Oprah Winfrey

The award-winning talk show host Oprah has opened up several times about her painful past, but it didn’t stop her from sharing the whole truth to the public. She got pregnant at age 14, but the baby passed away a few weeks after birth. According to her, she named the baby Canaan, meaning new life and new land.

At first, Oprah was worried that her past might affect her career, but she said it was liberating to let go of that detail about her in 1990. It must have been like unloading a heavy load that she had been carrying for a very long time. In recent years, Oprah established her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). She also received honorary doctorate degrees from Harvard and Duke. The 66-year-old Mississippi native now serves as executive producer of several films and television shows.