ernest Hemingway
  9. Winston Churchill
  10. The Brat Pack
  11. The Beatles
  12. Orson Welles
  13. General George Patton
  14. Andy Warhol
  15. Pablo Picasso
  16. Frida Kahlo
  17. Mohammad Ali
  18. Mother Teresa
  19. Nelson Mandela
  20. Mohatama Gandhi
  21. Martin Luther King Jr.
  22. Malcolm X
  23. Thurgood Marshall
  24. Truman Capote
  25. Little Richard
  26. George Carlin
  27. Maya Angelou
  28. Bob Fosse
  29. Madonna
  30. Steve Jobs
  31. Prince
  32. Johnny Depp

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