1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [84]
Marshall, Thurgood (1908–1993) Marshall earned fame as an attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who argued the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) before the U.S. Supreme Court and won an epoch-making decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy nominated Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Southern senators delayed confirmation, but he was ultimately seated. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson named Marshall U.S. solicitor general, then nominated him to the Supreme Court in June 1967. He served as one of the high court’s great liberal voices.
Marx Brothers (Chico [Leonard, 1887–1961], Harpo [Adolph or Arthur, 1888–1964], Groucho [Julius Henry, 1890–1977], Gummo [Milton, 1892–1977], Zeppo [Herbert, 1901–1979]) The Marx Brothers—in varying combinations—began performing onstage in 1904, earned a reputation on Broadway (for their 1924 musical-comedy revue I’ll Say She Is, which was followed by other stage hits), but claimed an international reputation for their films, beginning in 1929 with The Cocoanuts and continuing through the 1930s with Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), Duck Soup (1933) A Night at the Opera (1935), and A Day at the Races (1937). Their exuberantly absurdist humor skewered all that was socially respectable—with hilarious results.
Mason, George (1725–1792) Mason was a Virginia revolutionary leader who, in 1776, drafted his state’s constitution, which included a declaration of rights that inspired Thomas Jefferson to include the concept of “unalienable rights” in the Declaration of Independence. Mason’s constitution and declaration of rights served as models for most of the other states and were the basis for the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Massasoit (circa 1590–1661) Sachem of the Wampanoag Indians of New England, Massasoit befriended the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in 1620 and, by showing them how to plant successfully in the region’s flinty soil, was instrumental in their survival. Massasoit maintained friendly relations with the settlers throughout his life, establishing a profitable trading relationship with them.
Mather, Cotton (1663–1728) Mather was a Puritan conservative who tried desperately to maintain the old order in which the clergy served as the government of Massachusetts. A man of remarkable learning and industry, he was superstitious (a believer in witchcraft), yet also scientific (he was a pioneer in advocating smallpox inoculation). The most famous of New England’s Puritans, he was one of the most prolific writers who ever lived, the author of about 400 works, including the monumental Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), a church history of America from the founding of New England to his own day.
Mather, Increase (1639–1723) Mather led the Puritans of New England as the torch passed from the first-generation settlers of Plymouth to the second—those actually born in America. Among his many books was An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Providences (1684), which (some historians believe) set the stage for the Salem witch trials of 1692. Increase Mather’s most famous son was Cotton Mather, the most celebrated of all Puritan leaders and thinkers.
Mauchly, John W. (1907–1980) With his student J. Presper Eckert, this University of Pennsylvania professor created in 1946 ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the first all-electronic digital computer. Previous computers had been electromechanical. ENIAC was commissioned by the U.S. government primarily for military applications. It incorporated in rudimentary form all of the circuitry employed in modern computers.
Mayer, Louis B. (1885– 1957) Born Eliezer Mayer in Minsk, Russia, Mayer immigrated to the United States with his family when he was a boy. He opened his first