List of people on stamps of the United States
Encyclopedia
This article lists people who have been featured on United States postage stamp
s.
Since the United States Post Office issued its first stamp in 1847, over 4,000 stamps have been issued and over 800 people featured. Many of these people (especially the earlier Presidents) have been featured on multiple stamps. The following entries list the name of the person, the year they were first featured on a stamp, and a very short description of their notability.
For the purpose of this list, "featured" may mean:
This list is complete through all announced 2009 issues http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009stamps/welcome.htm.
Quotation Reference
, Postmaster General, 1962. Day was replying to a request from an individual to be honored with a stamp. The letter was never mailed.
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s.
Since the United States Post Office issued its first stamp in 1847, over 4,000 stamps have been issued and over 800 people featured. Many of these people (especially the earlier Presidents) have been featured on multiple stamps. The following entries list the name of the person, the year they were first featured on a stamp, and a very short description of their notability.
For the purpose of this list, "featured" may mean:
- The likeness of a person,
- The name of a person, or
- People who have neither their likeness or name on a stamp, but are documented by the United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
as being the subject of a stamp (see Reference).
This list is complete through all announced 2009 issues http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009stamps/welcome.htm.
Quotation Reference
A
- Edwin Austin AbbeyEdwin Austin AbbeyEdwin Austin Abbey was an American artist, illustrator, and painter. He flourished at the beginning of what is now referred to as the "golden age" of illustration, and is best known for his drawings and paintings of Shakespearean and Victorian subjects, as well as for his painting of Edward VII's...
(2001) Illustrator - Bud AbbottBud AbbottWilliam Alexander "Bud" Abbott was an American actor, producer and comedian. He is best remembered as the straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello.-Early life:...
(1991) Comedian - Edward R. Abrams (2008) Actor
- Dean AchesonDean AchesonDean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War...
(1993) Secretary of State - Roy AcuffRoy AcuffRoy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
(2003) Country singer, musician, and songwriter - Abigail AdamsAbigail AdamsAbigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth...
(1985) First Lady - Ansel AdamsAnsel AdamsAnsel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
(2002) Photographer - John AdamsJohn AdamsJohn Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
(1938) 2nd President
- John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
(1938) 6th President - Samuel AdamsSamuel AdamsSamuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Jane AddamsJane AddamsJane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
(1940) Social Worker - Alvin AileyAlvin AileyAlvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
(2004) Choreographer - Josef AlbersJosef AlbersJosef Albers was a German-born American artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the 20th century....
(1980) Artist - Louisa May AlcottLouisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
(1940) Author - Horatio Alger, Jr.Horatio Alger, Jr.Horatio Alger, Jr. was a prolific 19th-century American author, best known for his many formulaic juvenile novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty...
(1982) Author - Dante AlighieriDante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
(1965) Poet
- Ethan AllenEthan AllenEthan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the U.S...
(1955) Green Mountain BoysGreen Mountain BoysThe Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
leader - Gracie AllenGracie AllenGrace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
(2009) Comedian - Steve AllenSteve AllenSteve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
(2009) Comedian - Fran AllisonFran AllisonFran Allison was an American television and radio comedian, personality and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which ran from 1947 to 1957, occasionally returning to the air until the mid 1980s...
(2009) Actress - Gilbert M. Anderson (Broncho Billy Anderson) (1998) Actor
- Marian AndersonMarian AndersonMarian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
(2005) Contralto - Susan B. AnthonySusan B. AnthonySusan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
(1936) Suffragist, feminist, and abolitionist - Antonello da MessinaAntonello da MessinaAntonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio was an Italian painter from Messina, Sicily, active during the Italian Renaissance...
(1990) Painter - Virginia ApgarVirginia ApgarVirginia Apgar was an American pediatric anesthesiologist. She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and effectively founded the field of neonatology...
(1994) Physician
- Johnny AppleseedJohnny AppleseedJohnny Appleseed , born John Chapman, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
(1966) Conservationist - Harold ArlenHarold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
(1996) Composer
- Edwin ArmstrongEdwin ArmstrongEdwin Howard Armstrong was an American electrical engineer and inventor. Armstrong was the inventor of modern frequency modulation radio....
(1983) FM radio inventor - Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(1995) Jazz singer, musician, and songwriter - Desi ArnazDesi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
(1999) Actor, producer and singer - Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold (1988) Air Force General
- Chester A. ArthurChester A. ArthurChester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
(1938) 21st President - Arthur AsheArthur AsheArthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...
(2005) Tennis player
- John James AudubonJohn James AudubonJohn James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
(1940) Naturalist, painter
- Stephen F. AustinStephen F. AustinStephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
(1936) Texas colonizer - Gene AutryGene AutryOrvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
(2010) Actor
B
- Mildred BaileyMildred BaileyMildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...
(1994) Jazz singer - Ella BakerElla BakerElla Josephine Baker was an African American civil rights and human rights activist beginning in the 1930s....
(2009) Civil rights leader - Josephine BakerJosephine BakerJosephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
(2008) Singer - George BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
(2004) Choreographer - Vasco Núñez de BalboaVasco Núñez de BalboaVasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.He traveled to the New World in...
(1913) Explorer - Abraham BaldwinAbraham BaldwinAbraham Baldwin was an American politician, Patriot, and Founding Father from the U.S. state of Georgia. Baldwin was a Georgia representative in the Continental Congress and served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate after the adoption of the Constitution.-Minister:After...
(1985) Statesman - James BaldwinJames Baldwin (writer)James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
(2004) Author - Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
(2001) Actress - Benjamin BannekerBenjamin BannekerBenjamin Banneker was a free African American astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, almanac author and farmer.-Family history and early life:It is difficult to verify much of Benjamin Banneker's family history...
(1980) Surveyor, astronomer, mathematician and almanac author - Theda BaraTheda BaraTheda Bara , born Theodosia Burr Goodman, was an American silent film actress – one of the most popular of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" . The term "vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman...
(1994) Actress - Francis Barbé-Marbois (1953) Louisiana Purchase negotiator
- Samuel BarberSamuel BarberSamuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
(1997) Composer - John BardeenJohn BardeenJohn Bardeen was an American physicist and electrical engineer, the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor; and again in 1972 with Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer for a...
(2008) Physicist - John Barry (1745–1803) (1936) Naval officer
- Ethel BarrymoreEthel BarrymoreEthel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
(1982) Actress - John BarrymoreJohn BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
(1982) Actor
- Lionel BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreLionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
(1982) Actor - Frederic Auguste BartholdiFrédéric BartholdiFrédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor who is best known for designing the Statue of Liberty.-Life and career:...
(1985) Statue of Liberty sculptor - Josiah BartlettJosiah BartlettJosiah Bartlett was an American physician and statesman, delegate to the Continental Congress for New Hampshire and signatory of the Declaration of Independence...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Clara BartonClara BartonClarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian. She is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.-Youth, education, and family nursing:...
(1948) American Red Cross founder - John BartramJohn Bartram*Hoffmann, Nancy E. and John C. Van Horne, eds., America’s Curious Botanist: A Tercentennial Reappraisal of John Bartram 1699-1777. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 243. ....
(1999) Botanist - William BartramWilliam BartramWilliam Bartram was an American naturalist. The son of Ann and John Bartram, William Bartram and his twin sister Elizabeth were born in Kingsessing, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. As a boy, he accompanied his father on many of his travels, to the Catskill Mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens,...
(1999) Botanist - Count BasieCount BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
(1996) Jazz musician, bandleader, and composer - John BasiloneJohn BasiloneJohn Basilone was a United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II...
(2005) Marine, Medal of Honor recipient - Daisy BatesDaisy Bates (civil rights activist)Daisy Lee Gatson Bates was an American civil rights activist, publisher and writer who played a leading role in the Little Rock integration crisis of 1957....
(2009) Civil rights leader - Romare BeardenRomare BeardenRomare Bearden was an African American artist and writer. He worked in several media including cartoons, oils, and collage.-Education:...
(2011) Artist - The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
(1999) Rock music band - Jim Beckwourth (1994) Explorer
- Norman Bel GeddesNorman Bel GeddesNorman Melancton Bel Geddes was an American theatrical and industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics....
(2011) Industrial designer - Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
(1940) Scientist, engineer, and telephone inventor
- Giovanni BelliniGiovanni BelliniGiovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini, and his brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it...
(1992) Painter - Ruth BenedictRuth BenedictRuth Benedict was an American anthropologist, cultural relativist, and folklorist....
(1995) Anthropologist - Stephen Vincent BenétStephen Vincent BenétStephen Vincent Benét was an American author, poet, short story writer, and novelist. Benét is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body , for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and for two short stories, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "By...
(1998) Author - Jack BennyJack BennyJack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
(1991) Comedian - Thomas Hart BentonThomas Hart Benton (painter)Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States...
(1971) Painter - Edgar BergenEdgar BergenEdgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
(1991) Ventriloquist - Milton BerleMilton BerleMilton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
(2009) Comedian - Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
(2002) Composer
- Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
(2001) Conductor, composer - Mary McLeod BethuneMary McLeod BethuneMary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator and civil rights leader best known for starting a school for African American students in Daytona Beach, Florida, that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University and for being an advisor to President Franklin D...
(1985) Civil Rights advocate - Albert BierstadtAlbert BierstadtAlbert Bierstadt was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion...
(1998) Painter - Hiram Bingham IVHiram Bingham IVHiram "Harry" Bingham IV was an American diplomat. He served as a Vice-Consul in Marseille, France, during World War II, and helped over 2,500 Jews to flee from France as Nazi forces advanced.-Early life:...
(2006) Diplomat - George Caleb BinghamGeorge Caleb BinghamGeorge Caleb Bingham was an American artist whose paintings of American life in the frontier lands along the Missouri River exemplify the Luminist style. Left to languish in obscurity, Bingham's work was rediscovered in the 1930s...
(1998) Painter - Emily BissellEmily BissellEmily Perkins Bissell was an American social worker and activist, best remembered for introducing Christmas Seals to the United States....
(1980) Social Worker - Hugo L. Black (1986) Supreme Court Justice
- Elizabeth Blackwell (1974) 1st U.S. female physician
- Montgomery BlairMontgomery BlairMontgomery Blair , the son of Francis Preston Blair, elder brother of Francis Preston Blair, Jr. and cousin of B. Gratz Brown, was a politician and lawyer from Maryland...
(1963) Lawyer, politician, postmaster general - Eubie BlakeEubie BlakeJames Hubert Blake was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, Blake and long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote the Broadway musical Shuffle Along, one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans...
(1995) Jazz musician and songwriter - Harlon BlockHarlon BlockHarlon Henry Block was a United States Marine during World War II. Born in Texas, Block joined the Marine Corps in November 1943 and subsequently saw action during the Battle of Bougainville and the Battle of Iwo Jima where he was killed in action...
(1945) Iwo Jima - Nellie Bly (2002) Journalist
- Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
(1997) Actor - Charles E. BohlenCharles E. BohlenCharles Eustis “Chip” Bohlen was a United States diplomat from 1929 to 1969 and Soviet expert, serving in Moscow before and during World War II, succeeding George F. Kennan as United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union , then ambassador to the Philippines , and to France...
(2006) Diplomat - Simón BolívarSimón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
(1958) South American revolutionary - Daniel BooneDaniel BooneDaniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
(1942) Frontiersman - Sandro BotticelliSandro BotticelliAlessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance...
(1981) Painter - Clara BowClara BowClara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
(1994) Actress - William BoydWilliam Boyd (actor)William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
(2009) Actor - Elizabeth Boyer (2008) Actress
- John BradleyJohn Bradley (Iwo Jima)John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley was a United States Navy corpsman during World War II, and one of the six men who took part in raising the Flag on Iwo Jima...
(1945) Iwo Jima - Omar N. Bradley (2000) World War II Army General
- Louis BrandeisLouis BrandeisLouis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
(2009) Supreme Court justice - Mary BreckinridgeMary BreckinridgeMary Breckinridge was an American nurse-midwife and the founder of the Frontier Nursing Service. She also was known as Mary Carson Breckinridge.She started family care centers in the Appalachian mountains...
(1998) Frontier Nursing Services founder - William Brennan Jr.William J. Brennan, Jr.William Joseph Brennan, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990...
(2009) Supreme Court justice - Fanny BriceFanny BriceFanny Brice was a popular and influential American illustrated song "model," comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances and is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show...
(1991) Comedian - Jim BridgerJim BridgerJames Felix "Jim" Bridger was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820-1850, as well as mediating between native tribes and encroaching whites...
(1994) Western pioneer - William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
(1986) Lawyer, politician - Paul "Bear" BryantBear BryantPaul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
(1997) Football coach - James BuchananJames BuchananJames Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
(1938) 15th President - Pearl S. BuckPearl S. BuckPearl Sydenstricker Buck also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu , was an American writer who spent most of her time until 1934 in China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the U.S. in 1931 and 1932, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932...
(1983) Author - Charles BulfinchCharles BulfinchCharles Bulfinch was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession....
(1979) Architect - Ralph BuncheRalph BuncheRalph Johnson Bunche or 1904December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. He was the first person of color to be so honored in the history of the Prize...
(1982) Diplomat, Nobel Laureate - Luther BurbankLuther BurbankLuther Burbank was an American botanist, horticulturist and a pioneer in agricultural science.He developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 54-year career. Burbank's varied creations included fruits, flowers, grains, grasses, and vegetables...
(1940) Horticulturist - Julia de BurgosJulia de BurgosJulia Constancia Burgos García is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico, and along with Gabriela Mistral, is considered as one of the greatest female poets of Latin America...
(2010) Poet - Arleigh Albert Burke (2010) Admiral
- John BurgoyneJohn BurgoyneGeneral John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
(1927) Revolutionary War General - George BurnsGeorge BurnsGeorge Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
(2009) Comedian - Raymond BurrRaymond BurrRaymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
(2009) Actor - Richard E. Byrd (1988) Antarctic explorer
C
- Juan Rodriguez CabrilloJuan Rodríguez CabrilloJuan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America on behalf of Spain. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States...
(1992) Explorer - Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1951) Explorer
- James CagneyJames CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
(1999) Actor - Alexander CalderAlexander CalderAlexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
(1998) Sculptor - Melvin CalvinMelvin CalvinMelvin Ellis Calvin was an American chemist most famed for discovering the Calvin cycle along with Andrew Benson and James Bassham, for which he was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He spent most of his five-decade career at the University of California, Berkeley.- Life :Calvin was born...
(2011) Chemist
- Walter CampWalter CampWalter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
(2003) Football coach - Roy CampanellaRoy CampanellaRoy Campanella , nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily at the position of catcher, in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball...
(2006) Baseball player - Zachary Canter (2000) Child stamp design contest winner
- Hattie CarawayHattie CarawayHattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway was the first woman elected to serve as a United States Senator. Senator Caraway represented Arkansas.-Biography:...
(2001) 1st female Senator - Chester CarlsonChester CarlsonChester Floyd Carlson was an American physicist, inventor, and patent attorney born in Seattle, Washington....
(1988) Xerox inventor
- Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy CarmichaelHoward Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
(1996) Singer, musician, composer, and actor - Andrew CarnegieAndrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
(1960) Philanthropist - Art CarneyArt CarneyArthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
(2009) Actor - Ludovico CarracciLudovico CarracciLudovico Carracci was an Italian, early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna....
(1989) Painter - Charles Carroll of CarrolltonCharles Carroll of CarrolltonCharles Carroll of Carrollton was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and later as United States Senator for Maryland...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Kit CarsonKit CarsonChristopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
(1994) Frontiersman - Rachel CarsonRachel CarsonRachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....
(1981) Environmentalist - Alvin Pleasant Delaney CarterA. P. CarterAlvin Pleasant Delaney Carter , best known as A.P. Carter, was an American musician and founding member of The Carter Family, one of the most notable acts in the history of country music.-Life:...
(1993) Country musician
- Maybelle CarterMaybelle Carter"Mother" Maybelle Carter was an American country musician. She is best known as a member of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s and also as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters.-Biography:...
(1993) Country singer and musician - Sara CarterSara CarterSara Carter was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s....
(1993) Country singer and musician - Philip CarteretPhilip CarteretPhilip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 1764-66 and 1766-69.-Biography:...
(1964) Explorer - Enrico Caruso (1987) Tenor
- George Washington CarverGeorge Washington CarverGeorge Washington Carver , was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he is believed to have been born into slavery in Missouri in January 1864....
(1948 & 1998) Botanist
- Nellie CashmanNellie CashmanEllen Cashman , better known as Nellie Cashman, was a native of County Cork, Ireland, who became famous across the American and Canadian west as a nurse and gold prospector.-Early years:...
(1994) Prospector - Mary CassattMary CassattMary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists...
(1966) Painter - John CassavetesJohn CassavetesJohn Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
(2003) Motion picture director - Willa Sibert Cather (1973) Author
- George CatlinGeorge CatlinGeorge Catlin was an American painter, author and traveler who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.-Early years:...
(1998) Painter - Ignacio Chacón (2006) Painter
- Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
(2006) Explorer - Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
(1997) Actor - Lon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
(1994) Actor
- Octave ChanuteOctave ChanuteOctave Chanute was a French-born American railway engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided the Wright brothers with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying experiments. At his death he was hailed as the father of aviation and the heavier-than-air flying machine...
(1979) Aviation pioneer - Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
(1994) Actor - Carrie Chapman CattCarrie Chapman CattCarrie Chapman Catt was a women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920...
(1948) Suffragist - Dave Chapman (2011) Industrial designer
- Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1974) Painter
- Samuel ChaseSamuel ChaseSamuel Chase was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and earlier was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland. Early in life, Chase was a "firebrand" states-righter and revolutionary...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Martha ChaseMartha ChaseMartha Cowles Chase , also known as Martha C. Epstein, was an American geneticist famously known for being a member of the 1952 team which experimentally showed that DNA rather than protein is the genetic material of life. She was greatly respected as a geneticist. Chase was born in 1927 in...
(1997) Doll designer - César ChávezCésar ChávezCésar Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
(2003) Labor rights leader - Dennis ChavezDennis ChavezDionisio "Dennis" Chavez was a Democratic politician from the U.S. State of New Mexico who served in the United States House of Representatives, and in the United States Senate from 1935 to 1962.-Early life:...
(1991) Senator - Claire Chennault (1990) Aviator
- Mary Chesnut (1995) Civil War diarist
- Charles W. ChesnuttCharles W. ChesnuttCharles Waddell Chesnutt was an American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South, where the legacy of slavery and interracial relations had resulted in many free...
(2008) Writer - Frederic Edwin ChurchFrederic Edwin ChurchFrederic Edwin Church was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters...
(1998) Painter - Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
(1965) British Prime Minister - Giovanni Battista Cima (1993) Painter
- Abraham ClarkAbraham ClarkAbraham Clark was an American politician and Revolutionary War figure. He was delegate for New Jersey to the Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence and later served in the United States House of Representatives in both the Second and Third United States Congress, from...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - George Rogers ClarkGeorge Rogers ClarkGeorge Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
(1929) Revolutionary War officer - Grenville ClarkGrenville ClarkGrenville Clark was the writer of the book World Peace Through World Law...
(1985) Author - William Clark (1954) Explorer
- Henry ClayHenry ClayHenry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
(1870, 1902) Statesman - Samuel L. ClemensMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
(1940) Author - Roberto ClementeRoberto ClementeRoberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
(1984 & 2000) Baseball player - Grover ClevelandGrover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
(1923) 22nd & 24th President - J. R. CliffordJ. R. CliffordJ.R. Clifford was West Virginia’s first African-American attorney. Clifford was also a newspaper publisher, editor and writer, schoolteacher, and principal. He was a Civil War veteran, grandfather, as well as a civil rights pioneer and founding member of the Niagara Movement . Despite boundaries...
(2009) Attorney
- Patsy ClinePatsy ClinePatsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
(1993) Country singer and musician - George ClintonGeorge Clinton (vice president)George Clinton was an American soldier and politician, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was the first Governor of New York, and then the fourth Vice President of the United States , serving under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He and John C...
(1976) Continental Congressman - George ClymerGeorge ClymerGeorge Clymer was an American politician and founding father. He was one of the first Patriots to advocate complete independence from Britain. As a Pennsylvania representative, Clymer was, along with five others, a signatory of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - David CobbDavid Cobb (Massachusetts)David Cobb was a Massachusetts physician, military officer, jurist, and politician who served as a U.S. Congressman for the At-large District of Massachusetts.-Biography:...
(1976) Congressional Representative, 3rd U.S. Congress - Ty CobbTy CobbTyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
(2000) Baseball player - Alvin Langdon CoburnAlvin Langdon CoburnAlvin Langdon Coburn was an early 20th century photographer who became a key figure in the development of American pictorialism...
(2002) Photographer - Jacqueline CochranJacqueline CochranJacqueline Cochran was a pioneer American aviator, considered to be one of the most gifted racing pilots of her generation...
(1996) Aviator - Mickey CochraneMickey CochraneGordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...
(2000) Baseball player - Buffalo Bill CodyBuffalo BillWilliam Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
(1988) Wild West showman - George M. CohanGeorge M. CohanGeorge Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
(1978) Actor, playwright - Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
(1994) Singer, musician, and songwriter - Bessie ColemanBessie ColemanElizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was an American civil aviator. She was the first female pilot of African American descent and the first person of African American descent to hold an international pilot license.-Early life:...
(1995) 1st African American female pilot - Eddie CollinsEddie CollinsEdward Trowbridge Collins, Sr. , nicknamed "Cocky", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman, manager and executive...
(2000) Baseball player - John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
(1995) Jazz musician and composer - Christopher ColumbusChristopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
(1893) Explorer - Henry ComstockComstock LodeThe Comstock Lode was the first major U.S. discovery of silver ore, located under what is now Virginia City, Nevada, on the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range. After the discovery was made public in 1859, prospectors rushed to the area and scrambled to stake their claims...
(1959) Prospector - James CookJames CookCaptain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
(1978) Explorer - Calvin CoolidgeCalvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
(1938) 30th President
- Anna Julia Cooper (2009) Civil rights leader
- Gary CooperGary CooperFrank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
(1990, 2009) Actor - James Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
(1940) Author - Nicolaus CopernicusNicolaus CopernicusNicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
(1973) Astronomer
- Elizabeth Clarke Copley (1965) Portrait subject on a stamp honoring John Singleton Copley
- John Singleton CopleyJohn Singleton CopleyJohn Singleton Copley was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts, and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects...
(1965) Painter - Gerty CoriGerty CoriGerty Theresa Cori was an American biochemist who became the third woman—and first American woman—to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Cori was born in Prague...
(2008) Biochemist - Charles Cornwallis (1930) Revolutionary War General
- Dean CornwellDean CornwellDean Cornwell was an American illustrator and muralist. His oil paintings were frequently featured in popular magazines and books as literary illustrations, advertisements, and posters promoting the war effort. Throughout the first half of the 20th century he was a dominant presence in American...
(2001) Illustrator - Francisco Vazquez de Coronado (1940) Explorer
- Lorenzo CostaLorenzo CostaLorenzo Costa was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.-Biography:He was born at Ferrara, but moved to Bologna by the his early twenties, and would be more influential to the Bolognese school of painting. However, many artists worked in both nearby cities, and thus others consider him a product...
(2001) Painter - Lou CostelloLou CostelloLouis Francis "Lou" Costello was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott...
(1991) Comedian - Crazy HorseCrazy HorseCrazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
(1982) Oglala Sioux warrior - Davy CrockettDavy CrockettDavid "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
(1967) Alamo defender
- Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
(1994) Singer, actor - Percy CrosbyPercy CrosbyPercy Leo Crosby was an American author, illustrator and cartoonist best known for his popular comic strip Skippy. Adapted into movies, a novel and a radio show, Crosby's creation was commemorated on a 1997 U.S. Postal Service stamp...
(1997) Cartoonist - Jim CrowleyFour Horsemen (football)The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
(1998) Football player - Celia CruzCelia CruzCelia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
(2011) Musician - Imogen CunninghamImogen CunninghamImogen Cunningham was an American photographer known for her photography of botanicals, nudes and industry.-Life and career:...
(2002) Photographer - Nathaniel CurrierNathaniel CurrierNathaniel Currier was an American lithographer, who headed the company Currier & Ives with James Ives.-Early years:...
(1976) Lithographer - Glenn CurtissGlenn CurtissGlenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906...
(1980) Aviation pioneer - Harvey CushingHarvey CushingHarvey Williams Cushing, M.D. , was an American neurosurgeon and a pioneer of brain surgery, and the first to describe Cushing's syndrome...
(1988) Neurosurgeon - Manasseh CutlerManasseh CutlerManasseh Cutler was an American clergyman involved in the American Revolutionary War. Cutler was also a member of the United States House of Representatives and a founder of Ohio University....
(1937) Northwest Territory pioneer
D
- Daniel DalyDaniel DalySergeant Major Daniel Joseph "Dan" Daly was a United States Marine and one of only nineteen men to have received the Medal of Honor twice...
(2005) Marine; Medal of Honor recipient - Virginia DareVirginia DareVirginia Dare was the first child born in the Americas to English parents, Eleanor and Ananias Dare. She was born into the short-lived Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina, USA. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery...
(1937) 1st European child born in America - Gerard DavidGerard DavidGerard David was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color.-Life:...
(1979) Painter - Alexander Jackson DavisAlexander Jackson DavisAlexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis , was one of the most successful and influential American architects of his generation, in particular his association with the Gothic Revival style....
(1980) Architect
- Allison DavisAllison DavisWilliam Boyd Allison Davis was an educator, anthropologist, writer, researcher, and scholar. He was considered one of the most promising black scholars of his generation, and became the first African-American to hold a full faculty position at a major white university when he joined the staff of...
(1994) Educator, anthropologist - Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. (1997) Army General
- Bette DavisBette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
(2008) Actress - Jefferson DavisJefferson DavisJefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
(1970) Confederate President - Julia de BurgosJulia de BurgosJulia Constancia Burgos García is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico, and along with Gabriela Mistral, is considered as one of the greatest female poets of Latin America...
(2010) Puerto Rican writer and poet - Agnes de MilleAgnes de MilleAgnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
(2004) Choreographer - Dizzy DeanDizzy DeanJay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953....
(2000) Baseball player - James DeanJames DeanJames Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
(1996) Actor - Stephen DecaturStephen DecaturStephen Decatur, Jr. , was an American naval officer notable for his many naval victories in the early 19th century. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, Worcester county, the son of a U.S. Naval Officer who served during the American Revolution. Shortly after attending college Decatur...
(1936) Naval officer - Lee De ForestLee De ForestLee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
(1973) - Willem de KooningWillem de KooningWillem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
(2010) Abstract expressionist artist - Andrea della RobbiaAndrea della RobbiaAndrea della Robbia was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, especially in ceramics. He was the son of Marco della Robbia. Andrea della Robbia's uncle, Luca della Robbia, popularized the use of glazed terra-cotta for sculpture...
(1978) Sculptor
- Luca della RobbiaLuca della RobbiaLuca della Robbia was an Italian sculptor from Florence, noted for his terra-cotta roundels.Luca Della Robbia developed a pottery glaze that made his creations more durable in the outdoors and thus suitable for use on the exterior of buildings. His work is noted for its charm rather than the drama...
(1985) Sculptor - Cecil B. DeMilleCecil B. DeMilleCecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
(2003) Motion picture producer - Jack DempseyJack DempseyWilliam Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
(1998) Boxer - Donald DeskeyDonald DeskeyDonald Deskey was a native of Blue Earth, Minnesota. He studied architecture at the University of California, but did not follow that profession, becoming instead an artist and a pioneer in the field of Industrial design...
(2011) Industrial designer
- George DeweyGeorge DeweyGeorge Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
(1936) Navy Admiral - John DeweyJohn DeweyJohn Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
(1968) Educator - Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
(1971) Poet - John DickinsonJohn Dickinson (delegate)John Dickinson was an American lawyer and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. He was a militia officer during the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania and Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of...
(1976) American lawyer and Governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania - William Dickson (1996) Motion picture camera inventor
- Everett DirksenEverett DirksenEverett McKinley Dirksen was an American politician of the Republican Party. He represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate...
(1981) Senator - Walt DisneyWalt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
(1968) Motion picture producer, animator - Dorothea DixDorothea DixDorothea Lynde Dix was an American activist on behalf of the indigent insane who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums...
(1983) Mental health advocate - Jimmy DorseyJimmy DorseyJames "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
(1996) Jazz musician and bandleader - Tommy DorseyTommy DorseyThomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
(1996) Jazz musician and bandleader - Stephen A. DouglasStephen A. DouglasStephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
(1958) Politician - Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
(1967) Abolitionist - Charles R. DrewCharles R. DrewCharles Richard Drew was an American physician, surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. This allowed medics to...
(1981) Surgeon - Henry DreyfussHenry DreyfussHenry Dreyfuss was an American industrial designer.-Career:Dreyfuss was a native of Brooklyn, New York. As one of the celebrity industrial designers of the 1930s and 1940s, Dreyfuss dramatically improved the look, feel, and usability of dozens of consumer products...
(2011) Industrial designer - W. E. B. Du Bois (1992) Civil Rights advocate
- John Foster DullesJohn Foster DullesJohn Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
(1960) Secretary of State - Paul Laurence DunbarPaul Laurence DunbarPaul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal African American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 "Ode to Ethiopia", one poem in the collection Lyrics of Lowly Life....
(1975) Poet
- Harvey DunnHarvey DunnHarvey Thomas Dunn was an American painter. He is best known for his prairie-intimate masterpiece, The Prairie is My Garden. In this painting, a mother and her son and daughter are out gathering flowers from the quintessential prairie of the Great Plains.-Early life:Dunn was born on a homestead...
(2001) Illustrator - Asher B. Durand (1998) Painter
E
- Eddie EaganEddie EaganEdward "Eddie" Patrick Francis Eagan was an American sportsman. He is one of only two persons to have won a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.-Olympics:...
(1990) Boxer, bobsledder - Thomas EakinsThomas EakinsThomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
(1967) Painter, sculptor
- Charles and Ray EamesCharles and Ray EamesCharles Ormond Eames, Jr and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Eames were American designers, who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film.-Charles Eames:Charles Eames, Jr was born in...
(2008) Industrial design, furniture design - Amelia EarhartAmelia EarhartAmelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
(1963) Aviator - Wyatt EarpWyatt EarpWyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
(1994) Gunfighter
- George EastmanGeorge EastmanGeorge Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...
(1954) Roll film inventor - Thomas Alva EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
(1947) Inventor - Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
(1966) Physicist
- Billy EisengreinRaising the Flag at Ground ZeroRaising the Flag at Ground Zero is a photograph by Thomas E. Franklin of The Record , taken on September 11, 2001. The picture shows three New York City firefighters raising the American flag at ground zero of the World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks. The official name for the...
(2002) Ground Zero firefighter - Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
(1969) 34th President - Charles W. EliotCharles William EliotCharles William Eliot was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into the preeminent American research university...
(1940) Educator - Thomas Stearns EliotT. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
(1986) Poet
- William Ellery (1976) Declaration of Independence signer
- Edward Kennedy "Duke" EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
(1986) Jazz musician and composer - Lincoln EllsworthLincoln EllsworthLincoln Ellsworth was an arctic explorer from the United States.-Birth:He was born on May 12, 1880 to James Ellsworth and Eva Frances Butler in Chicago, Illinois...
(1988) Antarctic explorer
- Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
(1940) Author - John EricssonJohn EricssonJohn Ericsson was a Swedish-American inventor and mechanical engineer, as was his brother Nils Ericson. He was born at Långbanshyttan in Värmland, Sweden, but primarily came to be active in England and the United States...
(1926) Inventor - Leif EricsonLeif EricsonLeif Ericson was a Norse explorer who is regarded as the first European to land in North America , nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus...
(1968) Explorer - Walker EvansWalker EvansWalker Evans was an American photographer best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans's work from the FSA period uses the large-format, 8x10-inch camera...
(2002) Photographer - Medgar EversMedgar EversMedgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
(2009) Civil rights leader - Ray EwryRay EwryRaymond "Ray" Clarence Ewry was an American track and field athlete who won 8 gold medals at the Olympic Games and 2 gold medals at the "Intercalated Games" . This puts him among the most successful Olympians of all time...
(1990) Track & field athlete - Jan van EyckJan van EyckJan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
(1968) Painter
F
- Douglas FairbanksDouglas FairbanksDouglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
(1984) Actor - Cal FarleyCal FarleyCal Farley , called by some "America's Greatest Foster Father," founded in 1939 the residential childcare facility known as Boys Ranch, located near Old Tascosa, a largely otherwise abandoned community in Oldham County north of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.Farley was honored by the United States...
(1996) Boys Ranch founder - Philo T. FarnsworthPhilo FarnsworthPhilo Taylor Farnsworth was an American inventor and television pioneer. Although he made many contributions that were crucial to the early development of all-electronic television, he is perhaps best known for inventing the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device , the "image...
(1983) TV camera inventor - David G. FarragutDavid FarragutDavid Glasgow Farragut was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, usually paraphrased: "Damn the...
(1903) 1st Navy Admiral - William Cuthbert Faulkner (1987) Author
- Robert FawcettRobert FawcettRobert Fawcett trained as a fine artist but achieved fame as an illustrator of books and magazines.Born in England, he grew up in Canada and later in New York. His father, an amateur artist, encouraged Robert's interest in art. While in Canada, he was apprenticed to an engraver...
(2001) Illustrator - Edna FerberEdna FerberEdna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...
(2002) Author - Perry FergusonPerry FergusonPerry Ferguson was an American art director. He was nominated for five Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Texas and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
(2003) Motion picture art director
- Enrico FermiEnrico FermiEnrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
(2001) Physicist - Richard FeynmanRichard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
(2005) Physicist - Arthur FiedlerArthur FiedlerArthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
(1997) Conductor - Dorothy FieldsDorothy FieldsDorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
(1996) Lyricist - W. C. FieldsW. C. FieldsWilliam Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
(1980) Actor, comedian - Millard FillmoreMillard FillmoreMillard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
(1938) 13th President
- Ella FitzgeraldElla FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
(2007) Jazz singer - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1996) Author
- James Montgomery FlaggJames Montgomery FlaggJames Montgomery Flagg was an American artist and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters....
(2001) Illustrator
- Father Edward J. FlanaganEdward J. FlanaganFather Edward Joseph Flanagan was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He was the founder of what is arguably the most famous orphanage—Boys Town...
(1986) Orphan advocate - William FloydWilliam FloydWilliam Floyd was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a U.S. Representative from New York.-Biography:...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Henry FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
(2005) Actor - Lynn FontanneLynn FontanneLynn Fontanne was a British actress and major stage star in the United States for over 40 years. She teamed with her husband Alfred Lunt.She lived in the United States for more than 60 years but never relinquished her British citizenship. Lunt and Fontanne shared a special Tony Award in 1970...
(1999) Actress - Gerald R. Ford (2007) President of the United States
- Henry FordHenry FordHenry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
(1968) Industrialist - John Foster (1998) Painter
- Rube Foster (2010) Baseball player
- Stephen Collins Foster (1940) Composer
- Four ChaplainsFour ChaplainsThe Four Chaplains, also sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains," were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats...
(1948) Died during the Dorchester sinking - George L. FoxGeorge L. FoxGeorge L. Fox was a Methodist minister and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the USAT Dorchester during World War II.-Life:George L. Fox was born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania in 1900, one of five...
(1948) One of the Four ChaplainsFour ChaplainsThe Four Chaplains, also sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains," were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats... - Jimmie FoxxJimmie FoxxJames Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
(2000) Baseball player - Saint Francis of AssisiFrancis of AssisiSaint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
(1982) Franciscan Order founder - Peter FranciscoPeter FranciscoPeter Francisco , known variously as the "Virginia Giant" or the "Giant of the Revolution" , was an American patriot and soldier in the American Revolutionary War. The cover page of a 2006 issue of Military History suggested he may have been the greatest soldier in American history...
(1975) Revolutionary War soldier - Felix FrankfurterFelix FrankfurterFelix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
(2009) Supreme Court justice - Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinDr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
(1847) 1st Postmaster, statesman, scientist
- Elizabeth Freake (1998) Portrait subject
- Mary Freake (1998) Portrait subject
- John C. FremontJohn C. FrémontJohn Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
(1898) and (1994) Explorer, Senator - Daniel Chester FrenchDaniel Chester FrenchDaniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
(1940) Sculptor - Arthur Burdett FrostA. B. FrostArthur Burdett Frost , was an early American illustrator, graphic artist and comics writer. He was also well known as a painter. Frost's work is well known for its dynamic representation of motion and sequence. Frost is considered one of the great illustrators in the "Golden Age of American...
(2001) Illustrator - Robert FrostRobert FrostRobert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
(1974) Poet - Buckminster FullerBuckminster FullerRichard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
(2004) Inventor
- Robert FultonRobert FultonRobert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
(1909) Steamboat inventor - Frank FurnessFrank FurnessFrank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan...
(1980) Architect
G
- Clark GableClark GableWilliam Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
(1990) Actor - Rene GagnonRene GagnonRene Arthur Gagnon was one of the U.S. Marines immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's famous World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.-Early life:...
(1945) Iwo Jima - Thomas GainsboroughThomas GainsboroughThomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
(1974) Painter - Albert GallatinAlbert GallatinAbraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he founded the University of the City of New York...
(1967) Secretary of the Treasury - Thomas H. Gallaudet (1983) Educator
- Bernardo de Galvez (1980) Revolutionary War General
- Mohandas Gandhi (1961) Indian patriot
- Greta GarboGreta GarboGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
(2005) Actress - Carlos GardelCarlos GardelCarlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
(2011) Singer
- James A. GarfieldJames GarfieldJames Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
(1882) 20th President - Giuseppe GaribaldiGiuseppe GaribaldiGiuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
(1960) Italian patriot - Judy GarlandJudy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
(1990) Actress - Erroll GarnerErroll GarnerErroll Louis Garner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad "Misty", has become a jazz standard...
(1995) Jazz musician and composer - Lou GehrigLou GehrigHenry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
(1989) Baseball player - Theodor Seuss GeiselDr. SeussTheodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
(1999) Author & illustrator - Martha GellhornMartha GellhornMartha Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer and journalist, considered by The London Daily Telegraph amongst others to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century. She reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career...
(2008) Journalist - Walter F. GeorgeWalter F. GeorgeWalter Franklin George was an American politician from the state of Georgia. He was a long-time United States Senator and was President pro tempore. He was a Democrat.-Early years:...
(1960) Senator - GeronimoGeronimoGeronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
(1994) Apache leader - Elbridge GerryElbridge GerryElbridge Thomas Gerry was an American statesman and diplomat. As a Democratic-Republican he was selected as the fifth Vice President of the United States , serving under James Madison, until his death a year and a half into his term...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer
- George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
(1973) Composer and musician - Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
(1999) Lyricist - Domenico GhirlandaioDomenico GhirlandaioDomenico Ghirlandaio was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Among his many apprentices was Michelangelo.-Early years:Ghirlandaio's full name is given as Domenico di Tommaso di Currado di Doffo Bigordi...
(1975) Painter - Amadeo P. Giannini (1973) Bank of America founder
- Josiah Willard Gibbs (2005) Thermodynamicist
- Josh GibsonJosh GibsonJoshua Gibson was an American catcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946...
(2000) Baseball player - John GilbertJohn Gilbert (actor)John Gilbert was an American actor and a major star of the silent film era.Known as "the great lover," he rivaled even Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw...
(1994) Actor - Lillian Moller GilbrethLillian Moller GilbrethLillian Moller Gilbreth was an American psychologist and industrial engineer. One of the first working female engineers holding a Ph.D., she is arguably the first true industrial/organizational psychologist. She and her husband Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr...
(1984) Industrial engineer - Giorgio Barbarelli Giorgione (1971) Painter
- Giotto di BondoneGiotto di BondoneGiotto di Bondone , better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages...
(1995) Painter - Jackie GleasonJackie GleasonJackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
(2009) Comedian
- Robert H. GoddardRobert H. GoddardRobert Hutchings Goddard was an American professor, physicist and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which he successfully launched on March 16, 1926...
(1964) Rocket scientist - Maria Goeppert-Mayer (2011) Physicist
- George W. Goethals (1939) Panama Canal engineer
- Rube GoldbergRube GoldbergReuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
(1995) Cartoonist - Samuel GompersSamuel GompersSamuel Gompers was an English-born American cigar maker who became a labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor , and served as that organization's president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924...
(1950) Labor union leader
- Alexander D. GoodeAlexander D. GoodeAlexander D. Goode was a rabbi and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the USAT Dorchester during World War II...
(1948) One of the Four ChaplainsFour ChaplainsThe Four Chaplains, also sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains," were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats... - Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
(1996) Jazz musician and bandleader - Charles GoodnightCharles GoodnightCharles Goodnight, also known as Charlie Goodnight , was a cattle rancher in the American West, perhaps the best known rancher in Texas. He is sometimes known as the "father of the Texas Panhandle." Essayist and historian J...
(1994) Cattle rancher - Arshile GorkyArshile GorkyArshile Gorky was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian genocide.-Early life:...
(2010) Abstract expressionist artist
- Jan Gossaert (2002) Painter
- Adolph GottliebAdolph GottliebAdolph Gottlieb was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor and graphic artist.-Biography:Gottlieb was born in New York to Jewish parents. From 1920-1921 he studied at the Art Students League of New York, after which he traveled in France and Germany for a year...
(2010) Abstract expressionist artist - Louis Moreau GottschalkLouis Moreau GottschalkLouis Moreau Gottschalk was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works...
(1997) Composer - Francisco GoyaFrancisco GoyaFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
(1974) Painter - Martha GrahamMartha GrahamMartha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
(2004) Choreographer - Red GrangeRed GrangeHarold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
(2003) Football player - Cary GrantCary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
(2002) Actor - Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
(1890) 18th President - François Joseph Paul Grasse (1931) Revolutionary War Admiral
- Asa GrayAsa Gray-References:*Asa Gray. Dictionary of American Biography. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.*Asa Gray. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.*Asa Gray. Plant Sciences. 4 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2001....
(2011) Botanist - Horace GreeleyHorace GreeleyHorace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
(1961) Journalist - Adolphus W. Greely (1986) Arctic explorer
- Hank GreenbergHank GreenbergHenry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...
(2006) Baseball player - Nathanael GreeneNathanael GreeneNathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
(1936) Revolutionary War General - Ludwig GreinerLudwig GreinerLudwig Greiner was an influential 19th-century forest and lumber industry management expert who improved the effectiveness of woodland valuation methods in the Austrian Empire and trained a whole new generation of foresters in a comprehensive approach to the management of natural resources...
(1997) Doll designer - David Wark GriffithD. W. GriffithDavid Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
(1975) Motion picture producer - Ferde GroféFerde GroféFerde Grofé was a prominent American composer, arranger and pianist. During the 1920s and 1930s, he went by the name Ferdie Grofé.-Early life:...
(1997) Composer - Walter GropiusWalter GropiusWalter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
(1982) Architect - Thomas Grosvenor (1968) Revolutionary War soldier
- Lefty GroveLefty GroveRobert Moses "Lefty" Grove was a professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, winning 300 games in his 17-year MLB career...
(2000) Baseball player - Johnny GruelleJohnny GruelleJohnny Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book author and illustrator . He is known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy...
(1997) Doll designer - Johann Gutenberg (1952) Printing press inventor
- Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
(1998) Folk singer, songwriter, and musician
H
- Philip HabibPhilip HabibPhilip Charles Habib was a Lebanese-American career diplomat known for work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East...
(2006) Diplomat - George HalasGeorge HalasGeorge Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...
(1997) Football coach
- Nathan HaleNathan HaleNathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...
(1925) Revolutionary War officer - Bill HaleyBill HaleyBill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
(1993) Rock and roll singer, musician, and songwriter - Fannie Lou HamerFannie Lou HamerFannie Lou Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader....
(2009) Civil rights leader - Alexander HamiltonAlexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
(1870) Statesman
- Alice HamiltonAlice HamiltonAlice Hamilton was the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard University and was a leading expert in the field of occupational health...
(1995) Physician - Dag HammarskjöldDag HammarskjöldDag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. An early Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld...
(1962) United Nations Secretary General - Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
(1999) Musical theater writer - John HancockJohn HancockJohn Hancock was a merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signatory - Winfield Hancock (1995) Civil War General
- William Christopher Handy (1969) Blues musician and composer
- John HansonJohn HansonJohn Hanson was a merchant and public official from Maryland during the era of the American Revolution. After serving in a variety of roles for the Patriot cause in Maryland, in 1779 Hanson was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress...
(1981) President of Continental Congress - Yip HarburgYip HarburgEdgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
(2005) Lyricist
- Warren G. HardingWarren G. HardingWarren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
(1923) 29th President - Oliver HardyOliver HardyOliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
(1991) Comedian - William HarnettWilliam HarnettWilliam Michael Harnett was an Irish-American painter known for his trompe l'oeil still lifes of ordinary objects.-Early life:...
(1969) Painter
- Joel Chandler HarrisJoel Chandler HarrisJoel Chandler Harris was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Harris was born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his teenage years...
(1948) Journalist - Patricia Roberts HarrisPatricia Roberts HarrisPatricia Roberts Harris served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Jimmy Carter...
(2000) Presidential Cabinet member, ambassador - Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
(1902) 23rd President - Benjamin Harrison VBenjamin Harrison VBenjamin Harrison V was an American planter and revolutionary leader from Charles City County, Virginia. He earned his higher education at the College of William and Mary, and he was perhaps the first figure in the Harrison family to gain national attention...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - William Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
(1938) 9th President - Ray HarrounRay HarrounRay Harroun was an American racecar driver, born in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania.-Early driving:As noted in the Columbia Car webpages, Harroun participated in the original setting of the record from Chicago to New York in 1903, and the re-taking of that record in 1904...
(2011) Racecar driver - Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
(1999) Lyricist
- Moss HartMoss HartMoss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
(2004) Playwright - William S. HartWilliam S. HartWilliam Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
(2010) Actor - Bret HarteBret HarteFrancis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.- Life and career :...
(1987) Author - David HartleyDavid Hartley (the Younger)David Hartley, the younger , statesman, scientific inventor, and the son of the philosopher David Hartley. He was Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull, and also held the position of His Britannic Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary, appointed by King George III to treat with the United...
(1983) Treaty of Paris signatory - John HarvardJohn Harvard (clergyman)John Harvard was an English minister in America whose deathbed bequest to the Massachusetts Bay Colony's fledgling New College was so gratefully received that the school was renamed Harvard College in his honor.-Biography:Harvard was born and raised in Southwark, England, the fourth of nine...
(1986) Harvard College benefactor - Josiah Johnson HawesJosiah Johnson HawesJosiah Johnson Hawes was a photographer in Boston, Massachusetts. He and Albert Southworth established the photography studio of Southworth & Hawes, which produced numerous portraits of exceptional quality in the 1840s-1860s.-Biography:...
(2002) Photographer - Coleman HawkinsColeman HawkinsColeman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
(1995) Jazz musician - Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
(1983) Author - Helen HayesHelen HayesHelen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
(2011) Actress - Ira HayesIra HayesIra Hamilton Hayes was a Pima Native American and an American Marine who was one of the six men immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, Arizona, and enlisted in the Marine...
(1945) Iwo Jima
- Mary Ludwig Hays (Molly PitcherMolly PitcherMolly Pitcher was a nickname given to a woman said to have fought in the American Revolutionary War, who is generally believed to have been Mary Ludwig Hays...
) (1928) Battlefield volunteer - Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. HayesRutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
(1922) 19th President - Edith HeadEdith HeadEdith Head was an American costume designer who won eight Academy Awards, more than any other woman.-Early life and career:...
(2003) Costume designer - Martin Johnson HeadeMartin Johnson HeadeMartin Johnson Heade was a prolific American painter known for his salt marsh landscapes, seascapes, portraits of tropical birds, and still lifes...
(2004) Painter
- John Held, Jr.John Held, Jr.John Held Jr. was an American cartoonist and illustrator. One of the best known magazine illustrators of the 1920s, Held created cheerful art showing his characters dancing, motoring and engaging in fun-filled activities...
(2001) Illustrator
- Ernest HemingwayErnest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
(1989) Author - Patrick HenryPatrick HenryPatrick Henry was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786...
(1955) American Revolution orator - Jim HensonJim HensonJames Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
(2005) Muppets creator - Matthew Alexander Henson (1986) Arctic explorer
- Audrey HepburnAudrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
(2003) Actress - Katharine HepburnKatharine HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
(2010) Actress - Victor HerbertVictor HerbertVictor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
(1940) Composer - Nicholas HerkimerNicholas HerkimerNicholas Herkimer was a militia general in the American Revolutionary War, who died of wounds after the Battle of Oriskany.-Career:...
(1977) Revolutionary War General - Bernard HerrmannBernard HerrmannBernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
(1999) Composer - John HerseyJohn HerseyJohn Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
(2008) Journalist - Milton S. HersheyMilton S. HersheyMilton Snavely Hershey was an American confectioner, philanthropist, and founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company and the "company town" of Hershey, Pennsylvania....
(1995) Confectioner - Joseph HewesJoseph HewesJoseph Hewes was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes’s parents were part of the Quaker Society of Friends. Immediately after their marriage they moved to New Jersey, which became Joseph Hewes’s home state. Hewes was formally educated at Princeton and after...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Thomas Heyward, Jr. (1976) Declaration of Independence signer
- Wild Bill HickokWild Bill HickokJames Butler Hickok , better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his exploits are fictionalized.Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach...
(1994) Gunfighter - Marguerite HigginsMarguerite HigginsMarguerite Higgins Hall was an American reporter and war correspondent. Higgins covered World War II, the Korean War and the war in Vietnam, and in the process advanced the cause of equal access for female war correspondents.Higgins was born in Hong Kong while her father, Lawrence Higgins, was...
(2002) Journalist - Morgan Hill (2000) Child stamp design contest winner
- Lewis HineLewis HineLewis Wickes Hine was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing the child labor laws in the United States.-Early life:...
(2002) Photographer - John L. HinesJohn L. HinesJohn Leonard Hines was an American soldier who served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1924 to 1926.-Biography:...
(2000) World War I General - Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
(1998) Motion picture director - James HobanJames HobanJames Hoban was an Irish architect, best known for designing The White House in Washington, D.C.-Life:James Hoban was born and raised in a thatched cottage on the Earl of Desart's estate in Cuffesgrange, near Callan in Co. Kilkenny...
(1981) White House architect - Oveta Culp HobbyOveta Culp HobbyOveta Culp Hobby was the first secretary of the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps, and chairman of the board of the Houston Post....
(2011) Women's Army Corps officer - Hans HofmannHans HofmannHans Hofmann was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter.-Biography:Hofmann was born in Weißenburg, Bavaria on March 21, 1880, the son of Theodor and Franziska Hofmann. When he was six he moved with his family to Munich...
(2010) Abstract expressionist painter - Katsushika Hokusai (1974) Painter
- Billie HolidayBillie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
(1994) Jazz singer - Hollow Horn BearHollow Horn BearHollow Horn Bear was a Brulé Sioux leader during the Indian Wars on the Great Plains of the United States....
(date unknown) BruléBruléThe Brulé are one of the seven branches or bands of the Teton Lakota Sioux American Indian nation. They are known as Sičháŋǧu Oyáte , or "Burnt Thighs Nation," and so, were called Brulé by the French...
SiouxSiouxThe Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
leader - Buddy HollyBuddy HollyCharles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
(1993) Rock and roll singer, musician, and songwriter - Oliver Wendell HolmesOliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932...
(1968) Supreme Court Justice - Winslow HomerWinslow HomerWinslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art....
(1962) Painter - William HooperWilliam HooperWilliam Hooper was an American lawyer, politician, and a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carolina from 1774 through 1777...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Herbert HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
(1965) 31st President - Bob HopeBob HopeBob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
(2009) Comedian - Johns HopkinsJohns HopkinsJohns Hopkins was a wealthy American entrepreneur, philanthropist and abolitionist of 19th-century Baltimore, Maryland, now most noted for his philanthropic creation of the institutions that bear his name, namely the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the Johns Hopkins University and its associated...
(1989) Philanthropist - Mark HopkinsMark Hopkins (educator)Mark Hopkins was an American educator and theologian.-Life and career:Great-nephew of the theologian Samuel Hopkins, Mark Hopkins was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts...
(1940) Educator - Stephen HopkinsStephen HopkinsStephen Hopkins may refer to:* Stephen Hopkins , Mayflower passenger, first mayor of Plymouth, father of only baby born during the trip aboard the Mayflower...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Francis HopkinsonFrancis HopkinsonFrancis Hopkinson , an American author, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey. He later served as a federal judge in Pennsylvania...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Edward HopperEdward HopperEdward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...
(1970) Painter - Rogers HornsbyRogers HornsbyRogers Hornsby, Sr. , nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the St. Louis Cardinals , New York Giants , Boston Braves , Chicago Cubs , and St. Louis Browns...
(2000) Baseball player - Harry HoudiniHarry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
(2002) Magician - Charles Hamilton HoustonCharles Hamilton HoustonCharles Hamilton Houston was an African American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School and NAACP Litigation Director who played a significant role in dismantling the Jim Crow laws and trained future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.Houston was born in Washington, D.C. His father...
(2009) Civil rights leader - Sam HoustonSam HoustonSamuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
(1963) Texas Governor - Elias HoweElias HoweElias Howe, Jr. was an American inventor and sewing machine pioneer.-Early life & family:Howe was born on July 9, 1819 to Dr. Elias Howe, Sr. and Polly Howe in Spencer, Massachusetts. Howe spent his childhood and early adult years in Massachusetts where he apprenticed in a textile factory in...
(1940) Inventor - Julia Ward HoweJulia Ward HoweJulia Ward Howe was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet, most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".-Biography:...
(1987) Abolitionist - Chester "Howlin' Wolf" BurnettHowlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
(1994) Blues singer, musician, and songwriter - Edwin HubbleEdwin HubbleEdwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer who profoundly changed the understanding of the universe by confirming the existence of galaxies other than the Milky Way - our own galaxy...
(2000) Astronomer - Henry HudsonHenry HudsonHenry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
(1909) Explorer - Charles Evans HughesCharles Evans HughesCharles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
(1962) Chief Justice
- Langston HughesLangston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
(2002) Author
- Cordell HullCordell HullCordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
(1963) Secretary of State - Hubert HumphreyHubert HumphreyHubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
(1991) Vice President - Richard Morris HuntRichard Morris HuntRichard Morris Hunt was an American architect of the nineteenth century and a preeminent figure in the history of American architecture...
(1981) Architect - Samuel HuntingtonSamuel Huntington (statesman)Samuel Huntington was a jurist, statesman, and Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signatory - Ruby Hurley (2009) Civil rights leader
- Zora Neale HurstonZora Neale HurstonZora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...
(2003) Author
I
- Washington IrvingWashington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
(1940) Author - Isabella I of CastileIsabella I of CastileIsabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
(1893) Queen of Spain, funded Christopher Columbus's voyage - Charles IvesCharles IvesCharles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
(1997) Composer - Frederic E. Ives (1996) Halftone printing inventor
- James Ives (1974) Lithographer
J
- Andrew JacksonAndrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
(1861) 7th President
- Mahalia JacksonMahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
(1998) Gospel singer - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (1937) Confederate Army General
- John JayJohn JayJohn Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
(1958) New York Governor, statesman, Supreme Court justice - Robinson JeffersRobinson JeffersJohn Robinson Jeffers was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. Most of Jeffers' poetry was written in classic narrative and epic form, but today he is also known for his short verse, and considered an icon of the environmental movement.-Life:Jeffers was born in...
(1973) Poet - Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
(1861) 3rd President - JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
(1966) Christianity founder
- Andrew JohnsonAndrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
(1938) 17th President - Eastman JohnsonEastman JohnsonEastman Johnson was an American painter, and Co-Founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, with his name inscribed at its entrance...
(1976) Painter - George JohnsonRaising the Flag at Ground ZeroRaising the Flag at Ground Zero is a photograph by Thomas E. Franklin of The Record , taken on September 11, 2001. The picture shows three New York City firefighters raising the American flag at ground zero of the World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks. The official name for the...
(2002) Ground Zero firefighter - James P. JohnsonJames P. JohnsonJames P. Johnson was an American pianist and composer...
(1995) Composer - James Weldon JohnsonJames Weldon JohnsonJames Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and...
(1988) Author - Joshua JohnsonJoshua JohnsonJoshua Johnson was an American biracial painter from the Baltimore area. Johnson, often viewed as the first person of color to make a living as a painter in the United States, is known for his naïve paintings of prominent Maryland residents....
(1998) Painter - Lyndon B. Johnson (1973) 36th President
- Robert Johnson (1994) Blues singer, musician, and songwriter
- Walter JohnsonWalter JohnsonWalter Perry Johnson , nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Washington Senators...
(2000) Baseball player - Joseph E. JohnstonJoseph E. JohnstonJoseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
(1995) Confederate Army General - Louis JollietLouis JollietLouis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
(1968) Explorer - Al JolsonAl JolsonAl Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
(1994) Singer and actor - Casey JonesCasey JonesJohn Luther Jones was an American railroad engineer from Jackson, Tennessee, who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad...
(1950) Railroad engineer - John Paul JonesJohn Paul JonesJohn Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to...
(1936) Revolutionary War Naval Captain - Bobby JonesBobby Jones (golfer)Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level...
(1981) Golfer - Scott JoplinScott JoplinScott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...
(1983) Ragtime musician and composer - Barbara JordanBarbara JordanBarbara Charline Jordan was an American politician who was both a product and a leader, of the Civil Rights movement. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first southern black female elected to the United States House of Representatives...
(2011) Congresswoman - Louis JordanLouis JordanLouis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
(2008) Musician/singer - Chief JosephChief JosephHin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, popularly known as Chief Joseph, or Young Joseph was the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain band of Nez Perce during General Oliver O. Howard's attempt to forcibly remove his band and the other "non-treaty" Nez Perce to a reservation in Idaho...
(1968) Nez Perce warrior - Percy Lavon Julian (1993) Chemist
- Ernest E. Just (1996) Biologist
K
- Duke KahanamokuDuke KahanamokuDuke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...
(2002) Surfer, swimmer - Frida KahloFrida KahloFrida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
(2001) Painter
- Kamehameha I of Hawaii (1937) Hawaiian King
- Elisha Kent Kane (1986) Arctic explorer
- Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
(1997) Actor - Theodore von KármánTheodore von KarmanTheodore von Kármán was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. He is responsible for many key advances in aerodynamics, notably his work on supersonic and hypersonic airflow characterization...
(1992) Aerospace scientist - Gertrude KäsebierGertrude KäsebierGertrude Käsebier was one of the most influential American photographers of the early 20th century. She was known for her evocative images of motherhood, her powerful portraits of Native Americans and her promotion of photography as a career for women.-Early life :Käsebier was born Gertrude...
(2002) Photographer
- Stephen Watts Kearny (1946) Mexican American War officer
- Buster KeatonBuster KeatonJoseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
(1994) Actor - Helen KellerHelen KellerHelen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
(1980) Author, disability advocate - Grace KellyGrace KellyGrace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
(1993) Actress and Princess of Monaco - John Fitzgerald KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
(1964) 35th President - Robert F. KennedyRobert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
(1979) Attorney General - Rockwell KentRockwell KentRockwell Kent was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, and writer.- Biography :Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York, the same year as fellow American artists George Bellows and Edward Hopper...
(2001) Illustrator - Jerome Kern (1985) Composer
- André KertészAndré KertészAndré Kertész , born Kertész Andor, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. In the early years of his career, his then-unorthodox camera angles and style prevented his work from gaining wider recognition...
(2002) Hungarian photographer - Francis Scott KeyFrancis Scott KeyFrancis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".-Life:...
(1948) Star-Spangled Banner composer - Martin Luther King, Jr. (1979) Civil Rights advocate
- Franz KlineFranz KlineFranz Jozef Kline was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement centered around New York in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended Girard College, an academy in Philadelphia for fatherless boys...
(1998) Painter - Henry KnoxHenry KnoxHenry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War....
(1985) Revolutionary War General - Erich Korngold (1999) Composer
- Tadeusz KościuszkoTadeusz KosciuszkoAndrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...
(1933) Polish-Lithuanian patriot - Lajos KossuthLajos KossuthLajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...
(1958) Hungarian patriot
L
- Marquis de Lafayette (1952) Revolutionary War General
- Fiorello H. La Guardia (1972) New York City Mayor
- Dorothea LangeDorothea LangeDorothea Lange was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration...
(2002) Photographer - Samuel Pierpont LangleySamuel Pierpont LangleySamuel Pierpont Langley was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation...
(1988) Aviation pioneer - Sidney LanierSidney LanierSidney Lanier was an American musician and poet.-Biography:Sidney Lanier was born February 3, 1842, in Macon, Georgia, to parents Robert Sampson Lanier and Mary Jane Anderson; he was mostly of English ancestry. His distant French Huguenot ancestors immigrated to England in the 16th century...
(1972) Poet - Mary LaskerMary LaskerMary Woodard Lasker was an American health activist. She worked to raise funds for medical research, and founded the Lasker Foundation....
(2009) Philanthropist
- Benjamin LatrobeBenjamin LatrobeBenjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe was a British-born American neoclassical architect best known for his design of the United States Capitol, along with his work on the Baltimore Basilica, the first Roman Catholic Cathedral in the United States...
(1979) Architect - Frank C. Laubach (1984) Educator
- Stan LaurelStan LaurelArthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
(1991) Comedian
- John LaurensJohn LaurensJohn Laurens was an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. He gained approval by the Continental Congress in 1779 to recruit a regiment of 3000 slaves by promising them freedom in return for fighting...
(1976) Revolutionary War soldier - Elmer LaydenElmer LaydenElmer Francis Layden was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame where he starred at fullback as a member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield...
(1998) Football coach - Huddie Ledbetter (1998) Blues singer, musician, and songwriter
- Jason LeeJason Lee (missionary)Jason Lee , an American missionary and pioneer, was born on a farm near Stanstead, Quebec. He was the first of the Oregon missionaries and helped establish the early foundation of a provisional government in the Oregon Country....
(1948) Oregon Territory missionary
- Richard Henry LeeRichard Henry LeeRichard Henry Lee was an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and his famous resolution of June 1776 led to the United States...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Robert E. LeeRobert E. LeeRobert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
(1937) Confederate Army General - Vivien LeighVivien LeighVivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
(1990) Actress - John A. LejeuneJohn A. LejeuneLieutenant General John Archer Lejeune, was the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Known as the "greatest of all Leathernecks" and the "Marine's Marine", he served for nearly 40 years. His service included commanding the U.S...
(2005) Marine Corps Commandant - Ponce de LeonJuan Ponce de LeónJuan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named...
(1982) Explorer - Alan Jay Lerner (1999) Lyricist
- Emanuel LeutzeEmanuel LeutzeEmanuel Gottlieb Leutze was a German American history painter best known for his painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.-Philadelphia:...
(1976) Painter - Francis LewisFrancis LewisFrancis Lewis was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York....
(1976) Declaration of Independence signatory
- Meriwether LewisMeriwether LewisMeriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...
(1954) Explorer - Sinclair LewisSinclair LewisHarry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of...
(1985) Author - Joseph Christian Leyendecker (2001) Illustrator
- Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
(1866) 16th President - Benjamin LincolnBenjamin LincolnBenjamin Lincoln was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War...
(1976) Revolutionary War General - Tad LincolnTad LincolnThomas "Tad" Lincoln was the fourth and youngest son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln. The nickname "Tad" was given to him by his father who found Thomas "as wriggly as a tadpole" when he was a baby. Tad was known to be impulsive, unrestrained, and did not attend school...
(1984) son of Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and... - Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
(1927) Aviator - Jean-Etienne LiotardJean-Étienne LiotardJean-Étienne Liotard was a Swiss-French painter. His father was a jeweller who fled to Switzerland after 1685....
(1974) Painter - Fra Filippo Lippi (1984) Painter
- Walter LippmannWalter LippmannWalter Lippmann was an American intellectual, writer, reporter, and political commentator famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of Cold War...
(1985) Journalist - Sarah Lipsey (2000) Child stamp design contest winner
- Philip LivingstonPhilip LivingstonPhilip Livingston was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He was a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, and signed the Declaration of Independence.-Family history:...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Robert R. Livingston (1904) Declaration of Independence drafter
- Harold LloydHarold LloydHarold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
(1994) Actor - Belva Ann LockwoodBelva Ann LockwoodBelva Ann Bennett Lockwood was an American attorney, politician, educator, and author. She was active in working for women's rights, although the term feminist was not in use. The press of her day referred to her as a "suffragist," someone who believed in women's suffrage or voting rights...
(1986) Lawyer, feminist - Frank LoesserFrank LoesserFrank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
(1999) Composer - Frederick Loewe (1999) Composer
- Raymond LoewyRaymond LoewyRaymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
(2011) Industrial designer - Vince LombardiVince LombardiVincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
(1997) Football coach - Jack LondonJack LondonJohn Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
(1986) Author - Crawford W. Long (1940) Physician
- Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
(1940) Poet - Lorenzo LottoLorenzo LottoLorenzo Lotto was a Northern Italian painter draughtsman and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school. He painted mainly altarpieces, religious subjects and portraits...
(1970) Painter - Joe LouisJoe LouisJoseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
(1993) Boxer - Louis XVI of FranceLouis XVI of FranceLouis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
(1978) King of France, Revolutionary War supporter - Juliette Gordon LowJuliette Gordon LowJuliette Gordon Low was an American youth leader and the founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912.-Early life:...
(1948) Girl Scouts of America founder - James Russell LowellJames Russell LowellJames Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets...
(1940) Poet - Henry R. Luce (1998) Publisher
- Sybil LudingtonSybil LudingtonSybil Ludington , daughter of Col. Henry Ludington, was a heroine of the American Revolutionary War who became famous for her night ride on April 26, 1777 to alert American colonial forces to the approach of enemy troops...
(1975) Revolutionary War heroine - Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
(1997) Actor - Bernardino LuiniBernardino LuiniBernardino Luini was a North Italian painter from Leonardo's circle. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described to have taken "as much from Leonardo as his native roots enabled him to comprehend". Consequently many of his works were...
(2007) Painter - Alfred LuntAlfred LuntAlfred Lunt was an American stage director and actor, often identified for a long-time professional partnership with his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne...
(1999) Actor - Martin LutherMartin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
(1983) Protestant reformer - Thomas Lynch, Jr.Thomas Lynch, Jr.Thomas Lynch, Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina; his father was unable to sign the Declaration of Independence because of illness.-Biography:...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Mary LyonMary LyonMary Mason Lyon , surname pronounced , was a pioneer in women's education. She established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, . Within two years, she raised $15,000 to build the Mount Holyoke School...
(1987) Educator
M
- Clara MaassClara MaassClara Louise Maass was an American nurse who died as a result of volunteering for medical experiments to study yellow fever.-Early life:...
(1976) Nurse - Douglas MacArthurDouglas MacArthurGeneral of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
(1971) Army General - Thomas MacdonoughThomas MacDonoughThomas Macdonough was an early-19th-century American naval officer noted for his roles in the first Barbary War, and the War of 1812. He was the son of a revolutionary officer, Thomas Sr. who lived close to Middleton, Delaware. Being the sixth child born, he came from a large family of ten...
(1937) Naval officer - Edward MacDowellEdward MacDowellEdward Alexander MacDowell was an American composer and pianist of the Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites "Woodland Sketches", "Sea Pieces", and "New England Idylls". "Woodland Sketches" includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose"...
(1940) Composer - Dolley MadisonDolley MadisonDolley Payne Todd Madison was the spouse of the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, and was First Lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817...
(1980) First Lady - Helene MadisonHelene MadisonHelene Madison was an American swimmer. She won three gold medals in freestyle at the 1932 Summer Olympic Games, becoming, along with Romeo Neri of Italy, the most successful athlete there. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin.In sixteen months in 1930 and 1931, she broke sixteen world records in...
(1990) Swimmer - James MadisonJames MadisonJames Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
(1894) 4th President - Ramon MagsaysayRamon MagsaysayRamón del Fierro Magsaysay was the third President of the Republic of the Philippines from December 30, 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1957. He was elected President under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.-Early life:Ramon F...
(1957) Philippine President - Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
(2004) Composer - Horace MannHorace MannHorace Mann was an American education reformer, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1827 to 1833. He served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1834 to 1837. In 1848, after serving as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education since its creation, he was...
(1940) Educator
- C.G.E. MannerheimCarl Gustaf Emil MannerheimBaron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War, Commander-in-Chief of Finland's Defence Forces during World War II, Marshal of Finland, and a Finnish statesman. He was Regent of Finland and the sixth President of Finland...
(1960) Finnish President - Mickey MantleMickey MantleMickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
(2006) Baseball player - Rocky MarcianoRocky MarcianoRocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...
(1999) Boxer - Luis Muñoz MarínLuis Muñoz MarínDon José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
(1990) 1st Puerto Rico Governor - Roger MarisRoger MarisRoger Eugene Maris was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During the 1961 season, he hit a record 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs...
(1999) Baseball player - Jacques MarquetteJacques MarquetteFather Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
(1898) Explorer - George Catlett Marshall (1965) Secretary of State, Army General
- John MarshallJohn MarshallJohn Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...
(1894) Chief Justice - Thurgood MarshallThurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
(2003) Supreme Court Justice - Roberta MartinRoberta MartinRoberta Martin was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers.-Early years:...
(1998) Gospel singer, musician, and songwriter
- Mary (The Madonna) (1966) Central figure in Christianity
- Groucho MarxGroucho MarxJulius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
(2009) Comedian - Tomáš MasarykTomáš MasarykTomáš Garrigue Masaryk , sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English, was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak politician, sociologist and philosopher, who as an eager advocate of Czechoslovak independence during World War I became the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia, also was...
(1960) President of Czechoslovakia - George MasonGeorge MasonGeorge Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
(1958) Statesman - Edgar Lee MastersEdgar Lee MastersEdgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist...
(1970) Poet - Bat MastersonBat MastersonWilliam Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...
(1994) U.S. Marshal - Richard MatherRichard MatherRichard Mather , was a Puritan clergyman in colonial Boston, Massachusetts. He was father to Increase Mather and grandfather to Cotton Mather, both celebrated Boston divines.-Biography:...
(1998) Painter - Christy MathewsonChristy MathewsonChristopher "Christy" Mathewson , nicknamed "Big Six", "The Christian Gentleman", or "Matty", was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire career in what is known as the dead-ball era...
(2000) Baseball player - Paolo de MatteisPaolo de MatteisPaolo de Matteis was an Italian painter.He was born in Cilento near Salerno, and died in Naples. He trained with Francesco di Maria in Naples, then with Luca Giordano. He came to the employ of the Spanish Viceroy of Naples. From 1702 to 1705, de' Matteis worked in Paris, Calabria, and Genoa...
(1996) Painter - Jan Earnst Matzeliger (1991) Lasting machine inventor
- Bill MauldinBill MauldinWilliam Henry "Bill" Mauldin was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist from the United States...
(2010) Cartoonist - Bernard MaybeckBernard MaybeckBernard Ralph Maybeck was a architect in the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 20th century. He was a professor at University of California, Berkeley...
(1981) Architect - Charles Horace MayoCharles Horace Mayo-External links:*...
(1964) Surgeon - William James MayoWilliam James MayoWilliam James Mayo, M.D. was a physician in the United States and one of the seven founders of the Mayo Clinic. He and his brother, Charles Horace Mayo, both joined their father's private medical practice in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, after graduating from medical school in the 1880s...
(1964) Surgeon - Philip MazzeiPhilip MazzeiPhilip Mazzei was an Italian physician and a promoter of liberty. He was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson and acted as an agent to purchase arms for Virginia during the American Revolutionary War.-Biography :...
(1980) Revolutionary War supporter
- Barbara McClintockBarbara McClintockBarbara McClintock , the 1983 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, was an American scientist and one of the world's most distinguished cytogeneticists. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927, where she was a leader in the development of maize cytogenetics...
(2005) Geneticist - John McCloyJohn C. McCloyJohn McCloy was a sailor in the United States Navy who is one of only 19 individuals to receive the Medal of Honor twice. He received his first Medal of Honor for action in the Boxer Rebellion in June 1900...
(2010) Navy sailor - John McCormack (1984) Tenor
- Cyrus Hall McCormick (1940) Mechanical reaper inventor
- Hattie McDanielHattie McDanielHattie McDaniel was the first African-American actress to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind ....
(2006) Actress - Ephraim McDowellEphraim McDowellEphraim McDowell was an American physician. He was the first to successfully remove an ovarian tumor.-Biography:...
(1959) Surgeon - Thomas McKeanThomas McKeanThomas McKean was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the American Revolution he was a delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
(1904) 25th President - John McLoughlinJohn McLoughlinDr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest...
(1948) Oregon Territory settler
- Brien McMahonBrien McMahonBrien McMahon, born James O'Brien McMahon was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States Senate from 1945 to 1952...
(1962) Atomic Energy Act author - Neysa McMeinNeysa McMein-Life:Born Marjorie Moran in Quincy, Illinois, she attended the Art Institute of Chicago and in 1913 went to New York City. After a brief stint as an actress, she turned to commercial art...
(2001) Illustrator
- Clyde McPhatterClyde McPhatterClyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
(1993) R&B singer - Dan McWilliamsRaising the Flag at Ground ZeroRaising the Flag at Ground Zero is a photograph by Thomas E. Franklin of The Record , taken on September 11, 2001. The picture shows three New York City firefighters raising the American flag at ground zero of the World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks. The official name for the...
(2002) Ground Zero firefighter - Margaret MeadMargaret MeadMargaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
(1998) Anthropologist - George MeanyGeorge MeanyWilliam George Meany led labor union federations in the United States. As an officer of the American Federation of Labor, he represented the AFL on the National War Labor Board during World War II....
(1994) Labor union leader - Andrew W. MellonAndrew W. MellonAndrew William Mellon was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932.-Early life:...
(1955) Financier - Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
(1984) Author - Hans MemlingHans MemlingHans Memling was a German-born Early Netherlandish painter.-Life and works:Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden...
(1966) Painter - Johnny MercerJohnny MercerJohn Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
(1996) Composer and singer - Ottmar MergenthalerOttmar MergenthalerOttmar Mergenthaler was an inventor who has been called a second Gutenberg because of his invention of the Linotype machine, the first device that could easily and quickly set complete lines of type for use in printing presses...
(1996) Linotype inventor - Ethel MermanEthel MermanEthel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
(1994) Singer, actress - Moina MichaelMoina MichaelMoina Michael was a U.S. professor and humanitarian who conceived the idea of using poppies as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in World War I....
(1948) Memorial Poppy founder - Oscar MicheauxOscar MicheauxOscar Devereaux Micheaux was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films...
(2010) Motion picture director - James Michener (2008) Writer
- Arthur MiddletonArthur MiddletonArthur Middleton , of Charleston, South Carolina, was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence....
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Edna St. Vincent MillayEdna St. Vincent MillayEdna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and was known for her activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work...
(1981) Poet - Don MillerFour Horsemen (football)The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
(1998) Football player - Doris MillerDoris MillerDoris "Dorie" Miller was a cook in the United States Navy noted for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the U.S...
(2010) Navy veteran - Glenn MillerGlenn MillerAlton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
(1996) Jazz musician, arranger, and composer - Robert MillikanRobert MillikanRobert A. Millikan was an American experimental physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his measurement of the charge on the electron and for his work on the photoelectric effect. He served as president of Caltech from 1921 to 1945...
(1982) Physicist - Charlie Mingus (1995) Jazz musician and composer
- Carmen MirandaCarmen MirandaCarmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
(2011) Singer - Billy Mitchell (1999) Air Force General
- Joan MitchellJoan MitchellJoan Mitchell was a "second generation" abstract expressionist painter. She was an essential member of the American Abstract expressionist movement, even though much of her career took place in France. Along with Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan, and Helen Frankenthaler she was one of her era's few...
(2010) Abstract expressionist artist - Margaret MitchellMargaret MitchellMargaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
(1986) Author - Tom MixTom MixThomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
(2010) Actor - Lorenzo MonacoLorenzo MonacoLorenzo Monaco was an Italian painter of the late Gothic-early Renaissance age.-Biography:...
(2004) Painter - Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
(1995) Jazz musician and composer - James MonroeJames MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
(1904) 5th President - Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
(1995) Actress - John Bassett MooreJohn Bassett MooreJohn Bassett Moore was an American authority on international law who was a member of the Hague Tribunal and the first US judge to serve on the Permanent Court of International Justice ....
(1965) Jurist
- Clayton MooreClayton MooreClayton Moore was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character The Lone Ranger from 1949–1951 and 1954-1957 on the television series of the same name.-Early years:...
(2009) Actor - Marianne Craig Moore (1990) Poet
- Thomas MoranThomas MoranThomas Moran from Bolton, England was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family took residence in New York where he obtained work as an artist...
(1998) Painter - Giovanni Battista MoroniGiovanni Battista MoroniGiovanni Battista Moroni was a North Italian painter of the Late Renaissance period. He is also called Giambattista Moroni...
(1987) Painter - Justin S. Morrill (1999) Senator
- Lewis MorrisLewis MorrisLewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress for New York....
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Robert Morris (financier) (1952) Declaration of Independence signatory
- Samuel F. B. MorseSamuel F. B. MorseSamuel Finley Breese Morse was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code, and an accomplished painter.-Birth and education:...
(1940) Telegraph inventor - Jelly Roll MortonJelly Roll MortonFerdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
(originally Ferdinand J. La Menthe) (1995) Jazz musician and composer - Julius Sterling MortonJulius Sterling MortonJulius Sterling Morton was a Nebraska editor who served as President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture. He was a prominent Bourbon Democrat, taking the conservative position on political, economic and social issues, and opposing agrarianism...
(1932) Arbor Day founder - Anna Mary Robertson MosesGrandma MosesAnna Mary Robertson Moses , better known as "Grandma Moses", was a renowned American folk artist. She is often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age. Although her family and friends called her either "Mother Moses" or "Grandma Moses,"...
"Grandma Moses" (1969) Painter
- Horace A. MosesHorace A. MosesHorace Augustus Moses was a prominent industrialist and profound social engineer who founded Mittineague Paper Company in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which later became Strathmore Paper Company...
(1984) Junior Achievement founder - Robert MotherwellRobert MotherwellRobert Motherwell American painter, printmaker and editor. He was one of the youngest of the New York School , which also included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Philip Guston....
(2010) Abstract expressionist artist - Lucretia MottLucretia MottLucretia Coffin Mott was an American Quaker, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights.- Early life and education:...
(1948) Civil Rights advocate
- John MuirJohn MuirJohn Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
(1964) Conservationist - Peter Müller-Munk (2011) Industrial designer
- Luis Muñoz MarínLuis Muñoz MarínDon José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
(1980) First democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico - Audie L. MurphyAudie MurphyAudie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...
(2000) World War II soldier, actor - Robert Daniel MurphyRobert Daniel MurphyRobert Daniel Murphy was an American diplomat.Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Murphy had begun his diplomatic career in 1917 as a member of the American Legation in Bern, Switzerland. Among the several posts he held were Vice-Consul in Zurich and Munich, American Consul in Paris from 1930 to 1936,...
(2006) Diplomat - Edward R. MurrowEdward R. MurrowEdward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
(1994) Journalist - Eadweard MuybridgeEadweard MuybridgeEadweard J. Muybridge was an English photographer who spent much of his life in the United States. He is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible...
(1996) Photographer - MyronMyronMyron of Eleutherae working circa 480-440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's Natural History, Ageladas of Argos was his teacher....
of Boeotia (1996) Sculptor
N
- Bronco Nagurski (2003) Football player
- James NaismithJames NaismithThe first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops,...
(1961) Basketball inventor - Ogden NashOgden NashFrederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
(2002) Poet - Harriet NelsonHarriet NelsonHarriet Nelson was an American singer and actress. Nelson is best known for her role on the long-running sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.-Early life and career:...
(2009) Actress - Ozzie NelsonOzzie NelsonOswald George "Ozzie" Nelson was an American entertainer and band leader who originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and television series with his wife and two sons.-Early life:...
(2009) Actor - Thomas Nelson, Jr.Thomas Nelson, Jr.Thomas Nelson, Jr. was an American planter, soldier, and statesman from Yorktown, Virginia. He represented Virginia in the Continental Congress and was its Governor in 1781. He is regarded as one of the U.S. Founding Fathers since he signed the Declaration of Independence as a member of the...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signatory - Louise Nevelson (2000) Sculptor
- Ernie Nevers (2003) Football player
- Ethelbert Nevin (1940) Composer
- Alfred NewmanAlfred NewmanAlfred Newman was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of music for films.In a career which spanned over forty years, Newman composed music for over two hundred films. He was one of the most respected film score composers of his time, and is today regarded as one of the greatest...
(1999) Composer - Barnett NewmanBarnett NewmanBarnett Newman was an American artist. He is seen as one of the major figures in abstract expressionism and one of the foremost of the color field painters.-Early life:...
(2010) Abstract expressionist artist - Jean NicoletJean NicoletJean Nicolet de Belleborne was a French coureur des bois noted for exploring Green Bay in what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin.-Life:...
(1934) Explorer - Chester W. Nimitz (1985) World War II Admiral
- Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
(1995) 37th President - Alfred NobelAlfred NobelAlfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. He is the inventor of dynamite. Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments...
(2001) Philanthropist - Isamu NoguchiIsamu Noguchiwas a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces,...
(2004) Sculptor - George W. Norris (1961) Senator
- Eliot NoyesEliot NoyesEliot Fette Noyes was a Harvard-trained American architect and industrial designer, who worked on projects for IBM, most famously the IBM Selectric typewriter and the IBM Aerospace Research Center in Los Angeles, California...
(2011) Industrial designer
O
- Annie OakleyAnnie OakleyAnnie Oakley , born Phoebe Ann Mosey, was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Oakley's amazing talent and timely rise to fame led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which propelled her to become the first American female superstar.Oakley's most famous trick is perhaps...
(1994) Sharpshooter
- Adolph S. Ochs (1976) New York Times publisher
- Severo OchoaSevero OchoaSevero Ochoa de Albornoz was a Spanish-American doctor and biochemist, and joint winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Arthur Kornberg.-Early life:...
(2011) Biochemist - James Edward Oglethorpe (1933) Georgia founder
- Georgia O'KeeffeGeorgia O'KeeffeGeorgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
(1996) Painter - Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
(1999) Landscape architect - Eugene O'NeillEugene O'NeillEugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
(1973) Playwright
- Rose O'NeillRose O'NeillRose Cecil O'Neill was an illustrator who created a popular period comic called Kewpie.-Early life:...
(2001) Illustrator - Eugene OrmandyEugene OrmandyEugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
(1997) Conductor - Timothy O'SullivanPhotography and photographers of the American Civil WarThere were a good number of battles and other scenes of the American Civil War, and collectively they have provided the world with a visual first hand account of this otherwise fleeting period in American history. The American Civil War was the fourth war in history to be caught on camera...
(2002) Photographer - Mel OttMel OttMelvin Thomas Ott , nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire career for the New York Giants . Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
(2006) Baseball player - Francis OuimetFrancis OuimetFrancis DeSales Ouimet was an American golfer, who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the 1913 U.S. Open, and was the first American elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews...
(1988) Golfer - Mary White OvingtonMary White OvingtonMary White Ovington was a suffragette, socialist, Unitarian, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP.-Biography:...
(2009) Civil rights leader - Jesse OwensJesse OwensJames Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
(1990) Track & field athlete
P
- William PacaWilliam PacaWilliam Paca was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and later Governor of Maryland and a United States federal judge.-Early life:...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Ignacy Jan PaderewskiIgnacy Jan PaderewskiIgnacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
(1960) Polish Prime Minister - Satchel PaigeSatchel PaigeLeroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...
(2000) Baseball player - Robert Treat PaineRobert Treat PaineRobert Treat Paine was a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Massachusetts.-Early life and ancestors:...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer
- Thomas PaineThomas PaineThomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
(1965) Journalist - Nathaniel PalmerNathaniel PalmerNathaniel Brown Palmer was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut.-Sealing career and Antarctic exploration:...
(1988) Antarctic explorer - George PapanicolaouGeorgios PapanikolaouGeorgios Nicholas Papanikolaou was a Greek pioneer in cytology and early cancer detection, and inventor of the "Pap smear".-Life:...
(1978) Cytologist - Al ParkerAl Parker (artist)Al Parker was an American artist and illustrator, who was known as the "Dean of Illustrators".Parker's display of talent as a teenager led his grandfather, a Mississippi River Pilot, to pay for Al's first year in Washington University's School of Fine Arts in St. Louis, Missouri in 1922. He also...
(2001) Illustrator - Charlie ParkerCharlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
(1995) Jazz musician and composer
- Dorothy ParkerDorothy ParkerDorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles....
(1992) Author - Francis ParkmanFrancis ParkmanFrancis Parkman was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven-volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as history and especially as literature, although the biases of his...
(1965) Historian - Maxfield ParrishMaxfield ParrishMaxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the twentieth century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery.-Life:...
(2001) Illustrator
- Alden PartridgeAlden PartridgeAlden Partridge, was an American author, legislator, officer, surveyor, an early superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and a controversial pioneer in U.S...
(1985) Educator - George S. Patton, Jr. (1953) World War II Army General
- Alice PaulAlice PaulAlice Stokes Paul was an American suffragist and activist. Along with Lucy Burns and others, she led a successful campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.-Activism: Alice Paul received her undergraduate education from...
(1995) Suffragist and feminist - Linus PaulingLinus PaulingLinus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
(2008) Chemist - Ethel L. PayneEthel L. PayneEthel L. Payne was an African American journalist. Known as the "First Lady of the Black Press", she was a columnist, lecturer, and free-lance writer. She combined advocacy with journalism as she reported on the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s...
(2002) Journalist - Charles Willson PealeCharles Willson PealeCharles Willson Peale was an American painter, soldier and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, as well as establishing one of the first museums....
(1955) Painter - Rembrandt PealeRembrandt PealeRembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson...
(1998) Painter - Robert Edwin PearyRobert PearyRobert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
(1959) Arctic explorer - Gregory PeckGregory PeckEldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, (2011) Actor - Phoebe PemberPhoebe PemberPhoebe Yates Levy Pember was a member of a prominent American Jewish family from Charleston, South Carolina and a nurse and female administrator of Chimborazo Hospital at Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War...
(1995) Confederate nurse - William PennWilliam PennWilliam Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
(1932) Pennsylvania founder - Claude PepperClaude PepperClaude Denson Pepper was an American politician of the Democratic Party, and a spokesman for left-liberalism and the elderly. In foreign policy he shifted from pro-Soviet in the 1940s to anti-Communist in the 1950s...
(2000) Senator
- Frances PerkinsFrances PerkinsFrances Perkins , born Fannie Coralie Perkins, was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition...
(1980) Secretary of Labor - Matthew PerryMatthew Perry (naval officer)Matthew Calbraith Perry was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy and served commanding a number of US naval ships. He served several wars, most notably in the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854...
(1953) Navy Commodore - Oliver Hazard PerryOliver Hazard PerryUnited States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...
(1870) Naval officer - John J. PershingJohn J. PershingJohn Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
(1961) World War I General - Perugino (1986) Painter
- John Frederick Peto (1974) Painter
- Ammi PhillipsAmmi PhillipsAmmi Phillips , a self-taught New England portrait painter, is regarded as one of the most important folk artists of his era.Phillips was born in Colebrook, Connecticut, and began painting portraits as early as 1810...
(1998) Painter - Coles PhillipsColes PhillipsClarence Coles Phillips was an American artist and illustrator, who after 1911 used Coles Phillips as his signature. He is known for his stylish images of women.-Early life:He was born in Springfield, Ohio...
(2001) Illustrator - Ben Picket (1994) brother of Bill Picket, accidentally placed on stamp when his brother Bill was meant to appear; stamp recalled and replaced
- Bill PickettBill PickettWillie M. "Bill" Pickett was a cowboy and rodeo performer.Pickett was born in the Jenks-Branch community of Travis County, Texas. He was the second of 13 children born to Thomas Jefferson Pickett, a former slave, and Mary "Janie" Gilbert. Pickett had 4 brothers and 8 sisters...
(1994) Wild West performer - Franklin PierceFranklin PierceFranklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
(1938) 14th President
- Sano di PietroSano di PietroSano di Pietro was an early Italian Renaissance painter and miniaturist from Siena.No works by Sano are known before 1443; he apprenticed under Sassetta and Giovanni di Paolo...
(1997) Painter - William T. PiperWilliam T. PiperWilliam Thomas Piper Sr. was an American airplane manufacturer, and founder, eponym, and 1st president of Piper Aircraft Corporation 1929-1970. He graduated from Harvard University in 1903, and became known as "the Henry Ford of Aviation". The William T...
(1990) Aviation pioneer - ZaSu PittsZaSu PittsZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
(1994) Actress - PocahontasPocahontasPocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
(1907) Algonquian princess - Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
(1949) Author - Jean Baptiste Point du Sable (1987) Chicago settler
- Clark V. PolingClark V. PolingClark V. Poling was a minister in the Reformed Church in America and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the USAT Dorchester during World War II.-Life:Poling was born in Columbus, Ohio to Daniel A...
(1948) One of the Four ChaplainsFour ChaplainsThe Four Chaplains, also sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains," were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats... - George PolkGeorge PolkGeorge Polk was an American journalist for CBS who disappeared in Greece and was found dead a few days later on Sunday May 16, 1948, shot at point-blank range in the back of the head, and with hands and feet tied. Polk was covering the civil war in Greece between the right wing government and...
(2008) Journalist - James K. Polk (1938) 11th President
- Jackson PollockJackson PollockPaul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
(1999) Painter - Lily PonsLily PonsLily Pons was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in Léo Delibes' Lakmé and Gaetano...
(1997) Soprano - Rosa PonselleRosa PonselleRosa Ponselle , was an American operatic soprano with a large, opulent voice. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered by music critics to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the past 100 years.-Early life:She was born Rosa Ponzillo on January 22, 1897,...
(1997) Soprano - Salem PoorSalem PoorBorn into slavery in Andover, Massachusetts, Salem Poor managed to buy his freedom in 1769 for £27. Poor soon married a free African American woman named Nancy. In 1775, he enlisted in the militia, serving under Captain Benjamin Ames in Colonel James Fryes' regiment, opposing the British troops...
(1975) Revolutionary War soldier - Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
(1991) Composer and songwriter - David D. Porter (1937) Civil War naval officer
- Katherine Anne PorterKatherine Anne PorterKatherine Anne Porter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. Her 1962 novel Ship of Fools was the best-selling novel in America that year, but her short stories received much more critical acclaim...
(2006) Author - Emily PostEmily PostEmily Post was an American author famous for writing on etiquette.-Background:Post was born as Emily Price in Baltimore, Maryland, into privilege as the only daughter of architect Bruce Price and his wife Josephine Lee Price of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania...
(1998) Author - Wiley PostWiley PostWiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's...
(1979) Aviator - John Wesley PowellJohn Wesley PowellJohn Wesley Powell was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions...
(1969) Geologist - Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
(1993) Rock and roll singer and musician - Joseph PriestleyJoseph PriestleyJoseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
(1983) Chemist - Tito PuenteTito PuenteTito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
(2011) Drummer - Kazimierz Pułaski (1931) Revolutionary War soldier (spelled Casimir Pulaski on the stamp)
- Joseph PulitzerJoseph PulitzerJoseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
(1947) Journalist - Lewis B. "Chesty" PullerChesty PullerLieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller was an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Puller is the most decorated U.S...
(2005) Marine Corps General - Rufus PutnamRufus PutnamRufus Putnam was a colonial military officer during the French and Indian War, and a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War...
(1937) Northwest Territory settler - Ernest Taylor Pyle (1971) Journalist
- Howard PyleHoward PyleHoward Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
(1964) Illustrator
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- Gertrude "Ma" RaineyMa RaineyMa Rainey was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues....
(1994) Blues singer - Ayn RandAyn RandAyn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
(1999) Author - Asa Philip Randolph (1989) Labor & Civil Rights advocate
- RaphaelRaphaelRaffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
(1973) Painter - Marjorie Kinnan RawlingsMarjorie Kinnan RawlingsMarjorie Kinnan Rawlings was an American author who lived in rural Florida and wrote novels with rural themes and settings. Her best known work, The Yearling, about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn, won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 and was later made into a movie, also known as The...
(2008) Author - Man RayMan RayMan Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
(2002) Photographer - Sam RayburnSam RayburnSamuel Taliaferro Rayburn , often called "Mr. Sam," or "Mr. Democrat," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.- Background :Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and...
(1962) Legislator
- George ReadGeorge Read (signer)George Read was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of Delaware, and a member of the...
(1976), lawyer and signer of the Declaration of IndependenceUnited States Declaration of IndependenceThe Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
. - Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
(2005) 40th President - Red CloudRed CloudRed Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...
(1987) Oglala Sioux Chief - Otis ReddingOtis ReddingOtis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
(1993) Soul singer and songwriter - Walter ReedWalter ReedMajor Walter Reed, M.D., was a U.S. Army physician who in 1900 led the team that postulated and confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species, rather than by direct contact...
(1940) Army surgeon - Frederic RemingtonFrederic RemingtonFrederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S...
(1940) Sculptor, painter - James Renwick, Jr.James Renwick, Jr.James Renwick, Jr. , was a prominent American architect in the 19th-century. The Encyclopedia of American Architecture calls him "one of the most successful American architects of his time".-Life and work:Renwick was born into a wealthy and well-educated family...
(1980) Architect - Ernst ReuterErnst ReuterErnst Rudolf Johannes Reuter was the German mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War.- Early years :...
(1959) Berlin Mayor
- Bernard RevelBernard RevelBernard Revel was an Orthodox rabbi and scholar. He served as the first President of Yeshiva College from 1915 until his death in 1940...
(1986) Educator - Paul ReverePaul ReverePaul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
(1958) Revolutionary War patriot - Frederick Hurten RheadFrederick Hurten RheadFrederick Hurten Rhead was a native of England who worked as a potter in the United States for most of his career. In addition to teaching pottery techniques, Rhead was highly influential in both studio and commercial pottery...
(2011) Industrial designer - Gilbert RohdeGilbert RohdeGilbert Rohde , whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to define American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at Herman Miller Inc...
(2011) Industrial designer - Henry Hobson RichardsonHenry Hobson RichardsonHenry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...
(1980) Architect - Eddie RickenbackerEddie RickenbackerEdward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the longtime head of Eastern Air Lines.-Early...
(1995) World War I fighter pilot - James Whitcomb RileyJames Whitcomb RileyJames Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the Hoosier Poet and Children's Poet for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively...
(1940) Poet
- Paul RobesonPaul RobesonPaul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
(2004) Actor, singer, civil Rights advocate - Edward G. RobinsonEdward G. RobinsonEdward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
(2000) Actor - Jackie RobinsonJackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
(1982) Baseball player
- Sugar Ray RobinsonSugar Ray RobinsonSugar Ray Robinson was an African-American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight...
(2006) Boxer - Comte de Rochambeau (1931) Revolutionary War General
- Knute RockneKnute RockneKnute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
(1988) Football coach - Norman RockwellNorman RockwellNorman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
(1972) Painter - Jimmie RodgersJimmie Rodgers (country singer)James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
(1978) Country singer, musician, and songwriter - Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
(1999) Composer - Roy RogersRoy RogersRoy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
(2010) Singer, Actor - Will RogersWill RogersWilliam "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
(1948) Humorist - Antoniazzo RomanoAntoniazzo RomanoAntoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the 15th century.-Biography:...
(1991) Painter
- Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
(1963) First Lady - Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1945) 32nd President
- Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
(1922) 26th President - Betsy RossBetsy RossBetsy Ross is widely credited with making the first American flag. There is, however, no credible historical evidence that the story is true.-Early life:...
(1952) American flag creator - George RossGeorge Ross (delegate)George Ross was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Pennsylvania.He was born in New Castle, Delaware, and educated at home. He studied law at his brother John's law office, the common practice in those days, and was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia...
(1952) Relative of Betsy Ross - Mark RothkoMark RothkoMark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
(1998) Painter - Edward RutledgeEdward RutledgeEdward Rutledge was an American politician and youngest signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He later served as the 39th Governor of South Carolina.-Early years and career:...
(1976) Painter - Wilma RudolphWilma RudolphWilma Glodean Rudolph was an American athlete. Rudolph was considered the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and competed in two Olympic Games, in 1956 and in 1960....
(2004) Track & field athlete - Benjamin RushBenjamin RushBenjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Jimmy RushingJimmy RushingJames Andrew Rushing , known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.Rushing was known as "Mr...
(1994) Blues singer
- Charles M. Russell (1961) Painter
- Richard Russell, Jr.Richard Russell, Jr.Richard Brevard Russell, Jr. was a Democratic Party politician from the southeastern state of Georgia. He served as state governor from 1931 to 1933 and United States senator from 1933 to 1971....
(1984) Statesman - George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1983) Baseball player
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- Eero SaarinenEero SaarinenEero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
(1982) Architect - Albert SabinAlbert SabinAlbert Bruce Sabin was an American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine.-Life:...
(2006) Virologist - SacagaweaSacagaweaSacagawea ; was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide, in their exploration of the Western United States...
(1994) Shoshone guide - Augustus Saint-GaudensAugustus Saint-GaudensAugustus Saint-Gaudens was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
(1940) Sculptor - Rubén SalazarRuben SalazarRubén Salazar was a Mexican-American journalist killed by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War on August 29, 1970 in East Los Angeles, California. During the 1970s, his killing was often cited as a symbol of unjust treatment of...
(2008) Journalist - Peter SalemPeter SalemPeter Salem was an African American who served as a soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, a slave of Jeremiah Belknap. Salem was later sold to Lawson Buckminster, who gave him his freedom. At least one record calls him "Salem Middlesex"- Military...
(1968) Revolutionary War soldier - Jonas SalkJonas SalkJonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
(2006) Medical scientist - Haym Salomon (1975) Revolutionary War financier
- William T. SampsonWilliam T. SampsonWilliam Thomas Sampson was a United States Navy rear admiral known for his victory in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Biography:...
(1937) Navy Admiral - José de San MartínJosé de San MartínJosé Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
(1959) South American liberator - Carl SandburgCarl SandburgCarl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
(1978) Poet - Henry SandhamHenry SandhamHenry "Hy" Sandham was a Canadian painter and illustrator. He was the brother of author and numismatist Alfred Sandham.- Biography :...
(1925) Painter - Winthrop Sargent (1948) Mississippi Territory Governor
- William SaroyanWilliam SaroyanWilliam Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
(1991) Author - Winfield S. Schley (1937) Navy Admiral
- Albert Schoenhut (1997) Doll designer
- Carl SchurzCarl SchurzCarl Christian Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.His wife,...
(1983) Journalist - Blanche Stuart ScottBlanche Stuart ScottBlanche Stuart Scott , also known as Betty Scott, was possibly the first American woman aviator.-Early life:...
(1980) Aviator - Winfield ScottWinfield ScottWinfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
(1870) Army General - SelenaSelenaSelena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...
(2011) Singer - David O. SelznickDavid O. SelznickDavid O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
(2003) Motion picture producer - Raphael SemmesRaphael SemmesFor other uses, see Semmes .Raphael Semmes was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 - 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 - 1865. During the American Civil War he was captain of the famous commerce raider CSS Alabama, taking a record sixty-nine prizes...
(1995) Naval officer - SequoyahSequoyahSequoyah , named in English George Gist or George Guess, was a Cherokee silversmith. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible...
(1980) Cherokee linguist - Rod SerlingRod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
(2009) Writer - Junipero SerraJunípero SerraBlessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
(1985) Franciscan mission founder - John SevierJohn SevierJohn Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
(1946) Tennessee Governor - William H. SewardWilliam H. SewardWilliam Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
(1873) Secretary of State - Eric SevareidEric SevareidArnold Eric Sevareid was a CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents—dubbed "Murrow's Boys"—because they were hired by pioneering CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow....
(2008) Journalist - Chief Shadoo (1930) Kiowa Chief
- William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
(1964) Playwright - Charles SheelerCharles SheelerCharles Rettew Sheeler, Jr. was an American artist. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.-Early life and career:...
(1998) Painter - Alan ShepardAlan ShepardAlan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...
(2011) Astronaut - Philip Henry Sheridan (1937) Civil War General
- Roger ShermanRoger ShermanRoger Sherman was an early American lawyer and politician, as well as a founding father. He served as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, and served on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was also a representative and senator in the new republic...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signatory - William Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
(1893) Civil War General - Dinah ShoreDinah ShoreDinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
(2009) Singer - Igor SikorskyIgor SikorskyIgor Sikorsky , born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft...
(1988) Aircraft engineer - Phil SilversPhil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
(2009) Comedian - William S. Sims (2010) Admiral
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
(2008) Singer/actor - Elisabetta SiraniElisabetta SiraniElisabetta Sirani was an Italian Baroque painter whose father was the painter Giovanni Andrea Sirani of the School of Bologna-Biography:...
(1994) Painter - George SislerGeorge SislerGeorge Harold Sisler , nicknamed "Gentleman George" and "Gorgeous George," was an American professional baseball player for 15 seasons, primarily as first baseman with the St. Louis Browns...
(2000) Baseball player - Sitting BullSitting BullSitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
(1989) Hunkpapa Sioux warrior - Red SkeltonRed SkeltonRichard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
(2009) Comedian
- John French SloanJohn French SloanJohn French Sloan was an American artist. As a member of The Eight, he became a leading figure in the Ashcan School of realist artists. He was known for his urban genre painting and ability to capture the essence of neighborhood life in New York City, often through his window...
(1971) Painter - Alfred E. Smith (1945) New York Governor
- Bessie SmithBessie SmithBessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
(1994) Blues singer - Jessie Willcox SmithJessie Willcox SmithJessie Willcox Smith was a United States illustrator famous for her work in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal and for her illustrations for children's books....
(2001) Illustrator - John SmithJohn Smith of JamestownCaptain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
(1907) Jamestown settler - Kate SmithKate SmithKathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
(2010) Singer - Margaret Chase SmithMargaret Chase SmithMargaret Chase Smith was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either. She was also the first woman to have her name...
(2007) U.S. senator - W. Eugene SmithW. Eugene SmithWilliam Eugene Smith was an American photojournalist known for his refusal to compromise professional standards and his brutally vivid World War II photographs.- Life and work :...
(2002) Photographer - John Philip SousaJohn Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
(1940) Composer - Franklin SousleyFranklin SousleyFranklin Runyon Sousley was one of the six men in the famous photograph of United States Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in World War II.-Childhood:...
(1945) Iwo Jima - Albert SouthworthAlbert Southworththumb|Albert Southworth, circa 1848Albert Sands Southworth operated Southworth & Hawes daguerreotype studio with Josiah Johnson Hawes from 1843 to 1863.-Biography:...
(2002) Photographer
- Tris SpeakerTris SpeakerTristram E. Speaker , nicknamed "Spoke" and "The Grey Eagle", was an American baseball player. Considered one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball, he compiled a career batting average of .345 , and still holds the record of 792 career doubles...
(2000) Baseball player - Elmer Sperry (1985) Aviation pioneer Note: the wrong photograph was used as the basis for the stamp, which actually pictures Elmer Sperry's father.
- Lawrence SperryLawrence SperryLawrence Burst Sperry was an aviation pioneer. He was the third son of gyrocompass co-inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry and his wife Zula. Sperry is noted for having invented the first autopilot, which he demonstrated with startling success in France in 1914...
(1985) Aviation pioneer - Joel Elias SpingarnJoel Elias SpingarnJoel Elias Spingarn was an American educator, literary critic, and civil rights activist.-Biography:Spingarn was born in New York City to a well-to-do family. He graduated from Columbia College in 1895...
(2009) Civil rights leader - Edwin M. StantonEdwin M. StantonEdwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
(1871) Secretary of War - Elizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady Stanton was an American social activist, abolitionist, and leading figure of the early woman's movement...
(1948) Suffragist, feminist, and abolitionist - Vilhjalmur StefanssonVilhjalmur StefanssonVilhjalmur Stefansson was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist.-Early life:Stefansson, born William Stephenson, was born at Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. His parents had emigrated from Iceland to Manitoba two years earlier...
(1986) Arctic explorer - Edward SteichenEdward SteichenEdward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
(2002) Photographer - John SteinbeckJohn SteinbeckJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
(1979) Author - Max SteinerMax SteinerMax Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...
(1999) Composer - Charles Steinmetz (1983) Electrical inventor
- Friedrich Wilhelm von SteubenFriedrich Wilhelm von SteubenFriedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben , also referred to as the Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian-born military officer who served as inspector general and Major General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War...
(1930) Revolutionary War general - Adlai Stevenson (1965) UN Ambassador and presidential candidate
- James StewartJames Stewart (actor)James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
(2007) Actor - Walter Stewart (1976) Revolutionary War soldier
- Alfred StieglitzAlfred StieglitzAlfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
(2002) Photographer - Clyfford StillClyfford StillClyfford Still was an American painter, and one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism.-Biography:...
(2010) Abstract expressionist artist - Joseph W. Stilwell (2000) Army General
- Richard StocktonRichard StocktonRichard Stockton may refer to:*Richard Stockton , delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey*Richard Stockton Richard Stockton may refer to:*Richard Stockton (Continental Congressman) (1730–1781), delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey*Richard Stockton Richard Stockton may...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Leopold StokowskiLeopold StokowskiLeopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
(1997) Conductor - Harlan Fiske StoneHarlan Fiske StoneHarlan Fiske Stone was an American lawyer and jurist. A native of New Hampshire, he served as the dean of Columbia Law School, his alma mater, in the early 20th century. As a member of the Republican Party, he was appointed as the 52nd Attorney General of the United States before becoming an...
(1948) Chief Justice
- Lucy StoneLucy StoneLucy Stone was a prominent American abolitionist and suffragist, and a vocal advocate and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone was the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. She spoke out for women's rights and against slavery at a time when women were discouraged...
(1965) Suffragist and feminist - Joseph StoryJoseph StoryJoseph Story was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1811 to 1845. He is most remembered today for his opinions in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee and The Amistad, along with his magisterial Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, first...
(2009) Supreme Court justice - Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
(2007) Author - Paul StrandPaul StrandPaul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century...
(2002) Photographer - Michael StrankMichael StrankMichael Strank was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He was photographed raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The leader of the group in the famous picture was Strank, who got the order to climb Mt. Suribachi to lay telephone wire...
(1945) Iwo Jima - Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
(1982) Composer - William StricklandWilliam Strickland (architect)William Strickland , was a noted architect in nineteenth-century Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Nashville, Tennessee.-Life and career:...
(1979) Architect - Gilbert Charles Stuart (1940) Painter
- Harry StuhldreherFour Horsemen (football)The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
(1998) Football player - Peter StuyvesantPeter StuyvesantPeter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
(1948) New Amsterdam Governor - Dr. SeussDr. SeussTheodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
(1999) Author & illustrator - Anne SullivanAnne SullivanJohanna "Anne" Mansfield Sullivan Macy , also known as Annie Sullivan, was an American teacher best known as the instructor and companion of Helen Keller.-Early life:Sullivan was born on April 14, 1866 in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts...
(1980) Educator - Ed SullivanEd SullivanEdward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
(2009) TV variety show host - John SullivanJohn SullivanJohn Sullivan was the third son of Irish immigrants, a United States general in the Revolutionary War, a delegate in the Continental Congress and a United States federal judge....
(1929) Revolutionary War general - Louis SullivanLouis SullivanLouis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
(1981) Architect - George SzellGeorge SzellGeorge Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
(1997) Conductor, composer
T
- Robert A. Taft (1960) Senator
- William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
(1930) 27th President - William Talman (2009) Actor
- Henry Ossawa TannerHenry Ossawa TannerHenry Ossawa Tanner was an African American artist best known for his style of painting. He was the first African American painter to gain international acclaim.-Education:...
(1973) Painter
- Ida Tarbell (2002) Author, journalist
- Zachary TaylorZachary TaylorZachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
(1875) 12th President - Walter Dorwin TeagueWalter Dorwin TeagueWalter Dorwin Teague was an American architect, designer and one of the most prolific American industrial designers in terms of volume of completed work. Teague's name and vision lives on through the legacy of his company....
(2011) Industrial designer - Mother TeresaMother TeresaMother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
(2010) Humanitarian - Gerard Terborch (1974) Painter
- Mary Church TerrellMary Church TerrellMary Church Terrell , daughter of former slaves, was one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. She became an activist who led several important associations and worked for civil rights and suffrage....
(2009) Civil rights leader - Sonny TerrySonny TerrySaunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.-Career:Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia...
(1998) Blues musician
- Nikola TeslaNikola TeslaNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
(1983) Induction motor inventor - Rosetta Tharpe (1998) Gospel singer, musician, and songwriter
- Sylvanus ThayerSylvanus ThayerColonel and Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer also known as "the Father of West Point" was an early superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point and an early advocate of engineering education in the United States.-Biography:Thayer was born in Braintree, Massachusetts,...
(1985) Educator - Charles ThomsonCharles ThomsonCharles Thomson was a Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress throughout its existence.-Biography:...
(1976) Continental Congress Secretary - Henry David ThoreauHenry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
(1967) Author - Jim ThorpeJim ThorpeJacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
(1984) Football player - James ThurberJames ThurberJames Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
(1994) Author, illustrator, humorist - Lawrence TibbettLawrence TibbettLawrence Mervil Tibbett was a great American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera company more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950...
(1997) Opera singer - Giambattista Tiepolo (1982) Painter
- Lewis Comfort Tiffany (2007) Designer
- Bill TilghmanBill TilghmanWilliam Matthew "Bill" Tilghman was a lawman in the American Old West.-Early life :Bill Tilghman was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on July 4, 1854. He became a buffalo hunter at age 15 and claimed he killed over 1000 bison over his five years of activity...
(1994) Southwest lawman - Dimitri TiomkinDimitri TiomkinDimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian-born Hollywood film score composer and conductor. He is considered "one of the giants of Hollywood movie music." Musically trained in Russia, he is best known for his westerns, "where his expansive, muscular style had its greatest impact." Tiomkin...
(1999) Composer - Arturo ToscaniniArturo ToscaniniArturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
(1989) Conductor - Pie TraynorPie TraynorHarold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and radio broadcaster. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He batted and threw right-handed...
(2000) Baseball player - William B. T. TregoWilliam B. T. TregoWilliam Brooke Thomas Trego was an American painter best known for his historical military subjects, in particular scenes of the American Revolution and Civil War.- Biography :...
(1976) Painter - Edward Trudeau (2008) Phthisiologist
- Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
(1973) 33rd President - John TrumbullJohn TrumbullJohn Trumbull was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary War and was notable for his historical paintings...
(1927) Painter - Sojourner TruthSojourner TruthSojourner Truth was the self-given name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she...
(1986) Abolitionist - Harriet TubmanHarriet TubmanHarriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross; (1820 – 1913) was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more than 70 slaves...
(1978) Abolitionist - Richard TuckerRichard TuckerRichard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first...
(1997) Tenor - Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
(1940) Author - John TylerJohn TylerJohn Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
(1938) 10th President
V
- Ritchie ValensRitchie ValensRitchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
(1993) Rock and roll musician - Rudolph ValentinoRudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
(1994) Actor - Martin Van BurenMartin Van BurenMartin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
(1938) 8th President - Ludwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
(1982) Architect - James Van Der ZeeJames Van Der ZeeJames Van Der Zee was an African American photographer best known for his portraits of black New Yorkers. He was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Aside from the artistic merits of his work, Van Der Zee produced the most comprehensive documentation of the period...
(2002) Photographer - Vivian VanceVivian VanceVivian Roberta Jones was an American television and theater actress and singer. Often referred to as “TV’s most beloved second banana,” she is best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy...
(2009) Actress - Félix VarelaFélix VarelaFélix Varela y Morales was a notable figure in the Roman Catholic Church in both Cuba and the United States.-Life:Varela was born in Havana, Cuba and died in St. Augustine, Florida, United States...
(1997) Social reformer - Alfred V. VervilleAlfred V. VervilleAlfred Victor Verville was an aviation pioneer and designer who contributed to civilian and military aviation. During his 47 years in the aviation industry, he led the design and development of nearly a dozen commercial and military airplanes...
(1985) Aviation pioneer - Oswald Garrison VillardOswald Garrison VillardOswald Garrison Villard was an American journalist. He provided a rare direct link between the anti-imperialism of the late 19th century and the conservative Old Right of the 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:...
(2009) Civil rights leader - Bartolomeo Vivarini (1999) Painter
- Greta von Nessen (2011) Industrial designer
- John von NeumannJohn von NeumannJohn von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
(2005) Mathematician
W
- Honus WagnerHonus Wagner-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....
(2000) Baseball player - Izannah Walker (1997) Doll designer
- Madam C.J. Walker (1998) Philanthropist
- Mary Edwards WalkerMary Edwards WalkerMary Edwards Walker was an American feminist, abolitionist, prohibitionist, alleged spy, prisoner of war and surgeon. She is the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor....
(1982) Army surgeon
- DeWitt WallaceDeWitt WallaceDeWitt Wallace , also known as William Roy was a United States magazine publisher. He co-founded Reader's Digest with his wife Lila Wallace and published the first issue in 1922.Born in St...
(1998) Publisher - Lila Wallace (1998) Publisher
- Raoul WallenbergRaoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
(1997) Humanitarian - George WaltonGeorge WaltonGeorge Walton signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also served as the second Chief Executive of that state.-Life and work:...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Clara WardClara WardClara Ward was an American gospel artist who achieved great success, both artistic and commercial, in the 1940s and 1950s as leader of The Famous Ward Singers....
(1998) Gospel singer and songwriter - Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
(2002) Painter
- "Pop" WarnerGlenn Scobey WarnerGlenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
(1997) Football coach - Earl WarrenEarl WarrenEarl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
(1992) Chief Justice - Robert Penn WarrenRobert Penn WarrenRobert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...
(2005) Author and poet
- Booker T. WashingtonBooker T. WashingtonBooker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
(1940) Educator - Dinah WashingtonDinah WashingtonDinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
(1993) Blues singer
- George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
(1847) 1st President - John P. WashingtonJohn P. WashingtonJohn P. Washington was a Roman Catholic priest and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the USAT Dorchester during World War II.-Life:Born as one of seven children to Irish immigrants Frank and...
(1948) One of the Four ChaplainsFour ChaplainsThe Four Chaplains, also sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains," were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats... - Martha WashingtonMartha WashingtonMartha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
(1902) First Lady - Ethel WatersEthel WatersEthel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
(1994) Blues singer and actress - Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
(1994) Blues singer, musician, and songwriter - Stand WatieStand WatieStand Watie , also known as Standhope Uwatie, Degataga , meaning “stand firm”), and Isaac S. Watie, was a leader of the Cherokee Nation and a brigadier general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
(1995) Confederate General - Carleton WatkinsCarleton WatkinsCarleton E. Watkins was a noted 19th century California photographer.Carleton Emmons Watkins was born in Oneonta, upstate New York. He went to San Francisco during the gold rush, arriving in 1851...
(2002) Photographer - Franz WaxmanFranz WaxmanFranz Waxman was a German-American composer, known for his bravura Carmen Fantasie for violin and orchestra, based on musical themes from the Bizet opera Carmen, and for his musical scores for films....
(1999) Composer - Anthony WayneAnthony WayneAnthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
(1929) Revolutionary War General - John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
(1990) Actor - Jack WebbJack WebbJohn Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
(2009) Actor
- Daniel WebsterDaniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
(1870) Statesman - Noah WebsterNoah WebsterNoah Webster was an American educator, lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author...
(1958) Author - Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
(1999) Actor/film director
- Ida B. WellsIda B. WellsIda Bell Wells-Barnett was an African American journalist, newspaper editor and, with her husband, newspaper owner Ferdinand L. Barnett, an early leader in the civil rights movement. She documented lynching in the United States, showing how it was often a way to control or punish blacks who...
(1990) Civil Rights advocate, feminist - Benjamin WestBenjamin WestBenjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
(1956) Painter - Joseph WestJoseph West (Governor)Joseph West , was an English ship captain, and an early governor of the Province of Carolina.-Life:Nothing is known of the circumstances of his birth or early years...
(1930) Charleston Governor - Edward WestonEdward WestonEdward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
(2002) Photographer - Clifton R. Wharton, Sr. (2006) Diplomat
- Edith WhartonEdith WhartonEdith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
(1980) Author - Joseph WhartonJoseph WhartonJoseph Wharton was a prominent Philadelphia merchant, industrialist and philanthropist, who was involved in mining, manufacturing and education...
(1981) Wharton School of Business founder - William WhippleWilliam WhippleWilliam Whipple, Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire....
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - James McNeill WhistlerJames McNeill WhistlerJames Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
(1934) Painter - Jon WhitcombJon WhitcombJon Whitcomb was an American illustrator. He was well-known for his pictures of glamorous young women. He was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma and grew up in Manitowoc, Wisconsin...
(2001) Illustrator - Josh WhiteJosh WhiteJoshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
(1998) Folk singer, musician, songwriter, and actor - Minor WhiteMinor WhiteMinor Martin White was an American photographer born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.White earned a degree in botany with a minor in English from the University of Minnesota in 1933. His first creative efforts were in poetry, as he took five years thereafter to complete a sequence of 100 sonnets while...
(2002) Photographer - Paul Dudley WhitePaul Dudley WhitePaul Dudley White , American physician and cardiologist, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the son of Herbert Warren White and Elizabeth Abigail Dudley. White's interest in medicine was sparked early in life, when he accompanied his father, a family practitioner, on rounds and house calls in a...
(1986) Cardiologist - Walter Francis WhiteWalter Francis WhiteWalter Francis White was a civil rights activist who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for almost a quarter of a century and directed a broad program of legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement. He was also a journalist, novelist, and essayist...
(2009) Civil rights leader - William Allen WhiteWilliam Allen WhiteWilliam Allen White was a renowned American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement...
(1948) Newspaper editor - WabokieshiekWabokieshiekWabokieshiek was an important Native American of the Ho-Chunk and Sauk tribes in 19th century Illinois, playing a key role in the Black Hawk War of 1832...
(White Cloud) (1998) Iowa Chief - Walt WhitmanWalt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
(1940) Poet - Eli WhitneyEli WhitneyEli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South...
(1940) Cotton gin inventor - John Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...
(1940) Poet - Hazel Hotchkiss WightmanHazel Hotchkiss WightmanHazel Hotchkiss Wightman was an American tennis player.-Personal life:Wightman was born in Healdsburg, California and married George Wightman of Boston in 1912. She died in Newton, Massachusetts...
(1990) Tennis player - Thornton WilderThornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
(1997) Playwright - Harvey W. WileyHarvey W. WileyHarvey Washington Wiley was a noted chemist best known for his leadership in the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and his subsequent work at the Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories. He was the first commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration...
(1956) Chemist - Charles WilkesCharles WilkesCharles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...
(1988) Antarctic explorer - Roy WilkinsRoy WilkinsRoy Wilkins was a prominent civil rights activist in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins' most notable role was in his leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ....
(2001) Civil Rights advocate - Frances E. Willard (1940) Educator
- Hank Williams (1993) Country singer, musician, and songwriter
- Roger WilliamsRoger Williams (theologian)Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
(1936) Rhode Island co-founder - Tennessee WilliamsTennessee WilliamsThomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
(1995) Playwright - William Williams (Continental Congress) (1976) Declaration of Independence signer
- Thomas WillingThomas WillingThomas Willing was an American merchant and financier and a Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania....
(1976) Continental Congressman - Frances E. Willis (2006) Diplomat
- Wendell WillkieWendell WillkieWendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for the president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal that he thought were inefficient and...
(1992) Statesman - Bob WillsBob WillsJames Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
(1993) Country musician and songwriter - Meredith WillsonMeredith WillsonRobert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
(1999) Composer, playwright - James WilsonJames WilsonJames Wilson was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson was elected twice to the Continental Congress, and was a major force in drafting the United States Constitution...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer - Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
(1925) 28th President - Garry WinograndGarry WinograndGarry Winogrand was a street photographer known for his portrayal of America in the mid-20th century. John Szarkowski called him the central photographer of his generation....
(2002) Photographer - John WitherspoonJohn WitherspoonJohn Witherspoon was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey. As president of the College of New Jersey , he trained many leaders of the early nation and was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signatory - Oliver Wolcott (1976) Declaration of Independence signer
- Thomas WolfeThomas WolfeThomas Clayton Wolfe was a major American novelist of the early 20th century.Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels, plus many short stories, dramatic works and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing...
(2000) Author - Grant WoodGrant WoodGrant DeVolson Wood was an American painter, born four miles east of Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.- Life and career :His family moved to Cedar Rapids after his...
(1996) Painter - Carter G. WoodsonCarter G. WoodsonCarter Godwin Woodson was an African-American historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson was one of the first scholars to study African American history. A founder of Journal of Negro History , Dr...
(1984) Historian - Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
(1965) Architect - Orville Wright (1928) Aviation pioneer
- Richard WrightRichard Wright (author)Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
(2009) Writer - Russel WrightRussel WrightRussel Wright was an American Industrial designer during the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1920s through the 1960s, Russel Wright created a succession of artistically distinctive and commercially successful items that helped bring modern design to the general public.-Designer:Russel...
(2011) Industrial designer - Wilbur Wright (1928) Aviation pioneer
- Newell Convers Wyeth (2001) Illustrator
- George WytheGeorge WytheGeorge Wythe was an American lawyer, a judge, a prominent law professor and "Virginia's foremost classical scholar." He was a teacher and mentor of Thomas Jefferson. Wythe's signature is positioned at the head of the list of seven Virginia signatories on the United States Declaration of Independence...
(1976) Declaration of Independence signer
Y
- Sun Yat-senSun Yat-senSun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
(1961) Chinese revolutionary leader - Alvin C. York (2000) World War I soldier, Medal of Honor recipient
- Ashley Young (2000) Child stamp design contest winner
- Cy YoungCy YoungDenton True "Cy" Young was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. During his 22-year baseball career , he pitched for five different teams. Young was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937...
(2000) Baseball player - Whitney Moore Young (1981) Civil Rights advocate
Quotation
"We cannot put the face of a person on a stamp unless said person is deceased. My suggestion, therefore, is that you drop dead." -- J. Edward DayJ. Edward Day
James Edward Day was an American businessman and political office-holder.Day was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, he studied at University of Chicago, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, and Harvard Law School, receiving high grades...
, Postmaster General, 1962. Day was replying to a request from an individual to be honored with a stamp. The letter was never mailed.
See also
- U.S. Presidents on U.S. postage stampsU.S. Presidents on U.S. postage stampsFor more than 160 years the one subject that has appeared most frequently on the face of U.S. Postage stamps is that of American Presidents. When the U.S. Post Office released its first two postage stamps in 1847, George Washington, along with Benjamin Franklin, were the two subjects depicted on...
- List of United States airmail stamps
- Artists of stamps of the United StatesArtists of stamps of the United StatesThis article lists people whose artwork has been featured on stamps of the United States. For this purpose "featured" is not limited to complete works but includes any identifiable representation of their works. Thus the "Geophysical Year" stamp of 1958 is considered to feature the work of...
- Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
- Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate StatesPostage stamps and postal history of the Confederate StatesThe postage stamps and postal system of the Confederate States of America carried the mail of the Confederacy for a brief period in American history. Early in 1861 when South Carolina territory no longer considered itself part of the Union and demanded that the U.S. Army abandon Fort Sumter, plans...