(Old Testament) the son of Abraham who was cast out after the birth of Isaac; considered the forebear of 12 Arabian tribes


Athenian rhetorician and orator (436-338 BC)


(Old Testament) a son of Jacob and a forebear of one of the tribes of Israel


oewn-Ivan_III_of_Russia-n oewn-Ivan_III-n oewn-Ivan_III_Vasilievich-n oewn-Ivan_the_Great-n

grand duke of Muscovy whose victories against the Tartars laid the basis for Russian unity (1440-1505)


United States lithographer who (with his partner Nathaniel Currier) produced thousands of prints signed `Currier & Ives' (1824-1895)


United States composer noted for his innovative use of polytonality (1874-1954)


7th president of the US; successfully defended New Orleans from the British in 1815; expanded the power of the presidency (1767-1845)


oewn-Jackson-n oewn-Thomas_Jackson-n oewn-Thomas_J._Jackson-n oewn-Thomas_Jonathan_Jackson-n oewn-Stonewall_Jackson-n

general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War whose troops at the first Battle of Bull Run stood like a stone wall (1824-1863)


United States writer of romantic novels about the unjust treatment of Native Americans (1830-1885)


United States civil rights leader who led a national campaign against racial discrimination and ran for presidential nomination (born in 1941)


United States singer who did much to popularize gospel music (1911-1972)


United States singer who began singing with his four brothers and later became a highly successful star during the 1980s (born in 1958)


English film actress who later became a member of British Parliament (born in 1936)


an unidentified English murderer in the 19th century


French biochemist who (with Jacques Monod) studied regulatory processes in cells (born in 1920)


Dutch physician who opened the first birth control clinic in the world in Amsterdam (1854-1929)


United States writer and critic of urban planning (born in 1916)


English writer of macabre short stories (1863-1943)


French inventor of the Jacquard loom that could automatically weave complicated patterns (1752-1834)


oewn-Jaffar-n oewn-Jafar-n oewn-Jaffar_Umar_Thalib-n oewn-Jafar_Umar_Thalib-n

Indonesian terrorist and Islamic militant who commands the Laskar Jihad; uses violence to achieve political ends (1965-2000)


United States linguist (born in Russia) noted for his description of the universals of phonology (1896-1982)


oewn-James-n oewn-Saint_James-n oewn-St._James-n oewn-Saint_James_the_Apostle-n oewn-St._James_the_Apostle-n

(New Testament) disciple of Jesus; brother of John; author of the Epistle of James in the New Testament


writer who was born in the United States but lived in England (1843-1916)


United States pragmatic philosopher and psychologist (1842-1910)


United States outlaw who fought as a Confederate soldier and later led a band of outlaws that robbed trains and banks in the West until he was murdered by a member of his own gang (1847-1882)


oewn-James_VI_and_I-n oewn-James-n oewn-James_I-n oewn-King_James-n oewn-King_James_I-n

the first Stuart to be king of England and Ireland from 1603 to 1625 and king of Scotland from 1567 to 1625; he was the son of Mary Queen of Scots and he succeeded Elizabeth I; he alienated the British Parliament by claiming the divine right of kings (1566-1625)


the last Stuart to be king of England and Ireland and Scotland; overthrown in 1688 (1633-1701)


a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)


United States dancer and choreographer (born in 1944)


a Dutch Roman Catholic theologian (1585-1638)


United States diplomat and jurist who negotiated peace treaties with Britain and served as the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1745-1829)


French heroine and military leader inspired by religious visions to organize French resistance to the English and to have Charles VII crowned king; she was later tried for heresy and burned at the stake (1412-1431)


United States poet who wrote about California (1887-1962)


3rd President of the United States; chief drafter of the Declaration of Independence; made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore it (1743-1826)


English physician who pioneered vaccination; Jenner inoculated people with small amounts of cowpox to prevent them from getting smallpox (1749-1823)


United States architect who designed the first skyscraper in which a metal skeleton was used (1832-1907)


(Old Testament) first king of the northern kingdom of Israel who led Israel into sin (10th century BC)


(Old Testament) an Israelite prophet who is remembered for his angry lamentations (jeremiads) about the wickedness of his people (circa 626-587 BC)


oewn-Jerome-n oewn-Saint_Jerome-n oewn-St._Jerome-n oewn-Hieronymus-n oewn-Eusebius_Hieronymus-n oewn-Eusebius_Sophronius_Hieronymus-n

(Roman Catholic Church) one of the great Fathers of the early Christian Church whose major work was his translation of the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (which became the Vulgate); a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-420)


oewn-Jesus-n oewn-Jesus_of_Nazareth-n oewn-the_Nazarene-n oewn-Jesus_Christ-n oewn-Christ-n oewn-Savior-n oewn-Saviour-n oewn-Good_Shepherd-n oewn-Redeemer-n oewn-Deliverer-n

a teacher and prophet born in Bethlehem and active in Nazareth; his life and sermons form the basis for Christianity (circa 4 BC - AD 29)


English economist and logician who contributed to the development of the theory of marginal utility (1835-1882)


wife of Ahab who was king of Israel; according to the Old Testament she was a cruel immoral queen who fostered the worship of Baal and tried to kill Elijah and other prophets of Israel (9th century BC)


prelate who was the confessor of Isabella I and who was later appointed Grand Inquisitor (1436-1517)


Indian statesman who was the founder of Pakistan as a Muslim state (1876-1948)


Hungarian violinist and composer (1831-1907)


a Jewish hero in the Old Testament who maintained his faith in God in spite of afflictions that tested him


a Hebrew minor prophet, the second of the twelve minor prophets


French field marshal who commanded the Allied armies in France during World War II (1852-1931)


oewn-John-n oewn-Saint_John-n oewn-St._John-n oewn-Saint_John_the_Apostle-n oewn-St._John_the_Apostle-n oewn-John_the_Evangelist-n oewn-John_the_Divine-n

(New Testament) disciple of Jesus; traditionally said to be the author of the 4th Gospel and three epistles and the book of Revelation


youngest son of Henry II; King of England from 1199 to 1216; succeeded to the throne on the death of his brother Richard I; lost his French possessions; in 1215 John was compelled by the barons to sign the Magna Carta (1167-1216)


Italian pope from 1958 to 1963 who convoked the Second Vatican Council (1881-1963)


(Roman Catholic Church) a Church Father who was a great preacher and bishop of Constantinople; a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-407)


the fourth son of Edward III who was the effective ruler of England during the close of his father's reign and during the minority of Richard II; his son was Henry Bolingbroke (1340-1399)


(New Testament) a preacher and hermit and forerunner of Jesus (whom he baptized); was beheaded by Herod at the request of Salome


the first Pope to assume a double name; he reigned for only 34 days (1912-1978)


the first Pope born in Poland; the first Pope not born in Italy in 450 years (1920-2005)


United States artist and proponent of pop art (born in 1930)


oewn-Johnson-n oewn-Andrew_Johnson-n oewn-President_Johnson-n oewn-President_Andrew_Johnson-n

17th President of the United States; was elected vice president and succeeded Lincoln when Lincoln was assassinated; was impeached but acquitted by one vote (1808-1875)


oewn-Lyndon_B._Johnson-n oewn-Johnson-n oewn-Lyndon_Johnson-n oewn-Lyndon_Baines_Johnson-n oewn-LBJ-n oewn-President_Johnson-n oewn-President_Lyndon_Johnson-n

36th President of the United States; was elected vice president and succeeded Kennedy when Kennedy was assassinated (1908-1973)


English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)


oewn-Joseph_E._Johnston-n oewn-Johnston-n oewn-J._E._Johnston-n oewn-Joseph_Eggleston_Johnston-n

Confederate general in the American Civil War; led the Confederate troops in the West (1807-1891)


oewn-Joliot-n oewn-Jean-Frederic_Joliot-n oewn-Joliot-Curie-n oewn-Jean-Frederic_Joliot-Curie-n

French nuclear physicist who was Marie Curie's assistant and who worked with Marie Curie's daughter who he married (taking the name Joliot-Curie); he and his wife discovered how to synthesize new radioactive elements (1900-1958)


French physicist who (with her husband) synthesized new chemical elements (1897-1956)


oewn-Jolliet-n oewn-Louis_Jolliet-n oewn-Joliet-n oewn-Louis_Joliet-n

French explorer (with Jacques Marquette) of the upper Mississippi River valley (1645-1700)


United States singer (born in Russia) who appeared in the first full-length talking film (1886-1950)


(Old Testament) Jonah did not wish to become a prophet so God caused a great storm to throw him overboard from a ship; he was saved by being swallowed by a whale that vomited him out onto dry land


one of the first great English architects and a theater designer (1573-1652)


American naval commander in the American Revolution (1747-1792)


United States railroad engineer who died trying to stop his train from crashing into another train; a friend wrote a famous ballad describing the incident (1864-1900)


United States labor leader (born in Ireland) who helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World (1830-1930)


English dramatist and poet who was the first real poet laureate of England (1572-1637)


United States composer who was the first creator of ragtime to write down his compositions (1868-1917)


United States singer who died of a drug overdose at the height of her popularity (1943-1970)


(New Testament) husband of Mary and (in Christian belief) the foster father of Jesus


(Old Testament) the 11th son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel; Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors, which made his brothers jealous and they sold him into slavery in Egypt


leader of the Nez Perce in their retreat from United States troops (1840-1904)


Jewish general who led the revolt of the Jews against the Romans and then wrote a history of those events (37-100)


(Old Testament) Moses' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land; best remembered for his destruction of Jericho


English physicist who established the mechanical theory of heat and discovered the first law of thermodynamics (1818-1889)


English classical scholar noted for his translations of Plato and Aristotle (1817-1893)


influential Irish writer noted for his many innovations (such as stream of consciousness writing) (1882-1941)


(Old Testament) the fourth son of Jacob who was forebear of one of the tribes of Israel; one of his descendants was to be the Messiah


(New Testament) the Apostle who betrayed Jesus to his enemies for 30 pieces of silver


Jewish leader of a revolt in Judea that recovered Jerusalem around 166 BC; hero of the Apocryphal books I Maccabees and II Maccabees (?-161 BC)


oewn-Jude_the_Apostle-n oewn-Jude-n oewn-Saint_Jude-n oewn-St._Jude-n oewn-Judas-n oewn-Thaddaeus-n

(New Testament) supposed brother of St. James; one of the Apostles who is invoked in prayer when a situation seems hopeless


Roman Emperor and nephew of Constantine; he restored paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire and destroyed Christian temples but his decision was reversed after his death (331?-363)


German aircraft engineer who designed the first all-metal airplane (1859-1935)


French botanist who categorized plants into families and developed a system of plant classification (1748-1836)


Byzantine emperor who held the eastern frontier of his empire against the Persians; codified Roman law in 529; his general Belisarius regained North Africa and Spain (482-565)


Roman satirist who denounced the vice and folly of Roman society during the reign of the emperor Domitian (60-140)


Czech novelist who wrote in German about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals (1883-1924)


United States architect (born in Estonia) (1901-1974)


soviet statesman and head of state of the USSR (1875-1946)


Hawaiian king who united the islands under his rule (1758-1819)


oewn-Kandinsky-n oewn-Wassily_Kandinsky-n oewn-Kandinski-n oewn-Wassily_Kandinski-n

Russian painter who was a pioneer of abstract art (1866-1944)


influential German idealist philosopher (1724-1804)


Swedish poet whose works incorporate Swedish customs and folklore (1864-1931)


United States film actor (born in England) noted for his performances in horror films (1887-1969)


oewn-Anatoly_Karpov-n oewn-Karpov-n oewn-Anatoli_Karpov-n oewn-Anatoli_Yevgenevich_Karpov-n

Russian chess master who was world champion from 1975 until 1985 when he was defeated by Gary Kasparov (born in 1951)


Russian dancer who danced with Nijinsky (1885-1978)


oewn-Garry_Kasparov-n oewn-Kasparov-n oewn-Gary_Kasparov-n oewn-Gary_Weinstein-n

Azerbaijani chess master who became world champion in 1985 by defeating Anatoli Karpov (born in 1963)


United States playwright who collaborated with many other writers including Moss Hart (1889-1961)


statesman who led Northern Rhodesia to full independence as Zambia in 1964 and served as Zambia's first president (1924-1999)


United States stage and screen director (born in Turkey) and believer in method acting (1909-2003)


English actor noted for his portrayals of Shakespeare's great tragic characters (1789-1833)


United States comedian and actor in silent films noted for his acrobatic skills and deadpan face (1895-1966)


Englishman and romantic poet (1795-1821)


English clergyman who (with John Henry Newman and Edward Pusey) founded the Oxford movement (1792-1866)


German chemist remembered for his discovery of the ring structure of benzene (1829-1896)


United States lecturer and writer who was blind and deaf from the age of 19 months; Anne Sullivan taught her to read and write and speak; Helen Keller graduated from college and went on to champion the cause of blind and deaf people (1880-1968)


oewn-Will_Keith_Kellogg-n oewn-Kellogg-n oewn-W._K._Kellogg-n oewn-Will_Keith_Kellog-n

United States food manufacturer who (with his brother) developed a breakfast cereal of crisp flakes of rolled and toasted wheat and corn; he established a company to manufacture the cereal (1860-1951)


United States dancer who performed in many musical films (1912-1996)


oewn-Kelly-n oewn-Grace_Kelly-n oewn-Grace_Patricia_Kelly-n oewn-Princess_Grace_of_Monaco-n

United States film actress who retired when she married into the royal family of Monaco (1928-1982)


British physicist who invented the Kelvin scale of temperature and pioneered undersea telegraphy (1824-1907)


United States biochemist who discovered cortisone (1886-1972)


English biologist noted for studies of the molecular structure of blood components (born in 1917)


United States diplomat who recommended a policy of containment in dealing with Soviet aggression (1904-2005)


oewn-Kennedy-n oewn-Jack_Kennedy-n oewn-John_Fitzgerald_Kennedy-n oewn-JFK-n oewn-President_Kennedy-n oewn-President_John_F._Kennedy-n

35th President of the United States; established the Peace Corps; assassinated in Dallas (1917-1963)


oewn-Arthur_E._Kennelly-n oewn-Kennelly-n oewn-A._E._Kennelly-n oewn-Arthur_Edwin_Kennelly-n

United States electrical engineer noted for his work on the theory of alternating currents; independently of Oliver Heaviside he discovered the existence of an atmospheric layer that reflects radio waves back to earth (1861-1939)


United States painter noted for his woodcuts (1882-1971)


Kenyan statesman and the first president of independent Kenya (1893-1978)


Sauk leader who aided the United States against Black Hawk (1790-1848)


German astronomer who first stated laws of planetary motion (1571-1630)


Russian revolutionary who was head of state after Nicholas II abdicated but was overthrown by the Bolsheviks (1881-1970)


United States composer of musical comedies (1885-1945)


United States writer who was a leading figure of the beat generation (1922-1969)


United States writer whose best-known novel was based on his experiences as an attendant in a mental hospital (1935-2001)


oewn-Charles_F._Kettering-n oewn-Kettering-n oewn-Charles_Kettering-n oewn-Charles_Franklin_Kettering-n

United States electrical engineer who made numerous automotive improvements (including the electric starter) (1876-1958)


United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled `The Star-Spangled Banner' (1779-1843)


English economist who advocated the use of government monetary and fiscal policy to maintain full employment without inflation (1883-1946)


Russian composer (born in Armenia) whose works are romantic and reflect his interest in folk music (1903-1978)


Botswanan statesman who was the first president of Botswana (1921-1980)


oewn-Ruhollah_Khomeini-n oewn-Khomeini-n oewn-Ruholla_Khomeini-n oewn-Ayatollah_Khomeini-n oewn-Ayatollah_Ruholla_Khomeini-n

Iranian religious leader of the Shiites; when Shah Pahlavi's regime fell Khomeini established a new constitution giving himself supreme powers (1900-1989)


Soviet statesman and premier who denounced Stalin (1894-1971)


Scottish sea captain who was hired to protect British shipping in the Indian Ocean and then was accused of piracy and hanged (1645-1701)


Danish philosopher who is generally considered, along with Nietzsche, to be a founder of existentialism (1813-1855)


Polish filmmaker who made ten films based on the Ten Commandments (1941-1996)


United States charismatic civil rights leader and Baptist minister who campaigned against the segregation of Blacks (1929-1968)


United States guitar player and singer of the blues (born in 1925)


United States woman tennis player (born in 1943)


United States zoologist best known for his interview studies of sexual behavior (1894-1956)


English author of novels and poetry who was born in India (1865-1936)


oewn-Gustav_Kirchhoff-n oewn-Kirchhoff-n oewn-G._R._Kirchhoff-n oewn-Gustav_Robert_Kirchhoff-n

German physicist who with Bunsen pioneered spectrum analysis and formulated two laws governing electric networks (1824-1887)


German expressionist painter (1880-1938)


United States diplomat who served under President Nixon and President Ford (born in 1923)


oewn-Kitchener-n oewn-Herbert_Kitchener-n oewn-Horatio_Herbert_Kitchener-n oewn-First_Earl_Kitchener_of_Khartoum-n


German chemist who pioneered analytical chemistry and discovered three new elements (1743-1817)


Swiss painter influenced by Kandinsky (1879-1940)


United States fashion designer noted for understated fashions (born in 1942)


United States psychoanalyst (born in Austria) who was the first to specialize in the psychoanalysis of small children (1882-1960)


German mathematician who created the Klein bottle (1849-1925)


German dramatist whose works concern people torn between reason and emotion (1777-1811)


Austrian painter influenced by art nouveau (1862-1918)


United States abstract expressionist painter (1910-1962)


oewn-Harry_Klinefelter-n oewn-Klinefelter-n oewn-Harry_F._Klinefelter-n oewn-Harry_Fitch_Kleinfelter-n

United States physician who first described the XXY-syndrome (born in 1912)


Scottish theologian who founded Presbyterianism in Scotland and wrote a history of the Reformation in Scotland (1514-1572)


German bacteriologist who isolated the anthrax bacillus and the tubercle bacillus and the cholera bacillus (1843-1910)


British writer (born in Hungary) who wrote a novel exposing the Stalinist purges during the 1930s (1905-1983)


oewn-Konoe-n oewn-Fumimaro_Konoe-n oewn-Prince_Fumimaro_Konoe-n oewn-Konoye-n oewn-Fumimaro_Konoye-n oewn-Prince_Fumimaro_Konoye-n

Japanese statesman who set Japan's expansionist policies and formed an alliance with Germany and Italy (1891-1945)


United States economist (born in the Netherlands) (1910-1985)


British filmmaker (born in Hungary) (1893-1956)


United States semanticist (born in Poland) (1879-1950)


oewn-Kosciusko-n oewn-Thaddeus_Kosciusko-n oewn-Kosciuszko-n oewn-Tadeusz_Andrzej_Bonawentura_Kosciuszko-n

Polish patriot and soldier who fought with Americans in the American Revolution (1746-1817)


United States conductor (born in Russia) who was noted for performing the works of contemporary composers (1874-1951)


German neurologist noted for his studies of sexual deviance (1840-1902)


United States artist remembered for her spontaneous approach to painting; she was a founder of the New York school of abstract expressionism (1908-1984)


English biochemist (born in Germany) who discovered the Krebs cycle (1900-1981)


United States violinist (born in Austria) (1875-1962)


oewn-Alfred_L._Kroeber-n oewn-Kroeber-n oewn-Alfred_Kroeber-n oewn-Alfred_Louis_Kroeber-n

United States anthropologist noted for his studies of culture (1876-1960)


oewn-Harry_Kroto-n oewn-Kroto-n oewn-Harold_Kroto-n oewn-Harold_W._Kroto-n oewn-Sir_Harold_Walter_Kroto-n

British chemist who with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley discovered fullerenes and opened a new branch of chemistry (born in 1939)


German industrialist who manufactured steel in Essen (1787-1826)


German arms manufacturer and son of Friedrich Krupp; his firm provided ordnance for German armies from the 1840s through World War II (1812-1887)


Mongolian emperor of China and grandson of Genghis Khan who completed his grandfather's conquest of China; he establish the Yuan dynasty and built a great capital on the site of modern Beijing where he received Marco Polo (1216-1294)


Austrian chemist who did research on carotenoids and vitamins (1900-1967)


United States astronomer (born in the Netherlands) who studied the solar system and suggested in 1951 that there is a belt of comet-like debris at the edge of the solar system (1905-1973)


Japanese filmmaker noted for blending Japanese folklore with western styles of acting (1910-1998)


oewn-Mikhail_Kutuzov-n oewn-Kutuzov-n oewn-Mikhail_Ilarionovich_Kutuzov-n oewn-Prince_of_Smolensk-n

Russian field marshal who commanded the Russian opposition to Napoleon (1745-1813)


United States economist (born in Russia) who developed a method for using a country's gross national product to estimate its economic growth (1901-1985)


oewn-Kyd-n oewn-Kid-n oewn-Thomas_Kyd-n oewn-Thomas_Kid-n


Hungarian choreographer who developed Labanotation (1879-1958)


French architect who was among the first to use metal construction successfully (1801-1875)


United States sculptor (born in France) noted for his large nude figures (1882-1935)


oewn-Lafayette-n oewn-La_Fayette-n oewn-Marie_Joseph_Paul_Yves_Roch_Gilbert_du_Motier-n oewn-Marquis_de_Lafayette-n

French soldier who served under George Washington in the American Revolution (1757-1834)


United States economist who proposed the Laffer curve (born in 1940)


oewn-Laffite-n oewn-Lafitte-n oewn-Jean_Laffite-n oewn-Jean_Lafitte-n

French pirate who aided the United States in the War of 1812 and received an official pardon for his crimes (1780-1826)


French writer who collected Aesop's fables and published them (1621-1695)


oewn-Jean-Baptiste_Lamarck-n oewn-Lamarck-n oewn-Jean_Baptiste_de_Lamarck-n oewn-Chevalier_de_Lamarck-n

French naturalist who proposed that evolution resulted from the inheritance of acquired characteristics (1744-1829)


English composer and conductor (1905-1951)


(Arthurian legend) one of the knights of the Round Table; friend of King Arthur until (according to some versions of the legend) he became the lover of Arthur's wife Guinevere


oewn-Edwin_H._Land-n oewn-Land-n oewn-Din_Land-n oewn-Edwin_Herbert_Land-n

United States inventor who incorporated Polaroid film into lenses and invented the one step photographic process (1909-1991)


Soviet physicist who worked on low temperature physics (1908-1968)


United States harpsichordist (born in Poland) who helped to revive modern interest in the harpsichord (1879-1959)


United States pathologist (born in Austria) who discovered human blood groups (1868-1943)


United States educator who founded the first private school for Black students in Augusta, Georgia (1854-1933)


United States photographer remembered for her portraits of rural workers during the Depression (1895-1965)


United States astronomer and aviation pioneer who invented the bolometer and contributed to the design of early aircraft (1834-1906)


United States chemist who studied surface chemistry and developed the gas-filled tungsten lamp and worked on high temperature electrical discharges (1881-1957)


oewn-Langtry-n oewn-Lillie_Langtry-n oewn-Jersey_Lillie-n oewn-Emilie_Charlotte_le_Breton-n

British actress and mistress of the prince who later became Edward VII (1853-1929)


oewn-Laozi-n oewn-Lao-tzu-n oewn-Lao-tse-n oewn-Lao-zi-n

Chinese philosopher regarded as the founder of Taoism (6th century BC)


oewn-Pierre-Simon_Laplace-n oewn-Laplace-n oewn-Marquis_de_Laplace-n oewn-Pierre_Simon_de_Laplace-n

French mathematician and astronomer who formulated the nebular hypothesis concerning the origins of the solar system and who developed the theory of probability (1749-1827)


United States humorist and writer of satirical short stories (1885-1933)


French writer of moralistic maxims (1613-1680)


French explorer who claimed Louisiana for France (1643-1687)


oewn-Orlande_de_Lassus-n oewn-Lasso-n oewn-Orlando_di_Lasso-n oewn-Roland_de_Lassus-n


French painter of religious works (1593-1652)


United States architect (born in England) whose works include the chambers of the United States Congress and the Supreme Court; considered the first professional architect in the United States (1764-1820)


Scottish ballad singer and music hall comedian (1870-1950)


United States film actor (born in England) (1899-1962)


United States slapstick comedian (born in England) who played the scatterbrained and often tearful member of the Laurel and Hardy duo who made many films (1890-1965)


leader of the American Revolution and president of the Continental Congress (1724-1792)


Australian tennis player who in 1962 was the second man to win the Australian and French and English and United States singles titles in the same year; in 1969 he repeated this feat (born in 1938)


French chemist known as the father of modern chemistry; discovered oxygen and disproved the theory of phlogiston (1743-1794)


English novelist and poet and essayist whose work condemned industrial society and explored sexual relationships (1885-1930)


oewn-Ernest_Lawrence-n oewn-Lawrence-n oewn-E._O._Lawrence-n oewn-Ernest_Orlando_Lawrence-n

United States physicist who developed the cyclotron (1901-1958)


English portrait painter remembered for the series of portraits of the leaders of the alliance against Napoleon (1769-1830)


oewn-Lawrence-n oewn-T._E._Lawrence-n oewn-Thomas_Edward_Lawrence-n oewn-Lawrence_of_Arabia-n

Welsh soldier who from 1916 to 1918 organized the Arab revolt against the Turks; he later wrote an account of his adventures (1888-1935)


oewn-Lawrence_of_Rome-n oewn-Lawrence-n oewn-Saint_Lawrence-n oewn-St._Lawrence-n oewn-Laurentius-n

Roman martyr; supposedly Lawrence was ordered by the police to give up the church's treasure and when he responded by presenting the poor people of Rome he was roasted to death on a gridiron (died in 258)


Canadian economist best remembered for his humorous writings (1869-1944)


English paleontologist whose account of fossil discoveries in Tanzania changed theories of human evolution (1903-1972)


English paleontologist (the wife of Louis Leakey) who discovered the Zinjanthropus skull that was 1,750,000 years old (1913-1996)


English paleontologist (son of Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey) who continued the work of his parents; he was appointed director of a wildlife preserve in Kenya but resigned under political pressure (born in 1944)


British artist and writer of nonsense verse (1812-1888)


oewn-Leary-n oewn-Tim_Leary-n oewn-Timothy_Leary-n oewn-Timothy_Francis_Leary-n

United States psychologist who experimented with psychoactive drugs (including LSD) and became a well-known advocate of their use (1920-1996)


English writer of novels of espionage (born in 1931)


French chemist who formulated Le Chatelier's principle (1850-1936)


French architect (born in Switzerland) (1887-1965)


oewn-Lead_Belly-n oewn-Ledbetter-n oewn-Huddie_Leadbetter-n oewn-Leadbelly-n

United States folk singer and composer (1885-1949)


Vietnamese diplomat who negotiated with Henry Kissinger to end the war in Vietnam (1911-1990)


oewn-Robert_Edwin_Lee-n oewn-Lee-n oewn-Robert_E._Lee-n oewn-Robert_Edward_Lee-n

American general who led the Confederate Armies in the American Civil War (1807-1870)


oewn-Henry_Lee_III-n oewn-Lee-n oewn-Henry_Lee-n oewn-Lighthorse_Harry_Lee-n

soldier of the American Revolution (1756-1818)


leader of the American Revolution who proposed the resolution calling for independence of the American Colonies (1732-1794)


United States physicist (born in China) who collaborated with Yang Chen Ning in disproving the principle of conservation of parity (born in 1926)


United States actor who was an expert in kung fu and starred in martial arts films (1940-1973)


United States striptease artist who became famous on Broadway in the 1930s (1914-1970)


United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)


United States actress (born in England) (1899-1991)


French painter who was an early cubist (1881-1955)


Hungarian composer of light operas (1870-1948)


oewn-Leibniz-n oewn-Leibnitz-n oewn-Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz-n oewn-Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibnitz-n

German philosopher and mathematician who thought of the universe as consisting of independent monads and who devised a system of the calculus independent of Newton (1646-1716)


Belgian cosmologist who proposed the big-bang theory of the origin of the universe (1894-1966)


German physicist who studied cathode rays (1862-1947)


United States tennis player (born in Czechoslovakia) who won several singles championships; in 1992 he became a United States citizen (born in 1960)


United States architect (born in France) who laid out the city plan for Washington (1754-1825)


oewn-Lenin-n oewn-Vladimir_Lenin-n oewn-Nikolai_Lenin-n oewn-Vladimir_Ilyich_Lenin-n oewn-Vladimir_Ilich_Lenin-n oewn-Vladimir_Ilyich_Ulyanov-n oewn-Vladimir_Ilich_Ulyanov-n

Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR (1870-1924)


English rock star and guitarist and songwriter who with Paul McCartney wrote most of the music for the Beatles (1940-1980)


French landscape gardener who designed many formal gardens including the parks of Versailles (1613-1700)


oewn-Pope_Leo_I-n oewn-Leo_I-n oewn-St._Leo_I-n oewn-Leo_the_Great-n

Italian pope from 400 to 461 who extended the authority of the papacy to the west and persuaded Attila not to attack Rome (400-461)


Italian pope from 795 to 816 who in 800 crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans (750-816)


oewn-Pope_Leo_IX-n oewn-Leo_IX-n oewn-Bruno-n oewn-Bruno_of_Toul-n

German pope from 1049 to 1054 whose papacy was the beginning of papal reforms in the 11th century (1002-1054)


son of Lorenzo de'Medici and pope from 1513 to 1521 who excommunicated Martin Luther and who in 1521 bestowed on Henry VIII the title of Defender of the Faith (1475-1521)


oewn-Pope_Leo_XIII-n oewn-Leo_XIII-n oewn-Gioacchino_Pecci-n oewn-Giovanni_Vincenzo_Pecci-n

Italian pope from 1878 to 1903 who was interested in the advancement of learning and who opened the Vatican secret archives to all scholars


oewn-Leonard-n oewn-Elmore_Leonard-n oewn-Elmore_John_Leonard-n oewn-Dutch_Leonard-n

United States writer of thrillers (born in 1925)


Italian painter and sculptor and engineer and scientist and architect; the most versatile genius of the Italian Renaissance (1452-1519)


king of Sparta and hero of the battle of Thermopylae where he was killed by the Persians (died in 480 BC)


United States economist (born in Russia) who devised an input-output method of economic analysis (1906-1999)


United States lyricist who collaborated on musicals with Frederick Loewe (1918-1986)


French diplomat who supervised the construction of the Suez Canal (1805-1894)


English author of novels and short stories who grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) (born in 1919)


German playwright and leader of the Enlightenment (1729-1781)


oewn-Antonie_van_Leeuwenhoek-n oewn-Leuwenhoek-n oewn-Leeuwenhoek-n oewn-Anton_van_Leuwenhoek-n oewn-Anton_van_Leeuwenhoek-n

Dutch pioneer microscopist who was among the first to recognize cells in animals and who gave the first accurate descriptions of microbes and spermatozoa and blood corpuscles (1632-1723)


French cultural anthropologist who promoted structural analysis of social systems (born in 1908)


English critic and novelist; author of theological works and of books for children (1898-1963)


United States novelist who satirized middle-class America in his novel Main Street (1885-1951)


United States labor leader who was president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960 and president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations from 1935 to 1940 (1880-1969)


United States explorer and soldier who lead led an expedition from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River (1774-1809)


United States athlete who won gold medals at the Olympics for his skill in sprinting and jumping (born in 1961)


United States rock star singer and pianist (born in 1935)


United States chemist who developed a method of radiocarbon dating (1908-1980)


United States painter who was a leading exponent of pop art (1923-1997)


Norwegian diplomat who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations (1896-1968)


queen of the Hawaiian islands (1838-1917)


British actress (born in Canada) (1898-1989)


United States sculptor and architect whose public works include the memorial to veterans of the Vietnam War in Washington (born in 1959)


oewn-Lincoln-n oewn-Abraham_Lincoln-n oewn-President_Lincoln-n oewn-President_Abraham_Lincoln-n

16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the American Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)


Swedish soprano who toured the United States under the management of P. T. Barnum (1820-1887)


oewn-Charles_August_Lindbergh-n oewn-Lindbergh-n oewn-Charles_Lindbergh-n oewn-Charles_A._Lindbergh-n oewn-Charles_Augustus_Lindbergh-n oewn-Lucky_Lindy-n

United States aviator who in 1927 made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean (1902-1974)


United States poet who traveled the country trading his poems for room and board (1879-1931)


United States playwright who collaborated with Russel Crouse on several musicals (1889-1968)


oewn-Carl_Linnaeus-n oewn-Linnaeus-n oewn-Carolus_Linnaeus-n oewn-Carl_von_Linne-n oewn-Karl_Linne-n

Swedish botanist who proposed the modern system of biological nomenclature (1707-1778)


United States sculptor (born in Lithuania) who pioneered cubist sculpture (1891-1973)


United States biochemist (born in Germany) noted for his studies of metabolic processes (1899-1986)


Italian painter whose works show a three-dimensional style (1406-1469)


Italian painter and son of Fra Filippo Lippi (1457-1504)


French physicist who developed the first color photographic process (1845-1921)


United States chemist noted for his theories of molecular structure (born in 1919)


English surgeon who was the first to use antiseptics (1827-1912)


United States prizefighter who lost his world heavyweight championship to Cassius Clay in 1964 (1932-1970)


Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso (1811-1886)


American Revolutionary leader who served in the Continental Congress and as minister to France (1746-1813)


Scottish missionary and explorer who discovered the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls (1813-1873)


Roman historian whose history of Rome filled 142 volumes (of which only 35 survive) including the earliest history of the war with Hannibal (59 BC to AD 17)


United States comic actor in silent films; he used physical danger as a source of comedy (1893-1971)


English composer of many successful musicals (some in collaboration with Sir Tim Rice) (born in 1948)


Russian mathematician who independently discovered non-Euclidean geometry (1792-1856)


English empiricist philosopher who believed that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience (1632-1704)


English physicist who studied electromagnetic radiation and was a pioneer of radiotelegraphy (1851-1940)


United States physiologist (born in Germany) who did research on parthenogenesis (1859-1924)


United States composer (born in Austria) who collaborated with Lerner on several musicals (1901-1987)


United States pharmacologist (born in Germany) who was the first to show that acetylcholine is produced at the junction between a parasympathetic nerve and a muscle (1873-1961)


United States writer of novels based on experiences in the Klondike gold rush (1876-1916)


United States poet remembered for his long narrative poems (1807-1882)


Dutch physicist noted for work on electromagnetic theory (1853-1928)


Austrian zoologist who studied the behavior of birds and emphasized the importance of innate as opposed to learned behaviors (1903-1989)


Italian statesman and scholar who supported many artists and humanists including Michelangelo and Leonardo and Botticelli (1449-1492)


United States actor (born in Hungary) noted for playing sinister roles (1904-1964)


third son of Charlemagne and king of France and Germany and Holy Roman Emperor (778-840)


oewn-Louis_II-n oewn-Louis_le_Begue-n oewn-Louis_the_Stammerer-n oewn-Louis_the_German-n


son of Louis II and king of the France and Germany (863-882)


the last Carolingian king of France (966-987)


oewn-Louis_VI_of_France-n oewn-Louis_VI-n oewn-Louis_the_Far-n oewn-Louis_the_Wideawake-n oewn-Louis_the_Bruiser-n

king of France whose military victories consolidated his reign (1081-1137)


king of France who led the unsuccessful Second Crusade and fought frequent wars with Henry II of England (1120-1180)


king of France who increased the power of the Crown over the feudal lords (1187-1226)


oewn-Louis_IX_of_France-n oewn-Louis_IX-n oewn-Saint_Louis-n oewn-St._Louis-n

king of France and son of Louis VIII; he led two unsuccessful Crusades; considered an ideal medieval king (1214-1270)


oewn-Louis_X_of_France-n oewn-Louis_X-n oewn-Louis_le_Hutin-n oewn-Louis_the_Quarreller-n


king of France who put down an alliance of unruly nobles and unified France except for Brittany (1423-1483)


king of France who was popular with his subjects (1462-1515)


king of France from 1610 to 1643 who relied heavily on the advice of Cardinal Richelieu (1601-1643)


oewn-Louis_XIV_of_France-n oewn-Louis_XIV-n oewn-Sun_King-n oewn-Louis_the_Great-n

king of France from 1643 to 1715; his long reign was marked by the expansion of French influence in Europe and by the magnificence of his court and the Palace of Versailles (1638-1715)


grandson of Louis XIV and king of France from 1715 to 1774 who led France into the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War (1710-1774)


king of France from 1774 to 1792; his failure to grant reforms led to the French Revolution; he and his queen (Marie Antoinette) were guillotined (1754-1793)


United States prizefighter who was world heavyweight champion for 12 years (1914-1981)


English astronomer who pioneered radio astronomy (born in 1913)


oewn-Low-n oewn-David_Low-n oewn-Sir_David_Low-n oewn-Sir_David_Alexander_Cecil_Low-n

British political cartoonist (born in New Zealand) who created the character Colonel Blimp (1891-1963)


United States educator and president of Harvard University (1856-1943)


United States astronomer whose studies of Mars led him to conclude that Mars was inhabited (1855-1916)


United States physician who in 1863 founded a medical school for women (1813-1888)


German filmmaker of sophisticated comedies (1892-1947)


United States screenwriter and filmmaker (born in 1944)


Roman general famous for self-indulgence and giving lavish banquets (circa 110-57 BC)


United States playwright and public official (1902-1987)


United States publisher of magazines (1898-1967)


Roman philosopher and poet; in a long didactic poem he tried to provide a scientific explanation of the universe (96-55 BC)


United States film actor (born in Hungary) noted for portraying monsters (1884-1956)


oewn-Luke_the_Evangelist-n oewn-Luke-n oewn-Saint_Luke-n oewn-St._Luke-n

(New Testament) the Apostle closely associated with St. Paul and traditionally assumed to be the author of the third Gospel


oewn-Jean-Baptiste_Lully-n oewn-Lully-n oewn-Jean_Baptiste_Lully-n oewn-Lulli-n oewn-Giambattista_Lulli-n

French composer (born in Italy) who was the court composer to Louis XIV and founded the national French opera (1632-1687)


oewn-Ramon_Llull-n oewn-Lully-n oewn-Raymond_Lully-n oewn-Ramon_Lully-n


United States actor who performed with his wife Lynn Fontanne in many stage productions (1893-1977)


German theologian who led the Reformation; believed that salvation is granted on the basis of faith rather than deeds (1483-1546)


English architect who planned the city of New Delhi (1869-1944)


English writer noted for his elaborate style (1554-1606)


Spartan general who defeated the Athenians in the final battle of the Peloponnesian War (died in 395 BC)


Soviet geneticist whose adherence to Lamarck's theory of evolution was favored by Stalin (1898-1976)


Macedonian general under Alexander the Great; with Seleucus he defeated Antigonus and Demetrius at the battle of Ipsus (circa 355-281 BC)


oewn-Edward_Bulwer-Lytton-n oewn-Lytton-n oewn-First_Baron_Lytton-n oewn-Bulwer-Lytton-n oewn-Edward_George_Earle_Bulwer-Lytton-n

English writer of historical romances (1803-1873)


United States general who served as chief of staff and commanded Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II; he accepted the surrender of Japan (1880-1964)


oewn-Macaulay-n oewn-Thomas_Babington_Macaulay-n oewn-First_Baron_Macaulay-n oewn-Lord_Macaulay-n

English historian noted for his history of England (1800-1859)


United States composer best remembered as a composer of works for the piano (1860-1908)


oewn-Rob_Roy_MacGregor-n oewn-MacGregor-n oewn-Robert_MacGregor-n oewn-Rob_Roy-n

Scottish clan leader and outlaw who was the subject of a 1817 novel by Sir Walter Scott (1671-1734)


Austrian physicist and philosopher who introduced the Mach number and who founded logical positivism (1838-1916)


a statesman of Florence who advocated a strong central government (1469-1527)


Canadian explorer (born in England) who explored the Mackenzie River and who was first to cross North America by land north of Mexico (1764-1820)


Scottish physiologist who directed the research by F. G. Banting and C. H. Best that led to the discovery of insulin (1876-1935)


4th President of the United States; member of the Continental Congress and rapporteur at the Constitutional Convention in 1787; helped frame the Bill of Rights (1751-1836)


United States pop singer and sex symbol during the 1980s (born in 1958)


Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain; he commanded an expedition that was the first to circumnavigate the world (1480-1521)


French politician who proposed the Maginot Line (1877-1932)


United States naval officer and historian (1840-1914)


Austrian composer and conductor (1860-1911)


French sculptor of monumental female nudes (1861-1944)


Spanish philosopher considered the greatest Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages who codified Jewish law in the Talmud (1135-1204)


oewn-Maintenon-n oewn-Marquise_de_Maintenon-n oewn-Francoise_d-ap-Aubigne-n oewn-Madame_de_Maintenon-n

French consort of Louis XIV who secretly married the king after the death of his first wife (1635-1719)


English historian noted for his works on the history of English law (1850-1906)


oewn-Major-n oewn-John_Major-n oewn-John_R._Major-n oewn-John_Roy_Major-n

British statesman who was prime minister from 1990 until 1997 (born in 1943)


Greek Orthodox bishop and archbishop of Cyprus and the first president of independent Cyprus (1913-1977)


a Hebrew minor prophet of the 5th century BC


militant civil rights leader (1925-1965)


British anthropologist (born in Poland) who introduced the technique of the participant observer (1884-1942)


French symbolist poet noted for his free verse (1842-1898)


United States cook who was an immune carrier of typhoid fever and who infected dozens of people (1870-1938)


English scholar remembered for his chronology of Shakespeare's plays and his editions of Shakespeare and Dryden (1741-1812)


English writer who published a translation of romances about King Arthur taken from French and other sources (died in 1471)


Italian anatomist who was the first to use a microscope to study anatomy and was among the first to recognize cells in animals (1628-1694)


an English economist who argued that increases in population would outgrow increases in the means of subsistence (1766-1834)


South African statesman who was released from prison to become the nation's first democratically elected president in 1994 (born in 1918)


French mathematician (born in Poland) noted for inventing fractals (born in 1924)


oewn-Mandelstam-n oewn-Osip_Mandelstam-n oewn-Osip_Emilevich_Mandelstam-n oewn-Mandelshtam-n

Russian poet who died in a prison camp (1891-1938)


a Persian prophet who founded Manichaeism (216-276)


French painter whose work influenced the impressionists (1832-1883)


German writer concerned about the role of the artist in bourgeois society (1875-1955)


United States educator who introduced reforms that significantly altered the system of public education (1796-1859)


French architect who introduced the mansard roof (1598-1666)


New Zealand writer of short stories (1888-1923)


Scottish physician who discovered that elephantiasis is spread by mosquitos and suggested that mosquitos also spread malaria (1844-1922)


Italian painter and engraver noted for his frescoes (1431-1506)


English geologist remembered as the first person to recognize that dinosaurs were reptiles (1790-1852)


United States baseball player (1931-1997)


French revolutionary leader (born in Switzerland) who was a leader in overthrowing the Girondists and was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday (1743-1793)


French mime famous for his sad-faced clown (born in 1923)


United States prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship in 1952 (1924-1969)


Italian electrical engineer who invented wireless telegraphy and in 1901 transmitted radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean (1874-1937)


United States political philosopher (born in Germany) concerned about the dehumanizing effects of capitalism and modern technology (1898-1979)


queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular; her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)


oewn-Marini-n oewn-Giambattista_Marini-n oewn-Marino-n oewn-Giambattista_Marino-n


oewn-Mark_the_Evangelist-n oewn-Mark-n oewn-Saint_Mark-n oewn-St._Mark-n

Apostle and companion of Saint Peter; assumed to be the author of the second Gospel


oewn-Andrey_Markov-n oewn-Markov-n oewn-Andrei_Markov-n oewn-Markoff-n oewn-Andre_Markoff-n


English businessman who created a retail chain (1888-1964)


Jamaican singer who popularized reggae (1945-1981)


English poet and playwright who introduced blank verse as a form of dramatic expression; was stabbed to death in a tavern brawl (1564-1593)


oewn-John_P._Marquand-n oewn-Marquand-n oewn-John_Marquand-n oewn-John_Philip_Marquand-n

United States writer who created the Japanese detective Mr. Moto and wrote other novels as well (1893-1960)


French missionary who accompanied Louis Joliet in exploring the upper Mississippi River valley (1637-1675)


humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937)


New Zealand writer of detective stories (1899-1982)


United States jurist; as chief justice of the Supreme Court he established the principles of United States constitutional law (1755-1835)


United States general and statesman who as Secretary of State organized the European Recovery Program (1880-1959)


Cuban poet and revolutionary who fought for Cuban independence from Spain (1853-1895)


Roman poet noted for epigrams (first century BC)


United States actor and comedian (born in 1945)


French bishop who is a patron saint of France (died in 397)


Italian pope from 1417 to 1431 whose election as pope ended the Great Schism (1369-1431)


founder of modern communism; wrote the Communist Manifesto with Engels in 1848; wrote Das Kapital in 1867 (1818-1883)


oewn-Groucho_Marx-n oewn-Marx-n oewn-Julius_Marx-n oewn-Groucho-n

United States comedian; one of four brothers who made motion pictures together (1890-1977)


oewn-Chico_Marx-n oewn-Marx-n oewn-Leonard_Marx-n oewn-Chico-n

United States comedian; one of four brothers who made motion pictures together (1891-1961)


United States comedian; one of four brothers who made motion pictures together (1893-1964)


oewn-Zeppo_Marx-n oewn-Marx-n oewn-Herbert_Marx-n oewn-Zeppo-n

United States comedian; one of four brothers who made motion pictures together (1901-1979)


oewn-Mary-n oewn-Virgin_Mary-n oewn-The_Virgin-n oewn-Blessed_Virgin-n oewn-Madonna-n

the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics


oewn-Mary_I_of_England-n oewn-Mary_I-n oewn-Mary_Tudor-n oewn-Bloody_Mary-n

daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon who was Queen of England from 1553 to 1558; she was the wife of Philip II of Spain and when she restored Roman Catholicism to England many Protestants were burned at the stake as heretics (1516-1558)


Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; she was the eldest daughter of James II and ruled jointly with her husband William III (1662-1694)


queen of Scotland from 1542 to 1567; as a Catholic she was forced to abdicate in favor of her son and fled to England where she was imprisoned by Elizabeth I; when Catholic supporters plotted to put her on the English throne she was tried and executed for sedition (1542-1587)


oewn-Mary_Magdalene-n oewn-St._Mary_Magdalene-n oewn-Mary_Magdalen-n oewn-St._Mary_Magdalen-n

sinful woman Jesus healed of evil spirits; she became a follower of Jesus


American Revolutionary leader from Virginia whose objections led to the drafting of the Bill of Rights (1725-1792)


Afghan leader of forces opposed to the Taliban; won fame by successfully resisting the Soviets in the 1980s; was assassinated by men posing as journalists (1953-2001)


Wampanoag leader who aided the Pilgrims (1580-1661)


French composer best remembered for his pop operas (1842-1912)


French choreographer and ballet dancer (born in Russia) (1895-1979)


Dutch dancer who was executed by the French as a German spy in World War I (1876-1917)


United States athlete who won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon (born in 1930)


French painter and sculptor; leading figure of fauvism (1869-1954)


oewn-Matthew-n oewn-Saint_Matthew-n oewn-St._Matthew-n oewn-Saint_Matthew_the_Apostle-n oewn-St._Matthew_the_Apostle-n oewn-Levi-n

(New Testament) disciple of Jesus; traditionally considered to be the author of the first Gospel


oewn-Maugham-n oewn-Somerset_Maugham-n oewn-W._Somerset_Maugham-n oewn-William_Somerset_Maugham-n

English writer (born in France) of novels and short stories (1874-1965)


United States cartoonist noted for his drawings of soldiers in battle (1921-2003)


French writer noted especially for his short stories (1850-1893)


French novelist who wrote about the conflict between desire and religious belief (1885-1970)


French writer best known for his biographies (1885-1967)


oewn-Mauser-n oewn-von_Mauser-n oewn-P._P._von_Mauser-n oewn-Peter_Paul_Mauser-n

German arms manufacturer and inventor of a repeating rifle and pistol (1838-1914)


English inventor (born in the United States) who invented the Maxim gun that was used in World War I (1840-1916)


Roman Emperor from 286 until he abdicated in 305; when Diocletian divided the Roman Empire in 286 Maximian became emperor in the west (died in 311)


Scottish physicist whose equations unified electricity and magnetism and who recognized the electromagnetic nature of light (1831-1879)


Soviet poet; leader of Russian futurism (1893-1930)


United States filmmaker (born in Russia) who founded his own film company and later merged with Samuel Goldwyn (1885-1957)


United States physicist (born in Germany) noted for her research on the structure of the atom (1906-1972)


oewn-Mays-n oewn-Willie_Mays-n oewn-Willie_Howard_Mays_Jr.-n oewn-Say_Hey_Kid-n

United States baseball player (born in 1931)


Italian nationalist whose writings spurred the movement for a unified and independent Italy (1805-1872)


United States politician who unscrupulously accused many citizens of being Communists (1908-1957)


United States satirical novelist and literary critic (1912-1989)


English rock star and bass guitarist and songwriter who with John Lennon wrote most of the music for the Beatles (born in 1942)


oewn-McCauley-n oewn-Mary_McCauley-n oewn-Mary_Ludwig_Hays_McCauley-n oewn-Molly_Pitcher-n

heroine of the American Revolution who carried water to soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth Court House and took over her husband's gun when he was overcome by heat (1754-1832)


United States operatic tenor (born in Ireland) (1884-1945)


United States inventor and manufacturer of a mechanical harvester (1809-1884)


United States baseball player and manager (1873-1934)


United States educator who compiled the McGuffey Eclectic Readers (1800-1873)


United States neoclassical architect (1847-1909)


25th President of the United States; was assassinated by an anarchist (1843-1901)


Canadian writer noted for his analyses of the mass media (1911-1980)


United States historian who wrote a nine volume history of the people of the United States (1852-1932)


United States evangelist (born in Canada) noted for her extravagant religious services (1890-1944)


United States philosopher of pragmatism (1863-1931)


United States anthropologist noted for her claims about adolescence and sexual behavior in Polynesian cultures (1901-1978)


United States general in charge of the Union troops at the Battle of Gettysburg (1815-1872)


English economist noted for his studies of international trade and finance (1907-1995)


United States labor leader who was the first president of the AFL-CIO (1894-1980)


British immunologist (born in Brazil) who studied tissue transplants and discovered that the rejection of grafts was an immune response (1915-1987)


emperor of Japan who encouraged the modernization of Japan (1852-1912)


Israeli statesman (born in Russia) (1898-1978)


Swedish physicist (born in Austria) who worked in the field of radiochemistry with Otto Hahn and formulated the concept of nuclear fission with Otto Frisch (1878-1968)


oewn-Philip_Melanchthon-n oewn-Melanchthon-n oewn-Philipp_Melanchthon-n oewn-Philipp_Schwarzerd-n

German theologian and Luther's successor as leader of the Reformation in Germany (1497-1560)


(New Testament) one of the three sages from the east who came bearing gifts for the infant Jesus; usually represented as a king of Nubia


United States operatic tenor (born in Denmark) noted for his Wagnerian roles (1890-1973)


oewn-Mellon-n oewn-Andrew_Mellon-n oewn-Andrew_W._Mellon-n oewn-Andrew_William_Mellon-n

United States financier and philanthropist (1855-1937)


United States writer of novels and short stories (1819-1891)


comic dramatist of ancient Greece (342-292 BC)


United States journalist and literary critic (1880-1956)


Augustinian monk and botanist whose experiments in breeding garden peas led to his eventual recognition as founder of the science of genetics (1822-1884)


oewn-Mendeleyev-n oewn-Mendeleev-n oewn-Dmitri_Mendeleyev-n oewn-Dmitri_Mendeleev-n oewn-Dmitri_Ivanovich_Mendeleyev-n oewn-Dmitri_Ivanovich_Mendeleev-n

Russian chemist who developed a periodic table of the chemical elements and predicted the discovery of several new elements (1834-1907)


German architect who migrated to Palestine in 1937 (1887-1953)


German musician and romantic composer of orchestral and choral works (1809-1847)


French otologist who first described a form of vertigo now known as Meniere's disease and identified the semicircular canals as the site of the lesion (1799-1862)


United States psychiatrist who with his sons founded a famous psychiatric clinic in Topeka (1862-1953)


United States psychiatrist and son of Charles Menninger (1893-1990)


oewn-William_C._Menninger-n oewn-Menninger-n oewn-William_Menninger-n oewn-William_Claire_Menninger-n

United States psychiatrist and son of Charles Menninger (1899-1966)


United States composer (born in Italy) of operas (born in 1911)


British violinist (born in the United States) who began his career as a child prodigy in the 1920s (1916-1999)


Flemish geographer who lived in Germany; he invented the Mercator projection of maps of the globe (1512-1594)


British maker of printed calico cloth who invented mercerizing (1791-1866)


Belgian racing cyclist who won the Tour de France five times (born in 1945)


United States civil rights leader whose college registration caused riots in traditionally segregated Mississippi (born in 1933)


United States inventor (born in Germany) of the Linotype machine (1854-1899)


(Arthurian legend) the magician who acted as King Arthur's advisor


United States singer who appeared in several musical comedies (1909-1984)


oewn-Robert_K._Merton-n oewn-Merton-n oewn-Robert_Merton-n oewn-Robert_King_Merton-n


United States religious and writer (1915-1968)


oewn-Franz_Mesmer-n oewn-Mesmer-n oewn-Franz_Anton_Mesmer-n oewn-Friedrich_Anton_Mesmer-n

Austrian physician who tried to treat diseases with a form of hypnotism (1734-1815)


oewn-Metchnikoff-n oewn-Elie_Metchnikoff-n oewn-Metchnikov-n oewn-Elie_Metchnikov-n oewn-Ilya_Ilich_Metchnikov-n

Russian bacteriologist in France who formulated the theory of phagocytosis (1845-1916)


(Old Testament) a patriarch (grandfather of Noah) who is said to have lived 969 years


German composer of operas in a style that influenced Richard Wagner (1791-1864)


United States biochemist (born in Germany) who studied the metabolism of muscles (1884-1951)


a minor Hebrew prophet (8th century BC) who prophesied the future destruction of Jerusalem and Samaria, and the destruction and then future restoration of the Judean state


Florentine sculptor and painter and architect; one of the outstanding figures of the Renaissance (1475-1564)


oewn-Albert_A._Michelson-n oewn-Michelson-n oewn-A._A._Michelson-n oewn-Albert_Michelson-n oewn-Albert_Abraham_Michelson-n

United States physicist (born in Germany) who collaborated with Morley in the Michelson-Morley experiment (1852-1931)


oewn-James_A._Michener-n oewn-Michener-n oewn-James_Michener-n oewn-James_Albert_Michener-n

United States writer of historical novels (1907-1997)


English playwright and pamphleteer (1570-1627)


United States architect (born in Germany) who built unornamented steel frame and glass skyscrapers (1886-1969)


French composer of works that combine jazz and polytonality and Brazilian music (1892-1974)


English philosopher and economist remembered for his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism (1806-1873)


Scottish philosopher who expounded Bentham's utilitarianism; father of John Stuart Mill (1773-1836)


Englishman and Pre-Raphaelite painter (1829-1896)


oewn-Edna_St._Vincent_Millay-n oewn-Millay-n oewn-Edna_Millay-n oewn-Edna_Saint_Vincent_Millay-n


United States novelist whose novels were originally banned as pornographic (1891-1980)


United States bandleader of a popular big band (1909-1944)


French painter of rural scenes (1814-1875)


United States physicist who isolated the electron and measured its charge (1868-1953)


United States architect who was the presidentially appointed architect of Washington D.C. (1781-1855)


English writer of stories for children (1882-1956)


Athenian general who defeated the Persians at Marathon (550-489)


English poet; remembered primarily as the author of an epic poem describing humanity's fall from grace (1608-1674)


German mathematician (born in Russia) who suggested the concept of four-dimensional space-time (1864-1909)


oewn-Minuit-n oewn-Peter_Minuit-n oewn-Minnewit-n oewn-Peter_Minnewit-n

Dutch colonist who bought Manhattan from the Native Americans for the equivalent of $24 (1580-1638)


French revolutionary who was prominent in the early days of the French Revolution (1749-1791)


United States dancer who formed the first Black classical ballet company (born in 1934)


United States labor leader; president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1898 to 1908 (1870-1919)


United States writer noted for her novel about the South during the American Civil War (1900-1949)


United States astronomer who studied sunspots and nebulae (1818-1889)


United States aviator and general who was an early advocate of military air power (1879-1936)


English aeronautical engineer (1895-1937)


English writer of comic novels (1904-1973)


United States writer (born in England) who wrote on American culture (1917-1996)


oewn-Mithridates_VI_of_Pontus-n oewn-Mithridates-n oewn-Mithridates_VI-n oewn-Mithridates_the_Great-n

ancient king of Pontus who expanded his kingdom by defeating the Romans but was later driven out by Pompey (132-63 BC)


French statesman and president of France from 1981 to 1995 (1916-1996)


German mathematician responsible for the Mobius strip (1790-1868)


Italian painter and sculptor (1884-1920)


oewn-Mohammed-n oewn-Mohammad-n oewn-Muhammad-n oewn-Mahomet-n oewn-Mahound-n

the Arab prophet who, according to Islam, was the last messenger of Allah (570-632)


oewn-Muhammad_Ali_of_Egypt-n oewn-Mohammed_Ali-n oewn-Mehemet_Ali-n oewn-Muhammad_Ali-n

Albanian soldier in the service of Turkey who was made viceroy of Egypt and took control away from the Ottoman Empire and established Egypt as a modern state (1769-1849)


Yugoslav geophysicist for whom the Mohorovicic discontinuity was named (1857-1936)


French author of sophisticated comedies (1622-1673)


German historian noted for his history of Rome (1817-1903)


Dutch painter whose work (intersecting lines at right angles and planes in primary colors) influenced the development of abstract art (1872-1944)


French impressionist painter (1840-1926)


United States jazz pianist who was one of the founders of the bebop style (1917-1982)


French economist who advocated a Common Market in Europe (1888-1979)


French biochemist who (with Francois Jacob) explained how genes are activated and suggested the existence of messenger RNA (1910-1976)


5th President of the United States; author of the Monroe Doctrine (1758-1831)


United States film actress noted for sex appeal (1926-1962)


United States anthropologist (born in England) who popularized anthropology (1905-)


oewn-Michel_de_Montaigne-n oewn-Montaigne-n oewn-Michel_Montaigne-n oewn-Michel_Eyquem_Montaigne-n

French writer regarded as the originator of the modern essay (1533-1592)


French noblewoman who was mistress to Louis XIV until he became attracted to Madame de Maintenon (1641-1707)


French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers (1689-1755)


Italian educator who developed a method of teaching mentally handicapped children and advocated a child-centered approach (1870-1952)


the last Aztec emperor in Mexico who was overthrown and killed by Hernando Cortes (1466-1520)


an English nobleman who led the baronial rebellion against Henry III (1208-1265)


French inventor who (with his brother Jacques Etienne Montgolfier) pioneered hot-air ballooning (1740-1810)


French inventor who (with his brother Josef Michel Montgolfier) pioneered hot-air ballooning (1745-1799)


oewn-Bernard_Montgomery-n oewn-Montgomery-n oewn-Bernard_Law_Montgomery-n oewn-Sir_Bernard_Law_Montgomery-n oewn-1st_Viscount_Montgomery_of_Alamein-n

English general during World War II; won victories over Rommel in North Africa and led British ground forces in the invasion of Normandy (1887-1976)


oewn-Moody-n oewn-Helen_Wills_Moody-n oewn-Helen_Wills-n oewn-Helen_Newington_Wills-n

United States tennis player who dominated women's tennis in the 1920s and 1930s (1905-1998)


United States religious leader (born in Korea) who founded the Unification Church in 1954; was found guilty of conspiracy to evade taxes (born in 1920)


British sculptor whose works are monumental organic forms (1898-1986)


United States poet noted for irony and wit (1887-1972)


Irish poet who wrote nostalgic and patriotic verse (1779-1852)


English actor and comedian who appeared on television and in films (born in 1935)


United States composer of works noted for their use of the American vernacular (1893-1969)


English statesman who opposed Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and was imprisoned and beheaded; recalled for his concept of Utopia, the ideal state


United States financier and philanthropist (1837-1913)


soldier in the American Revolution who defeated the British in the battle of Cowpens, South Carolina (1736-1802)


a Welsh buccaneer who raided Spanish colonies in the West Indies for the English (1635-1688)


United States biologist who formulated the chromosome theory of heredity (1866-1945)


United States anthropologist who studied the Seneca (1818-1881)


oewn-Edward_W._Morley-n oewn-Morley-n oewn-E._W._Morley-n oewn-Edward_Morley-n oewn-Edward_Williams_Morley-n

United States chemist and physicist who collaborated with Michelson in the Michelson-Morley experiment (1838-1923)


the ancient prophet whose writings were revealed to Joseph Smith who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints


United States statesman who led the committee that produced the final draft of the United States Constitution (1752-1816)


leader of the American Revolution who signed the Declaration of Independence and raised money for the Continental Army (1734-1806)


oewn-Esther_Hobart_Morris-n oewn-Morris-n oewn-Esther_Morris-n oewn-Esther_Hobart_McQuigg_Slack_Morris-n

United States suffragist in Wyoming (1814-1902)


United States writer whose novels describe the lives of African-Americans (born in 1931)


oewn-Morse-n oewn-Samuel_Morse-n oewn-Samuel_F._B._Morse-n oewn-Samuel_Finley_Breese_Morse-n

United States portrait painter who patented the telegraph and developed the Morse code (1791-1872)


English nobleman who deposed Edward II and was executed by Edward III (1287-1330)


United States jazz musician who moved from ragtime to New Orleans jazz (1885-1941)


Swedish chemist who discovered rare earth elements (1797-1858)


(Old Testament) the Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites from Egypt across the Red sea on a journey known as the Exodus; Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai


United States painter of colorful and primitive rural scenes (1860-1961)


United States abstract expressionist painter (1915-1991)


United States feminist and suffragist (1793-1880)


United States politician and educator (1927-2003)


prolific Austrian composer and child prodigy; master of the classical style in all its forms of his time (1756-1791)


Egyptian statesman who became president in 1981 after Sadat was assassinated (born in 1929)


leader of Black Muslims who campaigned for independence for Black Americans (1897-1975)


United States naturalist (born in England) who advocated the creation of national parks (1838-1914)


reclusive Afghanistani politician and leader of the Taliban who imposed a strict interpretation of shariah law on Afghanistan (born in 1950)


United States geneticist who studied the effects of X-rays on genes (1890-1967)


British philologist (born in Germany) who specialized in Sanskrit (1823-1900)


German mathematician and astronomer (1436-1476)


German physiologist and anatomist (1801-1858)


Swiss physicist who studied superconductivity (born in 1927)


Swiss chemist who synthesized DDT and discovered its use as an insecticide (1899-1965)


oewn-Munchhausen-n oewn-Karl_Friedrich_Hieronymus_von_Munchhausen-n oewn-Munchausen-n oewn-Baron_Munchausen-n

German raconteur who told preposterous stories about his adventures as a soldier and hunter; his name is now associated with any telling of exaggerated stories or winning lies (1720-1797)


oewn-Munro-n oewn-H._H._Munro-n oewn-Hector_Hugh_Munro-n oewn-Saki-n

British writer of short stories (1870-1916)


British writer (born in Ireland) known primarily for her novels (1919-1999)


United States publisher (born in Australia in 1931)


oewn-Murray-n oewn-James_Murray-n oewn-James_Augustus_Murray-n oewn-James_Augustus_Henry_Murray-n oewn-Sir_James_Murray-n oewn-Sir_James_Augustus_Murray-n oewn-Sir_James_Augustus_Henry_Murray-n

Scottish philologist and the lexicographer who shaped the Oxford English Dictionary (1837-1915)


British classical scholar (born in Australia) who advocated the League of Nations and the United Nations (1866-1957)


United States broadcast journalist remembered for his reports from London during World War II (1908-1965)


oewn-Musial-n oewn-Stan_Musial-n oewn-Stanley_Frank_Musial-n oewn-Stan_the_Man-n

United States baseball player (born in 1920)


oewn-Mussorgsky-n oewn-Moussorgsky-n oewn-Modest_Mussorgsky-n oewn-Modest_Moussorgsky-n oewn-Modest_Petrovich_Mussorgsky-n oewn-Modest_Petrovich_Moussorgsky-n

Russian composer of operas and orchestral works (1839-1881)


United States motion-picture pioneer remembered for his pictures of running horses taken with a series of still cameras (born in England) (1830-1904)


United States writer (born in Russia) (1899-1977)


a Hebrew minor prophet of the 7th century BC


United States educator (born in Canada) who invented the game of basketball (1861-1939)


Indian religious leader who founded Sikhism in dissent from the caste system of Hinduism; he taught that all men had a right to search for knowledge of God and that spiritual liberation could be attained by meditating on the name of God (1469-1538)


Norwegian explorer of the Arctic and director of the League of Nations relief program for refugees of World War I (1861-1930)


the mother-in-law of Ruth whose story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament


Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms; introduced the use of the decimal point in writing numbers (1550-1617)


oewn-Napoleon-n oewn-Napoleon_I-n oewn-Napoleon_Bonaparte-n oewn-Bonaparte-n oewn-Little_Corporal-n

French general who became emperor of the French (1769-1821)


nephew of Napoleon I and emperor of the French from 1852 to 1871 (1808-1873)


United States writer noted for his droll epigrams (1902-1971)


Egyptian statesman who nationalized the Suez Canal (1918-1970)


United States political cartoonist (1840-1902)


oewn-Carrie_Nation-n oewn-Nation-n oewn-Carry_Nation-n oewn-Carry_Amelia_Moore_Nation-n

United States prohibitionist who raided saloons and destroyed bottles of liquor with a hatchet (1846-1911)


Italian chemist noted for work on polymers (1903-1979)


oewn-Sanchez-n oewn-Ilich_Sanchez-n oewn-Ilich_Ramirez_Sanchez-n oewn-Carlos-n oewn-Carlos_the_Jackal-n oewn-Salim-n oewn-Andres_Martinez-n oewn-Taurus-n oewn-Glen_Gebhard-n oewn-Hector_Hevodidbon-n oewn-Michael_Assat-n

Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father; trained and worked with many terrorist groups (born in 1949)


United States tennis player (born in Czechoslovakia) who won nine Wimbledon women's singles championships (born in 1956)


United States actress (born in Russia) (1879-1945)


oewn-Nebuchadnezzar-n oewn-Nebuchadnezzar_II-n oewn-Nebuchadrezzar-n oewn-Nebuchadrezzar_II-n

(Old Testament) king of Chaldea who captured and destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the Israelites to Babylonia (630?-562 BC)


Italian pope from 1447 to 1455 who founded the Vatican library (1397-1455)


French physicist noted for research on magnetism (born in 1904)


queen of Egypt and wife of Akhenaton (14th century BC)


Indian statesman and leader with Gandhi in the struggle for home rule; was the first prime minister of the Republic of India from 1947 to 1964 (1889-1964)


oewn-Nelson-n oewn-Horatio_Nelson-n oewn-Viscount_Nelson-n oewn-Admiral_Nelson-n oewn-Lord_Nelson-n

English admiral who defeated the French fleets of Napoleon but was mortally wounded at Trafalgar (1758-1805)


German physicist and chemist who formulated the third law of thermodynamics (1864-1941)


Roman Emperor notorious for his monstrous vice and fantastic luxury (was said to have started a fire that destroyed much of Rome in 64) but the Roman Empire remained prosperous during his rule (37-68)


oewn-Neruda-n oewn-Pablo_Neruda-n oewn-Reyes-n oewn-Neftali_Ricardo_Reyes-n


Italian architect who pioneered in the use of reinforced concrete (1891-1979)


Emperor of Rome who introduced a degree of freedom after the repressive reign of Domitian; adopted Trajan as his successor (30-98)


(Greek mythology) a wise old counselor to the Greeks at Troy


Syrian who was a Christian bishop and Patriarch of Constantinople in the early fifth century; one of the major heresies concerning the doctrine of the hypostasis of Christ was named after him (died in 451)


United States sculptor (born in Russia) known for massive shapes of painted wood (1899-1988)


English prelate and theologian who (with John Keble and Edward Pusey) founded the Oxford movement; Newman later turned to Roman Catholicism and became a cardinal (1801-1890)


English mathematician and physicist; remembered for developing the calculus and for his law of gravitation and his three laws of motion (1642-1726)


French marshal in the Napoleonic Wars (1769-1815)


a bishop in Asia Minor who is associated with Santa Claus (4th century)


czar of Russia from 1825 to 1855 who led Russia into the Crimean War (1796-1855)


the last czar of Russia who was forced to abdicate in 1917 by the Russian Revolution; he and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks (1868-1918)


United States golfer considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time (born in 1940)


German historian noted for his critical approach to sources and for his history of Rome (1776-1831)


United States Protestant theologian (1892-1971)


influential German philosopher remembered for his concept of the superman and for his rejection of Christian values; considered, along with Kierkegaard, to be a founder of existentialism (1844-1900)


English nurse remembered for her work during the Crimean War (1820-1910)


Russian dancer considered by many to be the greatest dancer of the 20th century (1890-1950)


oewn-Birgit_Nilsson-n oewn-Nilsson-n oewn-Brigit_Nilsson-n oewn-Marta_Brigit_Nilsson-n

Swedish operatic soprano who played Wagnerian roles (born in 1918)


oewn-Chester_W._Nimitz-n oewn-Nimitz-n oewn-Chester_Nimitz-n oewn-Chester_William_Nimitz-n oewn-Admiral_Nimitz-n

United States admiral of the Pacific fleet during World War II who used aircraft carriers to destroy the Japanese navy (1885-1966)


oewn-Nixon-n oewn-Richard_Nixon-n oewn-Richard_M._Nixon-n oewn-Richard_Milhous_Nixon-n oewn-President_Nixon-n

vice president under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States; resigned after the Watergate scandal in 1974 (1913-1994)


the Hebrew patriarch who saved himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain; the story of Noah and the flood is told in the Book of Genesis


Swedish chemist remembered for his invention of dynamite and for the bequest that created the Nobel prizes (1833-1896)


United States bacteriologist (born in Japan) who discovered the cause of yellow fever and syphilis (1876-1928)


United States operatic soprano (born in 1945)


British statesman under George III whose policies led to rebellion in the American colonies (1732-1792)


French astrologer who wrote cryptic predictions whose interpretations are still being debated (1503-1566)


oewn-William_Morris-n oewn-Nuffield-n oewn-William_Richard_Morris-n oewn-First_Viscount_Nuffield-n

British industrialist who manufactured automobiles and created a philanthropic foundation (1877-1963)


Russian dancer who was often the partner of Dame Margot Fonteyn and who defected to the United States in 1961 (born in 1938)


United States sharpshooter who was featured in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (1860-1926)


English conspirator who claimed that there was a Jesuit plot to assassinate Charles II (1649-1705)


a Hebrew minor prophet, he was chosen to prophesy against Edom


oewn-Occam-n oewn-William_of_Occam-n oewn-Ockham-n oewn-William_of_Ockham-n

English scholastic philosopher and assumed author of Occam's Razor (1285-1349)


United States biochemist (born in Spain) who studied the biological synthesis of nucleic acids (1905-1993)


United States newspaper publisher (1858-1935)


Germanic barbarian leader who ended the Western Roman Empire in 476 and became the first barbarian ruler of Italy (434-493)


French composer of many operettas and an opera (1819-1880)


Irish writer of short stories (1896-1984)


English psychologist who collaborated with I. A. Richards in designing Basic English (1889-1957)


German physicist who formulated Ohm's law (1787-1854)


oewn-Oken-n oewn-Lorenz_Oken-n oewn-Okenfuss-n oewn-Lorenz_Okenfuss-n

German naturalist whose speculations that plants and animals are made up of tiny living `infusoria' led to the cell theory (1779-1851)


oewn-Olaf_II_of_Norway-n oewn-Olaf_II-n oewn-Olav_II-n oewn-Saint_Olaf-n oewn-Saint_Olav-n oewn-St._Olaf-n oewn-St._Olav-n

King and patron saint of Norway (995-1030)


United States sculptor (born in Sweden); a leader of the pop art movement who was noted for giant sculptures of common objects (born in 1929)


United States race driver who was the first to drive faster than a mile a minute (1878-1946)


United States jazz musician who influenced the style of Louis Armstrong (1885-1938)


oewn-Olivier-n oewn-Laurence_Olivier-n oewn-Sir_Laurence_Kerr_Olivier-n oewn-Baron_Olivier_of_Brighton-n

English actor best know for his Shakespearean roles (1907-1989)


United States landscape architect primarily responsible for the design of Central Park in New York City (1822-1903)


Persian poet and mathematician and astronomer whose poetry was popularized by Edward Fitzgerald's translation (1050-1123)


Canadian writer (born in Sri Lanka in 1943)


United States musician (born in Japan) who married John Lennon and collaborated with him on recordings (born in 1933)


United States chemist (born in Norway) noted for his work in thermodynamics (1903-1976)


Dutch astronomer who proved that the galaxy is rotating and proposed the existence of the Oort cloud (1900-1992)


German industrialist who was the first in Germany to use an assembly line in manufacturing automobiles (1871-1948)


United States physicist who directed the project at Los Alamos that developed the first atomic bomb (1904-1967)


United States composer and rockabilly tenor popular in the 1950s (1936-1988)


British writer (born in Hungary) (1865-1947)


German musician who developed a widely used system for teaching music to children (1895-1982)


Greek philosopher and theologian who reinterpreted Christian doctrine through the philosophy of Neoplatonism; his work was later condemned as unorthodox (185-254)


United States conductor (born in Hungary) (1899-1985)


Mexican painter noted for his monumental murals (1883-1949)


Spanish philosopher who advocated leadership by an intellectual elite (1883-1955)


oewn-Orwell-n oewn-George_Orwell-n oewn-Eric_Blair-n oewn-Eric_Arthur_Blair-n

imaginative British writer concerned with social justice (1903-1950)


the conqueror of Turkey who founded the Ottoman Empire and the Ottoman dynasty that ruled Turkey after the 13th century; conquered most of Asia Minor and assumed the title of emir in 1299 (1259-1323)


United States assassin of President John F. Kennedy (1939-1963)


United States inventor who manufactured the first elevator with a safety device (1811-1861)


King of the Germans and Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)


Roman poet remembered for his elegiac verses on love (43 BC - AD 17)


English comparative anatomist and paleontologist who was an opponent of Darwinism (1804-1892)


Welsh industrialist and social reformer who founded cooperative communities (1771-1858)


United States athlete and Black American whose success in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin outraged Hitler (1913-1980)


United States conductor (born in Japan in 1935)


oewn-Ignacy_Jan_Paderewski-n oewn-Paderewski-n oewn-Ignace_Paderewski-n oewn-Ignace_Jan_Paderewski-n

Polish pianist who in 1919 served as the first Prime Minister of independent Poland (1860-1941)


Italian violinist and composer of music for the violin (1782-1840)


United States diplomat and writer about the Old South (1853-1922)


English industrialist who pioneered in the design and manufacture of aircraft (1885-1962)


English pathologist who discovered the cause of trichinosis (1814-1899)


oewn-Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi-n oewn-Pahlavi-n oewn-Mohammed_Reza_Pahlavi-n oewn-Shah_Pahlavi-n oewn-Pahlevi-n oewn-Mohammed_Reza_Pahlevi-n

Shah of Iran who was deposed in 1979 by Islamic fundamentalists (1919-1980)


United States baseball player; a black pitcher noted for his longevity (1906-1982)


American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)


American Revolutionary leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1731-1814)


highly original and much imitated Italian architect (1508-1580)


Indian grammarian whose grammatical rules for Sanskrit are the first known example of descriptive linguistics (circa 400 BC)


Swiss physician who introduced treatments of particular illnesses based on his observation and experience; he saw illness as having an external cause (rather than an imbalance of humors) and replaced traditional remedies with chemical remedies (1493-1541)


Italian sociologist and economist whose theories influenced the development of fascism in Italy (1848-1923)


United States writer noted for her sharp wit (1893-1967)


oewn-Parker-n oewn-Charlie_Parker-n oewn-Yardbird_Parker-n oewn-Bird_Parker-n oewn-Charles_Christopher_Parker-n

United States saxophonist and leader of the bop style of jazz (1920-1955)


British historian noted for ridicule of bureaucracies (1909-1993)


United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national Civil Rights movement (born in 1913)


a presocratic Greek philosopher born in Italy; held the metaphysical view that being is the basic substance and ultimate reality of which all things are composed; said that motion and change are sensory illusions (5th century BC)


Queen of England as the 6th wife of Henry VIII (1512-1548)


French mathematician and philosopher and Jansenist; invented an adding machine; contributed (with Fermat) to the theory of probability (1623-1662)


Russian writer whose best known novel was banned by Soviet authorities but translated and published abroad (1890-1960)


French chemist and biologist whose discovery that fermentation is caused by microorganisms resulted in the process of pasteurization (1822-1895)


American Revolutionary leader (born in Ireland) who was a member of the Constitutional Convention (1745-1806)


Apostle and patron saint of Ireland; an English missionary to Ireland in the 5th century


oewn-Paul-n oewn-Saint_Paul-n oewn-St._Paul-n oewn-Apostle_Paul-n oewn-Paul_the_Apostle-n oewn-Apostle_of_the_Gentiles-n oewn-Saul-n oewn-Saul_of_Tarsus-n

(New Testament) a Christian missionary to the Gentiles; author of several Epistles in the New Testament; even though Paul was not present at the Last Supper he is considered an Apostle

Paul's name was Saul prior to his conversion to Christianity


Italian pope from 1534 to 1549 who excommunicated Henry VIII of England in 1538 and initiated the Council of Trent in 1545; was active in the Counter Reformation and promoted the Society of Jesus for this purpose (1468-1549)


Italian pope from 1963 to 1978 who eased restrictions on fasting and on interfaith marriages (1897-1978)


United States physicist (born in Austria) who proposed the exclusion principle (thus providing a theoretical basis for the periodic table) (1900-1958)


United States chemist who studied the nature of chemical bonding (1901-1994)


Russian physiologist who observed conditioned salivary responses in dogs (1849-1936)


educator who founded the first kindergarten in the United States (1804-1894)


oewn-Peary-n oewn-Robert_Peary-n oewn-Robert_E._Peary-n oewn-Robert_Edwin_Peary-n

United States Arctic explorer and United States naval officer who has been regarded as the first man to reach the North Pole (1856-1920)


United States architect (born in China in 1917)


United States philosopher and logician; pioneer of pragmatism (1839-1914)


United States mathematician and astronomer remembered for his studies of Uranus and Saturn and Neptune (1809-1880)


a British or Irish monk who denied the doctrines of original sin and predestination and defended human goodness and free will; his views were declared heretical by the Council of Ephesus in 431 (circa 360-418)


Englishman and Quaker who founded the colony of Pennsylvania (1644-1718)


king of the Franks and father of Charlemagne who defended papal interests and founded the Carolingian dynasty in 751 (714-768)


English diarist whose diary contained detailed descriptions of 17th century disasters in England (1633-1703)


oewn-Percy-n oewn-Sir_Henry_Percy-n oewn-Hotspur-n oewn-Harry_Hotspur-n

English soldier killed in a rebellion against Henry IV (1364-1403)


United States writer whose novels explored human alienation (1916-1990)


Athenian statesman whose leadership contributed to Athens' political and cultural supremacy in Greece; he ordered the construction of the Parthenon (died in 429 BC)


Argentine soldier who became president of Argentina (1895-1974)


United States commodore who led the fleet that defeated the British on Lake Erie during the War of 1812; brother of Matthew Calbraith Perry (1785-1819)


United States admiral who led a naval expedition to Japan and signed a treaty in 1854 opening up trade relations between United States and Japan; brother of Oliver Hazard Perry (1794-1858)


oewn-John_J._Pershing-n oewn-Pershing-n oewn-John_Joseph_Pershing-n oewn-Black_Jack_Pershing-n

United States general who commanded the American forces in Europe during World War I (1860-1948)


English biochemist (born in Austria); studied the molecular structure of blood (1914-2002)


oewn-Peter-n oewn-Simon_Peter-n oewn-Saint_Peter-n oewn-St._Peter-n oewn-Saint_Peter_the_Apostle-n oewn-St._Peter_the_Apostle-n

disciple of Jesus and leader of the Apostles; regarded by Catholics as the vicar of Christ on earth and first Pope


czar of Russia who introduced ideas from western Europe to reform the government; he extended his territories in the Baltic and founded St. Petersburg (1682-1725)


an Italian poet famous for love lyrics (1304-1374)


ancient Greek sculptor (circa 500-432 BC)


(New Testament) a Christian (probably living in Colossae) whose slave escaped and went to see Saint Paul


(Greek mythology) a simple countryman who offered hospitality to Zeus and Hermes when they came to earth without revealing their identities in order to test people's piety


Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)


king of Spain and Portugal and husband of Mary I; he supported the Counter Reformation and sent the Spanish Armada to invade England (1527-1598)


king of ancient Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great (382-336 BC)


son of Louis VII whose reign as king of France saw wars with the English that regained control of Normandy and Anjou and most of Poitou (1165-1223)


king of ancient Macedonia whose confrontations with the Romans led to his defeat and his loss of control over Greece


king of France who founded the Valois dynasty; his dispute with Edward III over his succession led to the Hundred Years' War (1293-1350)


friend of Damon; Phintias (according to legend) was condemned to death by Dionysius the Elder and asked a respite to put his affairs in order; Damon pledged his life for the return of his friend; when Phintias returned in time the tyrant released them both (4th century BC)


Patriarch of Constantinople and saint of the Greek Orthodox Church; was condemned by the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 869 but was reinstated by a later pope


oewn-Piaf-n oewn-Edith_Piaf-n oewn-Edith_Giovanna_Gassion-n oewn-Little_Sparrow-n


Swiss psychologist remembered for his studies of cognitive development in children (1896-1980)


American Confederate general known for leading a disastrous charge at Gettysburg (1825-1875)


United States film actress (born in Canada) who starred in silent films (1893-1979)


14th President of the United States (1804-1869)


prolific and influential Spanish artist who lived in France (1881-1973)


the Roman procurator of Judea who ordered that Jesus be crucified (died in AD 36)


United States sexual physiologist whose hunch that progesterone could block ovulation led to the development of the oral contraceptive pill (1903-1967)


Greek lyric poet remembered for his odes (518?-438? BC)


English dramatist whose plays are characterized by silences and the use of inaction (born in 1930)


Italian novelist and playwright (1867-1936)


United States neoclassical composer (1894-1976)


English educator who invented a system of phonetic shorthand (1813-1897)


French physicist for whom the Pitot tube was named (1695-1771)


oewn-Pitt-n oewn-William_Pitt-n oewn-First_Earl_of_Chatham-n oewn-Pitt_the_Elder-n

English statesman who brought the Seven Years' War to an end (1708-1778)


oewn-William_Pitt_the_Younger-n oewn-Pitt-n oewn-William_Pitt-n oewn-Second_Earl_of_Chatham-n oewn-Pitt_the_Younger-n

English statesman and son of Pitt the Elder (1759-1806)


oewn-Pitt-n oewn-George_Pitt-n oewn-George_Dibdin_Pitt-n oewn-George_Dibdin-Pitt-n

a British playwright who created the fictional character Sweeney Todd (1799-1855)


oewn-Pope_Pius_II-n oewn-Pius_II-n oewn-Aeneas_Silvius-n oewn-Enea_Silvio_Piccolomini-n

Italian pope from 1458 to 1464 who is remembered for his unsuccessful attempt to lead a crusade against the Turks (1405-1464)


Italian pope from 1566 to 1572 who led the reformation of the Roman Catholic Church; he excommunicated Elizabeth I (1504-1572)


oewn-Pope_Pius_VI-n oewn-Pius_VI-n oewn-Giovanni_Angelo_Braschi-n oewn-Giannangelo_Braschi-n

Italian pope from 1775 to 1799 who served during the French Revolution; Napoleon attacked the Papal States and in 1797 Pius VI was taken to France where he died (1717-1799)


oewn-Pope_Pius_VII-n oewn-Pius_VII-n oewn-Barnaba_Chiaramonti-n oewn-Luigi_Barnaba_Gregorio_Chiaramonti-n

Italian pope from 1800 to 1823 who was humiliated by Napoleon and taken prisoner in 1809; he concluded a concordat with Napoleon and crowned him emperor of France; he returned to Rome in 1814 (1740-1823)


oewn-Pope_Pius_IX-n oewn-Pius_IX-n oewn-Giovanni_Mastai-Ferretti-n oewn-Giovanni_Maria_Mastai-Ferretti-n

Italian pope from 1846 to 1878 who in 1854 declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary


oewn-Pope_Pius_X-n oewn-Pius_X-n oewn-Giuseppe_Sarto-n oewn-Giuseppe_Melchiorre_Sarto-n

pope who condemned religious modernism; he was canonized in 1954 because of his interest in the poor (1835-1914)


oewn-Pope_Pius_XI-n oewn-Pius_XI-n oewn-Achille_Ratti-n oewn-Ambrogio_Damiano_Achille_Ratti-n

pope who signed a treaty with Mussolini recognizing the Vatican City as an independent state (1857-1939)


pope who maintained neutrality during World War II and was later criticized for not aiding the Jews who were persecuted by Hitler (1876-1958)


Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541)


German physicist whose explanation of blackbody radiation in the context of quantized energy emissions initiated quantum theory (1858-1947)


United States writer and poet (1932-1963)


ancient Athenian philosopher; pupil of Socrates; teacher of Aristotle (428-347 BC)


comic dramatist of ancient Rome (253?-184 BC)


Roman author of an encyclopedic natural history; died while observing the eruption of Vesuvius (23-79)


Roman writer and nephew of Pliny the Elder; author of books of letters that commented on affairs of the day (62-113)


Roman philosopher (born in Egypt) who was the leading representative of Neoplatonism (205-270)


Greek biographer who wrote Parallel Lives (46?-120 AD)


a Powhatan woman (the daughter of Powhatan) who befriended the English at Jamestown and is said to have saved Captain John Smith's life (1595-1617)


United States writer and poet (1809-1849)


United States film actor and director (born in 1927)


oewn-Polk-n oewn-James_Polk-n oewn-James_K._Polk-n oewn-James_Knox_Polk-n oewn-President_Polk-n

11th President of the United States; his expansionism led to the Mexican War and the annexation of California and much of the southwest (1795-1849)


United States artist famous for painting with a drip technique; a leader of abstract expressionism in America (1912-1956)


Venetian traveler who explored Asia in the 13th century and served Kublai Khan (1254-1324)


Greek bishop of Smyrna who refused to recant his Christian faith and was burned to death by pagans (circa 69-155)


oewn-Madame_de_Pompadour-n oewn-Pompadour-n oewn-Marquise_de_Pompadour-n oewn-Jeanne_Antoinette_Poisson-n

French noblewoman who was the lover of Louis XV, whose policies she influenced (1721-1764)


Roman general and statesman who quarrelled with Caesar and fled to Egypt where he was murdered (106-48 BC)


Spanish explorer who accompanied Columbus on his second trip in 1493; in 1513 he discovered Florida while searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth (1460-1521)


United States coloratura soprano (born in France) (1904-1976)


famous chief of the Ottawa who led an unsuccessful rebellion against the British (1715-1769)


British philosopher (born in Austria) who argued that scientific theories can never be proved to be true, but are tested by attempts to falsify them (1902-1994)


United States writer of short stories whose pen name was O. Henry (1862-1910)


United States composer and lyricist of musical comedies (1891-1946)


United States writer of novels and short stories (1890-1980)


United States manufacturer of breakfast cereals and Postum (1854-1914)


United States female author who wrote a book and a syndicated newspaper column on etiquette (1872-1960)


United States aviator who in 1933 made the first solo flight around the world (1899-1935)


oewn-Potemkin-n oewn-Potyokin-n oewn-Grigori_Potemkin-n oewn-Grigori_Potyokin-n oewn-Grigori_Aleksandrovich_Potemkin-n

a Russian officer and politician who was a favorite of Catherine II and in 1762 helped her to seize power; when she visited the Crimea in 1787 he gave the order for sham villages to be built (1739-1791)


United States writer who lived in Europe; strongly influenced the development of modern literature (1885-1972)


French painter in the classical style (1594-1665)


English physicist who discovered the pion (the first known meson) which is a subatomic particle involved in holding the nucleus together (1903-1969)


United States general who was the first African American to serve as chief of staff; later served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush (born 1937)


Indian chief and founder of the Powhatan confederacy of tribes in eastern Virginia; father of Pocahontas (1550?-1618)


British writer of novels about nature; one of three literary brothers (1872-1963)


British writer of allegorical novels; one of three literary brothers (1875-1953)


British writer of essays; one of three literary brothers (1884-1939)


United States rock singer whose many hit records and flamboyant style greatly influenced American popular music (1935-1977)


(Greek mythology) the last king of Troy; father of Hector and Paris and Cassandra


United States operatic soprano (born 1927)


English chemist who isolated many gases and discovered oxygen (independently of Scheele) (1733-1804)


oewn-Alexander_Prokhorov-n oewn-Prokhorov-n oewn-Aleksandr_Prokhorov-n oewn-Aleksandr_Mikjailovich_Prokhorov-n

Russian physicist whose research into ways of moving electrons around atoms led to the development of masers and lasers for producing high-intensity radiation (1916-2002)


Russian composer of ballets and symphonies and operas (1891-1953)


French socialist who argued that property is theft (1809-1865)


Alexandrian astronomer (of the 2nd century) who proposed a geocentric system of astronomy that was undisputed until the late Renaissance


the king of Egypt who founded the Macedonian dynasty in Egypt; a close friend and general of Alexander the Great who took charge of Egypt after Alexander died (circa 367-285 BC)


son of Ptolemy I and king of Egypt who was said to be responsible for the Septuagint (circa 309-247 BC)


Italian operatic composer noted for the dramatic realism of his operas (1858-1924)


English architect who played a prominent role in the 19th century revival of Gothic architecture (1812-1852)


United States newspaper publisher (born in Hungary) who established the Pulitzer prizes (1847-1911)


English organist at Westminster Abbey and composer of many theatrical pieces (1659-1695)


Bohemian physiologist remembered for his discovery of Purkinje cells and the Purkinje network (1787-1869)


English theologian who (with John Henry Newman and John Keble) founded the Oxford movement (1800-1882)


Russian statesman who was twice president (2000, 2012) and prime minister (1999, 2008) of the Russian Federation; formerly director of the Federal Security Bureau (born in 1952)


United States writer and illustrator of children's books (1853-1911)


United States writer of pessimistic novels about life in a technologically advanced society (born in 1937)


king of Epirus; defeated the Romans in two battles in spite of staggering losses (318-272 BC)


Greek philosopher and mathematician who proved the Pythagorean theorem; considered to be the first true mathematician (circa 580-500 BC)


oewn-Muammar_Gaddafi-n oewn-Qaddafi-n oewn-Qadhafi-n oewn-Khadafy-n oewn-Gaddafi-n oewn-Muammar_al-Qaddafi-n oewn-Muammar_el-Qaddafi-n

Libyan leader who seized power in a military coup d'etat in 1969; deposed the Libyan monarchy and imposed socialism and Islamic orthodoxy on the country (born in 1940)