A Montgomery native and Auburn University grad, Octavia Spencer is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. She is the first black actress to receive two consecutive Oscar nominations.

Originally born in Robertsdale, Alabama, and also an Auburn University grad, Tim Cook began working at Apple in 1998, at a time when its foothold in the tech industry was less than favorable, compared to giants like Hewlett-Packard and Dell. Cook admits that he was apprehensive about accepting a leadership position within the company.

Born in Mountain Brook, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Cox is famously known for starring as Monica Gellar on the popular NBC television series, Friends. A triple threat: an actress, director and producer, she's appeared in sitcoms, movie franchises, and TV dramas, including the Scream movie franchise and the ABC show Cougar Town. She's been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Critics' Choice Award.

A Mobile native, Hank Aaron, nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", is considered one of the greatest baseball players in history. He played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976 and broke Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs, finishing with a career total of 755.

Condoleezza Rice, born in Birmingham and spent her childhood in Tuscaloosa, is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. She previously served as the 66th United States secretary of state from 2005 to 2009 and was the 19th U.S. national security advisor from 2001 to 2005.

Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Lionel Richie first gained fame as a member of the Motown group, The Commodores, and later launched a successful solo career in the 1980s. His smooth voice and romantic ballads made him one of the most successful pop singers of his time, and he has won numerous awards, including four Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Soccer star, Mia Hamm, was born in Selma, Alabama. Largely considered one of the best female soccer players in history, she won the Women's World Cup in 1991 and 1999, and took home Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004. Hamm was named FIFA's "World Player of the Year" in both 2001 and 2002.

Easily one of America’s greatest entertainers of all time, Montgomery born, Nat King Cole was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and pop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts.

Born in Decatur, Alabama, Mae C. Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She was a doctor for the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1983 until 1985 where she worked as a general practitioner. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve as a mission specialist for the STS-47 mission in 1992, during which she became the first African-American woman to travel into space on the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Fannie Flagg, born Patricia Neal, was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. An American actress, comedienne, and author, Flagg is best known for the 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which she adapted into the script for the 1991 motion picture Fried Green Tomatoes. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay adaptation.