HistoryWow’s Featured Historical Figure of Note
January 2026
Roman statesman, soldier and writer of virtue, simplicity and wisdom. He condemned the luxury of his time and was nicknamed “the censor”. He became Consul in 195BCE, took part in the defeat of Hannibal at Zama, held command in Sardinia and Spain, and in 191 BCE assisted the Greeks in overthrowing Antiochus III at Thermopolyae.
More at: History
Australian born British philosopher. Was professor of philosophy at the University of Manchester. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college. Alexander was the author of Moral Order and Progress, Art and the Material and many papers on philosophical subjects.
More at: History
Danish king, who became regent in 1784 during the insanity of his father. He succeeded to the throne in 1808. Frederick’s reign was noted for the abolition of feudal serfdom and the prohibition of slave trade in Danish colonies. A liberal constitution was granted in 1831.
More at: History
Japanese printmaker. His series 108 Heroes of the Suikoden depicts the heroes of the Chinese Classic ‘The Water Margin’. Kuniyoshi’s dramatic, innovative style lent itself to warriors and fantasy, but his subjects also include landscapes and cats.
More at: History
December 2021
Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. His fame as a ruler, albeit cruel, saw even Charlemagne send gifts. His generous patronage attracted artists and scholars to his magnificent court. Legend has it he walked in disguise through Bahgdad to seek adventure and learn his subjects’ grievances.
More at: History
French architect. He worked for Louis IX and built the chapel at the palace at Dt Germain-en-Laye (1235-38). His masterpiece was Sainte Chapelle in Paris, designed in the Rayonnant style and consecrated in 1248.
More at: History
Chinese official. He rose to high office under the first emperor of the Tang dynasty, Gaozu, becoming Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In 655 however, he opposed the elevation of Empress Wu Hou, and was dismissed to a provincial post and later banished to Korea.
More at: History
Greek writer. Growing up in Thebes, he was sent to Athens where his writing skill was quickly recognized. A compose of odes, his works concentrate on sporting and religious festivals. He was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the greatest of their lyric poets.
More at: History
Chinese scholar. Originally in the service of the Sui dynasty, he became supervising censor under Emperor Gaozu of Tang. Famous as a calligraphist, he gained such a reputation that envoys were sent from as far afield as Korea to learn his style.
More at: History
November 2021
American social activist. She began campaigning within the temperance movement, from where she became convinced of the need for female suffrage. She regularly toured America campaigning against slavery and for women’s and workers rights.
More at: History
Greek philosopher. Despite only writing one work, his ideas influenced Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Popularly associated with the idea that the only unchanging feature of the universe is its changefulness, he is known as ‘the obscure.’
More at: History
Vietnamese military commander. He helped build up the Vietnamese People’s Army with scant resources. With it he defeated two of the great powers, France and the United States, in the First Indochina War and Vietnam War respectively.
More at: History
Korean student and independence activist. She helped organise protests for Korean Independence from Japan, including the March 1st Movement, before she was arrested and imprisoned in 1920. Here she died at the age of 16 and was later dubbed the Korean ‘Joan of Arc’.
More at: History
October 2021
Shah of Persia. The greatest of the Safavid rulers, he created a professional army and greatly enlarged Persian territory, driving out the Uzbeks and wining land from the Ottoman Turks. He encouraged the arts and trade, granting commerce rights to European merchants.
More at: History
British surgeon and anatomist. In his youth a cabinet maker in Glasgow, he went to London to study surgery. In 1776 he was made surgeon-extraordinary by King George III. He built an anatomical museum in Leicester Square and wrote extensively on venereal diseases.
More at: History
In Greek mythology, one of the Nereids, the wife of Peleus, and Achilles’ mother. It was at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus that Eris, who had been left uninvited, threw into the midst of the gods the golden apple, ultimately causing Troy’s fall.
More at: History
Japanese Samurai and leader of the patriotic movement seeking to overthrow the Tokugowa Shogunate and restore Imperial rule to Japan. He was assassinated aged 33, months before his ambitions were largely fulfilled by the 1868 Meiji Restoration.
More at: History
September 2021
Hawaiian Queen. Her short reign, from 1891 to 1893, was characterized by conflict with the USA, who had enforced a constitution on Hawaii rendering the monarchy almost powerless. Her push for a new political settlement led her to be deposed and arrested by a provisional government. She was the last monarch of Hawaii.
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (1007-1063)Welsh king. He became King of Gywnedd in 1039, and Deheubarth in 1044 and ruled virtually all of Wales by 1055. He began to attack a number of English settlements before eventually being defeated by English forces at Rhuddlan. He was later killed by his own followers.
More at: History
French writer. His work strongly reflects the emerging trends of the late nineteenth century, in particular the desire to reconcile the concepts of pure thought and poetry. In 1901 he was the first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
More at: History
Dictator of Spain between 1792 and 1808. He rose from an obscure guardsman to become a court favorite. At 25 he effectively became the dictator of Spain. He unsuccessfully sought to negotiate with Napoleon the creation of a kingdom in Algarve with him as sovereign.
More at: History
August 2021
Greek writer. He wrote the Historical Library, a general world history in forty installments covering the age of myth to 60 BCE. His work, while extensive, is today considered largely inaccurate and obsessed with the ‘strong man’ of history.
More at: History
Egyptian historian who wrote in Greek a history of the 30 dynasties from mythical times to 323 BCE. Julius Africanus (300 CE) and George Syncellus (800 CE) incorporated some of his writings.
More at: History
Indian poet. A convert to Christianity in 1843, he became known as the ‘Milton of India’ for his introduction of English poetic forms into Bengal. His early poetry was in English, but his later work, such as his most famous poem Meghanadvadh, in 1861, was written in Bengali.
More at: History
First woman MP of the British House of Commons. Born in America she was a member of Parliament for 26 years. A Christian Scientist and temperance advocate she piloted a bill preventing the sale of liquor to persons under the age of 18. Enormously wealthy she was an active political hostess and supporter of appeasement in foreign affairs.
More at: History
July 2021
Romanian statesman and soldier. Chief of the General Staff in the war against Bulgaria in 1913. He was commander of the Romanian army in World War One and was later three times Premier of Romania.
More at: History
US reformer whose campaigns for better conditions in prisons and asylums began in Massachusetts in 1843. It was then extended to the other states and then Europe. During the Civil War she was superintendent of female nurses..
More at: History
English saint. In his early life he acted as a pedlar, pilgrim and sailor, the latter of which likely involved a stint as a pirate. From 1110 and for the rest of his long life, he lived as a hermit in Finchale, near Durham. His life became heavily celebrated in the Middle Ages.
More at: History
Byzantine emperor. The Byzantine, East Roman, Empire was in a state of collapse when Heraclius became emperor in 610. He built up the military and in six years defeated many of his enemies, including the Persians, who had almost captured Byzantine. In the 630s his luck ran out and he was unable to stop new invaders, the Arabs.
More at: History
British explorer. He proved in his 1854 expedition up the Niger and Benue rivers that Europeans could not only penetrate the interior of tropical Africa but also survive it. It opened up much of central Africa to both commerce and religious missionaries.
More at: History
June 2021
Albanian statesman. Born Ahmed Bey Zogu, he formed a republican government in Albania, acting as prime minister from 1922-1924 and then president from 1925-1928. He remarkably proclaimed himself king in 1928 but was forced to flee after the Italian invasion in 1939 and abdicated in 1946. Errol Flynn complained that the exiled king, who was enormously fat, would drop into his French Riviera home uninvited and eat all his Beluga caviar.
More at: History
French chemist. Early in life he served in the army and in 1795 became administrator of Nice. In 1801 he devoted himself to Chemistry and in 1826 succeeded in producing a permanent photographic image on metal, a considerable development in photography.
More at: History
American statesman. A general in the War of 1812, he was for 18 years the Governor of Michigan before his election to the US senate. Secretary of War (1831-1836) and Secretary of State (1857-1860), he twice failed in a bid for the presidency.
More at: History
Greek engineer. He was one of several leading engineers who carried out notable works for Alexander the Great, most notably the building of the new city and port of Alexandria in the Nile delta. Other work included those relating to drainage, irrigation and water supply.
More at: History
May 2021
Mughal Emperor. He was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India and the last of the ‘Great Mughals’. He extended the empire to its farthest boundaries, ruling nearly a quarter of the world’s population, but his reign was harsh and marked by constant revolts.
More at: History
German organic chemist. He did pioneering work on plant pigments, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1915, as well as on medicinal chemicals, developing gas masks in the First World War. Being Jewish, growing anti-Semitism led to his position becoming untenable, and he fled Germany in 1939.
More at: History
Greek playwright. Along with Aristophanes, he best represents the Old Attic comedy style where actors are actors limited to three and sharp personal attacks abound. Of his 21 comedies, only a handful of fragments exist.
More at: History
Swedish historian. He was a parish priest from 1835 to 1847, but thereafter gave himself entirely to literary work at Stockholm. His Narratives from Swedish History (46 volumes, 1832-80), were translated into English in 1844.
More at: History
April 2021
Vietnamese military commander. He helped build up the Vietnamese People’s Army with scant resources. With it he defeated two of the great powers, France and the US, in the First Indochina War and Vietnam War respectively.
More at: History
Korean student and independence activist. She helped organise protests for Korean Independence from Japan, including the March 1st Movement, before she was arrested and imprisoned in 1920. Here she died at the age of 16 and was later dubbed the Korean ‘Joan of Arc’.
More at: History
Russian general. He acted as general for both the Imperial Russian Army and the counter-revolutionary army fighting the Bolsheviks. He is most famous for attempting a military coup against the Russian Government while serving as its commander-in-chief.
More at: History
French intellectual and man of letters, famed for his witty conversations, which made him welcome at the French Court and the Jacobin Club alike. During the Reign of Terror he committed suicide. The gems of his wit are recorded in his uncompleted Maximes et Pensees.
More at: History
Byzantine emperor. The Byzantine (East Roman) Empire was in a state of collapse when Heraclius became emperor in 610. He built up the military and in six years defeated many of his enemies, including the Persians, who had almost captured Byzantine. In the 630s he was unable to stop new invaders, the Arabs.
More at: History
March 2021
Viking king. He united the English and Danish people to become the first ruler since the fall of Rome to rule over all of England. He ruled England through a combination of English and Scandinavian customs.
More at: History
Japanese Buddhist monk. Living during the 13th century Kamakura period in Japan, he argued that the Lotus Sutra contains the essence of the teachings of Gautama Buddha and he advocated this philosophy to his followers. Critical to the established schools of Buddhist thought, he was exiled twice.
More at: History
Italian actress. She rose to fame in Italy, then triumphed throughout Europe, mainly acting in plays by contemporary French playwrights and her lover, Gabriele D’Annunzio. She retired through ill health in 1909, but returned to the stage in 1921 to wide acclaim.
More at: History
English novelist. The author of ‘Our Village’ (1824-32) and five volumes of sketches describing rural life. She also wrote several successful plays, including ‘Julian’ (1823) and ‘Rienzi’ (1828.)
More at: History
February 2021
Goth tribal leader. He achieved rule over the Goths in the 390s, and he formed the Visigoths, a powerful amalgamation of tribes which the Romans could never defeat militarily. His crowning achievement came in 410 when he conquered Rome, the first army to do so in 800 years.
More at: History
Italian anatomist. A pioneer of modern anatomy, he discovered the Eustachian tube in the ear and the Eustachian valve of the heart. Professor of anatomy at Rome, he wrote Opuscula anatomica in 1564, and Tabulae anatomicae in 1714.
More at: History
American biblical scholar. He studied in Germany and became Professor of Theology at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City (1837-1863). In 1838 he conducted pioneering explorations of Palestine and Syria, leading to him being dubbed the father of biblical geography.
More at: History
American Politician. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in early 1931 to complete her late husband’s term. She won election to a full six-year term in 1932 and again in 1938, to become the first women elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right.
More at: History
January 2021
Mexican President. During his administration he revitalized the people’s faith in the revolution by implementing extensive land reforms, expropriating foreign-owned properties, and nationalising the oil industry.
More at: History
American military commander. He surrendered United States troops at Detroit to the British during the War of 1812, dealing a severe blow to the American war effort. A court-martial found Hull guilty of cowardice and neglect of duty.
More at: History
Italian mystic who founded the religious order, the Franciscans. Renowned for his love, simplicity and practice of poverty, he is one of history’s most famous and venerated religious figures.
More at: History
Greek ruler. Tyrant of Corinth, he was the earliest of a series of self-made rulers who emerged in many Greek cities in the 7th and 6th century BCE. He seized power against the narrow oligarchy of the Bacchiads and founded the Cypselid dynasty.
More at: History
December 2020
Pheidippides was a hero of Ancient Greece, whose story has inspired the modern day marathon. Pheidippides was an Athenian herald, or messenger, who ran from Marathon of Athens, a distance of 25 miles, to announce the Greek victory over the Persians, only to then collapse and die.
More at: History
Indian Revolutionary. After facing racial discrimination in the Civil Service, he became a prominent Indian political leader during British rule. He founded the Indian National Association, ‘The Bengali’ newspaper and became a leader in the Indian National Congress.
More at: History
Russian prime minister between 1906 and 1911. He advocated an industrialized Russia and permited the peasantry to work their own individual holdings. He was assassinated by a revolutionary, denying Russia his innovative leadership.
More at: History
Mughal Emperor of India. After conquering most of India, he had ambitions to develop a strong and united empire, in which Muslims and Hindus held parity. He even tried to introduce a religion that combined elements of Hindu and Muslim orthodoxy.
More at: History
British politician, who became earl at the age of 11. From 1784-1751 he was First Lord of the Admiralty. The navy deteriorated under his control and fell into disrepute. He is said to have originated the sandwich as a convenient form of food, to allow him to gamble without interruptions for meals.
More at: History
November 2020
Brazilian revolutionary. He was part of the ‘Inconfidência Mineira’ movement, which sought to achieve Brazilian independence from Portugal. After betrayal by one of his co-conspirators, the plan was discovered and Tiradentes was arrested and hanged. The date of his death is now a public holiday in Brazil.
More at: History
Viking king. He united the English and Danish people to become the first ruler since the fall of Rome to rule over all of England. He ruled England through a combination of English and Scandinavian customs.
More at: History
Japanese warlord. He was the founder of the Tokugawa dynasty of shoguns, seizing power after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Becoming the first shogun in 1603, he relinquished the role two years later but remained in effective power until his death in 1616.
More at: History
Scottish explorer. In 1794 he was appointed by the African Association to explore the Niger. After his first African expedition he produced his book ‘Travels in the Interior of Africa’. In a second expedition in 1803 to Niger with a party of 35 private soldiers the group was struck down by disease leaving only six. He and the remainder of the party subsequently drowned.
More at: History
October 2020
German socialist politician who used speeches and pamphleteering to improve the social and political status of the poor. Wealthy and living lavishly he founded the German Socialist movement. He was killed in a duel.
More at: History
US statesman. After an early career on the frontier, including as governor of Indiana territory, he served in the War of 1812, which saw the defeat of the British at the Battle of the Thames. In 1816 he was elected to Congress, becoming a senator in 1824. He was elected president in 1841 but died of pneumonia a month after his inauguration.
More at: History
Russian journalist and politician and one of the early members of the Bolshevik party and was the editor of the party organ, Pravda. He clashed with Lenin about ending the war prematurely and backed Stalin over Trotsky after Lenin’s passing.
More at: History
Byzantine historian and chronicler of the wars of conquest under the acclaimed General Belisarius during the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian. As official historian he glorified Justinian’s achievements – such as the reoccupation of the Italian peninsula – and also was his trusted legal adviser.
More at: History
Irish Nationalist. He was executed after leading an unsuccessful revolution against British Rule. His youth, passionate oratory, and courage in the face of death made him a symbol of romantic, revolutionary, Irish Nationalism.
More at: History
September 2020
English artist, born in Bradford. He studies at the Slade School and in Paris, won fame as a portrait painter and was principal of the Royal College Art. He was an official war artist in both world wars.
More at: History
German composer. His music is some of the most performed of the classical music repertoire. Remarkably, he continued to compose music despite his gradual loss of hearing.
More at: History
English social reformer, statistician and nurse. Nightingale came to public attention during the Crimean War (1853-1856), when she organised care for wounded soldiers. She is known as ‘the lady with the lamp’ due to her night-time rounds tending to the sick and wounded.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)Austrian philosopher. Wittgenstein is renowned for his intellect, working primarily in logic and the philosophy of language. During his lifetime he published just one slim book – the 75-page Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus – regarded as one of the most important texts of modern philosophy.
August 2020
Greek General. Kolokotronis led the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) against the Ottoman Empire. His greatest success was at the Battle of Dervenakia in 1822 and was later appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in Peloponnese.
More at: History
Chinese polymath and statesman. Shen Kuo was a renowned mathematician and astronomer, but his work included meteorology, geology, entomology, anatomy, zoology and botany. Shen first described the magnetic needle compass, vital for navigation.
More at: History
Bolivian military leader. She fought for independence during the 1809 Chuquisaca Revolution attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a statue of Azurduy replaced one of Christopher Columbus.
More at: History
Russian born chemist and Israeli statesman. A distinguished scientist, he became a British subject in 1910, developing a synthetic acetone that aided explosives production. He participated in the negotiations for a Jewish homeland that resulted in the 1917 Balfour Declaration and became the first president of Israel between 1949 and 1952.
More at: History
July 2020
French painter. After studying with Poussin, he settled in Paris in 1646 and gained a widespread reputation for his decorative murals, such as the ceiling of the gallery of the Hotel Lambert. His tapestry designs, between 1663 and 1675, include ‘Louis XIV visiting the Gobelins’ created in 1673.
More at: History
English Whig statesman. Entering parliament aged 19 he soon acquired a reputation for being a formidable orator. He served in various administrations and strongly opposed the wars against the American and French revolutionaries. He was also a vigorous opponent of the slave trade.
More at: History
English painter. Mainly self-taught, he established his reputation aged 20 with a commissioned portrait of Queen Charlotte in 1789. He soon became the leading portraitist of his time, succeeding Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1792.
More at: History
English essayist and critic, noted for his flowery, ornate prose style, described by Oscar Wilde as ‘the unholy writ of beauty’. His 1873 essay on Leonardo da Vinci in ‘Studies in the History of the Renaissance’ includes his famous description of the Mona Lisa as ‘older than the rocks among whom she sits.’
More at: History
American film comedian. He made hundreds of short silent films, in which he played a bemused, bespectacled everyday young man getting into difficult situations, often involving scarifying stunts on high buildings. An example was the 1923 Safety Last which has the famous sequence of him dangling from a clock face.
More at: History
June 2020
German astronomer. In 1846 at the Berlin observatory he discovered the planet Neptune, evidence of which had been passed to him by Urbain Le Verrier (1811-1877). Neptune’s discovery was considered an exciting validation of new theories of celestial mechanics.
More at: History
French philosopher. Descartes questioned Aristotelian philosophy, using human reason to deduct the truth. This development became a fundamental aspect of the Enlightenment and as a result, Descartes is often considered the founder of modern philosophy.
More at: History
French theorist. He served in the American War of Independence (1775-1783), profited heavily during the French Revolution and subsequently lost most of his wealth. He founded Saint-Simonianism, a utopian socialist movement that advocated true equality for all citizens.
More at: History
British nurse. After training as a nurse and serving at Royal London Hospital, Cavell moved to Brussels to teach. She is known for her wartime heroism in helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium during the First World War (1914-1918), for which she was executed.
More at: History
May 2020
French queen. Inheriting a vast estate aged 15, she became a highly sought-after bride and skilfully rose to become queen consort of France and later England. One of the most powerful women in Europe during her lifetime, her sons Richard and John were English kings.
More at: History
Indian ruler. A member of the Maurya dynasty, he ruled much of the Indian subcontinent from 269 to 232 BCE. Despite early conquests, warfare later led him to embrace Buddhism, which he sought to spread for the rest of his reign. Annals laud his wisdom, generosity and commitment to peace.
More at: History
American Union admiral. A midshipman aged just 11 and a prize master, no less, of a captured British Ship at 12, Farragut found success and glory during the American Civil War, where he led the New Orleans expedition and later captured the town of Mobile. He was promoted admiral in 1866, the first to hold the rank in the US Navy.
More at: History
Dutch-born English painter. He settled in England around 1643. His early works were landscapes and historical paintings, but he soon turned to portrait painting, in which he was greatly influenced by van Dyck. He painted most of the court of Charles II, in works such as The Windsor Beauties and Maids of Honour. He was knighted in 1680.
More at: History
April 2020
English novelist and dramatist. His plays, which are realistic dramas attacking social injustices, include Strife in 1909 and Justice the following year. Public controversy over the latter resulted in prison reform in the UK. His novels include The Forsyte Saga trilogy, which was made into television series on more than one occasion.
More at: History
American novelist. Like Raymond Chandler, he wrote realistic crime novels based on his own experience as a Pinkerton detective. His best known works are The Maltese Falcon in 1930, made into a famous Hollywood movie starring Humphrey Bogart and The Thin Man in 1932.
More at: History
English Restoration dramatist, classically educated and well connected, his life would have been essentially of little note but for one seminal work he produced, the great tragedy, Venice Preserved, published in 1682. It was discussed extensively in London salons and beyond for its penetrating study of treason and loyalty.
More at: History
Italian Pope. As papal envoy to France he showed his diplomatic ability and was created cardinal in 1606. As pope, his fear of the Habsburgs led him to support Richelieu (1585-1642) and the German Protestants in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648).
More at: History
Carthaginian general and statesman. A leading figure in the First Punic War (264-241 BCE), his daring and intelligent command helped firmly establish Carthaginian rule in Spain. He was the father of Hannibal (247 – 183 BCE), who successfully led forces in the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE).
More at: History
March 2020
Egyptian pharaoh. An Egyptian queen of the Eighteenth dynasty, she skillfully usurped the throne after her husband’s death and held effective power for over 20 years. She is considered one of the most accomplished pharaohs.
More at: History
American composer. He studied music in New York City and Heidelberg, and wrote about 1,000 songs, many included in other productions. He composed several musicals, notably Showboat (1927), to lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960).
More at: History
Roman emperor. He successfully saved the empire from destruction after the Battle of Hadrianople (378 CE), banned all pagan practices in 391 CE and split the empire between two of his sons. He was the last emperor to rule over both the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire.
More at: History
Japanese general. He led the conquest of Singapore in 1942 and conducted the Philippines campaign. His success was ended by a counterattack of US forces under General Douglas MacArthur, by whom he was captured and hanged.
More at: History
February 2020
Anglo-Irish explorer. He served in Robert Scott’s Antarctic expedition, being invalided home in 1903. He commanded two further expeditions in 1908 and 1909 and 1914 to 1916, with one his teams discovering the south magnetic pole in 1909. He died in South Georgia preparing for a fourth expedition.
More at: History
American novelist. She wrote several novels, however the one she is remembered for is her great anti-slavery work Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or, Life Among the Lowly published in 1852. The novel created a sensation and has been described as a factor leading to the American Civil War. Britain’s Queen Victoria was said to have cried when she read it.
More at: History
Danish theologian and philosopher. Regarded as the founder of existentialism, he rejected the spiritual authority of organised religion and emphasized the centrality of individual choice. His highly influential works include Either/Or published in 1843 and The Concept of Dread published in 1844.
More at: History
Spanish painter. From 1568 he was court painter to Philip II of Spain. An illness as a child caused hearing loss, but at a very early age he began to express his wants by sketching objects with charcoal. Out of the naturalist Spanish tradition he evolved a unique style reflecting the monumentalism heroism of his Italian training. His subsequent works, notably The Burial of St Lawrence in 1579, are a forerunner of the chiaroscuro format and style of Caravaggio.
More at: History
January 2020
Dutch painter. He lived in Paris from 1909, where he was influenced by the Cubists and Fauvista, particularly Matisse. He developed a style of painting based on grids of lines against strong colours, such as his 1929 work Composition in Yellow and Blue. His co-founded the De Stijl group of Dutch artists.
More at: History
Italian composer. Court musician to the Duke of Mantua from 1590 to 1612, he became master of the chapel of St Marks in Venice, where he remained until he died. His works include the operas Orfeo in 1607, The Coronation of Poppea in 1642 and Vespers in 1610.
More at: History
Spanish priest. A Dominican monk, he became confessor to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. He used his influence to convince them to institute the Spanish Inquisition in 1478, a significant disruption that, among other things, led to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
More at: History
German dramatist. His plays were immensely popular in both Britain and Germany, though critics were less favorable. He also served as a diplomat in Russian and Germany. He was a political informant to Tsar Alexander I, and was assassinated by the Germans in 1819.
More at: History
Assyrian king. His reign was marked by expansion and the conquering of neighboring lands. According to tradition, his greatest victory came when he defeated an alliance of Syrian Kings and the king of Israel in a Battle at Qarqar on the Orontes in 853 BCE.
More at: History
December 2019
Canadian statesman. He was a cabinet minister and premier of his home state of New Brunswick before confederation. He later held two major federal portfolios, and is considered one of the fathers of Canadian confederation.
More at: History
Japanese artist. One of the greatest masters of the Ukioy-e school of Japanese wood-block printing, he excelled in the portrayal of Japanese women, especially those in Edo’s (Tokyo’s) red light district. Many consider him the greatest Japanese printmaker.
More at: History
American physicist. His electrical inventions included the first electro-magnetic motor, developed in 1829. He was the first secretary and director of the Smithsonian Institution, and the “Henry” unit of inductance is named after him.
More at: History
Norwegian explorer, scientist and statesman. He crossed Greenland in 1888 and 1889 and almost reached the North Pole in 1895, achieving a record latitude. He thereafter set up oceanographic expeditions and was appointed commissioner for refugees in the early 1920s by the United Nations. In 1922 he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his humanitarian work.
More at: History
November 2019
Austrian zoologist and ethnologist who discovered that bees communicate information on food sources and direction by ‘dancing’ and that they orientate themselves by the direction of light. He shared the 1973 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine with Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen.
More at: History
American naturalist. He was an early advocate of the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America and was influential in establishing four national parks. His writings became the impetus for the modern environmentalist movement, and he was dubbed “John of the Mountains”.
More at: History
Chinese general. He is traditionally considered the author of “The Art of War”, a Chinese military treatise that has been hugely influential in the development of military thinking in both East and West. Some question whether he existed, or whether he was in fact a legendary historical figure.
More at: History
October 2019
American humourist. He poked fun at America’s political class, notably at President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). Dunne’s sketches became so influential that they were often seen as a snapshot of public opinion and were regularly disseminated at White House cabinet meetings.
More at: History
Spanish scholar. He travelled Europe acquiring books for his library, which at its peak had approaching 20,000 volumes, one of the largest collections ever seen. He was the second son of Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), and his work was aided by income from his father’s estate.
More at: History
American statesman. He served as secretary of war and secretary of state under President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). He helped modernise the American military after the Spanish-American War and tempered Roosevelt’s more explosive tendencies while at the at the State department.
More at: History
French writer. A lawyer briefly exiled during the French Revolution, Brilliat-Savarin settled in Paris where he served as a high court judge. He subsequently devoted much of his time to writing about food, principally through his “The Physiology of Taste”. Published in 1825, it is one of the most famous culinary books ever written. He was also famous for coining the phrase, “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.”
More at: History
French philosopher, born in Dijon. Professor at Aix-Marseille, he formulated an idiosyncratic philosophy of action, combining aspects of pragmatism, neo-Platonism and Christianity. His main works are L’action (1893), L’Illusion idealliste (1898), La Pensee (1934) and Exigences philosophiques du Christianisme (1950).
More at: History
September 2019
German-born Austrian botanist, born in Rostock. He emigrated to Australia in 1847 and was director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens from 1857 to 1873. He introduced the blue gum tree into America, Europe and Africa, but is chiefly remembered for his many publications describing new species of Australian plants.
More at: History
Greek philosopher and mythographer, probably from Messene in Sicily. He wrote Sacred History, which ‘euhemerfized’ Greek mythology by explaining the gods as distorted representations of warriors and heroes from remote history.
More at: History
German poet, born in Czatad in Hungary. He studied law and medicine in Vienna. He suffered from an extreme melancholy and in 1844 became insane, dying in an asylum near Vienna. His poetic power is best known in his short lyrics. His longer pieces include Faust (1836), Savonarola (1837) and Die Albigenser (1842). His full name was Nikolaus Niembsch von Streblenau.
More at: History
Austrian pathologist. He discovered the A, B and C types of human blood and a system of blood typing that was required to make blood transfusions possible. He was awarded the Nobel prize for physiology of medicine in 1930 and is considered the father of transfusion medicine.
More at: History
August 2019
Chinese political philosopher. He was the leader of the ‘Hundred Days’ Reform movement of 1898, aimed at creating a constitutional monarchy. He was later a rival of Sun Yat-sen (1866-1922) and wrote heavily, including on concepts surrounding Confucianism and constitutional monarchy.
More at: History
American bio-mathematician. He studied at European and American universities and became an actuary. He published major studies on the mathematical implications of biological and social change, such as ageing and population growth, and in one study anticipated anthropogenic climate change.
More at: History
German Author. He achieved widespread fame in the 1920s for his historical novels, “The Ugly Duchess” (1923) and “Jew Sὓss” (1925), in which he employed a pioneering realistic technique. He left Germany in 1933, was arrested by the Nazis in 1940, but made a daring escape to the US.
More at: History
French surgeon. He was surgeon to all French kings from Francois I to Charles IX. He is known for his pioneering approach to dressing and treating wounds, and for advocacy for the specialised role of nursing. For these innovations and others, he has been dubbed the ‘father of modern surgery’.
More at: History
Italian lyric and narrative poet, born near Trento. Court poet to the House of Savoy, he became a deputy to the Italian Parliament in 1862 and a senator 14 years later. His lyrics, which fill several volumes, include Canti litici and Canti del popolo.
More at: History
July 2019
English author and publisher, born in Windsor. From journalism, as publisher of the Windsor and Eton Express for some ten years, he turned to publishing popular editions of serious literature such as Pictorial Shakespeare and Popular History of England and cheap references such as the Penny Cyclopaedia. From 1860 he published The London Gazette.
More at: History
English publisher and philanthropist, born in Gloucester. In 1757 he succeeded his father as proprietor of the Gloucester Journal. In 1780 he started a Sunday school for children, which became the forerunner of the present system.
More at: History
Austrian composer and conductor. Forming a link between romanticism and the experimentalism of Schoenberg, his work includes nine complete symphonies (1888-1910). While he achieved great contemporary fame as a conductor, his compositions were also performed.
More at: History
Iraqi Muslim mathematician. Alhazen constructed what modern mathematicians call the “strong Hilbert axiom of parallels”, one of his lasting contributions to the discipline of geometry.
More at: History
June 2019
Swedish botanist. The most prolific botanical collector of his time. Thunberg harvested plants in Japan, Java and Ceylon and made three expeditions to the interior of Southern Africa.
More at: History
British military commander. The third son of King George II. He gained great notoriety for the severity of his suppression of the Jacobite clans in the aftermath of his victory at the Battle of Culloden (1746). For this, he was dubbed ‘the Butcher’.
More at: History
Russian statesman. A Tsarist loyalist, Rodzianko tried to persuade Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918) to introduce essential reforms to head off the threat of revolution. Nicholas ignored these, however, and Rodzianko himself played a key role in the February Revolution of 1917.
More at: History
American poet. He published only two volumes of poetry in his short lifetime, White Buildings (1926) and The Bridge (1930), though they were enough to bring him substantial recognition. In 1932 he committed suicide by leaping from a passenger ship.
More at: History
May 2019
German orientalist, born in Luneberg. He became professor of oriental languages at Bonn in 1819. His reputation rests on his Lexicon Arabico-Latinum (1830-1837) and works on Arabic literature and history.
More at: History
Scottish anthropologist, author of The Golden Bough in 1890, a pioneer study of the origins of religion and sociology on a comparative basis. It exerted considerable influence on writers such as T S Eliot and D H Lawrence, but by the standards of modern anthropology, many of its methods and findings are specious.
More at: History
French chemist. He was the first to state the principal of constant composition of compounds – that compounds consist of the same proportions of elements wherever found. His father was as an apothecary in Angers. Joseph studied chemistry in his father’s shop and later came to Paris where, aside from teaching chemistry, he became apothecary in chief at Paris’ famous, or infamous, Salpêtrière hospital.
More at: History
Scottish King. King from 1058-1093, he established the Canmore dynasty, which ruled Scotland for over two hundred years. His reign was marked by the introduction of English culture and influences into Scotland.
More at: History
American statesman. A key proponent of the U.S. Constitution, he was a leading economic thinker in the early years of the United States and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury. He was killed in a duel by Vice President Aaron Burr (1756-1836).
More at: History
April 2019
Sultan of Oman and Zanzibar. He inherited the throne aged 15 amidst a perilous position. Said however skilfully combined diplomacy and arms to create a vast Indian Ocean empire, rooted in trade with the world economy and thriving on commerce.
More at: History
Egyptian pharaoh. He led Egypt for almost 54 years, though for the first 22 he co-ruled. He expanded the borders and territory of Egypt to the largest ever seen through seventeen military campaigns. He is considered by some the greatest ever pharaoh.
More at: History
Chinese scholar. He rose to one of the highest government positions in the Ming dynasty and pioneered the introduction of Western science and technology into China. He was also a high-profile Christian convert and became a key leader in Chinese Catholicism.
More at: History
American politician. A Virginian planter and American founding father, he became famous for his fiery speeches in favour of American Independence. His most famous quote was “give me liberty or give me death!”
More at: History
March 2019
Danish cartographer and explorer, also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering, who discovered a north-east passage into the Pacific in 1728 through the strait that bears his name. He worked for many years in Russian service and was an officer in the Russian navy.
More at: History
Swiss educator who advocated Rousseau’s ‘natural’ principles (of natural development and the power of example) and described his own theories in Wie Gertrude ihre Kinder lehrt (How Gertrude Teachers her Children) in 1801. He stressed the importance of mother and home in a child’s education.
More at: History
Dutch historian. Despite never holding a university post, van Leur made a significant contribution to histography by criticising the writing of history purely through European eyes. He was killed aged 34 at the battle of Java Sea.
More at: History
Japanese statesman. He played a key role in bringing about the Meiji restoration of 1868, notably arranging for the seizure of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. He is perhaps best known as the leader of a two-year mission of government leaders to the West (the Iwakura Mission).
More at: History
February 2019
Greek mathematician. A renowned polymath, he became the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. He is best known for being the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth, as well as his significant contributions to the practice and terminology of geography.
More at: History
British general. Serving during the First World War (1914-1918), he saw action on the Western Front before postings in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, where he conquered Baghdad. He was known for his highly successful aggressive style. He died of cholera in 1917.
More at: History
Pawtuxet American guide. He aided the Pilgrims in the fledgling Plymouth Colony in 1621, acting as an interpreter and advising on planting and fishing. Squanto’s assistance was vital to the early survival of the colony.
More at: History
Roman noble. Through alliances, including three marriages, she was integral to the papal politics of her age. She arranged the deposition of Pope John X (?–928 CE), her mother’s lover, and the election of her own son Pope John XI (910-935 CE). She died in prison.
More at: History
January 2019
English general and dramatist. In the American War of Independence, when he was sent to lead an army from Canada against the insurgents of the south, he was severely reprimanded for his surrender at Saratoga in 1777. He wrote several successful plays including The ‘Maid of the Oaks’ and ‘The Heiress’.
More at: History
French flower painter patronized by Empress Josephine and the Bourbon court. He taught flower drawing at the Museum of Natural History in Paris and produced volumes of delicate, highly detailed flowers, notably Les Roses between 1817 and 1824.
More at: History
American merchant. His father was Ashanti while his mother was Aquinnah Wampanoag. He was active in the Massachusetts campaign for civil rights for both African Americans and Native Americans, while he also pioneered the attempts to settle free slaves in West Africa.
More at: History
Austrian composer. Best known as a conductor during his lifetime, he introduced compositional innovations that had a profound influence on the next generation, especially the Viennese school. He also set a new standard for operatic production.
More at: History
English clergyman. His career began with a conversion to Roman Catholicism and ended as Anglican chaplain to King James I and VI. In-between he spent time imprisoned at the Tower of London, was excommunicated and had his work denounced by Rome.
More at: History
December 2018
Roman general. His military reforms and successful fighting campaigns led to the growing involvement of the army in Roman politics, to the extent that he could be described as a popular politician. This arguably led to the downfall of republican Rome.
More at: History
Belgian physicist. An imaginative researcher and engineer, he explored both the depths of the sea and the stratosphere in vessels he designed himself. He used a balloon to study cosmic rays and later developed a navigable diving vessel to reach great ocean depths.
More at: History
Muslim sultan. He was the first sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, in modern day eastern Iran and Afghanistan. A fervent Sunni, he plundered India seventeen times and used the financial gains to make Ghazni a center of Perso-Islamic civilization.
More at: History
Japanese warrior and politician who played a key role in the unification of Japan and the banning of Christianity. He led the invasion of Korea in 1592 and assisted Toyotomi Hideoyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyaso in unifying the country.
More at: History
November 2018
Greek philosopher from Elis, a painter in his youth, he founded Scepticism. Pyrrho asserted that since certainty was impossible, peace of mind lay in renouncing all claims to knowledge.
More at: History
An English physician, born in Staffordshire. He practised in London and invented James’s fever powders, which were popular from the 18th through into the 20th century. The powder was claimed to cure fevers and other illnesses from gout and scurvy to, no less, distemper in cattle. It was given to Britain’s King George III for his cataracts, rheumatism and dementia. James also produced a Medical Dictionary in 1743.
More at: History
Japanese military and political leader and the initiator of Japan’s first political party the Jiyuto. A participant in the overthrow of the Toku shogunate, Itagaki became a prime advocate of democracy while continuing to regularly serve in the government.
More at: History
Ruler of North India Circa 321 – 297 BCE. Founder of the Maurya dynasty. He overthrew the Nanda dynasty in 325 and then conquered the Punjab in 322 after the death of Alexander the Great, expanding his empire west to Persia. He is credited with having united most of India.
More at: History
French architect, designer and decorator. The leading French exponent of Art Nouveau, his most familiar works are the cast iron plant decorations for the Pars Metro (1898-1901), a style which has been retained. Guimard also designed apartment buildings and the staircase of the Grand Palais, Paris.
More at: History
October 2018
Emperor of Ethiopia between 1913 and 1916. In 1916 he was converted from Christianity to Islam, whereupon the Ethiopian nobles, led by his cousin, the future ‘Haile Selassie’ revolted. Lij Yasu was then deposed and imprisoned.
More at: History
New Zealand surgeon. While working for the Royal Air Force, he developed advanced techniques for treating burns and disfigurements. He was also concerned with pilots’ mental health and successfully lobbied for changes to regulations as to when airmen could be invalided out of the service.
More at: History
Russian writer. Tolstoy is one of the most influential authors in history, renowned for his epic novels including War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). Later he became an influential philosopher and developer of the ideals of Christian pacifism.
More at: History
German scientist. A pioneering chemist, Fischer synthesised many products to show their constituent parts and developed the Fischer esterification and the Fischer projection. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902 for his research into the purine and sugar synthesis.
More at: History
September 2018
Soviet spy. One of the most successful spies in history, Sorge operated for five years in Tokyo without being detected. During this time, he sent Moscow accurate and timely details of almost all intended major Japanese and German military and diplomatic decisions.
More at: History
Italian sculptor. A pioneer of the Roman baroque style, during his long career he completed several famed works, many with connections to the papacy. His most famous piece was the embellishments of St. Peter’s Basilica.
More at: History
British social reformer. She was a Quaker and leader in the campaign for prison reform. Fry highlighted the unsanitary and squalid conditions in prisons and made a significant contribution to reforming legislation. Her success led to her nickname the “Angel of Prisons.”
More at: History
Athenian murderer, who with Aristogeiton in 514 BCE murdered Hipparchus, a member of the ruling class of Athens, and younger brother of the tyrant Hippias. The pair meant to kill Hippias also, but Harmodius was cut down, while Aristogeiton, who fled, was later captured and put to the death. Ironically, the two were later heralded as patriotic martyrs and received divine honours.
More at: History
August 2018
French caricaturist and book illustrator, born in Nancy. As a contributor to periodicals such as Le Charivari and La Caricature, he made his reputation with satirical lithographs of public figures in animal forms and fantastic humorous sketches. He also illustrated editions of La Fontainie and Swift. He died in a lunatic asylum near Paris.
More at: History
Roman emperor. He saved the empire from destruction after the Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE. He made Nicene Christianity the state church and banned all pagan practices. He split the empire between his sons and was the last Emperor to rule both the eastern and western halves.
More at: History
American statesman. Despite never having held national office, he was elected vice president of the United States in 1897, serving under William McKinley (1843-1901). He was a popular and influential figure, dubbed “the Assistant President” by the Washington press.
More at: History
French Jewish army officer. In 1894, he was falsely accused of providing military secrets to the Germans. His trial and imprisonment caused a major political crisis in France and he was not fully exonerated until 1906.
More at: History
July 2018
British engineer. He began his career as a boy apprentice to a stonemason and rose to design a number of roads, canals and bridges, including the Menai Suspension Bridge. At his peak he was the most revered engineer in the world, known as the “The Colossus of Roads.”
More at: History
Roman emperor. He saved the empire from destruction after the Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE. He made Nicene Christianity the state church and banned all pagan practices. He split the empire between his sons and was the last Emperor to rule both the eastern and western halves.
More at: History
These were three young artists – Dante Gabriel Rosetti, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millias – who were disconcerted with the state of British paintings at the Royal Academy, where they studied. They decided to establish a movement to bring a moral seriousness into art, in contrast to the pretentiousness and triviality they perceived in Victorian art.
More at: History
Italian sculptor. He was a pioneer of scientific perspective, and is especially famous for his lifelike sculptures, including the bronze David (1430-1460). He was also known by contemporaries for his creation of architecture reliefs.
More at: History
June 2018
Japanese admiral. He fought in the Meiji Restoration and rose through the ranks of the Imperial Japanese navy. His masterminded the Japanese victory over the Russians at the Battle of Tsushima (1905), which led to him being dubbed the ‘Nelson of the East’.
More at: History
Persian philosopher. His philosophical system, drawing on Aristotle but in many ways closer to Neo-Platonism, was essential for the development of scholasticism. He also wrote “Canon of Medicine”, an influential medieval medical text.
More at: History
Chinese statesman. He was a leading scholar-official and reformer in the late Qing era. His suppression of the opium trade in Canton started the First Opium War (18439-1842), for which he was blamed for its disastrous outcome.
More at: History
Dutch explorer. He spent most of his career sailing for the Dutch East India Company, charting much of the Indian and South Pacific Oceans, circumnavigating Australia and mapping the New Zealand coastline. Present day Tasmania, Australia, is named for him.
More at: History
May 2018
Syrian Pope. His reign was marked by continued debates on the role of icons in the Byzantine Empire. He is known for being the last pope born outside of Europe until the current pope, Francis, over 1,200 years later.
More at: History
German-born Russian soldier, born in Silesia. He joined the Russian army in 1801, and was a major-general in the campaigns of 1805 and 1812-14. In the Russo-Turkish war of1928-29, he won the surname of Sabalkanski (crosser of the Balkans), and was promoted field marshal. He died of cholera while suppressing the Polish insurrection of 1830-31.
More at: History
African-American activist. She escaped slavery aged 29 and devoted her life to the abolitionist cause. She risked her life to lead hundreds of enslaved people to freedom as a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad, and later spied for the union during the American Civil War (1861-1865).
More at: History
Irish republican. From a wealthy family, she joined the Irish Citizen Army in the Easter Rebellion (1916). Originally sentenced to death for her role in the revolt, this was commuted because of her sex. She became the first woman elected to the British Parliament but did not take her seat.
More at: History
German boxer. He was world heavyweight champion from 1930 to 1932, the first European to hold the title. He defeated the heavily favoured Joe Louis in 1936 but lost the rematch in 1938. The 1938 fight became a stage for international politics, with both Hitler and Roosevelt involved.
More at: History
April 2018
Korean king. A scholar, Sejong promoted cultural, economic and scientific research within Joseon-dynasty Korea. Most famously he created and spread the Korean alphabet Hangul. The lasting benefits of his rule led to him received the appellation “the Great”.
More at: History
French writer and poet. A key figure in the Romantic Movement, he penned hugely successful works such as the Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862). He is considered to be among the most famous French writers.
More at: History
British chemist. An attendee of the Royal College of Chemistry in London, he is best known for his cathode-ray studies, fundamental in the development of atomic physics. In later life he caused controversy by investigating the scientific basis of spiritualism.
More at: History
French poet. At the court of King Francois I and his sister Margaret of Navarre, Marot gained favour by stylish and witty satires, elegies, rondeaux and ballads. His translation of the Psalms, however, brought upon him criticism from Sorbonne University. After a life of vicissitudes, he died as an exile in Turin. In literary history, he spans Medieval and Renaissance writing styles.
More at: History
March 2018
Korean king. He ruled the state of Joseon, the equivalent of modern day Korea, from 1418 until his death. The achievements under his rule were unparalleled, with major improvements in military capacity, land law and criminal justice. He even published agricultural books on improving crop yields.
More at: History
Peruvian indigenous leader. Born José Gabriel Condorcanqui, he maintained he was a descendant of the last Inca leader Tupac Amaru. Drawing on years of resentment, he led an indigenous uprising against Spanish rule, for which he was captured and executed.
More at: History
Dutch statesman. He held a number of colonial roles, including Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1830–1833), and Minister of Colonies (1834–1840). He introduced several key reforms, including the introduction of the Dutch Constitution to the West Indies.
More at: History
Egyptian ruler. The founder of modern Egypt, he transformed the country from an inactive province of the Ottoman Empire to a major power of its time. Through his military campaigns he created a large state and threatened many European powers.
More at: History
Persian poet. The most renowned Persian mystical poet, his voluminous verses and tales of his narrative poem Mathnawi have been translated into all major languages. He was a noted Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic.
More at: History
February 2018
British statesman. The illegitimate son of a labourer and house maid, he rose to become the first Labour Party politician to become prime minister in 1924. His later decision in 1931 to lead a coalition government was considered a betrayal by many in his party.
More at: History
British admiral. He is known for his voyage around the world between 1740 and 1744. After this he began a second career of naval administration, his work enabling the victories of the Seven Years War (1756-1763). He was the most important naval figure of his time.
More at: History
Roman emperor. Emperor from 98 to 117 AD, he oversaw the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to reach it’s largest ever size at the time of his death. His reign saw extensive building programs, notably Trajan’s Market and Trajan’s Column in Rome.
More at: History
French naturalist and zoologist, born in Bruges, of an English father. He studied medicine at Paris and became a professor at the Fardin des Plantes. He wrote famous treatises on crustea, corals and other aspects of the marine history of the French coast and that of Sicily.
More at: History
January 2018
French actress, born near Chalons. She made her first appearance at the Comedie Francais in 1717, and soon after became famous for her acting, and her admirers, including Marshal de Saxe, Voltaire and Lord Peterborough. Some attributed her death to poisoning by a rival. This is the plot of the play by Scribe and Legouve.
More at: History
American artist and interior decorator. A leading exponent of American art nouveau, he established a decorating firm in New York that produced stained glass, vases, lamps and mosaic. He was the first design director at his father’s firm, Tiffany & Co.
More at: History
English mystic. She is said to have lived as a recluse outside Saint Julian’s Church, Norwich. She is best known for Revelations of Divine Love (1393), a description of a series of visions she had in which is described the Holy Trinity as Father, Mother and Lord.
More at: History
American outlaw. Orphaned at 14, he killed for the first time aged 18. He was involved in New Mexico’s Lincoln County Wars and became a skilled marksman and famous outlaw. Sentenced to hang in 1881, he escaped and went on the run for a further two months before being killed.
More at: History
December 2017
American politician. He served as a Revolutionary War commander, second in command to George Washington. Later he was a member of the Continental Congress (1780-1782) and the U.S. House of Representatives (1791-1795).
More at: History
British poet. He gave up a career in medicine to pursue poetry, producing some of the most sublime odes in English language. A skilled letter writer and theorist, he had a famous romance with Fanny Brawne that was only discovered in 1878. He died of tuberculosis aged just 25.
More at: History
Roman emperor. His reign was noted for the restoration of order after Caligula’s decadence and for the expansion of the empire, principally the invasion of Britain in 43 CE. His fourth wife, Agrippina, is said to have poisoned him.
More at: History
The first recorded king of the Burgundians, also known as Gunther and Gunnar. He is said to have crossed the middle Rhine and established a new kingdom with his capital in the region of Worms. He was an ally of the Romans, but was killed when his army was annihilated by the Huns.
More at: History
November 2017
Dutch artist. Believed to have studied under Rubens before settling in England in 1618. He worked for King James I and under Charles I held a court appointment. His portraits are mostly of the nobility. For example Charles I and the Ist Duke of Hamilton, in a natural and informal style, both of which are on show today at London’s National Gallery.
More at: History
English engineer and musician. Born in Birmingham, he became professor of engineering at Bombay, at University College, London, and consulting engineer in London for the imperial railways in Japan. He was also an authority on music and, no less, whist, the classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries.
More at: History
Italian Pope. Born Felice Perreti, he possessed a sharp intellect and was renowned for his drive and energy. Serving as Pope from 1585 till he death, he left a major impression on the internal organisation of the Church and the physical character of Rome.
More at: History
American physician. After completing a medical degree at the University of Glasgow, he became the first African-American to practice medicine in the United States. He is remembered for his successful medical research and for his scholarly writings against slavery.
More at: History
Chinese philosopher. A key figure in the Ming Dynasty, he led the revolt against the orthodox Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi (1130-1200). He founded the Yangming school, which later came to dominate Chinese thought.
More at: History
October 2017
German-American banker. After a successful career in German and American banking, Warburg became a banking theorist and acted as spokesman for the large bankers of America. He favoured a centralised banking system, a concept that was the foundation for the Federal Reserve.
More at: History
American reformer. Born into a family of Congregationalist ministers, he became a passionate abolitionist and co-wrote the landmark compendium “American Slavery As It Is.” He was one of the most influential leaders in the early phases of the abolitionist movement.
More at: History
German knight. Born into an aristocratic family, he rose to become the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (1210-1239). Charismatic and popular, his advanced combat and diplomatic skills enabled the Teutonic Knights to achieve significant power after many years of decline.
More at: History
U.S. Republican politician and jurist. Trained as a lawyer, Hughes went on to hold a variety of significant posts including governor of New York, chief justice of the US Supreme Court and secretary of state. He was the Republican candidate in the 1916 Presidential election, but was defeated by Woodrow Wilson.
More at: History
September 2017
Byzantine polymath, historian and chronicler of the wars of conquest under the acclaimed General Belisarius, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian. He glorified his achievements (such as the reoccupation of the Italian peninsula) in his capacity as official historian and also acted as Justinian’s trusted legal adviser. Also wrote a scathing ‘secret history’ documenting Justinian’s court intrigue.
More at: History
In Greek mythology, meaning afterthought, was the brother of Prometheus, meaning forethought, who in spite of the warnings of the latter opened Pandora’s box, and let loose a flood of evils on the earth, which oppress it to this day.
More at: History
British socialite. A close friend of Queen Victoria, she served as her Lady of the Bedchamber from 1837 to 1841. She invented the Afternoon Tea, which started as tea and sandwiches with her own close acquaintances before becoming a fixture in upper class homes Empire wide.
More at: History
Christian theologian. One of the most significant Christian thinkers, his adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching developed a lasting theological tradition. His writings, notably Confessions, remain major works of Christian thought.
More at: History
August 2017
British civil servant. An intelligence officer at Bletchley Park and MI6 during the Second World War (1939-1945), he acted as a Soviet double agent. He smuggled decrypted German messages to the Soviet Union that enabled its crucial victory at the Battle of Kursk (July 1943).
More at: History
German intelligence chief. After a successful naval career, he became head of the German intelligence service (abwehr) in 1935. Initially enthused by Nazism, by 1939 he was disillusioned and became part of the underground opposition to the regime. He was executed for treason in 1945.
More at: History
Indian ruler. Maharaja of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, he represented India at the League of Nations in the 1920s. A formidable cricketer, he played for the English cricket team and is widely considered one of the greatest batsmen of all time.
More at: History
German pilot. A renowned fighter ace, he scored 62 victories during the First World War (1914-1918). An acquaintance of Herman Goring (1893-1946), he became director of research for the Luftwaffe, pioneering the Junkers Ju 87, before drink and depression drove him to suicide.
More at: History
Spanish dramatist. Educated at Salamanca, in Madrid he soon attracted attention by his literary egotism and striking good looks. At an early age he became chief of the National Library, a post from which he was dismissed as result of the intrigues carried out by his many enemies. The publication of his collection of Spanish plays entitled Theatro Hespañol (1785-1786) resulted in him being severely criticised, which appear to have affected his powers of reason. He died at Madrid, without achieving his intention of reviving Spanish national drama.
More at: History
July 2017
British judge. Born in Hammersmith, he was called to the bar in 1756 and appointed chief justice to the new supreme court at Calcutta in 1774. A friend of Warren Hastings, he was charged with corruption in 1787, defended himself, and was acquitted.
More at: History
German historian, born in Berlin and the son of a prominent bookseller. He became extraordinary professor of history at Halle in 1842; was in the National Assembly in 1849 and as a Liberal in the Prussian chamber between 1849 and 1852. While filling a number of political and administrative roles his greatest work is his renowned History of Antiquity.
More at: History
Soviet politician. A Georgian like Stalin, Beria became head of the immensely powerful Soviet Internal Police, the NKVD, in 1939. He also successfully oversaw the Soviet atomic bomb project. He lost out to Nikita Khrushchev in the leadership battle after Stalin’s death and was executed.
More at: History
Chinese revolutionary. A follower of Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen, he was a rival to Chiang Kai-shek for control of the Nationalists in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He ultimately became leader of the puppet regime established in 1940 to govern the Japanese-conquered territory in China.
More at: History
June 2017
British field marshal. During the early years of the Second World War (1939-1945) he achieved victories against the Italians in North Africa, but later was unable to defeat Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps or halt the Japanese advance in Malaya and Burma.
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652)Italian painter. The daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, a follower of the revolutionary Baroque painter Caravaggio (1571-1610). Despite struggling for acceptance as a female artist, she was one of the most important second-generation proponents of the dramatic realism pioneered by Caravaggio.
More at: History
British diarist. The son of a judge, he was introduced to friend Samuel Johnson in 1763, their friendship recorded in Boswell’s journals. In 1773 they embarked on a famed tour recorded in his “Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides” and he published a pioneering biography of Johnson in 1791.
More at: History
African monarch. The Prince of the Massylians, he consolidated the fragmented Numidian tribes, creating a kingdom in North Africa which expanded and thrived in the context of the Punic Wars. He is well known for his role as a Roman ally in the Battle of Zana (202 BCE).
More at: History
American soldier. As US minister to Mexico he negotiated in 1853 a treaty, known as the Gadsden Purchase. This resulted in 45,500 square miles of territory, now part of Arizona and New Mexico, being acquired by the USA.
More at: History
May 2017
Pope from 1294. He was trained in law and experienced in papal diplomacy and succeeded Celestine V, who resignation he helped to bring about. Despite his ability and energy he failed to maintain the temporal supremacy of the papacy against Edward I of England and Philip IV of France.
More at: History
German soldier and military strategist. He was a staff officer in the Prussian wars of 1866 and 1870. He later developed a strategic plan for future wars by which France would be attacked through Belgium, while only a holding operation would be held on the Russian front. The plan was more or less followed in both 1914 and in 1940. Unsuccessfully in the former instance, and successfully in the latter.
More at: History
Spanish priest. A prominent priest familiar with Isabella I (1451-1504), he was appointed the first Inquisitor General of the Spanish Inquisition in 1483. He grew the Inquisition hugely, with the aim of ridding Spain of heresy, through a zealous application of laws against this contemporary religious infraction.
More at: History
American aviator. The first black woman to receive a pilot’s license, she was forced to train in France as American flying schools denied her entry. She became a famous air show pilot, but died in 1926 while testing a new aircraft.
More at: History
April 2017
Mexican artist. A self-portrait artist, she began painting after being injured in a bus accident in 1925. She became politically active and married artist Diego Rivera in 1929, who like her was a Communist. Since her death interest in her work has grown, and she is considered a feminist icon.
More at: History
Russian chemist. He discovered the periodic law in 1869, though it took decades before this was widely accepted. He also invented an early form of the Periodic table of elements. Later work focused on areas ranging from petroleum production to agricultural methods.
More at: History
American journalist. A pioneering investigative journalist, in 1887 she exposed the conditions for asylum patients at Blackwell’s Island, New York City, by faking insanity. She achieved further fame after she embarked on a journey around the world in 1889, a trip completed in 72 days.
More at: History
English bishop. The last Archbishop of Canterbury before the English reformation. His tenure was unremarkable until, in his later years, he was a significant critic of the anticlerical actions of King Henry VIII (1491-1547). He was succeeded at his death by Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556).
More at: History
March 2017
English forger. The son of an engraver he became a forger of ‘Shakesperian’ manuscripts, including the hoax plays Vorigern and Rowena and Henry II, which he was able to impose even on acknowledged Shakespeare experts. The Irish satirist and playwright Richard Sheridan produced Vorigern and Rowena at London’s famed Drury Lane. Ireland eventually confessed to his fraudulent activities.
More at: History
Danish king, who became regent in 1784 during the insanity of his father. He succeeded to the throne in 1808. Frederick’s reign was noted for the abolition of feudal serfdom and the prohibition of slave trade in Danish colonies. A liberal constitution was granted in 1831.
More at: History
Japanese printmaker. His series 108 Heroes of the Suikoden depicts the heroes of the Chinese Classic ‘The Water Margin’. Kuniyoshi’s dramatic, innovative style lent itself to warriors and fantasy, but his subjects also include landscapes and cats.
More at: History
Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, from 786. His fame as a ruler resulted in even the distant Charlemagne sending him gifts. Word of his generous patronage attracted to his magnificent court artists and scholars from numerous lands. Although there was an underlying cruelty in his rule. Legend has it that he walked in disguise through Baghdad to seek adventure and learn the grievances of his subjects.
Pierre de Montreuill (d 1267)French architect. He worked for Louis IX and built the chapel at the palace at Dt Germain-en-Laye (1235-38). His masterpiece was Sainte Chapelle in Paris, designed in the Rayonnant style and consecrated in 1248.
February 2017
British occultist. He held a lifelong interest in Western esotericism through which he traveled and wrote extensively. He founded the religion Thelema, declaring himself a prophet. His unorthodox beliefs led to him being dubbed by the popular press as “the wickedest man in the world.”
Ivan Kreuger (1880-1932)Swedish industrialist. By utilising aggressive and risky financial instruments, Kreuger developed his family match-making business into a global titan. At one point one of the richest men in the world, the 1929 stock market crash exposed his fraudulent practices and he committed suicide in 1932.
Simon Peter (? - 70 CE)Christian leader. The first and foremost of the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth according to the New Testament, he was the leader of the early Christian community in Jerusalem following the crucifixion. In Catholic tradition he was the first Pope, martyred in Rome.
Emperor Taizu of Song (927 - 976 CE)Chinese emperor. The founder of the Song Dynasty, he ended the practice of regular military coups which had hampered China for half a century, overseeing the successful establishment of civilian rule. The dynasty he established lasted for over 300 years.
January 2017
British polymath. An innovator in areas ranging from statistics to anthropology and geography, he is best known for developing the concept of Eugenics and the term “nature versus nurture”, set out in the book Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development.
Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE)Babylonian ruler. King of Babylon in ancient Mesopotamia, he instituted a pioneering “Law Code” that encompassed a variety of reforms and rulings, ranging from the death penalty to regulation of wages.
Kristen Marie Flagstad (1895-1962)Norwegian dramatic soprano. Both her parents, two brothers and a sister were musicians. She made her operatic debut in 1913. It was, however, after Flagstad became known as a Wagnerian soprano in the early 1930s that she achieved her great success. She undertook several world tours and made many recordings.
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873-1950)Danish novelist and lyric poet. His native Jutland provides the backdrop for his Himmeland Stories (1898-1910). These and his three-novel epic The Long Journey (1908-22), which traces the progression of man from preglacial times to the 16th century are perhaps the best known works of this highly creative author. In 1944 Jensen was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
December 2016
English inventor. Born in Devon, he invented the first practical steam engine, which he erected in 1712, after ten years of experiment. Its main purpose was to pump water from mine shafts, in the tin mines, for example, of his native Devon region of England. The principals of his invention were later modified to achieve greater efficiency by James Watt. As a result of patenting difficulties, Newcomen made little or no profit from his trail blazing creation.
Alfred Nobel (1833-96)Swedish engineer, chemist and the inventor of dynamite. He amassed an vast fortune, a great portion of which at his death he set apart as a fund for annual prizes for those who have contributed most materially to the benefit of mankind. Initially five prizes were awarded in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace and each was worth 8000 pounds sterling.
Sordello (d. c1270)Italian troubadour (a composer and performer of lyric poetry) born near Mantura. His love lyrics and other surviving poems are written in Provencal. He is mentioned several times in Dante’s Purgatorio and is the hero of Robert Browning’s Sordello.
Matthew Perry (1794-1858)American naval officer. As commodore of a US squadron he was sent to Japan in 1853 to arrange a trade agreement. He succeeded in his second attempt in the following year, negotiating a treaty which ended Japan’s 250 years of isolation from the West. This set in motion the events by which Japan became one of the most powerful and technologically advanced nations of the world.
Apollonius of Perga (c260-190BC)Greek mathematician, known as “the Great Geometer”. In his study ‘Cone Sections’ he evidences that a plane intersecting a cone will generate an ellipse, a parabola or a hyperbola, depending on the angle of intersection. In Astron with me, he used a system of circles called epicycles and deferents to explain the motion of the planets. This system, as refined by Ptolemy, was used until the Renaissance.
November 2016
American general. He served as general in chief and later as chief of staff of Union armies from 1862-1865. While lacking strategic vision, he was an excellent administrator and his preservation of the Confederate archives did much for later historical scholarship.
Bede (672-735 CE)English monk. Based in the monastery of St Peter in modern day Jarrow, then part of the Kingdom of Northumbria, he was an accomplished author and translator. He wrote the ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’, considered so significant he has been dubbed ‘The Father of English History’.
Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201-1274)Persian polymath. A noted architect, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher. His academy near Tabriz, modern day Iran, provided the model for the movement of the planets that helped inspire the Copernican model of the solar system.
Li Shimin (599-649 CE)Chinese statesman. One of the founders of the Tang Empire and its second emperor from 626-649 CE. He led the expansion of the empire into Central Asia and helped consolidate the new dynasty’s rule over China.
October 2016
Native American leader. A prominent figure in the Shawnee community, he attempted to organise a Native American confederacy to prevent the loss of further territory to American settlers. He became an ally to the British in the War of 1812 and died in battle.
Bartolome de Las Casas (1474-1566)Spanish bishop. He spent his life attempting to protect indigenous peoples from exploitation. He wrote histories detailing Spanish atrocities and helped bring about the New Laws of 1542, which limited the ability of Spanish settlers to compel the indigenous population to work for them.
Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877)Finnish poet. His works written, as was then routine, in Swedish, include the long narrative poems The Elk Hunters in 1832 and The Tales of Ensign Stal in 1848. The latter is an older soldier’s memories of the war with Russia of 1808, the opening poem of which has become Finland’s national anthem. A large number of Runeberg’s ballads and lyrics were set to music by Sibelius.
Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909)Hirobumi played a key role in shaping modern Japan. Born a low-level Shogun in Choshu, he, remarkably, was prime minister four times. Ito was assassinated by a Korean nationalist in 1909. Hirobumi was credited with raising Japan from a backward and vulnerable national entity into a modern industrial empire.
September 2016
English prince. He was the next in the royal line of descent when Edward the Confessor died and Harold became king. After the Norman conquest he submitted to William I but took refuge with his sister Margaret, who became the wife of Malcolm III of Scotland. He was a crusader in 1099 and fought against Henry I at Tenchebrai in 1106.
Sargon of Akkad (??-2284 BCE)Mesopotamian ruler. Founder of the Akkadian dynasty and known for his conquests of the Sumerian city states in 23-24th Century BCE. Often credited as the first ruler of an empire built by annexation of territories and multi-ethnic groups. Mesopotamian kings followed his example until the rise of the Achaemenids in 539 BCE.
Tupac Amaru II (1738-1781)Inca ruler. A member of the Inca aristocracy, he led an indigenous uprising against Spanish authorities in Peru (1780-1781). Captured and executed with his wife and other members of his family, he became a mythical figure in the Peruvian independence movement.
Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1739)English architect. He began his career as a clerk to Sir Christopher Wren, working on buildings such as Chelsea Hospital and St Paul’s Cathedral. His own later work, such as Blenheim Palace, is known for its stately and impressive style, in some ways superior to Wren’s.
Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873)Indian poet. A convert to Christianity in 1843, he became known as the “Milton of India” for his introduction of English poetic forms into Bengal. His early poetry was in English, but his later work, such as his most famous poem Meghanadvadh (1861), was written in Bengali.
August 2016
English administrator. A dominant figure in the East India Company, he envied Dutch success in Batavia (modern day Jakarta), and imitated it by establishing coastal forts to protect trade. While unsuccessful in Bengal, his ambition of a permanent British presence in India was realised at Madras and Bombay.
José María Morelos (1765-1815)Mexican priest. A former student of Mexican national independence leader Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, he led the forces fighting for Mexican independence from Spain until he was captured and executed in 1815. A capable military leader despite his clerical background, he became a national hero in Mexico.
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)German composer. A member of the German romantic school of the early 19th century, his wife Clara was also an outstanding pianist. He wrote four symphonies, a piano concerto and a selection of chamber and choral music, but it is his early piano works for which he is best known.
Whitaker Wright (1846-1904)British conman. He made a fortune in the USA in the 1870s promoting profitless mining companies to investors, and on return to the UK he engaged in similar practices, becoming acquainted with leading figures of Victorian society. Convicted of fraud in 1904, he committed suicide shortly after.
July 2016
Chilean statesman. Twice president of Chile, he began his career defending workers’ groups but later became more conservative. He leadership saw the beginnings of the extensive economic and societal changes of later years, and he was the first of an Alessandri political dynasty.
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)Anglo-American poet. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he settled in the UK in 1915 and published his first volume of poems in 1917. His works included poems such as ‘The Waste Land’ and ‘Four Quartets’, and the play ‘Murder in the Cathedral’. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948.
Harun al-Rashid (766-809)Abbasid ruler. The fifth caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, the third Islamic caliphate to succeed Muhammad. Al-Rashid’s reign saw Abbasid’s power and prosperity reach its peak, though issues that emerged during his reign have led some to speculate his rule was the beginning of its decline.
Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829)German philosopher. He was a prominent figure among the founders of German romanticism, his revolutionary and persuasive ideas doing much to influence early 19th century thought. Later he converted to Catholicism and served as a diplomat under Clement von Metternich (1773-1859).
June 2016
German political economist. One of the most gifted political thinkers of his generation, he published a variety of famed works, including Finance Capital in 1910. Serving as finance minister between in 1923 and 1928, he later fled Germany for France after the rise of Hitler.
Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829)German philosopher. He was a prominent figure among the founders of German romanticism, his revolutionary and persuasive ideas doing much to influence early 19th century thought. Later he converted to Catholicism and served as a diplomat under Clement von Metternich (1773-1859).
Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon (1833-1885)British general and colonial governor. After early service in the Crimean War and in China, he became involved in the Sudan, where he organised a year long defense of Khartoum against Sudanese rebels. The siege was eventually broken and Gordon killed, after which he was hailed a national hero.
Pindar (522-440 BCE)Greek poet. The chief lyric poet of Greece, he became famous as a composer of odes for people all across the Greek world. Although he was a highly versatile poet, only his triumphant Odes (Epinikia) have survived to the modern day.
Jeremiah O’Brien (1744-1818)American revolutionary. He ably led the defense of Machias, Maine, against the Royal Navy, and captured HMS Margaretta in what was the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War. He commanded privateers between 1777 and 1780, but was imprisoned in Britain in 1780.
May 2016
Chinese statesman. Chancellor during the Song dynasty, he was a skilled reformer who contributed to developments in administration and agriculture. He created a widespread state funded national school system for the first time.
Arthur Whitten Brown (1886-1948)British aviator. As navigator with John Alcock he made the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic on June 14 1919, in a Vickers-Vimy biplane. He shared the £10,000 first prize offered by the Daily Mail newspaper, and both he and Alcock were subsequently knighted.
Al-Muqaddasi (945-988)Arab geographer. Born in Jerusalem, he was a pioneer of fieldwork and traveled widely in the course of his work. He detailed the extent of Muslim lands in a geographical compendium published in 985 CE, with his description of Jerusalem and Palestine particularly noteworthy.
Black Hawk (1767-1838)Native American leader. Chief of the Sax and Fox tribe, he was an ally of the British in the War of 1812 and fought against the United States Government when they tried to move his tribe west (1831-1832). He was defeated at Bad Axe River, Wisconsin.
April 2016
Chilean statesman. A member of a prominent family, he was one of the key leaders of the Chilean independence movement. He attempted to overthrow the Chilean dictatorship of Bernando O’Higgins (1778-1842), but was betrayed and executed in Mendoza, Argentina.
René Laennec (1781-1826)French physician. He invented the stethoscope in 1816 while working at the Hôpital Necker in Paris, and its use in diagnosing various chest conditions quickly replaced the previous method of placing the ear over the patient’s chest. He died aged 45 from tuberculosis.
Wang Chengzong (? - 820 CE)Chinese warlord. Like his father and grandfather before him he ruled the province of Chengde independently of the Imperial government. While he withheld two imperial campaigns against him, he eventually submitted in 1817, after which Chengde’s independence from the Tang Dynasty ceased.
Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935)Russian painter. A pioneer of geometric abstract art, he unveiled Suprematism, a revolutionary approach to abstract art, at an exhibition in St. Petersburg in 1915. He rejected the traditional role of the artist as the imitator of nature, in favour of the creation of new artistic forms.
March 2016
British art dealer. The eldest child of a Dutch importer, he became immensely successful due to his wry observation that “Europe has a great deal of art, and America has a great deal of money.” A major philanthropist, he is considered one of the greatest art dealers in history.
Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee (1844-1906)Indian politician. A barrister by trade, Bonnerjee was a founder and the first President of the Indian National Congress (INC). Splitting his time between London and India, he was the first Indian to contest an election to the British Parliament, though he was unable to win a seat.
Al-Idrisi (1100-1166)Explorer and geographer. Born in Morocco, Ai-Idrisi studied in many Islamic centers, but worked mainly at the Christian court of the Norman King Roger II of Sicily. His most famous work was a silver globe of the world. Idrisi’s maps show the supremacy of Arab geography at this time.
Antonio José de Sucre (1793-1830)Venezuelan statesman. A close associate of Simón Bolívar, he helped free Bolivia from Spanish rule through the Victory of Aya Cucho in 1825, becoming its first president in 1826. He later fought for Colombia, overseeing victory at the Battle of Giron in 1829.
Queen Seondeok (? - 647)Queen of Silla, one of the three traditional Kingdoms of Korea, from 632 to 647 CE. Only the second female ruler in East Asian history, her reign saw the proliferation of education, religion and other culture manifestations, with the temple of Bunhwangsa constructed in 634
February 2016
Greek writer. Born in Emesa, Syria, he came from a family of priests of the sun. One of the earliest Greek novelists, he was the author of Aethiopica, which narrates in poetic prose the loves of Theagenes and Chariclea.
Benjamin Robins (1707-1751)British mathematician. A teacher in London, he carried out experiments on the air resistance of projectiles, studied fortification and invented the ballistic pendulum, which for the first time allowed the measurements of muzzle velocities. Consequently he is considered the father of the art of gunnery.
Cato Maximilian Guldberg (1836-1902)Norwegian chemist. He studied at Oslo and later became Professor of Applied Mathematics there. With his brother-in-law, Peter Waage (1833-1900), he formulated the chemical law of mass action governing the speed of reaction and the relative concentrations of the reactants.
Karl Liebknecht (1871-1919)German politician. An influential revolutionary Marxist in Germany during the First World War (1914-1918), he founded the German Communist Party in 1919. He led the failed Spartacist Uprising of 1919, and was later killed by Freikorps mercenaries allied with the Government.
January 2016
Assyrian ruler. King of Assyria from 680-669 BCE, he was the son of Sennacherib and father of Assurbanipal. He is best known for his conquest of Egypt in 671 BCE and for the court intrigues that developed during his reign. He died suddenly in Harran, Upper Mesopotamia, in 669 BCE.
George Cayley (1773-1857)British engineer. From a wealthy aristocratic background, Cayley carried out the first truly scientific study of how birds fly – correctly describing the the principles of lift, drag and thrust that underpin flight. He pioneered the first glider to carry a human being and is considered “the father of aviation.”
Victor Hugo (1802-1885)French Romantic author, regarded as the greatest in this genre. Hugo’s writings are remarkable for their metrical skill and colorful diction, and his work has been made immortal by its tremendous vitality. His Notre Dame de Paris in 1831 revolutionised prose. In 1852 he was exiled from France for his political opinions. Probably his most famous work is Les Miserables, published in 1862. One of the longest novels ever, it still resonates today.
Alfonso the Wise (1221-1284)Acclaimed King of Leon and Castille and founder of the legal code which became the foundation stone of Spanish jurisprudence. He was a liberal patron of literature and science, especially astronomy. In 1282 he was dethroned by his son Sancho.
December 2015
U.S. Vice President, 1801-1805. The first vice president to not be eventually elected in his own right, Burr was one of the most colorful political figures of his era. While vice president he killed political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel and later was arrested on charges of treason.
Chika Kuroda (1884-1968)Japanese chemist. Talented from a young age, she was unable to attend university until age 29, as until then women were barred from studying. The first women to receive a Bachelor of Science in 1916, she went on to study natural pigments and became a leader in Japanese chemistry.
Suetonius (75-160 CE)Roman biographer. His rose through the ranks to become secretary for Emperor Hadrian (76-138 CE), but lost his post when compromised in a court intrigue. He then devoted himself to writing, with his best known work “De Vita Caesarum” remarkable for its elegance and impartiality.
William Dampier (1651-1715)English explorer. Involved in a number of discovery voyages from a young age, his writings about his discoveries won considerable plaudits. While the naval voyages he led were of mixed success, he nonetheless became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world three times.
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901)Japanese writer. A member of the first Japanese delegation to the United States, his first publication was a Japanese-English dictionary. His writings were a key conduit of Western thought into Japan, and he is often considered the most important intellectual figure of the Mejia Period (1868-1912).
November 2015
German engineer. In 1923, while still a doctoral student, he published “The Rocket into Interplanetary Space”, one of the most influential works ever on astronautics. He later contributed to the idea of space travel by advising on Fritz Lang’s 1929 film “The Woman in the Moon”.
Suleiman I (1494-1566)Ottoman Sultan. He acceded to the throne in 1520, and under him the Ottoman Empire reach its zenith. He conquered Belgrade, Budapest, Rhodes and Baghdad among others, and his system of laws regulating land tenure earned him the name Kanumi (“Law giver”).
John Wallis (1616-1703)English mathematician. While Professor of Geometry at Oxford, he published Arithmetica infinitorum, a landmark work that profoundly influenced English mathematics. A founder of the royal society, he is considered the leading English Mathematician before Isaac Newton.
William A. Wheeler (1819-1887)American politician. Growing up in poverty, he rose to become a capable lawyer and railroad businessman. First elected as a congressman for New York in 1861, his reputation for honesty led to his election as vice-president under Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881).
October 2015
American chemist. The first woman admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she became a leader in the movement to educate women in the sciences, establishing programs in Boston schools. She was a leader in sanitary chemistry, teaching this at MIT from 1884-1911.
Panaetius (185-110 BCE)Greek philosopher. He studied in Greece and Rome and while his writings are now lost, he was an important figure in the popularisation of stoicism in Rome. His ethical and political works were an significant source for Cicero’s influential treatise, De officiis.
Jerome of Prague (1365-1416)Czech religious reformer. He studied at Prague and Oxford, where he became a disciple of John Wycliffe (1331-1384). On return to the mainland he evangelised in various cities but was regularly criticised for his teachings. In 1515 he was labeled a heretic in Bavaria and burnt at the stake.
Owen Swift (1814-1879)British bare-knuckle fighter. A slender fighter, in 1848 he infamously killed his opponent William Phelps after an 85 round bout and was convicted of manslaughter. The fiasco led to the re-writing of the rules of boxing. He later became a tavern-owner and author.
Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795)British designer. Born into a family of potters in Staffordshire, his own pottery business produced innovative and high-quality crockery, a vast improvement on the standards of the day. He would later use his fame and prominence as a campaigner for social reform.
September 2015
Japanese scholar. Born in Kyoto, his successful work studying eclipses led to him being appointed the first official astronomer of the Edo period. He revised the Chinese calendar, creating the Jōkyō calendar first issued in 1684. He also excelled as a Go player.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)Indian nationalist and statesman. Became India’s first Prime Minister of India after gaining independence in 1947. He presided over an India until his death in 1964, by which time his daughter Indira Gandhi took office.
Sir Owen Seaman (1861-1935)English author and humorist who joined the staff of the satirical magazine Punch in 1897 and was its editor from 1906 to 1932. His many volumes of verse were characterised by a remarkable gift for humor and parody, combining scholarship with glittering wit, and satire with sting that was never in bad taste.
Eduard Zeller (1814-1908)Noted German philosopher and theologian who became professor of theology at Berne in 1847 and at Marburg in 1849. He later became professor of philosophy at Heidelberg in 1862 and at Berlin between 1872 and 1895. His great work is the History of Greek Philosophy.
August 2015
One of the Seven Sages of Greece who became an eminent legislator, after having made a reputation as a poet. Solon’s Laws were so highly esteemed that they were adopted by the Romans in their Twelve Tables. He was, however, a friend of the tyrant Pisistratus.
Maria Luigi Cario Cherubini (1760-1842)Italian composer and one of the most important composers of the early French school, and a noted musical theorist. After producing his first opera in 1780, he went to London where two new operas were produced. He was greatly admired by Beethoven and for 20 years was Director of the Conservatoire at Paris.
Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149BCE)Roman statesman, soldier and writer of strict virtue, simplicity and wisdom. He strongly condemned the luxury of his time and was nicknamed “the censor”. He became Consul in 195BCE, took part in the defeat of Hannibal at Zama, held command in Sardinia and Spain, and in 191 BCE assisted the Greeks in overthrowing Antiochus III at Thermopolyae.
Samuel Alexander (1859 – 1938)Australian born British philosopher. Was professor of philosophy at the University of Manchester. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxbridge college. Alexander was the author of Moral Order and Progress, Art and the Material and many papers on philosophical subjects.
July 2015
Czech composer. Janacek was appointed director of the Conservatoire at Brno in 1919 and professor at the Prague Conservatoire in 1920. His music was highly original and influenced by Moravian folk music. Examples included The Cunning Little Vixen 1924 and Glagolitic Mass 1927.
Douglas Strachan (1875-1950)British artist. Spending his formative years as a political cartoonist, he later took a radical change of course and started working in stained-glass work. Here he contributed to the Palace of Peace at The Hague and completed celebrated work in other buildings, including Kings Chapel, Aberdeen.
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)German experimental psychologist. He carried out pioneering experimental research on memory to investigate higher mental processes, and discovered the so-called “forgetting curve”. He published his findings in 1885.
Anders Fryxell (1795-1881)Swedish historian. He was a parish priest from 1835 to 1847, but thereafter gave himself entirely to literary work at Stockholm. His Narratives from Swedish History (46 volumes, 1832-80), were translated into English in 1844.
Charles Pritchard (1808-93)Englishman astronomer and clergyman. From 1870 he was Savilian professor at Oxford, where he established an observatory. He wrote on stellar photometry in Uranometria Nova Oxoniensis (1885).
June 2015
Roman jurist. Little is known of Gaius other than by his role as author of ‘Institutiones’ (161 CE), four books of Roman law. They are the only substantial texts of classical Roman law that have survived. They were lost until a manuscript was discovered by historian Barthold Niebuhr in 1816.
Charles, Duke of Orleans (1391-1465)French nobleman. In 1406 he married his cousin Isabella, the widow of Richard II of England, and in 1415 commanded at Agincourt, where he was taken captive. A prisoner for 25 years, he composed poetry in French and English before being finally ransomed. His son became Louis XII.
Priscian (circa 5th century)Latin grammarian of Caesarea. At the beginning of the 6th century her taught Latin at Constantinople. As well as his 18 volume Instsitutioners Grammaticae, which was highly thought of in the Middle Ages, he wrote six smaller grammatical treatises and two hexameter poems.
Douglas Strachan (1875-1950)British artist. Spending his formative years as a political cartoonist, he later took a radical change of course and started working in stained-glass work. Here he contributed to the Palace of Peace at The Hague and completed celebrated work in other buildings, including Kings Chapel, Aberdeen.
May 2015
Aztec ruler. The last Aztec emperor from 1502 to 1520. A feared warrior and capable legislator, he died during the Spanish conquest of Hernan Cortes. One of his descendants became viceroy of Mexico between 1697 and 1701.
Praaxedes Mateo Sagasta (1827-1903)Spanish Liberal leader, born in Torrecila. A member of the Cortes from 1855, he took part in insurrections in 1856 and 1866, and had twice to flee to France. Spanish premier on a number of occasions, he introduced universal male suffrage and trial by jury.
Nevil Maskelyne (1732-1811)English astronomer. In 1763 he produced the ‘British Mariner’s Guide’. Appointed astronomer-royal, he improved methods and instruments of observation, invented the prismatic micrometer, and made important observations. In 1774, he measured the earth’s density from the reflection of the plumb-line.
Gaius (130-180 CE)Roman jurist. Little is known of Gaius other than by his role as author of ‘Institutiones’ (161 CE), four books of Roman law. They are the only substantial texts of classical Roman law that have survived. They were lost until a manuscript was discovered by historian Barthold Niebuhr in 1816.
April 2015
British artist. Spending his formative years as a political cartoonist, he later took a radical change of course and started working in stained-glass work. Here he contributed to the Palace of Peace at The Hague and completed celebrated work in other buildings, including Kings Chapel Aberdeen.
Montezuma II (1466-1520)Aztec ruler. The last Aztec emperor from 1502 to 1520. A feared warrior and capable legislator, he died during the Spanish conquest of Hernan Cortes. One of his descendants became viceroy of Mexico between 1697 and 1701.
Charles, Duke of Orleans (1391-1465)French nobleman. In 1406 he married his cousin Isabella, the widow of Richard II of England, and in 1415 commanded at Agincourt, where he was taken captive. A prisoner for 25 years, he composed poetry in French and English before being finally ransomed. His son became Louis XII.
Claude Grahame-White (1879-1959)British aviator. Born in Hampshire, he was the first Englishman to be granted a British certificate of proficiency in Aviation in 1910. Later the same year he founded his own company to build aircraft, and in 1911 helped establish the London Aerodrome in Hendon.
Hans Christian Gram (1853-1938)Danish bacteriologist. Professor at the University of Copenhagen, he established in 1884 a microbiological staining method for bacteria, distinguishing the ‘Gram-positive’ from the ‘Gram-negative,’ allowing bacteria to be seen much more easily under a microscope.
March 2015
Native American Chief. Leader of the Shawnees, he joined his brother, ‘the Prophet’, in a rising against White settlers, suppressed at Tippecanoe in 1811. Passing into British service, he commanded Native allies in the War of 1812 before being killed in action at Thames in Canada.
Cypselus (655-625 BCE)Ruler of Corinth. One of the earliest of the self-made rulers who rose in a range of Greek cities in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. He seized power against the narrow and select oligarchy of the Bacchiads, who had ruled Corinth since the 8th century, and started the Cypselid dynasty.
Hu Shih (1891-1962)Chinese scholar. He was professor of psychology at Beijing University from 1917-1949. Here he led the gradualist New Culture movement, urging a re-examination of Chinese culture and opposing the rigid Marxism of Chen Duxiu. He later served as ambassador to the UN for the Nationalist Chinese government.
Petrus Peregrinus (13th century)French scientist and soldier. He was a prominent crusader, his Latin name meaning ‘Pilgrim’. He also made a string of scientific discoveries; he invented a compass with a graduated scale and was the first to mark the ends of a round natural magnet and call them poles.
February 2015
Indian Ruler. The sultan of Mysore in Southern India, he conquered Calicut before coming into conflict with the British in 1767, winning several gains. In 1779 he again fought the British colonial forces, this time with the aide of his son Tippo, but could not repeat his success and was overwhelmed and defeated in 1782.
Harry Moseley (1887-1915)British physicist. He worked under Ernest Rutherford at Manchester University between 1910-1914. Here he worked on radioactivity, determining by means of X-ray spectra the atomic numbers of the elements (Moseley’s law), the basis of 20th century nuclear physics. He was killed in action in the First World War.
Friedrich von Paulus (1890-1957)German soldier. He served during the First World War (1914-1918) and by 1940 was deputy chief of the general staff. As commander of the 6th Army, he led the attack on Stalingrad (1942), but was trapped in the city by a Russian counter-attack. Completely cut-off, he and his troops held out for three months before capitulating in February 1943.
Veit Stoss (1447-1533)German sculptor. He worked mainly in Krakow (1477-1496), where he carved the celebrated high altar of Marjacki Church. Later in his home town of Nuremberg he worked for thirty years in various churches, including the Church of St. Lorenz.
January 2015
English medieval poet. A friend of Geoffrey Chaucer, his works include many French ballads, written in his youth, and ‘Vox clamantis’, which describes the rising under Watt Tyler. His best known work is the poem ‘Confessio Amantis’ on the theme of Christian and courtly love.
Robert Catesby (1573-1605)British conspirator. A Catholic of wealth and lineage, he had suffered much for his Catholicism through fines and imprisonment. He was named as an accomplice in the Rye Plot (1603) against James I, and was shot and killed while resisting arrest after the failed Gunpowder Plot (1605).
Jean Marc Nattier (1685-1766)French artist. He produced historical pictures and portraits, including those of Peter the Great and Catherine II of Russia. After losing money in the John Law financial crisis, he changed tact and took up the stereotyped style of portraiture favoured in the court of Louis XV of France.
Henry Dunkenfield Scott (1854-1934)British botanist. The son of George Gilbert Scott, after studying at Oxford and Wurzberg universities he became assistant professor at the Royal College of Science. In 1892 he became keeper at the Jodrell Laboratory, Kew, devoting himself to plant anatomy and palaeobotany.
Narses (478-573)Persian statesman. He rose in the imperial household in Constantinople to be keeper of the privy purse to Justinian I. In 552, he became leader of a military conquest of Rome, defeating the Ostrogoths and eliminating Gothic power in Italy. In 554 Justinian appointed him prefect of Italy.
December 2014
American lawyer. After teaching at Columbia Law school (1910-1923), he was appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1925. Later becoming Chief Justice in 1941, he upheld the view the courts should defer to legislatures when individual liberty was not threatened.
James Dewar (1842-1923)British chemist. After studying at Edinburgh and Cambridge, he became Professor at the Royal Institution in 1877. Here he developed a range of experimental research, including studies of low temperature and gas liquefaction which led to the invention of the Dewar flask (Thermos flask).
Cratinus (519-423 BCE)Greek playwright. Along with Aristophanes, he best represents the Old Attic comedy style. He limited the number of actors to three, and was the first to add to comedy the interest of sharp personal attacks. Of his 21 comedies, only a handful of fragments exist.
Phillip Hardwick (1792-1870)British architect. Born in London, he most famously designed the old Euston Railway station, Goldsmiths hall and Limerick Cathedral. He also designed Curzon Street station in Birmingham, which remains the oldest railway station building in the world.
November 2014
Turkish ruler. The son of a border chief, he founded a small Turkish state in Asia minor called Osmanli (Ottoman). On the overthrow of the Seljuk sultanate of Iconium in 1299 by the Mongols, he gradually subdued a great part of Asia Minor, founding the Ottoman Empire.
“Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all those in positions of power and trust be men of unexceptionable character. The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men.”
Vitus Bering (1681-1741)Danish explorer. He led an expedition in the Sea of Kamchatka (1782) to determine whether the continents of Asia and America were joined. He later led the Great Northern Expedition (1733) to analyse the Siberia coast, but in 1741 he died when his shipped was wrecked en route to America.
Bernard de Montfaucon (1655-1741)French scholar. A Benedictine monk at Saint-Maur, he went to Paris to edit the Latin works of the Greek fathers of the Church and published ‘Palaeographia Graeca’ (1807), the first work to be based on the study of manuscript writing. As a result he is considered the founder of palaeography.
Thutmose III (?-1450 BCE)Egyptian Pharaoh. Ruling from 1504-1450 BCE, he was one of the greatest Egyptian rulers. He re-established Egyptian control over Syria and Numbia, and ornamented his Kingdom with revenues from these conquests. Civic buildings he constructed including the temple of Amon at Karnak.
October 2014
Italian sculptor. Born in Siena, he was a prominent figure during the Italian Renaissance. His greatest works can be found in Siena, including the city’s fountain, the ‘Fonte Gaia’, crafted from 1414-1419, and the reliefs of the portal of San Petronia, Bologna.
Nagarjuna (150-250)Indian buddhist monk-philospher. Born in southern India, he was the founder of the Madhyamika or Middle Path school of Buddhism. Some consider that he was likely an adviser to the rulers of the Śātavāhana Empire, though exact details of his life remain unclear.
Lester Pelton (1829-1918)American inventor. He was a carpenter when he joined the gold rush to California in 1849, becoming interested in the water wheels used in mining machinery. He designed an improved wheel using hemispherical cups which was patented in 1880 and saw considerable success.
Manetho (fl. 300 BCE)Egyptian historian. He was high priest of Heliopolis, and wrote in Greek a celebrated history of the 30 dynasties from mythical times to 323 BCE. Parts of this work have been preserved in the writings of Julius Africanus (300 CE) and George Syncellus (800 CE).
Crates of Chalkis (335-325 BCE)Greek engineer. He was one of several leading engineers who carried out notable works for Alexander the Great, most notably the building of the new city and port of Alexandria in the Nile delta. Other work included those relating to drainage, irrigation and water supply.
September 2014
American religious leader. A Methodist layman, he became known the world over for his social work at the Young Men’s Christian Association (1915-1931), the Student Volunteer Movement (1888-1920) and the World Missionary Council (1941-42). He shared the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize.
Marie Tussaud (1761-1850)French modeller. Apprenticed to her uncle in Paris, she inherited his wax museums after his death. She took the death masks of various French statesmen after the revolution and later toured Britain with her life size waxworks, setting up a permanent exhibition in London in 1835.
Gnaeus Naevius (264-194 BCE)Ancient poet and playwright. Born in Campania, modern day Italy, he served in the first Punic War (264-241 BCE), and started producing his own plays in 235 CE. A plebian, for thirty years he satirised Roman nobles before being compelled to leave Rome and retire to Utica in Africa.
Fritz von Opel (1899-1971)German industrialist. He worked for his grandfather’s manufacturing firm, which began experimenting with rocket propulsion for cars and aircraft. He test drove Opel’s rocket propelled cars and planes personally, leading to him being dubbed ‘Rocket Fritz’.
August 2014
British novelist. She enjoyed a great reputation as an author of historical romances, which enjoyed considerable success in their time. Her reputation was made with ‘Thaddeus of Warsaw’ (1803), one of the first historical novels, and cemented with ‘Scottish Chiefs’ (1810).
Antoine Sax (1814-1894)French musician and inventor. With his father he invented and patented in 1845, a valved brass wind-instrument he called the sax-horn, along with the saxophone and saxtuba. While respected by his contemporaries, he failed to make a commercial success of his products and died in poverty.
James Skinner (1778-1841)Anglo-Indian soldier. Under General Lord Lake (1744-1808), he formed ‘Skinner’s Horse’, one of the most famous regiments in India. With the incredible wealth of thirty years of looting, and several wives, he settled in Delhi where he constructed a number of public buildings.
Juan de La Cueva (1550-1607)Spanish poet and playwright. Born in Seville, he is best known for his use of new metrical forms and his introduction of historical mature into his drama. These were highly influential within drama, paving the way for the Spanish romantic drama of the seventeenth century.
Pacal the Great (603-683)Mayan ruler. King of Palenque from 615 to 683 CE, he extended Palenque’s territory significantly while also developing its architecture and civil institutions. Many civic buildings of note were constructed during his reign.
William John Wills (1834-1861)British explorer. Born in Totnes, he studied medicine before becoming a surveyor of crown lands in Victoria, Australia. He was second in command of Robert O’Hara Burke’s ill fated expedition to the North of Australia, on which he died if starvation.
Motilal Nehru (1861-1931)Indian nationalist leader. He became a follower of Mahatma Gandhi in 1919, founded the ‘Independent’ of Allahabad, and became the first President of the reconstructed Indian National Congress. He was the father of Jawaharlal, who was India’s first Prime Minister.
Francis Younghusband (1863-1942)British explorer. Born in India, he explored Manchuria in 1866, and on the way back discovered the route from Kashgar into India via the Mustagh Pass. In 1902 he was part of the expedition which opened up Tibet to the Western world.
Gustav Cassell (1866-1945)Swedish economist. Born in Stockholm, he was professor at the University of Stockholm from 1904 onwards. He was considered a world authority on monetary policy, and notably first raised the notion of purchasing power parity.
James Oglethorpe (1696-1785)British statesman. Born in Surrey, he founded the colony of Georgia in 1732 as a refuge for paupers and debtors, as well as a barrier against Spanish expansion. He later returned to Britain and played a significant role in defeating the Jacobites.
July 2014
Roman politician. He became an elected official in 47 BCE, where he brought forward a debt canceling bill, which led to bloody struggle in Rome. On Caesar’s murder (44 BCE), he usurped the consulate and obtained a province in Syria, which he ruled ruthlessly until he was overthrown in 43 BCE.
Tolbert Lanston (1844-1913)American inventor. Born in Ohio to a poor family, in 1887 he patented the monotype, a type-formatting and composing machine. Despite no background as an engineer, the process was first used commercially in 1897 and revolutionised printing processes.
Emelio de Bono (1866-1944)Italian fascist. Involved in Mussolini’s famed March on Rome in 1922, he became Governor of Tripolitania (1925) and colonial secretary (1939), and commanded the Italian forces invading Abyssinia (1935). He later opposed Mussolini, and was tried and executed as a traitor.
Carl Zeiss (1816-1888)German optician. Born in Weimar, in 1846 he established a factory which became noted for its production of lenses, microscopes and other optical instruments. His business was innovative in that it allowed workers a share in the profits.
Zeuxis (5th Century BCE)Greek painter. Born in Heraclea, he excelled in the representation of natural objects, though none of his paintings survive. According to legend, his painting of a bunch of grapes was so realistic that birds tried to eat the fruit.
De Witt Clinton (1769-1828)American politician. Becoming a lawyer in 1788, he sat in the New York state legislature (1797) and US senate (1798-1802), but was defeated by Madison in the presidential contest of 1812. He planned the Erie Canal scheme, which he opened in 1825.
Faisal I (1885-1933)Arab ruler. Borin in Ta’if, Iraq, he was the son of Hussein ibn Ali, king of the Hejaz. He played a major rule in the Arab revolt of 1916, and was for a short while King of Syria after the First World War. Installed as King of Iraq by the British, he became a leader of Arab nationalism.
George Eastman (1853-1932)American inventor. After beginning his career in banking he turned to photography, producing a successful roll-film in 1884 and the ‘Kodak’ box camera in 1888. In 1889 he manufactured transparent celluloid film, later crucial in helping develop the moving-picture industry.
Hans Kluge (1882-1944)German soldier. Born in Poland, in 1939 he carried out the Nazi occupation of the Polish corridor and in July 1944 replaced Rundstedt as commander-in-chief of armies in France. He later committed suicide after being implicated in the plot to kill Hitler.
Cypselus (655-623 BCE)Greek ruler. Tyrant of Corinth, he was the earliest of a series of self-made rulers who emerged in many Greek cities in the 7th and 6th century BCE. He seized power against the narrow oligarchy of the Bacchiads and founded the Cypselid dynasty.
Esarhaddon (?-669 BCE)Assyrian King. The youngest son of Sennacherib and father of Assurbanipal. He is best known for his conquest of Egypt in 671 BCE, which came despite notably civil unrest at home in the provinces of Tyre and Askelon.
John Napier (1550-1617)Scottish mathematician. Born in Edinburgh, he studied at St Andrews and travelled in Europe before settling down to a life of literary and scientific study. He invented logarithms and also devised a calculating machine nicknamed ‘Napier’s bones’.
Peter Faneuil (1700-1743)American merchant. Born in New York state, he built a fortune in Boston, partly from the triangular slave trade. In 1742 he built the impressive Faneuil Hall, which would become known as ‘the cradle of liberty’ due to its role in the American War of Independence.
Georges Couthon (1755-1794)French politician. A lawyer by profession, he acted as a deputy to the revolutionary legislative assembly and National Convention, and was also a member of the influential Committee of Public Safety. Arrested with his idol Robespierre, he was guillotined for treason.
Cesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918)Lithuanian engineer and composer. An expert on fortifications, he became lieutenant-general of engineers. A self-taught musician, he composed operas including William Ratcliff in 1861, as well as piano music and songs.
Arnold von Winkelried (?-1386)Swiss soldier. A knight of Unterwalden. At the Battle of Sempach in 1386, with the Swiss failing to break the compact line of Austrian spears, he is said to have grasped as many pikes as he could reach and buried them in his chest – inspiring the Swiss to a decisive victory.
Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768)German archaeologist. Born in Stendal, he studied theology and medicine at Halle and Jena universities. In 1748 he turned to the history of art, and became librarian to a cardinal in Rome (1755). In 1763 he became superintendent of Roman antiquities.
Imhotep (2667 BC - 2648 BC)Ancient Egyptian architect. Regarded as one of the significant architects of ancient times. He was the chief architect to the Egyptian pharaoh Djoser, who reigned circa 2630 BC to 2611 BC. Imhotep designed the first stone monument in the world, the step pyramid at Saqqara, and is the first ancient architect named in texts and scrolls, which survive to this day.
Mehmed II (the Conqueror) (1432-1481)Sultan of the Ottoman Empire twice, from 1444 to 1446, and 1451 to 1481. During his second reign he captured Constantinople, bringing to an end the Byzantine Empire, and establishing the Ottoman state as a major power on the Mediterranean. He also consolidated Ottoman hold over all of Anatolia – modern-day Turkey – and over major strategic territories in the Balkans.
Pope Urban II (1035-1099)Religious leader. Born in France Iurban became Pope in 1088. He called for a Crusade to reconquer the Christian Holy Lands in 1095 at the Council of Clermont in France. He also sought to unify the Western Latin and Eastern Greek Catholic Churches, to secure the unity of all Christendom. The First Crusade was successful in seizing Jerusalem in 1099, however, Urban’s effort to unify the two branches of the church failed.
Saint Paul of Tarsus - 5–67 ADBiblical figure. St. Paul referred to himself as the Apostle to the Gentiles and was one of the main contributors to the New Testament Bible. Thirteen epistles have been attributed to him. His writings are still cited today as an authority on Christian behaviour and belief. In around 50 AD, when St. Paul set off on a ship from Troas, in the north western part of Anatolia, crossing the Aegean and arriving in the shores of Europe, he probably did not know the significance that this move would have in world history. It was here that Christianity made its first documented appearance in the continent
Olympe de Gouges - 1748-1793Political activist of the French Revolution and one of the first feminists in history. She began her career as a playwright in the early 1780s. As political tension rose in France, de Gouges became increasingly politically involved and was an outspoken advocate for improving the condition of slaves in the colonies. She is perhaps best remembered as an early feminist who demanded that French women be given the same rights as French men. Author of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen.
Ashoka the Great - 304-232 BCIndian Emperor who ruled between 274 and 232 BC. In his early reign, he embarked on several military conquests which enlarged the size of his empire over much of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and even Iran. During one of these wars of conquest, however, Ashoka became repulsed by the number of deaths that he witnessed and decided to reject violence and adopt Vedic Buddhism and vegetarianism.
Callimachus 31-240 BCGreek poet and critic known for his epigrams. Born in Cyrene, he taught in Alexandria, Egypt, where he is reputed to have been in charge of the great library.
Luciano Laurana (1420-1479)Italian architect. Little is known of his early life or training, but by 1468 he had been appointed architect in chief at the Ducal Palace in Urbino. Highly influenced by designs of the Italian renaissance, he is considered a leading figure of fifteenth century Italian architecture.
Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814)American writer. She wrote on historical and political themes, publishing ‘Observations on the New Constitution’ in 1788. A regular correspondent with American political figures such as Abigail and John Adams, she is often considered America’s first major female intellectual.
Jean Patou (1880-1936)French fashion designer. The son of a successful tanner, he opened ‘Maison Perry’ in Paris in 1912, before selling it to a US buyer. After war service, he successfully opened again as couturier in 1919, famed for his designs for sports starts and actresses.
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)Irish philosopher. A follower of the alchemical tradition, his advances in modern scientific method mean he is considered the founder of modern chemistry. Notably he developed Boyle’s law, which describes how the pressure of a gas decreases as the volume of a gas increases.
Offa (?-796)King of Mercia. He consolidated his control of all Kingdoms south of the Humber, making local rulers akin to subordinate governors. Considered the greatest Anglo-Saxon ruler of the 8th Century, he was treated as an equal by Charlemagne.
Hernando de Soto (1496-1542)Spanish explorer. Famed for his skills as a horseman and tactician, in 1539 he entered Florida, leading the first European expedition deep into North America. In 1541 he managed to cross the Mississippi, but died of a fever on its banks.
Jonas Lie (1833-1908)Norwegian novelist. Trained as a lawyer, he turned to writing after being made bankrupt. His novels portray the lives of ordinary people, and he also wrote poetry and fairytales. He is considered one of Norway’s four great men of literature.
June 2014
German painter. He emigrated to America in 1825, though returned to Europe regularly to study the latest developments in painting. He is most famous for his historical paintings, notably ‘Washington Crossing the Delaware’, a popular painting with American patriots.
Wang Jingwei (1883-1944)Chinese nationalist. After studying in Japan he joined Sun’s Revolutionary party, and in 1927 was appointed head of the new Nationalist government at Wuhan. After the Japanese invasion of China in 1938, he offered to co-operate with the Japanese, leading a puppet regime in occupied areas.
Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771)Italian anatomist. He studied in Bologna and became professor of medicine at Padua in 1711. In his writings he correlated pathological lesions with symptoms in over 700 cases. He is widely considered to be the father of the discipline of pathological anatomy.
Han Gan (706-783)Chinese painter. Growing up in a poor family in Chang’an, he studied painting and eventually became a renowned painter in the court of the Tang Dynasty. His work concerned a range of themes, but he is most famous for his accurate depictions of horses.
Ernst Rohm (1887-1934)Nazi leader. He became an early support of Adolf Hitler, and the organiser of the Nazi party’s paramilitaries, the ‘brownshirts’. He became state commissioner of Bavaria, but in 1934 his attempt to solidify his power resulted in his execution at Hitler’s behest.
Omar (581-644)Muslim caliph. The father of one of Mohammed’s wives, he succeeded Abu-Bakr as caliph in 634. He helped lead his generals to build up an empire comprising Syria, Persia and much of North Africa. He was assassinated it 644 by a Persian slave.
Henry Dodge (1782-1867)American politician. He served in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War of 1832, before becoming famous as a frontiersman. In 1836 he was appointed governor of the Territory of Wisconsin, and later represented the area in the House of Representatives and Senate.
Edward Robinson (1749-1863)American biblical scholar. He studied in Germany and became Professor of Theology at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City (1837-1863). In 1838 he conducted pioneering explorations of Palestine and Syria, leading to him being dubbed the father of biblical geography.
Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851)Danish physicist. He became a professor at the University of Copenhagen in 1806, where he discovered the magnetic effect of an electric current. Considered a figure of the ‘Danish Golden Age’, the unit of magnetic field strength is named after him.
Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919)Mexican revolutionary. A sharecropper and local leader, after the onset of the Mexican Revolution he initiated a land distribution programme in areas under his control. Along with Pancho Villa, he fought the Carranza government before being lured to his death at the Chinameca hacienda.
James Weddell (1787-1834)Belgian-British explorer. A merchant seaman from a young age, he undertook three voyages to Antarctica in the sealing brig Jane. On the third voyage he discovered a new sea and quadrant, which have since been named after him.
Hong Xiuquan (1814-1864)Chinese religious leader. He was the founder of the Taipeng sect, a religious belief with roots in Christianity. The power of these beliefs were a fundamental factor behind the breakout of the Taiping Rebellion, which would last for ten years.
Robert II (1316-1390)King of Scots. Son of Walter, the hereditary steward of Scotland, he acted as regent during the exile of David II. On David’s death, he became King in his own right in 1371, and founded the Stuart royal dynasty.
Bernardino Rivadavia (1780 - 1845)Argentinian statesman. A participant in the May revolutionary movement for Argentine Independence, his influence led to him becoming the first president of Argentina in 1826, though revolts across the country led to his resignation a little over a year later.
George Cadbury (1839-1922)British businessman. In partnership with his brother Richard, he expanded his father’s chocolate making business and established for his workers in 1879 the model village of Bournville, a prototype for modern methods of housing and town planning.
John Moresby (1830-1922)British naval commander. He led exploration and surveys in South East Asia, notably in the region around New Guinea. Here he discovered the prime natural harbour now fronted by Port Moresby, which was named after him.
Wang Mang (43 BCE - 23 CE)Chinese minister-regent. Born into an aristocratic family, he became a government official who later usurped the throne and established the Xin dynasty. His achievements include nationalizing land, abolishing slavery and carrying out a number of financial reforms.
Ferdinand Zeppelin (1838-1917)German army officer. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, between 1897 and 1900 he constructed the first airship, constructing a factory for the purpose in Friedrichshafen. These Zeppelin airships became hugely influential in creating the era of air transportation.
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 - 1616)Japanese statesman. He was the founder of the Tokugawa dynasty of shoguns, seizing power after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Becoming the first shogun in 1603, he relinquished the role two years later but remained in effective power until his death in 1616.
Ai of Tang (892-908)Chinese emperor. He acceded to the throne at the age of eleven in 904 after his father, Emperor Zhaozong, was killed by warlord Zhu Quanzhong. Largely a puppet ruler controlled by Quanzhong, his reign only lasted three years before he was poisoned by rivals.
James Drummond (1876-1951)British statesman. Born in North Yorkshire to an aristocratic family, he became a leading diplomat. He was the first secretary-general of the League of Nations from 1919-1932, and later British ambassador in Rome between 1933 and 1939.
Etienne Dolat (1509-1546)French humanist. He owned a printing press in Lyon, where he printed translations of the classics, as well as Erasmus and Rabelais. He was arrested for publishing heretical books in 1544 and burned in Paris, and as a result is sometimes dubbed ‘the first martyr of the renaissance.’
John Flamsteed (1646-1719)British astronomer. After studying at Cambridge he became the first Astronomer Royal of England in 1675-1719. In 1676 he instituted reliable observations from Greenwich, providing data from which Newton was later able to verify the gravitational theory.
Manuel José Arce (1787-1847)Central American statesman. Joining the independence movement in 1811, Arce rose to become a key general fighting Spain and then Mexico. In 1825 he became President of the Federal Republic of Central America, though his authoritarian tendencies alienated many.
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)Japanese warlord. Directing almost continuous military conquest, in 1560s he began unifying Japan under the Shogunate. By the late 1570s he was controlling nearly half of Japan, and on the verge of greater victories before being killed by a fellow commander.
Albert Ball (1896-1917)British fighter pilot. Originally a second lieutenant in the Sherwood Foresters, Ball transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. Here he excelled, becoming Britain’s leading flying ace with 44 victories before he was killed in an unexplained crash in 1917.
Muhyi al-Dīn al-Maghribī (1220-1280)Islamic astronomer. Spanish born, he studied both in Syria and then in Persia, where he worked under Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. He is most famous for this work on trigonometry, where he used interpolation to calculate the value for the sine of one degree.
Charles James Fox (1749-1806)British parliamentarian. Originally unremarkable in his opinions, he grew to become one of the most radical politicians of his era, dubbed ‘the man of the people’. He championed the abolition of the slave trade, the French revolution and the defence of political minorities.
Euclid (325-265 BCE)Greek mathematician. Residing in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I, he is known for his treatise on geometry, The Elements. This influenced the development of Western mathematics for more than two millennia.
Lorenzo Batlle y Grau (1810-1887)Uruguayan statesman. After fighting in the Great War, he became a prominent postwar figure, acting as minister of war in the cabinet of Joaquin Suarez. Elected president in 1868, he struggled to contain internal conflict or resolve the country’s monetary crisis.
May 2014
Chinese scholar. Spending much of his career employed as a government official, he made significant contributions to Chinese astronomy, historical study and literature. Notably he compiled the first comprehensive catalogue of the imperial library.
Mihail Lozanov (1911-1994)Bulgarian soccer player. He developed to become one of the most successful players of his generation, playing for Levski Sofia and then Bayern Munich in the 1930s. Dubbed ‘the Tank’ because of his strength, he once shattered a crossbar with a powerful shot.
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)British nurse. Keen to become a nurse from a young age, she became famous for her work in hospitals during the Crimean War (1853-1856). Originally considered too high class for the profession, her work helped establish nursing as a respectable profession.
Zu Chongzhi (429-500)Chinese mathematician. A leading figure during the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties, his mathematical achievements included developing the calendar year and creating a new approximation of Pi, which remained the most accurate for over 900 years.
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)American political leader. Born in Jamaica, he became a leading black nationalist who created the Back to Africa movement in the United States. His Pan-African beliefs and skill in mobilization would prove highly influential to later generations of civil rights activists.
Eleonora Duse (1859-1924)Italian actress. She rose to fame in Italy, then triumphed throughout the European capitals, mainly acting in plays by contemporary French playwrights and her lover, Gabriele D’Annunzio. She retired through ill health in 1909, but returned to the stage in 1921.
Richard Hakluyt (1552-1616)British geographer. A vicar by profession, he wrote widely on exploration and navigation, notably his Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English Nation. He was the first to introduce the use of globes into English schools.
Charles Wettach (1880-1959)Swiss clown. Best known by his stage name of ‘Grock’, he became world famous for his virtuosity in both circus and theatre. He was particularly known for his clowning with musical instruments, and released an autobiography, ‘Grock, King of Clowns’, in 1956.
Thabit ibn Qurra (836-901)Iraqi polymath. Residing in Baghdad, he made important contributions to number theory, statics and astronomy. In the latter he is well known as one of the first reformers of the notion that the Earth was the orbital centre of the solar system.
William Fettes (1750-1836)British merchant. He made a fortune trading tea and wine during the Napoleonic Wars, and was twice Lord Provost of Edinburgh. In 1870 he left £66,000 to found Fettes College in Edinburgh, which remains a prestigious private school to this day.
Lewis Cass (1782-1866)American statesman. A general in the War of 1812, he was for 18 years the Governor of Michigan before his election to the US senate. Secretary of War (1831-1836) and Secretary of State (1857-1860), he twice failed in a bid for the presidency.
Jethro Tull (1674-1741)British inventor. Training as a barrister, he set his attention to developments in agriculture, influenced by the ideals of the age of enlightenment. His major invention was the seed drill, a sewing device which was a major development in the agricultural revolution.
Zhang Qiujian (430-390)Chinese mathematician. Little is known about him other than he wrote the text Zhang Qiujian suanjing (Zhang Qiujian’s Mathematical Manual). Clear, concise and methodological, the work is highly important in understanding early Chinese mathematics.
Johan Christian Dahl (1788-1857)Norwegian artist. Specialising in landscapes, he was connected to the Romantic movement and spent much of his career in Germany. He is nevertheless a highly influential part of Norwegian artistic life, considered ‘the father of Norwegian landscape painting.’
George Byng (1663-1733)English sailor. Joining the navy at 15, he gained rapid promotion as a supporter of William of Orange. In 1708 he defeated the French fleet of James Stuart the Pretender, and in 1718 destroyed the Spanish fleet of Messina. He was created Viscount in 1721.
Yi Sun-Sin (1545–1598)Korean Admiral. Growing up in a political family, he nevertheless pursued a career in the military, excelling as a naval commander and strategist. He was famed for his victories against the Japanese during the Imjin war, and for his respectful conduct on the battlefield.
Charles Ulm (1898-1934)Australian aviator. He engaged in several expeditions with friend and fellow aviator Charles Kingsford Smith. He carried the first airmail between Australia and New Zealand, but disappeared attempting to plot airmail routes across the Pacific Ocean.
Alfred Ewing (1855-1935)British engineer. He discovered and explained magnetic hysteresis in 1890. His posts including Professor of Engineering at Tokyo (1878-1883), director of naval education (1903-1916) and Principal of Edinburgh University (1916-1929.)
Bartolommeo Eustachio (1520-1574)Italian anatomist. A pioneer of modern anatomy, he discovered the Eustachian tube in the ear and the Eustachian valve of the heart. Professor of anatomy at Rome, he wrote Opuscula anatomica in 1564, and Tabulae anatomicae in 1714.
Umberto Bocciano (1882 – 1916)An Italian esoteric painter, sculptor and theorist, he was trained in the studio of Giacomo Balla. The most prominent member of the Futurist group, he helped publish the Technical Manifesto for Futurist Painters, promoting this particular representation of modern technology, power, time, motion and speed.
Elizabeth Cochrane (1867 – 1922)A U.S writer, she started writing at the Pittsburgh Dispatch aged 18, producing feature articles on subjects as diverse as divorce and slum life. After joining The New York World, she feigned insanity to get into an asylum, and then wrote an expose which led to much needed reforms.
Robert Goddard (1882 – 1945)Goddard is credited with building the world’s first liquid-fuel rocket launched in 1926. Although his work received little recognition during his lifetime, he is now considered one of the founding fathers of modern rocketry and was one of the first to recognise the scientific potential of missiles and space travel.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941)Poet, writer and humanitarian; Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and played an important role in the renaissance of modern India. Tagore is most widely known for his work Gitanjali but he was also an accomplished writer of short stories, novels, plays and articles. He wrote the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.
Georges Méliès (1861 – 1938)A pioneer in the art of film direction, Méliès created the basic elements of special effects and built the first glass studio that was widely used during the silent film era. A magician by training, he made over 500 films, his most famous being Voyage to the Moon (1902). Unable to keep up with the changing demands of the industry, he lived his later life in obscurity and poverty.
Jean Bugatti (1909 – 1939)Jean Bugatti, the third of Ettore Bugatti’s four children. Being exposed to the early racetrack successes of Bugatti cars, he developed his own talents in designing in touring and sports cars. Aged just 23, he designed the legendary Roadster Royale and progressively took over the family business. He died at the age of 30, while test driving the Type 57 C Tank sports car.
Max Weber (1864 – 1920)German academic. Teaching at various universities Weber he is best known for his essays, titled The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism, where he outlined the impact of Protestant thought and teachings in fostering capitalism in America. In his The Religion of China, The Religion of India and Ancient Judaism, he contrasted the respective Western religions and cultures. On his death his Economy and Society unfinished.
Nichiren (1222 – 1282)Japanese Buddhist monk. Living during the 13th century Kamakura period in Japan, he argued that the Lotus Sutra contains the essence of the teachings of Gautama Buddha and he advocated this philosophy to his followers. Critical to the established schools of Buddhist thought, he was exiled twice.
David Emile Durkheim (1858 - 1917)French sociologist. Best known as the Father of Sociology. Along with Max Weber and Karl Marx he forms the triumvirate that has established the foundation of modern social science. His monograph Suicide studied the suicide rates between Protestant and Catholic populations, pioneering methods used in modern social research.
Akbar the Great (1542-1605)Born in India, Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great began his military conquests under the tutelage of a regent before claiming power and expanding his empire. He was well known for entertaining the Navaratnas or Nine Jewels in his darbar (court), consisting of men with extraordinary talents. He was seen as a just emperor and was as famous for his religious tolerance as for his military prowess. During his reign India saw unprecedented growth in the fields of art, music and architecture.
William Wells Brown (1814 - 1884)American writer. Born into slavery, Brown escaped and educated himself eventually settling in Boston to become a writer. His autobiography, Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave was a popular narrative on abolition and slavery. His only novel Clotel about the descendants of Thomas Jefferson and a slave is the first novel ever published by an African American.
D.W. Griffith (1875-1948)American filmmaker. Considered to be the first great genius of American film direction, Griffith pioneered various techniques of film direction such as the dramatic use of camera angles, camera movement, lighting effects and film editing. Despite being a racist vision of the Civil war, his masterpiece The Birth of a Nation is still lauded as one of the finest works of American cinematographic history.
April 2014
A self taught British mathematician. He became professor of mathematics at Queens College in Ireland. He wrote Laws of Thought where he argued that logic was closer to the school of mathematics than the school of philosophy. His Boolean Algebra is used in a number of technological applications including telephones and computers.
Casimir the Great (1310-1370)The son of Wladyslaw I, he was the King of Poland and like his father sought to make Poland the central power in Europe. He established treaties with Hungary, Bohemia and the Teutonic order and also dynastic alliances that tied him to several royal European families. As well as codifying the Teutonic law, he founded the University of Krakow.
Louis Brandeis (1856-1941)US lawyer and Associate Supreme Court Justice. The son of Bohemian Jewish immigrants, Brandeis was a Harvard law graduate who became known as ‘the people’s attorney’ for his defence of the constitutionality of labour laws. He played a key role in the movement to provide life insurance plans for working people and in passing the Clayton Anti Trust Act in 1914. He is also known to have developed the ‘Brandeis brief’ which uses economic and sociological data along with historical facts and expert opinion to support any legal argument.
Edward Dickinson Baker (1811-1861)U.S Senator from Oregon. Baker was a close friend of President Lincoln and raised the California Regiment at the outbreak of the Civil War. He became acquainted to Lincoln when they served together at the Illinois legislature. The President’s second son, Edward, was named after him.
Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944)Norwegian painter and printmaker. Munch was famed for his expansion of psychological themes built upon Symbolism. He had a great impact on 20th century German Expressionism. His most famous work is The Scream produced in 1893.
Pasquale Paoli (1725-1807)Neapolitan soldier and statesman. A young junior officer in the Neapolitan Army, he placed himself at the head of the revolt of the island of Corsica against the Republic of Genoa in 1775. Despite failing to procure a military victory, he succeeded in creating a functioning state, promulgating a written constitution and establishing a parliament, thus, gaining the admiration of the likes of Jean Jacques Rousseau and James Boswell.
Robert Bosch (1861 – 1942)German industrialist, engineer and inventor. Born to a farming family, his father laid special emphasis upon the education of his twelve children, of which Bosch was the youngest. He founded the Robert Bosch GmBH, a German multinational engineering and electrics company.
Andreas Hofer (1767-1810)Tyrolese nationalist. An innkeeper by trade, in 1808 he called the Tyrolese to arms to expel the French and Bavarians, and twice succeeded in freeing the Tyrol from invaders. He was eventually captured however and, on Napoleon’s instigation, executed.
Edwin Lutyens (1869 – 1944)British architect. Known for his ingenuous adaptations of traditional architectural styles into modern usage. Widely regarded as ‘the greatest British architect’ he designed much of New Delhi, the present capital of India, including the India Gate and the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945)Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran Pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident and founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity’s role in the secular world were immensely popular and his seminal work The Cost of Discipleship became a modern classic.
Edward Milne (1896-1950)British astrophysicist. Professor of Mathematics at Manchester and Oxford Universities, he made notable contributions to the study of cosmic dynamics. Notably, he estimated the age of the earth to be two thousand millions years.
Chulalongkorn (1853-1910)Siamese ruler. He acted to combat the influence of European colonial powers over Siam. His use of military skirmishes, territorial appeasement and wider diplomatic shrewdness helped make Siam one of the few nations in the region to avoid colonial conquest.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)Indian statesman. An Indian nationalist who campaigned for Indian independence, he worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi. He became India’s first prime minister on gaining independence in 1947, holding the role until his death in 1964.
Pak Hon-yong (1900-1956)Korean politician. A leader in the Korean communist movement during Japanese rule, after the Second World War he moved to establish communist rule in the North. A key leader during the Korean war, he was later executed by rival Kim Il-Sung.
Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789-1857)French mathematician. Originally planning to become an engineer, ill-health forced him to retire and teach mathematics. He is best known as the founder of the theory of functions of a complex variable, but he also made significant contributions to algebra and wave theory.
Ma Rulung (1856-?)Chinese Muslim warlord. Along with Du Wenxiu he initially rebelled against the Chinese Qing Dynasty in the Panthay Rebellion, though later defected to the Qing. He defeated the remaining Muslim rebels and went on to exercise almost total control over Yunnan province.
Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten (1755- 1801)Dutch colonial administrator. After spending his early years in the colony, he became Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in 1796, staying in the post until 1801, when the colony became property of the Dutch state.
Artaxerxes II (453 - 350 BCE)Persian King. Succeeding Darius II, upon his ascension to the throne he faced significant revolt in Egypt, while also facing rebellion from his brother, Cyrus. While able to defeat Cyrus he failed to re-conquer Egypt, despite several attempts to do so.
Artaxerxes II (453 - 350 BCE)Persian King. Succeeding Darius II, upon his ascension to the throne he faced significant revolt in Egypt, while also facing rebellion from his brother, Cyrus. While able to defeat Cyrus he failed to re-conquer Egypt, despite several attempts to do so.
Basil Zaharoff (1849-1936)Turkish armaments magnate. He amassed millions from the sales of arms between 1880 and 1900, and subsequently became a French citizen in 1913. In 1918 he was knighted by the British for his services during the Second World War
Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919)Mexican revolutionary. A share cropper and local leader, after the onset of the Mexican revolution he mounted a land distribution program in areas under his control. Along with Pancho Villa, he fought the government of Venustiano Caranza, who eventually executed him.
Cuahtemoc (1495-1525)Aztec ruler. The last Aztec leader and successor to Montezuma, he resisted Spain at the siege of Tenochtitlan in 1521. He was later executed while on an expedition with Hernan Cortes to Honduras.
Charles Yerkes (1837-1905)American financier. A clerk who worked as a commission broker, he made and squandered a number of fortunes. He led the consortium which built Chicago’s street railways, but in 1899 was forced to sell out in Chicago amidst accusations of political deception.
Charles Yerkes (1837-1905)American financier. A clerk who worked as a commission broker, he made and squandered a number of fortunes. He led the consortium which built Chicago’s street railways, but in 1899 was forced to sell out in Chicago amidst accusations of political deception.
Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855)British builder. He revolutionised trade practices in the 19th century building industry, and with his brother Lewis was responsible for many significant projects in London, including Belgravia and the E front of Buckingham Palace.
Hereward the Wake (1035-1072)English rebel. Through resisting the rule of William the Conquerer he became a subject of literary romance. He ambushed Normans who possessed his ancestral lands and attacked Ely and Peterborough Abbey. After escaping an attack in 1071 he disappeared.
Ban Chao (32-102 CE)Chinese military leader. After a string of successful victories in battle, he became protector of the Western Regions in 91 CE and conquered much of western Turkistan up to the Caspian for the Han Dynasty – being the first to establish Chinese control over Turkistan.
William Whitehead (1715-1785)British playwright. A fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, he travelled as tutor to Lord Jersey’s son, and in 1755 became secretary of the Order of Bath. In 1757 he was appointed Poet Laureate. He wrote tragedies, most notably The Roman Father in 1750.
Eunomius (335-394)Turkish clergyman. Bishop of Cyzicus in 360, he was deposed for his radical Arian views, which argued that God the father was senior to Jesus. He became the leader of an extreme sect of Arians, known as the Eunomians.
March 2014
British playwright. A fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, he travelled as tutor to Lord Jersey’s son, and in 1755 became secretary of the Order of Bath. In 1757 he was appointed Poet Laureate. He wrote tragedies, most notably The Roman Father in 1750.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944)Norwegian painter. He travelled through Europe before finally settling in Norway in 1908. While in Paris he came under the influence of Gauguin, and his paintings deal with themes of death and love. His most famous work, ‘the Scream’, was created in 1893.
Mohammed Ahmed (1844-1885)African political leader. He was in the Egyptian civil service, then became a slave trader before finally becoming an effective rebel again British and Egyptian rule in East Sudan. He became known to his supports as ‘the Mahdi’, or Muslim messiah.
James Bruce (1730-1794)British explorer. He became consul-general in Algiers (1763-1765), and in 1768 journeyed to Abyssinia by the Nile, Red Sea, Aswan and Massowah. His Travels to Discover the Sources of the Nile was published in 1790.
Guan Tianpei (1781-1841)Chinese admiral. A Commander-in-Chief of naval forces under the Qing Dynasty, he played a key role in the First Opium War, fighting in the Battles of Chuenpee and the Battle of the Bogue. Highly respected by the British, he died in the Bogue conflict of 1841.
Georgi Dimitrov (1882-1949)Bulgarian statesman. He helped form the Bulgarian communist party in 1919, but after leading an unsuccessful uprising in 1923 was forced to flee to the Soviet Union. In 1945 he returned to Bulgaria as head of the transitional government, and later became premier.
Yongle (1360-1424)Chinese emperor. Third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he seized the crown from his nephew after considerable bloodshed. His achievements included moving the capital to Beijing in 1421 and instituting civil service examinations, which lasted for nearly 700 years.
Edward Whymper (1840-1911)British explorer. Originally a wood-engraver, he became better known for his mountaineering. Between 1860 and 1869 he conquered several previously un-scaled peaks, including the Matterhorn in 1865, where four of his party fell to their death.
Edward Whymper (1840-1911)British explorer. Originally a wood-engraver, he became better known for his mountaineering. Between 1860 and 1869 he conquered several previously un-scaled peaks, including the Matterhorn in 1865, where four of his party fell to their death.
Charles Foucauld (1858-1916)French soldier and monk. He led a military exploration to Morocco in 1883, but became known for his life as an ascetic. He became a trappist monk in France and Syria, a hermit in Nazareth, a garrison-priest in Beni-Abbes and a nomadic figure among the Tuareg, where he died.
George Everest (1790-1866)British military engineer. He worked on the trigonometrical survey of India (1813-1843), being appointed surveyor-general in 1830. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1827 and knighted in 1861. Mount Everest is named in his honour.
Henry Sacheverell (1674-1722)British preacher. Educated at Oxford, he began preaching sermons against Whigs, moderate Tories and dissenters. Such was the power of one sermon at St Paul’s Cathedral, where he attacked a Whig minister, that he was suspended from preaching for three years.
Mirabai (1498-1565)Hindu mystic. Born into a privileged Hindu family, she broke social convention to live the life of a mystic and follower of Krishna. As a result of her lifestyle, her family unsuccessfully tried to have her killed. Her many poems remain widely popular in India to this day.
Chiang Chen (1627-1699)Chinese academic. A native of Zhejiang, he was noted in his youth for his poetical talents and wide knowledge of ancient literature. Summoned to the Imperial Court, he was charged with writing a history of the Mings, and also produced many poems and essays.
John Selden (1584-1654)English jurist. After studying at Oxford he was called to the bar in 1612, and from 1621 took an active role in the affairs of Parliament. He became a well known political figure, a distinguished legal historian and renowned Orientalist.
Hipólito Yrigoyen (1852-1933)Argentinean politician. Born in Buenos Aires, he became leader of the Radical Civic Union party in 1892. Campaigning heavily for electoral reform, the achievement of this in 1912 ushered him into power as the first radical President of Argentina.
Olaudah Equiano (1745 - 1797)African slave. A skilled writer, his work ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano’ was a pioneering firsthand account of the horrors of slavery. He played a key role in the British abolitionist movement, helping to bring about the abolition of the slave trade.
Michael Drayton (1563-1631)English poet. He wrote a large body of work in a great variety of styles, including plays and poetry. He benefitted from the generosity of many Noble patrons, and as a result his work is typically Elizabethan in style and conception.
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592)French author. His witty, conversational style influenced not only French authors but also English speaking writers like Francis Bacon and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He invented the personal essay, a literary form based on individual observation and reflection.
Millicent Fawcett (1847-1929)British suffragette. She led the non-violent National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), and was an influential figure in women gaining the vote. She also campaigned in other areas, notably against the use of concentration camps in South Africa.
Sophie Scholl (1921-1943)German revolutionary. A student, she took part in resistance to Nazi rule during the Second World War as part of the White Rose movement. She distributed leaflets criticising the conduct of the war and fascist ideology, but was executed for treason in 1943.
Francois Rabelais (1494-1553)French writer and physician. A broadly educated and versatile scholar considered a father of European literature, he produced medical studies and translated Latin works into French. He is best known however for his comic masterpiece, Gargantua and Pantagruel.
John Logie Baird (1888 - 1946)British inventor. Considered a pioneer in the development of television, he demonstrated the first televised moving objects, as well as making the first transatlantic TV broadcast and demonstrating the first color television.
Saadi Shirazi (1184-1291)Persian poet. One of the greatest figures in classical Persian literature, his catalogue of work comprises 22 different kinds of writings in prose and verse. A keen traveler, he was taken prisoner during the Crusades but ransomed by a merchant of Aleppo.
Brigham Young (1801-1877)American Mormon leader. Converted in 1832, he became one of the twelve apostles of the church in 1835 and its president upon the death of Joseph Smith in 1844. He led the Mormons to Utah in 1847, where they founded Salt Lake City.
Omar Khayyam (1048-1131)Persian philosopher. His written works crossed a number of areas, including science, metaphysics and algebra. His skill as an astronomer led to him being asked by the sultan to reform the Muslim calendar, though his agnosticism frustrated Islamic religious figures.
Xenophon (427 BCE - 355 BCE)Greek historian. While originally a pupil of Socrates, he showed more interest in war than philosophy, fighting in the armies of Cyrus the Younger of Persia. He later won acclaim as an essayist, with his work Hellenica the only surviving history of the Greece of this period.
Marie Salle (1707-1756)French dancer. A child performer and daughter of an acrobat, she appeared in London in pantomime, making her Paris debut in 1718. One of the pioneers of dance without masks or elaborate hairstyles, she also created a number of roles of her own, notably Pygmalion.
Johannes Gutenberg (1398 - 1468)German printer. After an early career as a blacksmith, he invented the world’s first printing press. Considered one of the most important developments in European history, it revolutionized publishing and introduced an era of cheaper and more accessible literature.
J.A. Hobson (1858–1940)British social theorist. His writings on poverty helped influence the Edwardian liberal social conscience, leading to social reforms which introduced pensions and unemployment benefit for the first time. He later became an impassioned critic of imperialism.
Helena Rubinstein (1870 - 1965)Polish businesswoman. Migrating first to Australia and then to the United States, she formed an immensely successful cosmetic company, one of the world’s first. Among the world’s richest women, she dedicated much of her late life to philanthropy, especially in the arts.
John Dalberg-Acton (1834-1902)British intellectual. Considered one of the foremost intellects of his age, he excelled as both a scientific historian and Catholic philosopher. His work is distinguished by the application of rigorous standards of accuracy and ethical principles to history.
February 2014
British clockmaker. His life work was the invention of the marine Chronometer in 1737, enabling a ship to accurately know its longitude at sea for the first time. This major technical achievement was critical in the development of long-distance sea travel.
Samuel Dupont (1803-1865)American naval officer. During the American Civil War he organised the blockade of the South Atlantic by Federal forces and captured the ports of South Carolina and Georgia. Wrongly blamed for the failure of attacks on Charleston in 1863, he was relieved of command.
Ch'u Sui-liang (596-698)Chinese official. He rose to high office under the first emperor of the Tang dynasty, Gaozu, becoming Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In 655 however, he opposed the elevation of Empress Wu Hou, and was dismissed to a provincial post and later banished to Korea, where he died.
Pindar (522 BCE - 438 BCE)Greek writer. Growing up in Thebes, he was sent to Athens where his writing skill was quickly recognized. A compose of odes, his works concentrate on sporting and religious festivals. He was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the greatest of their lyric poets.
Ouyang Xun (557-641)Chinese scholar. Originally in the service of the Sui dynasty, he became supervising censor under Emperor Gaozu of Tang. Famous as a calligraphist, he gained such a reputation that envoys were sent from as far afield as Korea to learn his style.
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)American social activist. She began campaigning within the temperance movement, from where she became convinced of the need for female suffrage. She regularly toured America campaigning against slavery and for women’s and workers rights.
Nicarao (?)Cacique chieftain. A chief in what is now south-east Nicaragua, in 1522 he was one of the first in the region to interact with Spanish conquistadors. He entered into a treaty with the Spanish, who then dubbed the region Nicarao. Eventually the word became ‘Nicaragua.’
Heraclitus Ephesus (535-475 BCE)Greek philosopher. Despite only writing one work, his ideas influenced Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Popularly associated with the idea that the only unchanging feature of the universe is its changefulness, he is known as ‘the obscure.’
William Lendrum Mitchell (1879-1936)American soldier and airman. After World War 1, during which became chief of air operations, he conducted an energetic campaign against official failure to realise the importance of air power. When he attacked a superior for ‘almost treasonable incompetence’ he was court-martialled and forced to resign. He predicted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Nine years after his death the US Congress posthumously promoted him to the rank of major-general and awarded him the Medal of Honour.
Joseph Black (1728-1799)Scottish physician and chemist. He realised that carbon dioxide is chemically distinct from air, and was the first to show the differences between mild and caustic alkalis. Black also advanced the theories of specific and latent heat and laid the foundations of calorimetry.
Charles the Fat (839-888)Carolingian emperor, the last to rule over a united empire. Charles was granted lordship of Alemannia after the division of East Francia and also succeeded to the Italian throne. Upon the death of his cousin Carloman II in 884, he inherited all of West Francia. He was deposed by his nephew in 887 and died a few weeks later.
John, Duke of Bedford (1389-1435)English regent in France after the death in 1422 of his brother King Henry V. The maintenance of English rule in northern France depended chiefly on him. His prolonger success rested on his good relations with his brother-in-law, Duke Philip of Burgundy.
Dalip Singh (1837-93)Son and successor of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. During his minority the Sikhs were defeated and the Punjab annexed to British India in 1849. Dalip was granted a pension. He became a Christian and an English landowner in Norfolk, but in 1886 re-embraced Sikhism.
Georgii Apolloonovich Gapon (1870-1906)Russian priest, who founded the association of Russian Factory Workers in St Petersburg in 1903 with police protection, and who led the procession on Bloody Sunday in 1905. He was murdered by Socialist-Revolutionaries.
Knut Hanson (1859-1952)Norwegian author who was an early critic of the materialism and industrialization of his times, and became a romantic in his prose and verse works. His admiration of German philosophers such as Nietzsche, and of the German romantic ideals led him to support that country in both world wars, and despite German occupation of Norway in 1940.
John Hancock (1737-93)US politician and merchant who supported the sons of liberty and became a popular figure when his sloop Liberty was seized by the British for smuggling in 1768. The subsequent legal case became a symbol of opposition to British custom laws.
Hang Tuah (15th century)Popular hero of ancient Malaya, admiral (laksamana) of the sultanate of Malacca during the reigns of Mansur Shah and Alauddin Riayat. He was also a contemporary of the prime minister, Tun Perak, and is, together with the latter, closely associated with the expansion of Malacca.
Frumentius (300-380 CE)Apostle of Ethiopia. Originally from Lebanon, he was captured by Ethiopians while on a voyage, became the King’s secretary, and gradually secured the introduction of Christianity. He was consecrated Bishop of Axum in 346 CE.
Frederick II (1194-1250)Holy Roman Emperor. His reign was marked with clashes with the papacy, desiring to consolidate imperial power in Italy and the expense of the Holy See. He led the Sixth Crusade, taking possession of Jerusalem and crowning himself King in 1229.
Al Jolson (1886-1950)American entertainer. Born Asa Yoelson, he became one of America’s most popular entertainers. He impressed vaudeville audience of the 1920s with his comic routines and songs, which included ‘Mammy’ and ‘Sonny Boy’.
Sequoyah (1770-1843)Cherokee Indian leader. Likely the son of Nathaniel Gist, a British trader, and a Cherokee mother, he was a major influence behind the decision of the Cherokee to integrate more with white culture. He also invented an alphabet for the Cherokee language.
Harold L. Ickes (1874-1952)American politician. Originally a Republican, he later joined the Democrats and was a passionate supported of Franklin Roosevelt – acting as his ‘hatchet man.’ As head of the Public Works Administration, he played a major role in the New Deal (1933-1939).
Alfred Nobel (1833-1896)Swedish industrialist. After living in Russia, America and Paris early in his career, he settled in Stockholm and built a vast industrial empire, the centre point of which was dynamite, which he invented in 1866. He left his vast fortune to endow the annual Nobel Peace Prizes.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)Russian rocket scientist. He is considered a founding father in Rocketry and Astronautic theory. He was the first to argue for multi-stage rockets and to suggest the use of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as propellants, burnt in a combustion chamber.
Theodore Richards (1868-1928)American chemist. He studied at Haverford and at Harvard, where he became professor of chemistry in 1901. He is best known for his work on atomic weights which indicated the existence of isotopes, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1914.
John Forrest (1847-1918)Australian explorer. Working in Western Australia’s survey department from 1864, he led expeditions from Perth to Adelaide along the Great Australian Bight (1870) and into the interior (1874). He later served as the first premier of Western Australia from 1890-1901.
Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1989)Spanish politician. Joining the Spanish Communist party in 1921, she was arguably the most effective propagandist during the Spanish Civil War. She was elected as a Communist deputy to the Cortes in 1936 and fled to the USSR after Franco’s victory.
Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)Islamic philosopher. He wielded considerable political and academic influence as professor of Philosophy at Nizamiyah College, Baghdad, before suffering a spiritual crisis which caused him to leave his position. He later founded a monastic community.
January 2014
British inventor. While working as a veterinary surgeon in Belfast, he invented the pneumatic tyre in 1887, originally for bicycles. He formed a business in 1889 which eventually came to be known as the Dunlop Rubbery Company.
Du Fu (712-770)Chinese poet. A minor official at the Tang court of Xuanzong, he was a prolific writer whose works centered on themes of friendship, political comment and social criticism. His best known works include ‘Journey from the Capital’, ‘Autumn Day’ and ‘The War Chariot.’
Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)Italian clergyman. Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, elected Pope in 1958. He was responsible for convening the Second Vatican Council in 1962, through which he intended to update and reform the church, but died after the first session.
Thomas Pride (?-1658)English general. Little is known of his early life, but by 1645 he was commanding a regiment at Naseby for the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. In 1648 he was appointed by the army to remove Royalists in the House of Commons, in an event known as Pride’s Purge.
Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833)French chemist. Early in life he served in the army, and in 1795 became administrator of Nice. In 1801 he devoted himself to Chemistry, and in 1826 succeeded in producing a permanent photographic image on metal, a considerable development in photography.
Antonio José de Sucre (1793-1830)Venezuelan statesman. A close confidant of Simón Bolívar, he helped free Bolivia from Spanish Rule through the Victory of Aya Cucho in 1825, becoming its first president in 1826. He later fought for Colombia, supervising victory at the Battle of Giron in 1829.
Sima Qian (145-97 BCE)Chinese historian. He succeeded his father as grand historian in 110 BCE, but angered the emperor when he defended a disgraced military leader. Escaping execution, he went on to produce Shih Chi, a revolutionary dynastic history of China.
Muhammad Iqbal (1873-1938)Indian philosopher. A classical style author whose writings were intended for recitation, his work was formative on the movement which led to the creation of the separate Muslim of Pakistan. His best known work is Secrets of the Self, published in 1915.
C.E.M. Joad (1891-1953)British philosopher. A prolific author of more than forty books, he made the subject of philosophy accessible to the general reader, often including his own forthright opinions. His most successful work was a Guide to Philosophy, published in 1936.
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)Japanese daimyo. Born into a noble family, he became a general and occupied the old Japanese capital, Kyoto, in 1568. Here he destroyed the power of the Buddhist Church, promoting Christianity as a counter balance, and built Azuchi Castle as his headquarters.
John Wesley Powell (1834-1902)American explorer. Despite having lost an arm during the American Civil War, he became one of the foremost explorers of the American west. He led the Powell Geographic Expedition in 1869, which discovered the first known passage through the Grand Canyon.
Percival Pott (1714-1788)British surgeon. He acted as senior surgeon at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, where he introduced improvements to make surgery more humane. In 1765 he wrote Fractures and Dislocations, an influential study on a leg fracture he suffered himself.
Gus Khan (1886-1941)American songwriter. A Tin Pan Alley writer for film and musical theatre, he shared a successful partnership with Walter Donaldson and provided a number of hit songs. These included ‘Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby’ (1925) and ‘All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm’ (1926).
Queen Seondeok (? - 647)Korean ruler. Queen of Silla, one of the three Traditional Kingdoms of Korea, from 632 to 647 CE. Only the second female ruler in East Asian history, her reign saw the flourishing of education and religious culture, with the temple of Bunhwangsa constructed in 634.
Rose Macaulay (1881-1958)British author. Her work was often humorous and urbane, with the most notable being Potterism (1920), Told by An Idiot (1923) and They Were Defeated (1932). She also worked as a journalist and published travel writing.
Sennacherib (? - 681 BCE)Assyrian king. The son of Sargon II and grandfather of Assurbanipal, he was a strong ruler, famous for his conquest of Babylon (689 BCE) and his rebuilding of Ninevah. As a result of his attack on Jerusalem, he features prominently in the Bible.
Manuel Quezon (1878-1944)Filipino statesman. Acting as President of the Philippine Senate from 1916-1935, he was elected the first president of the Philippine Commonwealth. Here he introduced a highly centralized government, but won admiration for his courage during the Second World War.
Charles Goodyear (1800-1860)American inventor. Amid poverty and ridicule, he pursued experiments into the properties of rubber, eventually inventing vulcanised rubber. This led to the development of the rubber-manufacturing industry and the tyre brand named after him.
Apollonius of Tyana (3-97 CE)Greek philosopher. A zealous teacher in the tradition of Pythagorus, he was hailed as a prophet and a worker of miracles. Worshipped after his death, his legend even led to the philosopher Philostratus to erroneously suggest he was a heathen rival to Jesus Christ.
Qiu Jin (1875-1907)Chinese revolutionary. She acted as a leading advocate for women’s rights, holding membership in various organistions plotting against the ruling Qing Dynasty. Executed after a failed uprising in 1907, she is lauded as a Chinese revolutionary heroine.
Nathan Hale (1755-1776)American soldier. He volunteered for the Continental Army shortly after the commencement of the War of Independence. During the Battle of Long Island he operated behind enemy lines as a spy, but was caught and hanged for espionage by British forces. His purported final words were regret that ‘I have only one life to give for my country’.
Henry Flood (1732-1791)Irish statesman. After studying at Dublin and Oxford, he became leader of the Popular Party in the Irish Parliament after his election in 1759. In 1775 he became vice-treasurer of Ireland, but he was removed in 1781 for his nationalist views. Elected to Westminster in 1783, he failed to make the same impact.
Albert I (1875-1934)Belgian king. Acceding to the throne on the death of his father, Leopold II, in 1909, he was considered a successful and well liked monarch. He was noted for his defense of Belgium during the First World War, where he urged ‘stubborn resistance’ and personally directed forces in the field.
James Glaisher (1809-1903)British meteorologist. Joining the Ordnance Survey aged twenty, he later became chief meteorologist at Greenwich. Here he conducted a range of pioneering experiments, including a number of balloon ascents to study the atmosphere, with one such ascent reaching a height of over 11km.
Frits Zernike (1888-1966)Dutch physicist. Professor of Physics at Groningen University for nearly fifty years, he developed the phase-contrast microscope in 1938, which allowed the study of cell structure without the use of stains that kill the cell. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1953.
John Hadley (1682-1744)British mathematician. He developed a string of improvements to the Gregorian reflecting telescope, succeeding in making it into an accurate and effective tool for use in astronomy. He later also designed a double-reflecting quadrant which became the basis for the sextant.
Pindar (522 BCE - 440 BCE)Greek poet. He studied in Athens and became famous as a composer of odes throughout the Greek world, becoming the chief lyric poet of Greece. Although his work encompassed a range of themes and styles, only his Epinikia (Triumphal Odes) have survived in entirety.
Nicholas Nikolaevich (1856-1929)Russian general. A member of the Romanov dynasty, he served with distinction during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78). His career peak would come at the onset of the First World War, when he was placed in command of all Russian armies, but he was ill-equipped for the task and sacked by Tsar Nicholas II in 1915.
Mei Sheng (?-141 BCE)Chinese poet. Writing during the Han Dynasty, he was a pioneer of the Fu (rhapsody) form of poetry. He is credited with the introduction of the five-character line, and for this reason is often considered ‘the father of modern Chinese Poetry.’
Ashoka (304-232 BCE)Indian king. The last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty, he grew his territory through constant conquest until it stretched across nearly the whole Indian subcontinent. The destructive nature of his conquests led him to become a convert to Buddhism, establishing it as the state religion.
Zog I (1895-1961)Albanian statesman. Born Ahmed Bey Zogu, he formed a republican government in Albania, acting as Prime Minister from 1922-1924 and then President from 1925-1928. He remarkably proclaimed himself king in 1928, but was forced to flee after the Italian invasion in 1939 and abdicated in 1946.
December 2013
Prussian field marshal. He joined the Prussian Army in 1786, and his long distinguished service included fighting at Saalfeld and Jena in 1806 and acting as an architect of Prussia’s victory at Liepzeig in 1813. He is often considered the greatest Prussian general since Frederick the Great.
Henry Harwood (1888-1959)British naval commander. As the commander of the Royal Navy’s South American fleet, he was responsible for British ships at the Battle of the River Plate, in which the German pocket Battleship Graf Spree was trapped and scuttled. In 1942 he became commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean fleet.
James Forrestal (1892-1949)American politician. After serving during the First World War and a career in business, he served as secretary of the navy from 1944-1947. He was then appointed to the newly created post of secretary of defence, but resigned in 1949 and committed suicide shortly afterwards.
Ancus Marcius (642-617 BCE)Roman ruler. Traditionally the fourth King of Rome, he is said to have conquered the neighboring Latin tribes, settling them on the Aventine Hill. This was part of the extension of Roman territory under his rule which saw it reach the sea, where he established the port of Ostia.
Isaac Barre (1726-1802)British politician. After an early career as a soldier, including a stint during the Seven Years War, Barre became a passionate follower of William Pitt the Elder, knows as ‘The Great Commoner’. Notably, Barre joined Pitt in sympathising with the British colonies in North America, attacking the Stamp Act, dubbing those who opposed it ‘Sons of Liberty’.
Zhou Enlai (1898-1975)Chinese politician. Born in Kiangsu Province, in 1927 he became a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, later holding a number of key positions within the party. In 1947 he became prime minister of the Chinese People’s Republic, holding this role until his death.
Christy Mathewson (1880-1925)American baseball player. A leading right-hand pitcher, he played seventeen seasons for the New York Giants between 1900 and 1916, joint holding the record of 373 wins. He was one of the first five players to be elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1936.
Frederick Soddy (1877-1956)British radiochemist. Studying in Wales and at Oxford, he spent most of his career at the latter as professor of chemistry. In 1913 he discovered forms of the same element with identical chemical qualities but different atomic weights (Isotopes), for which he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921.
Joseph Fouché (1759-1820)French statesman. Born in Nantes, he was elected to the National Convention in 1792 as a Jacobin, and in 1799 he became minister of police, a post he successfully held until 1815. A noted intriguer, once the Bourbon monarchy was restored, he was exiled and died in Trieste.
Samuel Franklin Cody (1862-1913)British-American aviator. Moving to Britain in 1896, he experimented with man-lifting kites and participated in the construction of the first British dirigible. In 1908 he built an early aeroplane, but was tragically killed in a flying accident five years later.
Gyula Andrássy (1823-1890)Hungarian statesman. A supporter of Lajos Kossuth, he was prominent in the struggle for independence in 1848-49, which resulted in his exile until 1858. When the Dual-Monarchy was created in 1867, he became Hungary’s first Prime Minister, serving until 1861.
Otto Braun (1900-1974)German communist. After origins in left-wing German politics, he fled to the Soviet Union where he was dispatched by the Comintern to aide Chinese communists. Here he helped shape the Chinese approach, but power struggles eventually left him isolated and he returned to the Soviet Union.
Josef Pilsudski (1867-1935)Polish statesman. An army leader and primary figure in the Polish independence movement during the First World War. He became frustrated with the newly independent Polish democratic government, and in May 1926 staged a coup, subsequently ruling Poland until his death in 1935.
Adolphus Greeley (1844-1935)American explorer. He led a US exhibition in 1881 to Smith Sound in the Arctic, where metereological station was set up, and travelled to within 396 miles of the North Pole, the farthest point reached till then. In 1888 he helped form the American Geographical Society.
Zhang Guotao (1897-1979)Chinese politician. While a student he was involved in the May Fourth Movement of 1919, and by 1921 had joined the new Chinese Communist party. Playing a lead role in the Nanching Mutiny in 1927, he later opposed the elevation of Mao as leader, defecting to the nationalists in 1938.
Vladimir Ipatieff (1867-1952)Russian chemist. An officer in the Russian army, he was professor of chemistry at the Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg. He synthesised isoprene, a basic unit of rubber, and contributed to the understanding of catalytic chemistry. During the First World War he directed Russia’s chemical industry.
John L. Lewis (1880-1969)American trade unionist. Growing up in Iowa, he was leader of the United Mine Workers Union for forty years, forming in 1935 the combined Congress of International Organizations. A skilled spokesperson, he made the Miner’s Union one of America’s most powerful.
Heraclius (? - 641)Byzantine emperor. He became Emperor in 610 CE, with the Byzantine Empire crumbling, but within six years had strengthened the imperial army and produced a string of victories. These came most notably against the Persians, who had almost captured Byzantine, but he struggled later to combat the Arabs.
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (1797-1856)British actress. The daughter of a renowned German pianist, her incredible singing ability led her to hold the starring role in a string of successful opera productions in London. From this she accumulated a small fortune which she used to start a career as a theatre producer and manager.
Simonides of Ceos (556-468 CE)Greek poet. Born on the island of Ceos, he was a seasoned traveler, and lived for many years in Athens. When Persia invaded Greece, his poems concentrated on the heroes and the battles of the conflict. He was believed to have been the first Greek poet who wrote for fees.
Etienne Dolat (1509-1546)French publisher. Settling in Lyon in 1534, he set up a printing press on which he printed translations of the classics, as well as Erasmus and Rabelais. He was often arrested for publishing heretical books, being burned for this in 1546 – an event which lead to his nickname as ‘the first martyr of the Renaissance.’
Jane Shore (?-1527)English courtesan. Originally marrying a goldsmith, in 1470 she became the mistress of Edward IV, living in luxury till his death in 1483. She was not favoured by Richard III however, who forced her to do public penance from which she never recovered, and she died a beggar.
Kim Gu (1876-1949)Korean politician. A member of the Donghak movement in his early age, he grew to become one of the most prominent leaders of the Korean Independence Movement against Japanese rule. The last leader of the Korean government in exile before 1945, he is considered one of the founding fathers of modern day South Korea.
Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890)American inventor. After an early career as a newspaper editor and government official, his most famous creation was the typewriter, which he invented with Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule. A patent was granted in 1868, which Sholes later sold to the Remington Arms Company.
Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922)Japanese statesman. He helped develop the Japanese Army in the wake of the Meiji Restoration, and would go on to become field marshall and twice Japanese prime minister. His influence contributed to the development of the modern militarist Japanese nation state of the early twentieth century.
Robert Napier (1810-1890)British field marshall. Born in Ceylon, he joined the Bengal Engineers in 1826, distinguishing himself at the Siege of Lucknow in 1857, the Chinese War in 1860 and the expedition of Abyssinia in 1868. In 1870 he became commander-in-chief in India.
Étienne Lenoir (1822-1900)Belgian inventor. By converting a steam engine to burn a mixture of coal-gas and air, and by successfully commercialising it, he became the inventor of the first widespread internal combustion engine. He later adapted it to run on liquid fuel, and used it in 1860 to propel a vehicle.
Kazimierz Pulaski (1748-1779)Polish soldier. He fought against Russia, and was outlawed at the partition of Poland in 1772. In 1777 he went to America, organising ‘Pulaski’s legion’, a brigade of cavalry who entered Charleston in 1779 and held it until it was relieved. He was mortally wounded at the Siege of Savannah.
Karl Liebknecht (1871-1919)German politician. A leading Marxist in Germany, his work was intensified during the First World War and he founded the Communist Party of Germany in 1919. He instigated the doomed Spartacist Uprising of 1919, and was later killed with co conspirator Rose Luxemburg by the right wing Freikorps.
Liu Xin (50 BCE-23CE)Chinese astronomer. Scholar-minister to the Chinese usurper Wang Mang, he was the son of Confucian scholar Liu Xiang. He produced pioneering astronomical tables, catalogued 1080 stars and calculated the year at 365 385/1539 days.
Henry Hudson (?-1611)English explorer. He explored the North East coast of North America, making claims for both the English and the Dutch. He entered the river which bears his name in 1609, and through the strait also named for him in 1610. Running short on supplies, his crew mutinied and he died a year later.
November 2013
Byzantine historian. He studied law, and accompanied Belisarius against the Persians in 526, Vandals in Africa in 533, and the Ostrogoths in Italy in 536. He was highly honored by Emperor Justinian for his work, and was appointed prefect of Constantinople in 562.
John Gower (1325-1408)Medieval poet. A friend of Chaucer, his works include many French ballads written in his youth. He is best known however for a long English poem, Confessio Amantis, which comprises over one hundred stories on the theme of Christian and courtly love.
Fu Zuoyi (1895-1971)Chinese general. Serving his military apprentice under the Warlord Yan Xishan, he won significant praise for his skilled defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese in 1936. During the Chinese Civil War, he surrendered the important garrison at Beiping to communist forces, and later served in the government of Communist China.
Wilhelm Röntgen (1845-1923)German physicist. Throughout a career at the Universities of Giessen, Wurzberg and Munich, he produced key breakthroughs in physics. Notably in 1895 he produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known now as X-rays – an achievement which won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.
Eugene Burton Ely (1886-1911)American aviator. From humble origins as a car salesman, he grew to become a pioneer in aviation. He was involved in the first shipboard aircraft take off and landing in 1910, from the Cruiser USS Birmingham, though he tragically died at flying exhibition a year later.
Valerian (?-260)Roman emperor. Proclaimed emperor by the legions in Rhaetia after the murder of Gallus in 253, he appointed his eldest son Gallienus as co-ruler. Plagued by problems throughout the empire, he was defeated by the Persians in Edessa in 260 CE, and was captured by Shapur I, dieing in captivity.
Timothy Hackworth (1786-1850)British locomotive engineer. Manager of the Stockton-Darlington Railway between 1825 and 1840, he developed a number of famous railway engines, including the Royal George and most notably the Sans Pareil, rival of George Stephenson’s Rocket.
William Wheeler (1819-1887)American statesman. Growing up impoverished in Malone, New York, he became a successful lawyer and businessman. Elected Vice President under Rutherford B Hayes, he served from 1877-1881 but showed little interest in the position – not standing for another term in 1880.
Christian Doppler (1803-1855)Austrian physicist. A student at Vienna, where he became Professor of Physics at the same institution in 1851. He is best known for his breakthrough in discovery of the Doppler effect, the explanation of the perceived frequency variation of sound and light waves.
Fan Zhongyan (989-1052)Chinese statesman. Serving as Chancellor during the Song dynasty, he was an energetic reformer, advocating administrative, social and agricultural reforms. He notably created a national school system for the first time, which raised standards and improved social mobility.
JJ Thomson (1856-1940)British physicist. Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge University, in 1896 he demonstrated that cathode rays were rapidly-moving particles and that corspiscles (electrons) must be significantly smaller than the hydrogen ion. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906, and was knighted in 1908.
Robert Ripley (1893-1949)American illustrator. Beginning his career as a tombstone polisher, he became a newspaper cartoonist before founding the ‘Believe it or Not!’ cartoon of oddities in 1918. A roaring success, he used the wealth he acquired to buy an island in Long Island sound, naming it Bion, an acronym of ‘Believe It or Not!’
Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942)Polish anthropologist. After studying at the Jagiellonian University, he moved to London and taught at the London School of Economics, where he became a Professor in 1927. He was a pioneer of ‘participant observation’ as a method of fieldwork, and a major proponent of functionalism in anthropology.
Black Caesar (?-1718)African pirate. A tribal chieftain in West Africa, he was captured and sold into slavery before escaping to become a pirate. He spent nearly a decade terrorising ships around the Florida keys, before leaving to become a key figure aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, captained by the legendary Blackbeard.
Ignaz Seipel (1876-1932)Austrian statesman. Formerly a Roman Catholic priest, he entered the government under Lammasch in 1918. After the collapse of Austro-Hungarian monarchy, he became leader of the Conservative party in 1920, being appointed Austrian chancellor two years later. He rebuilt the financial system of Austria by foreign loans. He died soon after an attempt on his life in 1932.
Christy Mathewson (1880-1925)American baseball player. A leading right-hand pitcher, he played seventeen seasons for the New York Giants between 1900 and 1916, joint holding the record of 373 wins. He was one of the first five players to be elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1936.
Osami Nagano (1880-1947)Japanese admiral. A fierce advocate of Japanese Naval power, he served as navy minister and commander-in-chief of the combined fleet in the years before the Second World War. During the conflict he was chief of the naval staff, planning the attack on Pearl Harbour. He died while on trial for war crimes.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)English writer. Raising in the Dutch colony of Surinam, she became a English spy in Antwerp, handling sensitive naval information. She later become known for her writing, notably her novel ‘Oroonoko’, and is widely considered the first professional female writer in English literature.
Ayeshah (613-678)Muslim pioneer. The third and widely considered favourite of the nine wives of the Prophet Mohammed, she was the daughter of Abu-Bakr, the first Caliph. Embroiled in conflict over the role of Calpih after Mohammed’s death, she is nevertheless considered the ‘Mother of believers.’
Fra Diavolo (1771-1806)Italian guerrilla. He led resistance to the French occupation of Naples during the French Revolutionary Wars. His intense fighting habit and wild appearance led to him being dubbed by peasants as ‘Brother Devil’, with many considering him supernatural.
Carl Wernicke (1848-1905)German neurologist. A professor at Breslau university, he studied brain damage involving the serious loss of language ability, known as aphasia. He successfully deduced the part of brain which this chiefly concerns.
Theodore Richards (1868-1928)American chemist. After studying at Haverford College, he became professor of Chemistry at Harvard in 1901. He is best known for his investigations into atomic weights, which indicated the existence of isotopes. He won the Nobel Price for Chemistry in 1914.
Charles Montagu (1661-1775)British statesman. He initiated the concept of the national debt with a proposal to raise a government loan of £1 million, a revolutionary step in national finance. He later founded the Bank of England in 1694 and acted as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Kang Youwei (1858-1927)Chinese philosopher. He organised thousands of scholars to demand national reforms as part of the Hundred Days of Reform in 1898. Despite initial approval by Emperor Zaitain, the movement collapsed after the Emperor was seized by Dowager Empress Ci-Xi. Youwei fled to Japan, only returning in 1914.
Jebidiah Smith (1799-1831)American explorer. Originally a fur trader, he undertook two major expeditions of exploration in the Central Rockies and Columbia river areas between 1823 and 1830. Later he became the first white man to reach California overland.
Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915)Mexican statesman. Spending his early years serving in the army resisting the French occupation, he was defeated in Presidential elections in 1875 before seizing power a year later. Ruling Mexico for thirty years, the revolution of Francisco Madero eventually forced him to resign in 1911.
James Longstreet (1821-1904)American soldier. After serving the US army in the Mexican War, he resigned at the outbreak of the US Civil War to join the Confederacy. He fought in the Battle of Bull Run in 1861 and at Gettysburg in 1863, before surrendering with Robert E. Lee in 1865.
Ahmed Arabi (1839-1911)Egyptian nationalist. He was the leader of a rebellion in 1881 against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha, which resulted in a nationalist government. The British intervened to defend their interests in the Suez Canal, and Arabi’s movement was eventually defeated at Tel-el-Kebir in 1882.
Henry Ireton (1611 - 1651)English general. Serving in the Parliamentary Army during the English Civil War, he was one of the most aggressive enemies of King Charles I, signing the warrant for his execution. Serving by Cromwell’s side in Ireland, he died of the plague during the Siege of Limerick.
Sitting Bull (1834-1890)Native American chief. Leader of the Dakota Sioux during the Sioux War, he led the defeat of Custer and his men at the Little Big Horn in 1876 before escaping to Canada. Surrendering in 1881, he later toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
October 2013
Afghan monarch. A chieftain of the Durani clan of the Abdali tribe, and a calvary general under the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah, he was elected King of the Afghan provinces in 1745. His reign was characterized by regular clashes with Sikh armies over the Punjab region.
Mohammed Naguib (1901-1984)Egyptian general. As general of an army division in 1952 he carried out a coup in Cairo, ousting the monarchy of Farouk I and initiating the ‘Egyptian revolution’. Taking the office of president and commander-in-chief, he too was deposed two years later by Nasser.
Saya San (1876-1937)Burmese nationalist. A passionate advocate for the rights of Burma’s peasant majority, he fomented a rebellion in Lower Burma in December 1930. The rebellion grew rapidly, only being suppressed after the colonial government deployed 10,000 troops to suppress it. San was arrested in 1932 and later executed.
John Davis (1550-1605)English explorer. He undertook three major Arctic voyages in search of the Northwest Passage, the last of which he found the strait later named after him. He later discovered the Falkland Islands in 1592, but was killed by Japanese pirates off the coast of Singapore in 1605.
Zhu De (1886-1976)Chinese soldier. Considered one of the founders of the Chinese Red Army, his career was closely associated with Mao Zedong, joining his troops with Mao during the Nanchang Mutiny of 1927. He later successfully combated Nationalist forces and led the Red Army during the Long March of 1934.
Moses Maimonides (1135-1204)Spanish philosopher. A student of Aristotelian philosophy and Greek medicine from Arab teachers, he migrated to Egypt where he was close to Saladin, acting as his physician. His written works were a considerable influence of Jewish thought, notably his Dalat al-ha’irin from 1190.
Haider Ali (1722-1782)Ruler of Mysore, India. Having conquered Calicut and fought the Marathas, he engaged in conflict with the British in 1767, winning several gains. In 1779 he and his son, Tippo, again fought the British colonial forces, but could not repeat their success – being finally defeated in 1782.
Tintoretto (1518-1594)Venetian painter. Real name Jacopo Robusti, he began his studies under Titian. At 30 his qualities obtained general recognition through his paintings for the Scuola di San Marco. These included the Miracle of the Slave, in the Accademia at Venice. His other works included the colossal 74 feet by 30 feet Paradise.
John Napier (1550-1617)Scottish mathematician. Although remembered as the inventor of logarithms, he was also an ardent Protestant theologian. In 1593 he published Canonis Descrioptio, the first explanation of the nature of logarithms. In 1617 he published Raddologia, which describes the method of using numerating rods for mechanical multiplication and division. These are commonly called ‘Napier’s bones’.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)Hungarian pianist and composer. An exceptional virtuoso of the piano – he was taught by his father – by the age of 12 he was an established concert artist. His romantic, expressive and often chromatic works include music for piano, symphonies, concertos and organ music. He died of pneumonia in Bayreuth, Germany, during a festival of Wagner’s music.
Maximilian I (1459-1519)Holy Roman Emperor. His engaged in military campaigns in Italy and Switzerland but was plagued by financial difficulties, losing Austrian territories to the Swiss confederacy. He negotiated crucial marriage alliances however, with the lands inherited from these forming the Empire of Charles V, his grandson.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519)Spanish soldier and explorer. Inspired by the success of Columbus, he first travelled to the New Word in 1500. He most famously crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513, where he was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the western shore of the New World.
William I (1131-1166)King of Sicily. He ruled skillfully, promoting religious tolerance and science and letters during his reign. Unpopularity with Sicilian Barons led to his infamy however, dubbing him ‘William the Bad’, and his later reign was characterized by rebellions within his territories.
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723)Dutch biologist. Originally a successful textile merchant, he later began experimenting with micro-biographic study. His discovery of organisms in water in 1676 was the first case of bacteria being seen by man, and he is considered a father of microbiology.
Douglas Bader (1910-1982)British airman. He was one of the leading flying aces of the Second World War, despite losing both legs in an aerobatic accident. He was shot down over German-occupied France and apprehended as a P.O.W., eventually being relocated to Colditz in response to his frequent attempts at escape.
Harriet Taylor Mill (1807 - 1858)British philosopher. She was an early advocate for women’s rights, attacking those who felt women should exist in ‘separate spheres’ to men. Her work is often connected to that of her second husband, the philosopher John Stuart Mill, with whom she held a strong influence.
Pacal the Great (603-683)Mayan King. Ruler of Palenque for 68 years from 615 to 683, he extended Palenque’s territory significantly and developed its architecture. Many civic buildings of note were constructed during his reign, some of which survive to this day.
J.B. Danquah (1895-1965)Ghanian politician. A leading African nationalist, he sought greater self government for the colony of Gold coast, founding the United Gold Coast convention in 1947. After independence he clashed with President Kwame Nkrumah, being arrested twice for criticizing his rule.
Kebineng (?-235)Chinese leader. An influential figure in Northern China during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period, he rose to power after the defeat of the rival Wuhuan people at the hands of the warlord Cao Cao, with whom Kebineng was willing to pay tribute in exchange for regional power.
Joseph Bazalgette (1819-1891)British civil engineer. Through his role as chief engineer of London’s metropolitan Board of Works he had a significant impact on the development of London’s infrastructure. His creation of a sewer network between 1859 and 1865 improved the health of thousands of Londoners.
Chulalongkorn (1853-1910)Siamese ruler. He acted to combat the influence of European colonial powers over Siam (modern day Thailand). His shrewd diplomatic skills, as well as the use of military skirmishes and territorial appeasement, helped make Siam one of the few nations in the region to avoid colonial conquest.
Eduard Ivanovich Todleben (1818-1884)Russian soldier. A genius in military engineering, he won international fame for his defence of Sebastopol during the Crimean War (1854-55). In the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) he was placed in charge of the siege of Plevna, which he ultimately captured.
William Tyndale (1494-1536)English theologian. His translation of the New Testament was the first to be printed in English, with its simple, clear style a model for subsequent English translations of the Bible. Such translation was dangerously radical for the time, and he was executed for heresy and treason in 1536.
Agesilaus II (444-360 BCE)Spartan king. Despite being disabled from birth, he grew to dominate Spartan politics. Through military might, tactical brilliance and ruthless subjugation, he made his state supreme in the Ancient Greek World by 380 BCE.
Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)Vietnamese revolutionary. He was the figurehead of the Vietnamese nationalist movement for over thirty years, leading the fight against the Japanese, the colonial French and the US-backed South Vietnamese. He was president of North Vietnam from 1954 until his death.
Mithridates VI (120 BCE-63 BCE)King of Pontos. He acted as the figurehead for the resistance of the Hellenistic East against Roman expansion in the first century BCE. He inspired a feeling of revolt as far as Greece, but after three sapping wars, he was finally defeated by Pompey the Great and committed suicide.
Roman von Ungern-Sternberg (1885-1921)Russian general. A combatant on the white side in the Russian Civil War, his eccentric behaviour and vicious treatment of enemies led to the nickname ‘Mad Baron.’ Afterwards he became an independent warlord, fighting the Chinese in outer Mongolia, before being executed by the Red Army.
William II (1056-1100)Norman king. Popularly known as William Rufus because of his ruddy complexion, he was the third son of William the Conqueror (William I) and inherited the English throne. Killed by an arrow while out hunting, it remains unclear whether this was an accident or assassination.
Marie Curie (1867-1934)French-Polish physicist and chemist. Together with her husband Pierre, she made incredible strides in the investigation of radioactivity. She was awarded the Nobel Prize twice, in 1903 and 1911, and her discoveries made her one of the most famous scientists of the time
Philippe Pétain (1856 - 1951)French statesman. He was a national hero in France for his leadership during the defence of Verdun in the First World War. He was later however discredited for his leadership of the French collaborationist Vichy government in the Second World War, and sentenced to death.
Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536)Queen of England. A Spanish princess, she was the first wife of Henry VIII and mother of the future Mary I. Henry’s desire to repeal his marriage to Catherine was the essential component in the beginning of the English reformation, and Henry would go on to have five more wives.
September 2013
Spanish conquistador. Originally serving with the Spanish army in Europe, in 1534 he was sent to South America, where he helped establish Santiago and extended Spanish influence to the Bío-Bío River. He became Governor of Chile in 1549, but was killed while attempting to pacify Southern Chile in 1553.
Artaxerxes II (? - 358 BCE)Persian ruler. The son and successor of Darius II, much of his reign was spent fighting the rebellion incited by rival Cyrus the Younger. Heavily reliant on a close circle of advisers, in particular his wife Stateira, he is often dubbed ‘Artaxerxes the thoughtful’.
John Cronyn Tovey (1885-1971)British admiral. He acted as the commander of the Home Fleet between 1940-3, under which he led the pursuit and destruction of the Bismarck, pride of Hitler’s Navy. The sinking was the most important surface battle fought by the Royal Navy in home waters during the Second World War.
Jean-François Champollion (1790 - 1832)French intellectual. A classical scholar and archaeologist, he is often considered the key person responsible for deciphering the mystery of Egyptian hieroglyphics, successfully translating the Rosetta Stone in 1822. He is celebrated as the founding father of Egyptology.
Titus (31-81)Roman emperor. The tenth emperor, his two year reign from 79-81 was short but eventful, witnessing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79. He was noted for his positive relationship with his subjects, and his reign saw the opening of the Colosseum in 80.
George Eliot (1819-1880)British author. The male title ‘George Eliot’ was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, a leading English novelist of the 19th century. Her novels are celebrated for their realism and psychological insights, with ‘Middlemarch’ considered a British classic.
Robert Smalls (1839-1915)American soldier and politician. Born into slavery, Smalls was forced into Confederate service aboard the ship CSS Planter, but along with other impressed seaman stole the ship and fled to the Union in 1862. He became a hero in the North, later being a navy captain and politician in South Carolina.
Pliny the Younger (61-112)Roman statesman. He was an official and writer, whose most prominent post was as Governor of Bithynia-Pontusis from 110. He is most famous however for his letters, which chronicled political matters and domestic events and are an important source for Roman history.
Alaric I (370-410)Goth tribal leader. He achieved rule over the Goths in the 390s, and he created the Visigoths, a powerful amalgamation of tribes which the Romans could never defeat militarily. His crowning achievement came in 410 when he conquered Rome, the first army to do so in 800 years.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836 - 1917)British feminist. A pioneering political campaigner, her achievements included becoming the first Englishwoman to qualify as a doctor, though she was forced to study for her degree outside Britain at the University of Paris. She later also became the first female mayor and magistrate in the UK.
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616)Japanese statesman. He grew to fame as a skilled warrior, and seized control over Japan in 1600. He was the founder of the Tokugawa dynasty of shoguns, which would last until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, and thus is considered one of the most significant figures in Japanese history.
Léonce Lagarde (1860-1936)French colonial administrator. He spent most of his career in East Africa, where he established the city of Djibouti. From here he expanded French territory westwards, creating the protectorate of French Somaliland and attempting to restrain the growth of British influence.
Edward VI (1537-1553)English King. A member of the Tudor dynasty and son of Henry VIII, Edward was King for only a few years, and often in poor health. Dying at the mere age of 15, his short reign saw the comprehensive introduction of Protestantism.
Charles Joseph Latrobe (1801-1875)Australian administrator, born in London of a Moravian family. He was an expert mountaineer and explorer and in 1834 crossed the American prairies from New Orleans to Mexico with Washington Irving. He was made Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria in 1851, retiring three years later.
Mary Russell Mitford (1797-1855)English novelist. Tthe author of ‘Our Village’ (1824-32), five volumes of sketches descriptive of rural life. She also wrote several successful plays, including ‘Julian’ (1823) and ‘Rienzi’ (1828.)
William Massey Ferguson (1856-1925)Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1912 and 1925. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1870 and entered parliament in 1894. He joined the Imperial War Cabinet in 1917 and represented New Zealand in the Treaty of Versailles of 1919.
Vaslav Nijinsky (1892-1950)Russian dancer. He was one of the famous company of dancers which include Pavlova, Karsavina and Fokine brought by Diaghilev to Paris and London just before World War One. He was to establish for himself a supreme place among male dancers.
Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897)The originator of modern shorthand writing and founder of the commercial school which bears his name. He as first a clerk, then a school teacher. His shorthand method revolutionised reporting around the world.
Cesare Borgia (1476-1507)Italian cardinal and general. The illegitimate son of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI) and brother of Lucrezia Borgio. Originally a cardinal, he became the first person to resign a cardinalcy in 1498, and was later captain general of the papal army.
Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770)English poet. Obsessed by the medieval period, he is chiefly remembered for his fabricated poems purporting to be those of a fifteenth century monk. He died from arsenic poisoning, a likely suicide, at the age of 17.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)German engraver and painter. He was the leading German artist of the Renaissance, important for his technically advanced woodcuts and copper engravings. His vast body of work also included excellent examples of other mediums, including drawings and water colours.
Khaemwese (1285-1230 BCE)Egyptian priest. The fourth son of King Ramesses II by Isitnofret, he was appointed to the priesthood of Ptah where he reached the position of high priest. He worked to maintain older Egyptian monuments and also served briefly as crown prince before predeceasing his father.
Mario Garcia Menocal (1866-1941)Cuban solider and politician. He served in the war of independence (1895-1898), and was later a conservative president of Cuba between 1913 and 1921. His administration was market by material progress but much corruption and repression, notably putting down a liberal revolt in 1917.
Thomas Arundel (1353-1414)English clergyman. After early positions as Bishop of Ely and Archbishop of York, Arundel served as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death. While at Canterbury he spent much of his time aggressively attacking the Lollards, followers of John Wycliffe who sought Christian reform.
Artaxerxes II (453 - 350 BCE)Persian King. Succeeding Darius II, upon his ascension to the throne he faced significant revolt, primarily in Egypt. He also faced a rebellion by his younger brother, Cyrus. While he was able to defeat Cyrus he never was able to re-conquer Egypt, despite several attempts to do so.
Titus Oates (1649-1705)English perjurer. He is known for his role in concocting a story about a Catholic plot to murder King Charles II in 1678. He was initially lauded as a hero for detailing the plot, one which led to numerous executions, before the plot was found to be an elaborate hoax. Oates was fined and jailed for perjury.
Nekau II (? - 595 BCE)Egyptian ruler. Ascending to the throne in 610 BCE, he attempted to stop the growth of Babylonian power by supporting the Assyrians, though this did little to stop his defeat at Babylonian hands at the Battle of Carchemish in 609 BCE. Elsewhere he was more successful, defeating the army of King Josiah of Israel the same year.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430)Christian saint. After a serious of spiritual crises in his early life, he was baptised by St. Ambrose and became bishop of Hippo in 396. His writings, such as Confessions and the City of God, dominated subsequent Western Christian theology. He is considered a Doctor of the Church.
Joe Hill (1879-1915)American labour leader. Emigrating from Sweden in 1901, he became active in the Industrial Workers of the World and also known for his songwriting. Arrested and convicted of murder in 1914, primarily on the basis of circumstantial evidence, he was executed and became a hero of the labour movement.
Homer (?)Greek epic poet. Little is known of his life, though he is traditionally held to be the author of the Illiad and the Odyssey, two of the most influential works of western literature. Modern scholarship however has suggested it is likely these poems existed in a pre-literate oral tradition.
August 2013
Hawaiian revolutionary. After military training at the Royal Military Academy in Italy, he led uprisings against both the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1889, and its later successor, the Republic of Hawaii, in 1895. Pardoned in 1898, he was later elected U.S. Congress for the Territory of Hawaii.
Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765)British royal. The son of King George II, he is infamous for his brutal role in quelling the Jacobite rising of 1746. His ‘no quarter’ style for dealing with highlanders who supported Bonnie Prince Charlie earned him the nickname ‘Butcher’. He later became a key advisor during the early reign of King George III.
Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961)Austrian theoretical physicist. He founded the study of wave mechanics, notably through his development of the wave equation. After fleeing Nazi rule, he directed the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in Ireland, and his works influenced scientists of many different disciplines.
Mbande Nzinga (1582-1663)Angolan Queen. The ruler of the Ndongo and Matamba kingdoms, she led resistance against the Portuguese empire, who were increasingly encroaching on her territory in modern day Angola. After imaginatively defying their advance, she negotiated a peace treaty with the Portugal in 1620, continuing to refuse to pay tribute to the Portuguese king.
Andre Massena (1756-1817)Duke of Rivoli and Marshal of France under Napoleon. After many military victories, including those at Saorgio, Zurich and Genoa, he became a marshal in 1804. The year 1810, however, saw his participation in the Peninsula War and the reversal of his fortunes.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703)English natural philosopher. As the curator of experiments at the Royal Society, he formulated the law of elasticity and introduced the term cell to biological science. He also invented and developed many scientific instruments and mechanical devices, including some of the earliest Gregorian telescopes.
Magnus V (1156-1184)Norwegian King. He was highly influenced by his father, who remained the real power behind the throne. Ruling during the Norwegian civil war era, he fought a long conflict with Sverrir Sigurdsson, being finally defeated in 1179. He fled to Denmark, where he was later slain in a naval battle.
Nefertiti (1370-1330 BCE)Egyptian ruler. Renowned for her beauty, she was the powerful wife of Akhenaton, the Pharaoh who broke with religious tradition to promote the monotheistic worship of Aten. She later rejected this religion, backing her half-brother and helping him re-establish the old worship of the sun-god Amon.
William Herschel (1738-1822)German born British astronomer. His cataloguing of the skies resulted in the discovery of the planet Uranus, along with two of its prominent moons, Oberon and Titania. He was one of the first astronomers to appreciate the great remoteness of stars.
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)American educationalist. He established the Tuskegee institute in Alabama and was a prominent leader of the African-American community. His support for segregation and his emphasis on black people’s vocational skills attracted criticism from other black leaders.
Liliuokalani (1838-1917)Hawaiian Queen. Her short reign, from 1891 to 1893, was characterized by conflict with the USA, who had enforced a constitution on Hawaii rendering the monarchy almost powerless. Her push for a new political settlement led her to be deposed and arrested by a provisional government. She was the last monarch of Hawaii.
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916)Polish novelist. He is best known for his novel dealing with the life of Christians under the Emperor Nero, Quo Vadis written in 1895, which was translated into many languages, and in the 1950s made into a Hollywood epic. Other of his works include Without Dogma (1893) and The Third Woman (1898).
John Horne Tooke (1736-1812)English politician and pamphleteer, was a supporter of Wilkes and, later, of Pitt the Elder. His tracts advocated reforms; and after the French Revolution, he was tried for high treason and acquitted.
Xenophanes of Colophon (500 CE)The founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy, developed by Parmenides of Elea. His philosophy was expressed in rhapsodical elegiac poems of which fragments only survive.
Origen (185-253)Christian theologian born in Egypt. When he was aged 15 he attended the lectures of Pantaenus and Clement in Alexandria, and signs of his grasp of Greek philosophy and the Scriptures were soon apparent. He devoted much of his time to interpretation of the Scriptures, while he also studied Hebrew and the works of Plato.
Francois Quesnay (1694-1774)French economist and surgeon, a founder of the Physiocrats. He was the author of the Tableau economique, a work which sought to demonstrate the ideal methods for the distribution of wealth, which was ultimately deprived from agriculture.
Siraj ud-Daulah (1732-1757)Indian prince. As Nawab of Bengal, in 1756 he marched on the British fortification at Calcutta and captured Fort William. In retaliation, British forces joined with Siraj ud-Daulah’s general, Mir Jafar, and defeated him at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. He was captured and executed.
Haakon I Haroldsson (914-961)Norwegian King. Brought up in England among the Christian court of King Athelstan, he seized the Norwegian throne in 945. While an able administrator and legislator, his attempts to convert Norway to Christianity brought intense resistance, and he died in battle fighting an insurrection.
R.J. Mitchell (1895-1937)British aircraft designer. He joined the Vickers Armstrong Supermarine co in 1916, where he quickly became chief designer. He designed sea-planes, many of which won the Schneider trophy races, from which evolved the Spitfire, whose triumph in the Second World War he did not live to see.
Antonio José de Sucre (1793-1830)South American statesman. He was Simón Bolívar’s lieutenant and help freed Bolivia from Spanish Rule through the Victory of Aya Cucho in 1825. He became the first President of Bolivia in 1826. He later fought for Colombia, winning the Battle of Giron in 1829, before being assassinated.
Gautama (First Century CE)Indian philosopher. Born in Bihar, he founded Nyaya, one of the six classical systems of Hindu Philosophy. His Nyaya Sutras concern ways of knowing and reaching valid logical conclusions. These claims were later disputed by Srishasha and the Navya-nyaya school.
Samuel Seabury (1729-1796)American clergyman. After education in the United States and Britain, he was imprisoned during the American War of Independence for his continued loyalty to Britain. Despite this, he was later elected as the first Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1785.
Antonio Guzman Blanco (1829-1899)Venezuelan politician. Becoming Vice President in 1863, he was driven from office in 1868 before helping foment a revolution which returned him to power in 1870. He consequently installed dictatorial rule, holding the presidency on three occasions. In 1888 he was toppled, and he died in exile.
August Bebel (1840-1913)German politician. One of the founders of the Social Democratic movement, he became one of its key leaders and its chief spokesman in the Reichstag. He wrote widely on a range of issues, including Marxist theory and the rights of women.
Eusebius of Caesarea (264-340)Palestinian churchman. He had a long ecclesiastical career in the early church, becoming Bishop of Caesarea in 313 and being involved the Council of Nicea discussions. His wrote Ecclesiastical History, an important record of the events of the early Christian Church until 324.
Xuanzong (685-761)Chinese Emperor. Of royal ancestry, he seized the crown in 712. His reign was highly successful, as he maintained a lavish court, reformed coinage, defeated the Tibetans in 747 and supported leading painters and poets. It ended in disaster however, during the An Lushan Rebellion.
Lorenzo Batlle (1810-1887)Uruguayan statesman. After fighting in the Great War (1843-52), he became a key figure in the postwar period, acting as minister of war in the cabinet of Joaquin Suarez. Elected president in 1868, he struggled to contain internal and external conflict, as well as a destabalising economic crisis.
François Joseph Paul de Grasse (1722-1788)French admiral. He served in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. As commander of the French fleet in Chesapeake Bay during the American War of Independence, he blockaded the York and James Rivers, trapping Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown and enabling the American victory.
Albrecht Kossel (1853-1927)German biochemist. A professor of physiology at Marburg and then Heidelberg university, he investigated the chemistry of cells and of proteins, and the chemical processes in living tissue. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology of Medicine in 1910.
Sargon II (705 CE)Assyrian king. One of the most powerful of Assyria’s rulers, he consolidated the empire through a series of long campaigns on the its north, east and western borders. He also continued military expansion, exercising hold over Syria, Babylon and Cyprus.
Günther von Kluge (1882-1944)German general. After roles directing Nazi efforts on the Eastern front, in July 1944 he became commander of the Nazi armies in France confronting the Allied invasion. Relieved soon after for failing to halt the advance, he committed suicide after being implicated in the plot to kill Hitler.
July 2013
Chinese empress. Empress dowager of the Qing Xianfeng emperor and regent for both of his successors, she presided over the dynasty for nearly half a century. A controversial figure, she frustrated foreign powers and stifled reform, notably that of the hundred day movement.
Hubert Gautier (1660-1747)French civil engineer. Originally a government engineer in the province of Laguedoc, he was appointed inspector of the Corps des Ponts in 1716, responsible for major public works in France. He was one of the first to recognise the importance of applying scientific principles to the design of engineering projects.
Sulaiman II (1642-1691)Ottoman sultan. After spending the majority of his life in prison, he assumed the throne in 1687. From 1689 he secured a string of military victories, driving the Austrians out of Bulgaria, Serbia and Transylvania. After only four years as sultan however he was killed in battle, in 1691.
John Nance Garner (1863-1967)American statesman. Born in Red River county, Texas, he became a Democratic congressman from Texas in 1903 and speaker of the House in 1931. Later vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt, he helped steer much New Deal legislation through Congress in his first two terms.
Atahualpa (1498-1533)Inca Emperor. On the death of his father, he ruled the northern half of the Inca Empire, the Kingdom of Quito, and in 1532 overthrew his brother who ruled Peru. During the period of European conquest, he was captured by the Spanish in 1532 and executed. He was the last Inca Emperor.
Charles VIII (1408-1470)Swedish magnate. Elected King of Sweden and Norway in 1448, after the death of previous ruler Christopher III. He lost the Norwegian throne in 1450, and in 1457 a Danish inspired insurrection drove him out of Sweden. He was twice recalled to the throne however, in 1464 and 1467.
Alexander Severus (208-235)Roman Emperor. The cousin and adopted son of Heliogabalus, whom he succeeded, Severus ruled from 221. A poor ruler, he was often controlled by others, principally his mother, and failed to control Rome’s military. He was eventually murdered by mutinous troops during a campaign in Germany.
Edmond Rostand (1868-1918)French playwright. Best known as the author of the popular heroic comedy Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897. His other works included Les Romanesques and La Samaritaine. In 1901, Rostand became the youngest writer to be elected to the Académie Française.
Sir John Pringle (1707-1782)Founder of modern military medicine. He revolutionised camp sanitation and ventilation in hospitals. He discovered that ‘Gaol Fever’, ‘Camp Fever’, and ‘Hospital Fever’ were all the same disease: typhus. Although it was not known until 1910 that this was carried by lice.
James Gates Percival (1795-1856)US poet. Born in Berlin, Connecticut, in 1815 he graduated from Yale having studied medicine and botany. He became professor of chemistry at West Point in 1824 and of Geology at Wisconsin University in 1854. His poems included Prometheus, Clio, The Dream of the Day and James Gates Percival and his Friends.
Ida (d 559)King of Northumbria, then known as Bernicia. The historian the Venerable Bede describes him as an Anglican king who advanced northwards over the River Tees in 547, landing at Flamborough. He created a fortified stronghold on the rocks of Bamburgh as his kingdom’s new capital.
Leonard Digges (1520-1559)English mathematician. Believed to be self-educated, his books on navigation and surveying were re-printed many times in the 16th century. His ballistics’ work from his own experiments were documented in Strioticos, published, after his death, by his son Thomas in 1579. In 1554, he took part in Thomas Watt’s insurrection and was condemned to death. But subsequently pardoned and fined.
Barney Barnato (1852-1857)South African mining speculator. London born, Barnato worked in vaudeville, then following his brother, went to the Kimberley region of South Africa with a small circus troupe. He made a fortune through diamonds there, but after playing a pivotal role in bringing about the 1895 Kaffir boom in mining shares, took his own life at sea.
James Jeffries (1875-1953)American boxer. After training with ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett, he won the World Heavyweight Championship in 1899, retiring in 1905. He came out of retirement in 1910 to fight the new champion Jack Johnson, but was knocked out in the fifteenth round. His nickname was ‘the Boilermaker.’
J.S. Woodsworth (1874-1942)Canadian politician. A Methodist minister, he wrote literature concerning the problems of recent European immigrants to the Canadian prairies. A pacifist during the First World War, he was elected as a Manitoba Independent Labour MP in 1921, and advocated legislation for old age pensions.
Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645)Japanese warrior. Renowned for his remarkable swordsmanship, which he demonstrated regularly in duels. He founded the Niten-ryū sword fighting technique. He authored the Book of Five Rings, which dealt with fighting strategy, philosophy and tactics, which continues to be studied to this day.
Lysius (c458-c380 BCE)Greek orator. The son of a rich Syracusian, he was educated in Italy before moving to Athens around 440 BCE. His family’s wealth was lost due to the Thirty Tyrants in 404, and his brother Polemarchus killed. He provided speeches for litigants, among others. His speeches were remarkably lucid and convincing. Plato’s Republic portrays the family home in Athens.
John Russell, First Earl of Bedford (1486-1555)English courtier. Originally a gentleman usher to Henry VIII, he was entrusted with sever diplomatic missions and held influential court positions like Lord Privy Seal. He amassed considerable wealth, including the abbeys of Woburn and Tavistock, and the London properties of Long Acre and Convent Garden.
Charles Marie de Lacondamine (1701-1774)French mathematician and geographer. He served in the army and explored extensively, and between 1735 and 1743 was sent to Peru to measure a degree of the meridian. He also explored the Amazon, making the first map of it based on astronomical observations, bringing back data on platinum and rubber.
Ko Hung (283-343)Chinese intellectual and writer. A civil official during the Jin Dynasty, his considerable output of writing including historical writing, poetry, religious and esoteric questions. He is particularly known for his interest in Daoism and, above all, alchemy.
Gilbert White (1720-1793)British clergyman. Spending most of his life living uneventfully as a curate in Hampshire, while here he kept a journal containing observations made in his garden. His letters on the subject, written over two decades, were published in 1789. They have since become a naturalist classic, never being out of print.
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (1649-1685)English statesman. The illegitimate son of Charles II, he was created Duke of Monmouth and became captain-general in 1670. He had significant popular support, and as a Protestant became a form of opposition to James II. Amidst fighting James at the Battle of Sedgemoor, he was captured and executed.
James McGill (1744-1813)Scots-Canadian entrepreneur. Born in Glasgow, he immigrated to Canada in the 1770s and made a fortune in the fur trade. He bequeathed his fortune to found McGill College, Montreal, which became McGill University in 1821.
Charlotte Despard (1844-1939)British social reformer. She was an advocate of women’s rights, Irish self-determination and other social causes connected to the Labour Party. As the brother of John French, a British military commander and later viceroy of Ireland, she received many headlines and caused much embarrassment for her famous brother.
Claude Dornier (1884-1969)German aircraft engineer. After studying at Munich Technical College, he began work at the Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen. He later established his own aircraft division, where he made seaplanes and flying boats. The Dornier Do 17 was a well known Luftwaffe aircraft of the Second World War.
Phidias (480-430 BCE)Greek sculptor. He received from Pericles a commission to produce the chief statues of the city, and became superintendent of all public works. He constructed the Propylaea and the Parthenon, before being forced into exile. He is widely considered the greatest sculptor of Ancient Greece.
Eugene Sandow (1867-1925)Born in Konigsberg Prussia of Russian parents he came into prominence as a strong man at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. He later became an artist’s model and devotee and exponent of physical excellence, later opening an Institute of Health in London.
Prince Eugene de Beaharnais (1781 - 1824)Viceroy of Italy. The son of Napoelon’s wife Josephine from her first marriage, he became Napoleon’s stepson and adopted child. Spending most of his life as a military leader, he was highly popular throughout the army and esteemed by his peers for his bravery and chivalry.
Georgy Lvov (1861-1925)Russian statesman. He was a civil servant and later prominent political figure in the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party. He became head of the provisional government in 1917, before being succeeded by Alexander Kerensky. Despite later being arrested by the Bolsheviks, he fled and eventually resided in Paris.
Marshal Davout (1770 - 1823)French military leader. Holding the honorary title Marshal of France, he successfully directed armies during Napoleonic battles at Austerlitz, Eylau and Friedland amongst others. A strict disciplinarian, he was one of the most capable and loyal of Napoleon’s marshals.
Dionysius Longinus (213-273)Greek philosopher. He taught rhetoric in Athens and later became chief councilor to Queen Zenobia, for which Emperor Aurelian had him beheaded. He is often credited as the author of the treatise, ‘On The Sublime’, which influenced many neo-classical writers such as Dryden and Pope.
June 2013
Welsh prince. Ruler of Gwynedd in North Wales, he seized power from his uncle in 1194 and soon extended his territory. Despite marrying the illegitimate daughter of King John of England, he managed to maintain his independence against both John and later Henry III.
Li Po (700-762)Chinese poet. Part of the Emperor’s court, he was involved in a wandering band called ‘The Eight Immortals of the Win Cup.’ Regarded as amongst the greatest poets in China, he wrote lively verse on nature, women and wine. Legend had it that he died while trying to pluck the moon from a lake.
Pontiac (1720-1769)Native American leader. Chief of the Ottawa Americans, in 1763 he organised an alliance of tribes in an uprising against the British garrisons. For five months he besieged Detroit before concluding a peace treaty in 1766. He was later murdered by an Illinois American, with his death avenged by the annihilation of the Illinois tribe.
Gerald Desmond (1538-1583)Irish nobleman. He played a key role in a rebellion against Elizabeth II between 1579 and 1583, one which carried his name as the Second Desmond Rebellion. He sacked the town of Youghal, County Cork, and was proclaimed a traitor in London. While in retreat, he was located and killed in the Kerry mountains.
Sir John Elliot (1592-1632)English statesman. Born in Port Eliot, Cornwall, he entered parliament in 1614 and was knighted in 1618. He later condemned arbitrary taxation and helped to force the Petition of Right from King Charles I. After further protests against the king, he was sent with eight others to the Tower of London, where he died from consumption.
Pedro Teixeira (1575-1640)Portuguese soldier. He fought against the French in Brazil in 1614 and assisted in the founding of Para in 1615, of which he was to become governor. Teixeira was in charge of an expedition up the Amazon River between 1637 and 1639, and across the mountains to Quito, coming back by the same route.
Empress Dou (?-135 BCE)Chinese empress. Known also as Shiao Wen, she was a committed follower of Taoist philosophy and promoted this through her considerable influence with her husband Emperor Wen. This influence came during a golden age of Chinese history and as a consequence she is one of the most famous figures of Ancient China.
Karl Baedeker (1801-1859)Leipzig based, publisher and writer of guide books to many countries in the world. They were issued in German, English and French, as at the time, these were the principal countries from which tourists were likely to come.
Anne of Denmark (1574-1619Daughter of Frederick II of Denmark and Norway; in 1589, she married James VI of Scotland, afterwards James I of England. Her marriage without dowry confirmed the Scottish claim of Orkney and Shetland, which had been mortgaged by Christian I to James III.
Abu Nuwas (756-810)One of the finest of the Arabian lyric poets. He was a pioneer in the reaction against the conventional forms of poetic elegy. His geniality and poetic excellence kept him in the favour of Harun al-Rashid, in spite of his indulgencies in wine and debaucheries.
Ernest Charles Jones (1819-1869)English political writer. Educated in Germany, he returned to England in 1838 and was called to the Bar in 1844. From 1845 onwards he devoted his life to Socialism, becoming a chartist, for which he was imprisoned in 1848.
William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951)American publisher. Founder of the then largest newspaper group in the world. The Rupert Murdoch of his age. He began by editing the San Francisco Examiner in 1887. He purchased the unsuccessful New York Morning Journal and raised it to the front rank by sensational methods. By 1925 he owned 25 newspapers. The subject of Orson Welles movie ‘Citizen Kane’.
Sejong the Great (1397-1450)Korean ruler. Ruling the Korean state of Joseon from 1418 until his death, he helped produce a number of innovations, including advances in science and the development of the Hangeul alphabet. A strict believer in Confucianism, he is one of only two Korean rulers granted the title ‘the great’.
Paul Waner (1903-1965)American baseball player. Playing between 1926 and 1945, his nickname was ‘Big Poison.’ He turned out for a range of different sides in his career, including the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees. The winner of three National League batting titles, he finished his career with 3,152 hits.
Henry Ireton (1611-1651)English soldier. Originally a lawyer, Ireton became a key military figure in the Parliamentarian army of Oliver Cromwell. After Charles I’s surrender, he acted as one of the army’s leading political figures, signing Charles I’s death warrant. He died in action, leading his army at the Siege of Limerick.
Munmu of Silla (621-681 BCE)Korean ruler. Before he became king, he held the office of pajinchan, responsible for trade and maritime links. Acceding to the throne in 661, he was the thirtieth ruler of the kingdom of Silla. Under his leadership Silla became the most powerful nation on the Korean peninsula, unifying the area under its rule.
William Kidd (1645-1701)British pirate. Born in Scotland, he established himself as a sea captain in New York, gaining a reputation for fearsome courage. In 1696 he was commissioned to suppress piracy, reaching Madagascar before turning pirate himself. After two years of success, he was later captured and hanged in London.
Reinhard Scheer (1863-1928)German admiral. From humble origins as a navel cadet in a torpedo craft, he later became vice-admiral and commanded the second battle squadron of the German High Seas fleet at the outbreak of the Second World War. Becoming Commander-in-Chief in 1916, he was in command at the Battle of Jutland later that same year.
Ellen Wilkinson (1891-1947)British statesman. An early member of the Independent Labour Party, she was an active campaigner for women’s suffrage. Briefly a member of the Communist Party, she was an MP for over twenty years; in 1945 she became the first female to hold the post of Minister of Education.
Zebulon Pike (1779-1813)American explorer. While serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he explored the territory around the Red and Arkansas rivers. Encountering the edge of the Rocky Mountains, the mountain peak discovered was later named Pike’s Peak. His promising career was cut short early however, when he was killed in action during the War of 1812.
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792)British politician. He is best known as the inventor of sandwiches, which he created so he could continue to eat while playing at a gaming table around the clock. In his wider career he twice served as First Lords of the Admiralty (1748-51 and 1771-1782), though was frequently attacked for corruption.
James August Grant (1827-1892)British explorer. He spent his early career as colonel in the British Army and fought in the Indian Mutiny and Abyssinian Campaign of 1868. He is best known for his travels with colleague John Hanning Speke, with whom he explored the source of the Nile, recording the geography and native customs of the region.
Ana Sewell (1820-1878)British novelist. Spending most of her life unable to walk without crutches, her consequent use of horse drawn carriages inspired her to write the famous book Black Beauty. This involved a plea for the more humane treatment of animals, and was her only published work.
Roman emperor. Reaching the exalted position of emperor in 375, he ruled the Western Empire with his brother Valentinian II. A committed Christian influenced by Saint Ambrose, he was eventually overthrown by the usurper Magnus Maximus, and was murdered at Lyon.
Zhang Qian (200 BCE - 114 BCE)Chinese military officer. After excursions early in his career to protect the Silk Road against the Huns, Qian became head of the Foreign Office, granted the name ‘Great Traveler.’ Later he led two expeditions that helped increase Han Chinese trade and its interest in Western policy.
Saint Winifred (?-660)Welsh saint. The legend of her life describes how she repelled the unholy and immoral advances of Prince Caradog, for which she was beheaded. Her head rolled down a hill and where it stopped a spring developed, the spot of which is famous still as a place of pilgrimage in north Wales.
Nathaniel Bacon (1647-1676)American colonist. A member of Virginia’s governing council, he is known for instigating Bacon’s Rebellion, an uprising against the rule of Governor William Berkeley. The importance of Bacon’s leadership was demonstrated when the rebellion collapsed as a result of Bacon’s death from dysentery in October 1676.
Pindar (522 BCE -440 BCE)Greek poet. The chief lyric poet of Greece, he studied in Athens and became famous as a composer of odes for citizens in all parts of the Greek world. Although his work encompassed a range of themes, only his Epinikia (Triumphal Odes) have survived in their entirety.
Pierre Laclos (1741-1803)French soldier and author. He spent nearly all his life in the army, but saw no active service until he was 60, and ended his career as a general. Also a writer, his one masterpiece was ‘Dangerous Acquaintances’, published in 1780, which caused an immediate sensation through its analysis of personal and sexual relationships.
Pompey (106-48 BCE)Roman politician. His formidable military skills, as demonstrated in victories over the Marians, Spartacus and Mithridates VI, placed him at the forefront of Roman politics. Clashing with Julius Caesar in 50s BCE, he was finally defeated by him at the Battle of Pharsalus, and was killed in Egypt shortly after.
Edward Winslow (1595-1655)British colonist. One of the Pilgrim Fathers, he sailed in the Mayflower in 1620, and from 1624 was a key administrator of the Plymouth colony. His publications describing the colony and defending its customs became well known, notably his ‘Good Newes from New England’, published in 1624.
Elisha Gray (1810-1888)American inventor. A manufacturer of telegraphic apparatus, his firm became the Western Electric Company. He held 60 patents, including the multiplex telegraph, and he also claimed invention of the telephone, but lost the patent rights to Alexander Graham Bell after an exhaustive legal battle.
Abulfeda (1273-1331)Muslim prince. Successful in wars against Crusaders and Tartars, he was made King of Hamah in 1310. He wrote a valuable universal history which received wide acclaim.
May 2013
British army officer. After an unremarkable early career, his reputation was made in the French and Indian War, when he led the British Calvary in a major victory over the French at Warburg in 1760. He became a popular hero back home, and was appointed Master General of the Ordnance in 1763.
Benjamin Viucuna Mackenna (1831-86)Chilean historian, journalist and politician. He spent a considerable number of years in political exile and wrote voluminous and numerous histories of Chile and prominent Chileans.
Thomas Savery (1650-1715)English engineer and inventor of a comparatively simple pumping engine in 1698. Using his knowledge of Dutch he translated one of Coehoorn’s books on military engineering. He contributed to the development of the steam engine.
Alejandro Malaspina (1725-1809)Spanish navigator who led an acclaimed scientific survey of the Galapagos, Tonga and parts of North America and the Philippines.
Michele Sanmichele (1484-1559)Italian architect and engineer. Learning as an apprentice to his father, he moved to Rome where he won much praise, becoming master builder of the cathedral of Orvieto. His talent was later put to more destructive purposes, becoming military architect for Venice, with his work on fortifications particularly pioneering.
Erich Raeder (1876-1960)German grand admiral. He joined the navy in 1894, becoming chief of staff during the First World War. In 1928, he became commander-in-chief of the navy, and in 1939 became grand admiral. He often disagreed with Hitler on the deployment of the navy however, and was removed in 1943.
Shen Kua (1031-1095)Chinese scientist. A director of the astronomical bureau, he mapped areas of China’s North West frontier and designed fortifications there. His major piece of writing, Brush Talks from Dream Brook, is an essential source of information on early science and technology.
Roger Sherman (1721-1793)American statesman. First elected to the state assembly in Connecticut in 1755, he was a judge of the Superior Court and mayor of New Haven between. A signatory of the Declaration of Independence, in 1787 he took a prominent role in the debates on the new Constitution.
Marsilius of Padua (1275-1342)Italian political philosopher. A noted polymath, he engaged in natural philosophy, medical research and politics. His political treatise, Defensor pacis, argued against the temporal power of clergy and pope. Consequently he was excommunicated and exiled, taking refuge at the court of Louis of Bavaria.
James Marsh (1789-1846)British chemist. An expert in poisons, he produced pioneering work at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and assisted Michael Faraday at the Military Academy. He invented the standard test for the notoriously poisonous arsenic, which was named after him.
Sappho (610-580 BCE)Greek poet. The most famous female poet of classical times, her lyrics concentrated on depth of feeling, passion and grace. Only two of her odes are existent in full, though a range of fragments of her work have been discovered in Egypt.
Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920)Indian mathematician. The child of poor parents, he taught himself elementary English and did not graduate college. While working as a clerk, he exposed over 100 theorems and was discovered by Cambridge mathematician, Godfrey Hardy. He was the first Indian elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Gaius Marius (157-86 BCE)Roman general and politician. From humble origins, thanks to his military brilliance and personal ambition he rose rapidly within Roman society. His military victories at Jugurtha and Teutones were widely celebrated, and he later held an unprecedented seven consularships.
Semaun 1899-1971Indonesian politician who was responsible for developing communist influence within the Sarekat Islam Movement. He was chairman of the Indonesia Communist Party between 1920 and 1923, persuing a moderate and nationalist line until 1923, when he was exiled.
Raymond Radiguet (1903-1923)French writer. A precocious young talent, he became incredibly popular in Paris for his poetry and drama as a teenager. He later produced two masterpiece works, The Devil in the Flesh and Count Orgel Opens the Ball. He lived a decadent life however and died of typhoid.
Francis Marion (1732-1795)American soldier. Originally a planter, he was initially involved in conflicts with the native Cherokees. Later he led a group of ‘Irregulars’ during the American War of Independence, where he was particularly adept at using guerrilla tactics. After the war he became a South Carolina senator.
Ramakrishna (1836-1886)Indian religious figure. Born Gadadhar Chatterjee, he became a Hindu priest at Calcutta and formed his own religious order. He believed in self-realisation and God-realisation, and taught that all religions were different paths to the same goal.
Peter Stuyvesant (1592-1672)Dutch administrator. He became Governor of Curacao in the Caribbean, and from 1646 directed New Netherland (present day New York). An arbitrary ruler and an opponent of much political and religious freedom, his actions nevertheless promoted commercial prosperity in the colony before it was handed over to the English.
Zenobia (240-275)Queen of Palmyra. Wife of the Bedouin Odenathus, on her husband’s murder she assumed control. She embarked on a war of expansion, conquered Egypt in 269, and in 270 overran much of the Eastern provinces of Asia Minor. She was eventually defeated by Emperor Aurelian at Antioch.
Charles Sturt (1795-1869)British explorer. Born in Bengal, India, he headed three important expeditions of discovery in Australia, discovering the Darling and lower Murray rivers. The hardship and exposure led to blindness however, and he retired to England in 1853.
Mansa Musa (1280-1337)Malian emperor. Under his reign the Mali Empire reached the height of its power, and the city of Timbuktu became an influential city of Muslim culture and scholarship. The wealth he assembled as emperor was staggering; some estimate him to be the wealthiest individual in human history.
Richard Willstatter (1872-1942)German organic chemist. He did pioneering work on plant pigments, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1915, as well as on medicinal chemicals, developing gas masks in the First World War. Being Jewish, growing anti-Semitism led to his position becoming untenable, and he fled Germany in 1939.
Xuanzang (600-664)Chinese Buddhist explorer. Inspired by earlier travelers, he made an epic journey to India in 629. He crossed the Xinjiang and Gobi rivers, traversed Afghanistan, and stayed two years in the Indus Valley. He returned to China in 645 with 657 books and the recipe for making sugar.
John Thurloe (1616-1668)English spymaster. While working under Oliver Cromwell, he ran a network of secret agents who kept the leadership abreast of potential royalist plots. He made significant profit out of the secret service and at the end of the Interregnum promptly offered his services to Charles II.
Jose Gervasio Artigas (1764-1850)Uruguayan solider. In 1810 he became involved in the independence movement against Spain. Achieving a famous victory as Las Piedras, he was one of the Independence movements leading military figures. Later exiled to Paraguay, he is considered the father of Uruguayan nationhood.
Bagoda (10th-11th centuries)The first Kutumbawa ruler of Kano, northern Nigeria. He was a grandson of Bayajida of Daura and one of the sons of Bawo.
Marie Louise (1791-1847)Empress of France. Born in Vienna, she was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. She married Napoleon in 1810, after his divorce from Josephine, and in 1811 bore him an heir, the future Napoleon II. After his abdication she returned to Austria.
Tomoyuki 'Tiger' Yamashita (1885-1946)Japanese soldier. Born in Kochi, he commanded a division in China in 1939, and in 1942 led the forces that overran Singapore. He then directed the Philippines campaign, capturing Bataan. On the retreat in 1944, he was captured, tried for war crimes and executed.
Bao Dai (1913-1997)Vietnamese ruler. The son of Emperor Khai Dai, he ruled as emperor of Annam (1932-45). In 1949, having renounced his hereditary title, he returned to Saigon as chief of the state of Vietnam within the French Union. In 1955 he was deposed and South Vietnam became a republic.
Walter Hines Page (1855-1918)US journalist, publisher and diplomat who was a vigorous advocate for better social conditions in America’s South. As ambassador to Britain (1913-18) he advocated US participation in World War One and was an ardent and outspoken anglophile.
Sir Francis Knolly (1514-96)Elizabethan politician, who opposed the government of Mary I and exiled himself to Germany. His friendship with Elizabeth I and William Cecil later secured him many offices. Though close to the government, he never resiled in his consistent championing of Puritanism.
April 2013
US sailor who was master of the Powhatan on its unsuccessful mission to relieve Fort Pickens, Florida, at the commencement of the American Civil War. He commanded several successful naval sorties and later became superintendent of the US Naval Academy.
Andrea Doria (1466-1560)Genoese admiral who joined the French when his native city was plundered by the imperialists in 1522. When the French gave commercial benefits to the rival port of Savona, he swapped sides and recovered Genoa for Charles V, governing it as an independent republic until his death.
Thomas Blamey (1884-1951)Australian field marshal. After first joining the army in 1906, at the outbreak of the Second World War he was given command of the Australian Imperial forces in the Middle East. On the establishment of the South West Pacific Command he led Allied land forces in Australia and was among those who received the Japanese Surrender in 1945.
Qi Jiguang (1528-1588)Chinese general. Born to a military family, he rose to become a senior figure in the military commission. He played a major role in combating attacks by Wokou Pirates along the southeast coast of China, attacking their inland strongholds, and published a range of works on military theory.
Bertrand de Guesclin (1320-1380)French military leader. He entered royal service on the eve of Charles’ accession, and on becoming Constable of France in 1370, assumed command of the French armies during the Hundred Years War. Under his command, they re-conquered Brittany and most of South West France.
Barnes Wallis (1887-1979)British aviation engineer. After an early career in airships and aircraft, he pioneered his most famous design, the ‘bouncing bomb’, during the Second World War. This was used to lethal effect during the ‘Dambusters’ Raid of 1943. He continued to work in aviation research until the 1970s.
Hongi Hika (1772-1828)Maori war leader. He protected the first missionaries who arrived in New Zealand in 1814. In 1820 he visited England and Australia and acquired muskets, using them later to wage war on other Maori tribes. This severely disrupted traditional political orthodoxy, and had an enduring influence on New Zealand development.
William Henry Harrison (1773-1841)American statesman. After an early career on the frontier, including as Governor of Indiana territory, he served in the War of 1812, which saw the defeat of the British at the Battle of the Thames. In 1816 he was elected to Congress, becoming a senator in 1824. He was elected president in 1841, but died of pneumonia a month after his inauguration.
John Wilkinson (1728-1808)British industrialist. He pioneered the use of cast iron, with his company Bersham becoming a world leader in iron technology. He also contributed to the development of the steam engine and to cannon design. His countless contributions were an essential basis for the Industrial Revolution.
Herophilus (335-280 BCE)Greek anatomist. He was the founded of a school of anatomy in Alexandria, and was the first to dissect the human body and compare it with that of other animals. He described the brain, liver, spleen, nervous system and other organs for the first time.
John Colet (1467-1519)English priest and educationalist. As a priest, he was a pioneering but controversial figure, whose application of Humanist views brought him into conflict with other religious leaders. He endowed a school, St Paul’s, and his statutes on how it should be run were influential in the development of education.
Xiang Yu (232–202 BCE)Chinese statesman. Active in the late Qin Dynasty, he was a leader of the Huji Rebellion against the Qin Empire. After the demise of the Qin dynasty, he engaged in a long power struggle with the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang. After defeat to Bang, who declared himself Emperor of China, he committed suicide.
Leo III (680-741)Byzantine emperor. Leading the empire from 717, he reorganised the army and financial system, also repelling a major attack by the Saracens in 718. In 726 he issued an edict prohibiting the use of images in public worship, a controversy which affected the empire for over a century.
Rodolfo Graziani (1882-1955)Italian administrator. During the Second World War, as Governor of Libya, he was involved in the invasion of Egypt, before Italy’s defeat triggered his resignation. He later emerged as a leader of the fascist resistance after the fall of Mussolini, being arrested and tried for war crimes in 1945.
Galen (130-200)Roman physician. He contributed greatly to the understanding of disciplines including anatomy, physiology, and neurology. The most famous doctor in the Roman Empire, his theories continued to dominate Western medicine for a thousand years.
George Lansbury (1859-1940)British politician. He became a convinced socialist in 1890, and a Labor MP in 1910, resigning in 1912 to stand in support of female suffrage. He founded and edited the Daily Herald newspaper (later The Sun), and was leader of the Labor Party between 1931 and 1935.
Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919)Canadian politician. He entered federal politics in 1874, becoming minister of the inland revenue in 1877. He became the first French-Canadian prime minister of Canada in 1896. A strong supporter of self-government, in home affairs he advocated compromise and free trade with the USA.
Guo Ziyi (697-781)Chinese general. After origins as an infantry solider, he became one of the most famous generals during the Tang Dynasty. He helped suppress the An Shi Rebellion, and participated in the expeditions against Huihu and Tubo. He continued to command units in the field until he was 84.
Jacob Leisler (1640-91)American politician, born in Germany, he arrived in America in 1660 and became active in New York politics. Leisler served as Governor of New York between 1689 and 1691, but was accused of treason by the English and hanged.
Cornelius Drebbel (1572 - 1633)Dutch inventor. Splitting his time throughout his life between his native Netherlands and London, over many years he promoted new concepts in measurement, chemistry and optics. He is particularly renowned for developing the first working submarine.
Benito Pablo Juarez (1806-1872)Mexican statesman. His political ideals forced him to live in exile in the 1850s, but he then joined the new liberal government. During the Civil War of 1857-1860, he assumed the presidency, and achieved a further liberal victory in 1861. After the invasion of France, he helped lead Mexican resistance until French defeat in 1867.
Inigo Jones (1573-1652)English architect. After studying landscape painting in Italy, he went on to design stage sets for the plays of Ben Jonson. In 1615, he became surveyor-general of the royal buildings, going on to design the Queens House in Greenwich and the outline for Covent Garden and Lincoln’s Inn Fields, both in London.
Lajos Kosuth (1802-1894)Hungarian statesman. He began his career as a political journalist, before becoming a parliamentary opposition leader in 1847. During the 1848 Hungarian revolution, he called for an independent Hungary and became provisional governor, before internal dissension led to his resignation and exile.
Sacagawea (1787–1812)Native American guide. While little is known of her early life, she rose to prominence as the interpreter and guide who accompanied Lewis and Clark during the U.S. Government’s expedition in exploration of the Northwest. After the exhibition, she resided in St. Louis, Missouri, before dying of an unknown sickness.
Sundiata Keita (1217-1255)Malian emperor. As a child he suffered from a disability where was unable to speak or walk. After being driven into exile by a rival queen, he overcame these obstacles to triumphantly return and seize the kingdom in the battle of Kirina. He later conquered other nearby states, founding the Malian Empire.
John Hanning Speke (1827-1864)British explorer. After military service in the Punjab and Somaliland, he joined Richard Burton in 1856 on an expedition to the African lakes. He undertook several major expeditions for which he was held in high esteem. He accidentally shot himself whilst partridge shooting.
George Wither (1588-1667)English poet. He was twice sent to prison for libels contained in his Abuses Stript and Whipt (1613) and Wither’s Motto (1621). After the English Civil War he took the side of Parliament, then became a Puritan, and his later poetry was religious.
Lyuh Woon-Hyung (1883-1947)Korean communist. He proclaimed a ‘Korean People’s Republic’ in August 1945, but no major politician joined his ‘government’ and the occupation authorities refused to recognize him. He was assassinated in 1947.
John Cassell (1817-65)British pioneer of the popular educational press. He was the self-educated son of a Manchester publican. By the 1850s he had become an educational publisher and radical champion of a free press, launching his Popular Educator in 1852.
Shapur the Great (309-379)Persian king. Declared king at birth by the Persian nobility, he ruled to the age of 16 with the help of regents. Under his direct leadership, the Sassanian Empire reached its largest extent. He successfully challenged Roman control, forcing Emperor Jovian to cede him provinces.
March 2013
US reformer whose campaigns for better conditions in prisons and asylums began in Massachusetts in 1843. It was then extended to the other states and then Europe. During the Civil War she was superintendent of female nurses.
Gustavus Horn (1592-1657)Gustavus Adolphus’s chief general in Germany. He was in command at the battle of Nordlingen in 1634 where he was defeated and taken prisoner by the imperialists. In 1643-5 he commanded the invasion of Scania.
Eratosthenes (276 BCE - 194 BCE)Greek astronomer and scholar. Born in the town of Cyrene, he became the chief librarian at Alexandria. He is best known for producing the first scientific calculation of the Earth’s circumference, which was remarkably correct to within 50 miles.
Powhatan (?-1618)Native American chief. He was leader of the confederacy of Tidewater tribes of New England, and managed to maintain an uneasy peace with white settlers in Virginia. His daughter, Pocahontas, was kidnapped by settlers in 1609, but married a white colonist with her father’s permission.
Giulio Dohet (1868-1930)Italian general. In 1909 he foresaw the importance of air supremacy, becoming commander of Italy’s first military aviation division. He became head of the Italian Army Aviation Service in 1918, and a general in 1921. His writings on bombing influenced air force thinking prior to the Second World War.
Godric of Finchale (1069-1170)English saint. In his early life he acted as a pedlar, pilgrim and sailor, the latter of which likely involve a stint as a pirate. From 1110 and for the rest of his long life, he lived as a hermit in Finchale, near Durham. His life became heavily celebrated in the Middle Ages.
Erskine Childers (1870-1922)English-Born Irish nationalist. A successful British soldier in the Boer War and First World War, he smuggled guns into Ireland and joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1921, fighting in the Irish Civil War. He was later captured and executed by the Irish government.
Fletcher Christian (1764-1793)British seaman. After a successful early naval career, he became first mate on the ship HMS Bounty, under Captain William Bligh. He became the ringleader of the mutiny against Bligh on the Bounty in 1789, fleeing to Tahiti where he was likely killed by the local population.
Martin Behaim (1449-1507)German navigator and geographer. Originally from Nuremberg, he settled in Portugal in 1484 and contributed to the pioneering Portuguese discoveries along the coast of Africa. He returned to Nuremberg in 1490, where he constructed the oldest terrestrial globe
Surendranath Banerjea (1848-1925)Indian politician. An ardent Indian Nationalist, he founded the Calcutta Indian Association in 1876 and was editor of The Bengali newspaper. He acted as one of the initiators of the Indian National Congress, but subsequently broke with the Congress because of its extremism.
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910)Norwegian writer. A writer and playwright of wide ranging interests, he was also an ardent Norwegian patriot. He fought hard to revive Norwegian as a literary language and was named Norway’s national poet, writing the national anthem. In 1903 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
David Dixon Porter (1813-1891)American naval officer. After early experiences fighting pirates in the West Indies and in the Mexican War, he played a significant role during the Civil War. Commanding the federal mortar flotilla, he bombarded forts in New Orleans and in 1864 took Fort Fisher. He was made Admiral in 1870.
Horemheb (?-1292 BCE)Egyptian pharaoh. A noted scribe and the chief of the army under Tutankamun and Ay, he acted as the last Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He engaged in large building projects and returned Egypt to stability after the period of upheaval since the death of Pharoah Akhenaten in 1336 BCE.
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814)French physician and revolutionary. While a deputy of the Constituent Assembly, he proposed the use of a decapitating apparatus for executions. This was adopted in 1791 and named after him (the guillotine), though similar mechanisms had been previously used in Scotland and Germany.
Jovian (331-364)Roman emperor. Originally the commander of the Emperor’s personal bodyguards, he succeeded Emperor Julian after his death during the campaign against the Sassanid Empire. Ruling for only eight months before his death, his reign saw the reestablishment of Christianity and peace with the Persians.
Seru Epenisa Cakobau (1815-1883)Fijian chief. Declaring himself King of Fiji, he waged constant warfare for the best part of two decades to unify the islands and the warring tribes under his leadership, which he completed by 1871. Facing international debt and invasion however, he later ceded the islands to the British Empire.
Sir Arthur Gordon (1829-1912)British colonial administrator. Son of Prime Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, he was a Liberal politician and close confidant of William Gladstone. He held a variety of postings including in Trinidad, New Zealand and Fiji, where he attempted to safeguard Fijian tradition and culture.
Manuel de Godoy (1767-1851)Spanish politician. Starting as an obscure guards officer, he achieved dictatorial power at the age of 25 through the favour of the queen, whose lover he was. His decisions as leader however, notably his decision to ally with France, saw him become unpopular, and in 1808 he was overthrown.
Joseph Banks (1743-1820)British botanist. He accompanied James Cook on his expeditions around the world in the Endeavour, and the Australian colony of New South Wales owed its origin mainly to him. A patron of the sciences, he founded the African Association and was the president of the Royal Society for 41 years.
Karl Friedrich Goerdeler (1884-1945)German politician. He served under Hitler as Commissar for Price Control in 1934 and mayor of Leipzig. He later became one of the leaders of the opposition to Hitler, culminating in the unsuccessful bomb plot of 20 July 1944, for which he, together with a number of other generals, were executed.
Senzangakhona kaJama (1762-1816)Zulu chief. He ruled as Chief for thirty five years, when Zulu was but a small nation, until his death in 1816, He was the major ancestor of many pioneering Zulu leaders, most notably father of the Shaka Zulu, along with two other Zulu kings, Dingane and Mpande, and grandfather to Cetshwayo.
Edward Frederick Mutesa (1924-1969)Ugandan politician. King of the BaGanda people, he acted as the first president of the newly independent Uganda. He was deposed by Milton Obote in 1966, who ordered the Ugandan army to attack his residence during the Battle of Mengo Hill. He escaped and later went into exile in Britain.
Francis Light (1740-1794)British colonialist. As a country trader, he left Britain to seek his fortune in India, but ended up played a decisive role in the establishment of a British outpost at Penang, in the Malay Peninsula, in 1786. Penang acted as the base for the expansion of British influence in the region.
Jayavarman VII (1125-1218)Cambodian king. He was ruler of the Khmer Empire in modern day Siem Reap, Cambodia. Despite ascending the throne after a thirty year period of warfare, his reign become one of the greatest in Angkor history. He particular engaged in mass building programs, with these enduring monuments lasting to this day.
Georges Couthon (1755-1794)French revolutionary politician. Trained in law, Couthon acted as a deputy to the Legislative Assembly and National Convention, and was also a member of the all powerful Committee of Public Safety. Arrested with his mentor Robespierre, he was eventually guillotined.
William Henry Drayton (1742-1779)American patriot. A prosperous low country planter in South Carolina, he became an American patriot leader in the American Revolutionary War. A member of the Second Continental Congress, he acted as a strong advocate of the Continental Army, working to combat army corruption.
Sejong (1397–1450)Korean king. He ruled the state of Joseon, the equivalent of modern day Korea, from 1418 to his death. The achievements under his rule were unparalleled, with clear improvements in military capacity, land law and criminal justice. He even published agricultural books on how to improve yields.
Túpac Amaru II (1742-1781)Peruvian indigenous leader. Born José Gabriel Condorcanqui, he considered himself to be a descendant of the last Inca leader Tupac Amaru. Drawing on years of resentment, he led an indigenous uprising against Spanish rule, for which he was captured and executed in 1780.
José de San Martín (1778-1850)Argentine general. He helped lead the uprising against Spanish rule in Argentina in 1812, later doing the same in Chile and Peru. His bold attack of Spanish Royalists in Chile by crossing the Andes mountain range is considered one of the greatest military feats of the nineteenth century.
Thomas Johnson (1872-1963)Anglo-Irish politician. An English immigrant to Ireland, he founded the Irish Labor Party in 1912. He acted as a leading figure in resisting the British conscription of Irishmen in 1918, and became leader of the opposition in the newly independent Irish parliament in the 1920s.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)Serbian inventor. He made pioneering developments in areas including X-Rays, Wireless transmission and most notably electrical supply, contributing to the design of the alternating current system. An eccentric personality, his lack of business acumen led him to die a half forgotten man, heavily in debt.
February 2013
Irish Nationalist politician. Redmond helped reunite the Irish Parliamentary Party after its split over the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell. Pressuring the Liberal Party into supporting Dublin Home Rule, his authority was undermined during the First World War as more militant Irish nationalism developed.
Samuel Hoare (1880-1959)British politician. A Conservative Party MP, Hoare held a string of influential political positions and roles in the lead up to the Second World War, including Foreign Minister and First Lord of the Admiralty. During the war he acted as British Ambassador to Spain, pressuring Madrid to stay out of the conflict.
Arthur Griffith (1871-1922)Irish politician. A leading Irish Nationalist who sought to end union with Great Britain, founding the party Sinn Fein (‘Ourselves Alone’) in 1907. Chair of the revolutionary Irish Parliament during the Anglo-Irish War, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage mere months after confirming peace with Britain.
Bartolomeu de Gusmão (1685-1724)Portuguese priest. Born in Brazil before traveling study at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, he was an early pioneer of the airship and impressed the court of King V by demonstrating an early prototype in 1709. He was later caught in the Spanish Inquisition however and never developed the concept further.
Mei Sheng (?-141 BCE)Chinese writer and poet. Writing In the era of the Han Dynasty, he was one of the pioneers of the Fu form of poetry. He is often credited with the introduction of the five-character line, and for this reason is commonly dubbed ‘the father of modern Chinese poetry.’
Xenophanes (570-480 BCE)Greek philosopher. Leaving his home of Ionia at the age of 25, he spent the rest of his life travelling, spending much time in Sicily. He satirized much of traditional Greek conceptions, including the Greek understanding of the Gods and the works of Homer.
Jan van Riebeeck (1619-1677)Dutch statesman. Joint the Dutch East India Company (VOC) at a young age, he rose to become the commander of the initial Dutch ambition to colonise present day South Africa. He founded the city of Cape Town in 1652, and was the commander of the Cape Colony from 1652 until 1662.
René Réaumur (1683-1787)French scientist. He developed breakthroughs in areas as differing as the study of insects and geometry. His lasting legacy was the creation of a new temperature scale, based on the freezing point of water at 0 degrees. Considered more accurate than Fahrenheit, its use quickly became widespread.
James Lind (1716 - 1794)British doctor. He became a surgeon in the Royal Navy in 1739, where he conducted pioneering research into the development of scurvy. He observed those who suffered from the disease lacked sufficient citrus fruits in their diet. He also later strived successfully to prevent the spread of typhus in naval vessels.
Nakayama Miki (1798-1887)Japanese peasant and religious leader. Oppressed by her family and husband, she became an impassioned advocate for the poor and needy. Her experiences of the joy helping others and healing of those afflicted became the basis for the religion of Tenrikyo.
Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)French chemist. He revolutionised the understanding of illness, proving the germ theory of disease and inventing the pasteurisation process. He also created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax, though these were often achieved by the secret incorporation of the findings of his scientific rivals.
Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (1699-1782)Portuguese statesman. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal between 1750 and 1777. He carried out a range of economic and social reforms, including the abolition of slavery, one of the first European leaders to do so. He also pursued secularist policies, undermining the power of the Portuguese Inquisition.
John Pym (1584-1643)English statesman. A leader of the Parliament against Charles I, he worked for Buckingham’s impeachment in 1614. He supported the Petition of Right of 1628 and strongly opposed Charles’ oppressive taxation measures. On the outbreak of the English Civil War, Pym facilitated the alliance of the English Parliamentarians with the Scots.
Daniel Webster (1782-1852)American politician and lawyer. Admitted to the Bar in 1805, he rapidly earned a great reputation for forensic oratory. He was elected to Congress in 1813 and 1822. Webster was twice US Secretary of State under Harrison and Fillmore and in 1836 was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency.
Juan Leo (c 1495-1553)‘Leo Africanus’, a Moorish traveler, who journeyed in Africa and Asia Minor and published an account of his travels, Descriptions of Africa in 1550.
Irene of Athens (752-803)Byzantine Empress. Blinding her own son in order to ascend to the throne, she became the Empires first female ruler between 797 and 802. She broke with her predecessors in nearly every sphere. This included abolishing iconoclasm, disbanding the elite soldiery and preferring to sue for peace rather than make war.
King Stanislaw II (1732-1798)King of Poland between 1764 and 1795. He was the favorite of Catherine the Great who secured his election. He sought to bring about reforms, however, after three partitions by Russia, Prussia and Austria in the years 1772, 1793 and 1795, his kingdom no longer existed.
Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816)American politician. Of Huguenot descent, he featured in New York politics and was a conservative at the 1787 Federal Constitutional Convention. He played a key role in the drafting of the US Constitution. He was US minister to France at the time of ‘Terror’ during the revolution there. He later served as a US senator.
Alphonse Leveran (1845-1922)French parasitologist. Serving as a military surgeon in Algeria, in 1880 he discovered the parasite which causes malaria. He published some 600 research papers and established the laboratory of tropical diseases at the Pasteur Institute. In 1907 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for Medicine.
Edward the Martyr (c973-978)King of England, son of Edgar the Peaceful. His reign was characterised by great disorder and he was murdered at Corfe-Castle in Dorset. This was probably instigated by his stepmother Aelfthryth. Her son Ethelred the Unready succeeded him.
Saad Zaghlul (1859-1927)Egyptian politician. After an early career as education and law minister, inspired by Woodrow Wilson, he proclaimed Egyptian independence in 1918. He led the delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and founded the Wafd Party, a force in Egyptian politics after formal independence from Britain in 1922.
Don Stephen Senanayake (1884-1952)Sri Lankan politician. Minister in the State Council of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) after its establishment in 1931, and chair from 1942. He was the first Prime Minister in 1947, and negotiated the transfer of power in 1948, remaining in the position until his death.
Saya San (1876-1937)Buddhist monk and Burmese nationalist. An advocate for peasant rights, he led a rebellion, starting in the Tharrawaddy District of Lower Burma, in December 1930. The rebellion grew rapidly, with the British forced to deploy 10,000 troops to suppress it. San was arrested in 1932 and later executed.
Chinese general. A string of early victories under his command in the North-Western territories led to a rapid rise in favor, and he soon became a crucial commander and favorite of the Song Emperor, Huizong. Military defeat at the hands of the Jurchens later discredited him, and Huizong’s successor had him executed.
Ramon Magsaysay (1907-1957)President of the Philippines. He fought against the invading Japanese in 1942, and continued later as an underground guerrilla commander. A member of Parliament after the war, he served as Defense Minister while putting an end to the Huk insurgency. President between 1953 and 1957, he died in a plane crash.
Henry IV (1367-1413)English King. Ruling from 1399, he usurped the throne from Richard II to establish the Lancastrian dynasty. After military adventures on the Baltic crusade in 1390 and in Jerusalem in 1392, he was exiled by Richard II in 1398. A year later he returned and seized the throne, where he had Richard imprisoned, deposed and killed.
Hugh Capet (938-996)King of France. Ruling from 987, he was the founder of the Capetian dynasty, which ruled until 1328. He suppressed various rebellions against Royal rule, particularly one in 985 and later a rebellion by Charles of Lorraine in 991.
Erik Haroldsson, c.930-54King of Norway and York. Removed as King of Norway in 947, he became the last Scandinavian King of York, England. Here he fought constantly with Saxons, being defeated by Eadred of Wessex in 954. The character of his rule led to him being dubbed ‘Bloodaxe’ after his death.
Baldwin IV (1162-1185)King of Jerusalem. Became king as a young child. While an able leader, his leprosy, which he had developed as a young child, hampered his political position. Despite this he fought a number of key battles to resist the attacks of Saladin, defeating him in battle at Montisgard in 1177.
January 2013
Romano-British leader. He was a precursor of Arthur who resisted the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th century. According to the historical account of Gildas, he was the victor of the Battle of Mount Baldon. He later developed into a mythical figure of early British defiance.
Alfonso III (848-910)Spanish King. From 866 was King of the northern Iberian kingdom of Oviedo. He advanced the Christian frontier, defeating the Muslims of Toledo in 874. He captured Zamora and Toro on the Duero. His military success led to him being dubbed ‘Alfonso the Great.’
Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937)German general. After early success in the First World War, he became Chief of Staff to Paul Von Hindenburg. The two effectively worked as a team, managing Germany’s war effort in the east and then, between August 1916 and October 1918, acting as effective dictators of Germany. Ludendorff later took part in Hitler’s failed Munich takeover in 1923.
Raymond Poincare (1860-1934)French statesman. He was prime minister of France between 1912 and 1913 and president between 1913 and 1920, incorporating the crucial years of the First World War, and later prime minister again between 1926 and 1929. He pursued a policy of stability in international relations and home affairs.
Rudolf Hilferding (1877-1943)German political economist. One of the most gifted political thinkers of his generation, he published a variety of famed works, including Finance Capital in 1910. Serving as finance minister between in 1923 and 1928, he later fled Germany for France after the rise of Hitler.
Vasily Stalin (1921 -1962)Soviet pilot. The son of Joseph Stalin, Vasily served as a poor and unreliable regimental commander during the Second World War. His positions were achieved solely due to his father’s influence. He later managed an ice hockey team, and after his father’s death became a degenerate figure, destroyed by alcoholism.
Gajah Mada (c.1290 -1364)Indonesian military leader. He served as the mahapatih (prime minister) of the Majapahit Empire, on the island of Java. He worked to extend the reach of the empire, conquering a range of nearby islands and settlements. While much of his life is mythological, he remains a famed national figure in Indonesia to this day.
Hjalmer Branting (1860-1925)Swedish politician. A leading figure in the development of Swedish Social Democracy, he was active in its origins from the 1880s and a major influence on its future direction. He was the Party Leader from 1907, and Prime Minister on three occasions between 1920 and 1925.
Pyotr Stolypin (1862-1911)Russian politician. He served as Prime Minister between 1906 and 1911. He advocated a range of reforms designed to industrialize Russia and to permit the peasantry to work their own individual holdings. He was assassinated by a social revolutionary, after which Russia struggled to fill the void left by his leadership.
Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945)Norwegian politician. Leader of Norwegian Fascists, he was never electorally popular but seized power on 9 April 1940 amidst the Nazi invasion. Executed in October 1945, such was his infamy that his name has become part of European vocabulary, denoting collaboration and treachery.
Ellen Key (1849-1926)Swedish feminist and author. She was an early advocate for women’s rights, publishing a range of works advocating the sexual liberation of women and more support for women from the state. This lead critics to attack her as a proponent of ‘Free Love’ and ‘unstable’ moral standards.
Keir Hardie (1856-1915)British politician. One of the founding fathers of British Socialism, Hardie campaigned tirelessly on issues such as unemployment and working class living conditions. While less successful as a political leader in Parliament, after his death he became a legendary figure of British Labour.
Hubert Lyautey (1854-1934)French statesman. He was the founder of the French Empire in Morocco, and advocate for the civilizing virtues of colonialism. As Resident General of Morocco between 1912 and 1925, he eliminated resistance to French Rule and established a colonial administration.
Hereward the Wake (c.1035-1072)English rebel. He resisted the rule of William the Conquerer and became a subject of literary romance. After a brief exile in Flanders, he returned and attacked the Normans who had taken his family lands, along with attacking Ely and Peterborough Abbey. He escaped an attack by William in 1071 and was never heard of again.
Fan Zhongyan (989-1052)Chinese politician. As Chancellor to the Song emperor Renzong, he is considered one of the great Chinese reformers. He advocated administrative and agricultural reforms, while his main legacy was the creation of a national school system, which raised standards and allowed anonymity for examination candidates.
Thomas Young (1507-1568)British clergyman. Despite an unremarkable early career, he became Archbishop of York in 1561. Acting as more of a royal administrator than Church leader, he was an idle and ineffectual Archbishop who left the North of England dangerously lacking in Royal control on the eve of the Rising of the North in 1569.
Frederick Engels (1820-1896)Socialist friend of the famed Karl Marx, arguably the father of Communism. An active propagandist of socialist theories, Engels was an author of several works on Socialism.
William Beckford (1760-1844)Son of a rich London alderman, he was bequeathed property which produced an income of one hundred thousand pounds a year, a staggering sum at the time. Aged 22, he is alleged to have written the Arabic tale ‘Vathek’, in only three days and two nights. Upon this work his fame rests. He spent the rest of his days spending his fortune on extravagances and vagaries.
Cerdic (d 534 CE)First king of the West Saxons and ancestor of the kings and queens of England. Landing in Britain in 495 he gradually made enough conquests to call himself king, but was defeated – some say by Arthur – in the valley of the Frome in 520.
Chang-Tso-Lin (1873-1928)Chinese marshal. From leader of bandits who helped the Japanese in their war against Russia, he rose to be a general of a division. He suppressed republicanism in Mukden in 1911-12, and remained as military governor of South Manchuria.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)English poet, philosopher and critic passionately devoted to classical and metaphysical studies. Educated and Christ’s Hospital and Cambridge, he fell into debt and enlisted in the army only to be bought out four months later by his friends. He gave himself up to a literary life and wrote, among others, the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan and Remorse.
Manuel Garcia (1775-1832)Spanish singer and composer. In 1808 he went to Paris with a reputation already gained in Madrid and Cadiz. Later he became famous as an operatic tenor and in 1825 visited the United States.
Louis de Bourbon, Duc d’ Enghien (1772-1804)Ill-fated French Royalist, born at Chantilly. He took part in the Rhine campaign against the Republicans. He was suspected of being involved in a Bourbon plot to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon. He was arrested on Napoleon’s orders and after an inconclusive and illegal trial was shot.
John Stow (1525-1605)English antiquary, born in London. By profession a tailor, he wrote several works on antiquities, the chief and most valuable being his ‘Survey of London and Westminster’. He ended his days in poverty.
Leopold I (1790-1865)King of the Belgians, son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield. In his youth he served in the Russian army. He visited England in 1815. In 1816 he married Princess Charlotte who died the following year. He declined the throne of Greece in 1830, but became King of the Belgians in 1831.
John Napier (1550-1617)Scottish mathematician, born at Merchiston Castle, near Edinburgh. In 1614 he published his invention of logarithms. He also went on to invent the computing device known as ‘Napier’s Bones’.
Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852-1908)French physicist, he discovered that uranium gives off rays which affect a photographic plate, and carried out research on magnetism and phosphorescence. His work on radioactivity won him a Nobel Prize in 1903.
Ossian (Third Century)The heroic poet of the Gaels, the son of Fingal. James Macpherson (1736-1796) published in 1762-63 what he claimed to be the poems of Ossian, which he had translated from the Gaelic. The production of these aroused the hostility of the famed Dr Johnson who questioned their veracity.
Olive Schreiner (1855-1920)South African author. Breaking into the literary milieu in 1883 with her work “Story of an African Farm”, she is considered a pioneering South African writer, as well as one of the most significant feminist theorists of her era.
Maximilian I (1459-1519)Holy Roman Emperor. He engaged in a variety of military campaigns in Italy and Switzerland but fared poorly, plagued by financial difficulties. The marriage alliances he negotiated were successful however, with the lands inherited from these forming the Empire of Charles V, his grandson.
Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583-1634)Bohemian military leader. Fought for Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II during the Thirty Years War. He was an effective commander, securing a string of victories before Ferdinand, suspicious of his power, removed him in 1630. He was eventually assassinated by some of his own men.
December 2012
Queen of France. French regent between 1560 and 1574, she attempted to implement moderate policies, especially in religious matters, to keep the peace and authority of the crown. Though her influence declined after 1574, three of her sons would subsequently become kings of France.
Charles XII (1682-1718)King of Sweden. An able military commander, his armies quickly defeated Denmark and conquered Poland. His attempts to conquer Russia led to total defeat at Poltava in 1709 however. After this he fled and returned to Scandinavia, where he later died fighting in Norway.
Sully Prudhomme (1839-1907)French writer. His work strongly reflects the emerging trends of the late nineteenth century, in particular the desire to reconcile the concepts of pure thought and poetry. In 1901 he was the first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (1007-1063)Welsh king. He became King of Gywnedd in 1039, and Deheubarth in 1044, and ruled virtually all of Wales by 1055. He began to attack a number of English settlements before eventually being defeated by English forces at Rhuddlan. He was later killed by his own followers.
James Oglethorpe (1696-1785)British general and politician. He founded the American colony of Georgia in 1732 as a refuge for paupers and debtors and a barrier against Spanish expansion. He later returned to England and played a key role in defeating Jacobite rebels.
Charles Montagu (1661-1775)British statesman. Originally an MP, he initiated the concept of the national debt with a proposal to raise a government loan of £1 million. He later founded the Bank of England in 1694 and become Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Sir Phelim O’Neill (1604-1653)Irish rebel. He was a member of the Irish parliament and a prominent leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 against English protestant influence in Ireland. He was captured during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and executed by English forces.
Robert Dudley (1532-1588)English nobleman. He acted for many years as a courtier and councilor, with a strong interest in foreign affairs. He is best known as Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite, and in 1560 was rumored to have killed his wife, Amy Robsart, to obtain Elizabeth’s hand.
Warren Hastings (1732-1818)British politician. Beginning his long career at the East India Company as a clerk, he became the first Governor-General of India in 1774 and pacified much of the country. He was impeached for corruption in 1788 before being acquitted after a seven year trial.
Louis de Casabianca (1755-1798)French naval officer, born in Corsica, who, at the battle of Aboukir, after securing the safety of his crew, blew up his ship and perished along with his son, who would not leave him.
Kit Carson (1809-1868)American trapper and soldier. After running away from home as a child he became an experienced trapper and Indian fighter. He helped lead expeditions during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War, eventually reaching the rank of Brigadier-General in the U.S. Army.
John Dickinson (1732-1808)American Statesman. He advocated a peaceful settlement with Britain in the 1770s and voted against the declaration of independence. He was, however, one of the two members of the Continental Congress who volunteered for armed service, serving as a militia officer.
Enoch Johnson (1883-1968)American politician and racketeer. Johnson was the head of a powerful Republican party consortium which controlled the Atlantic City, New Jersey government during the Prohibition Era. His lax enforcement of the Volstead act in the city rendered it “The World’s Playground” and was spearheaded by his bootlegging, prostitution and gambling cartels. His income from vice totaled over $500,000 a year, an extraordinary sum at the time, until his conviction in 1941. He served four years in prison.
Fra Diavolo (1771-1806)Italian guerrilla leader. He helped galvanise resistance to the French occupation of Naples during the French Revolutionary Wars. His fighting skill and appearance led to him being given the nickname ‘Brother Devil’ by peasants who thought he was supernatural.
Joachim Murat (1767-1815)French soldier and royal. An early ally of Napoleon, serving alongside him in Italy and Egypt. He married Napoleon’s youngest sister Caroline in 1800. In 1808 Napoleon made him King of Naples, but unrest there, coupled with Napoleons defeat, lead to him losing the kingdom in 1815.
Clemens von Metternich (1773-1859)Austrian statesman. He served as an ambassador and then Austrian foreign minister from 1809 to 1848. A key advocate of maintaining the balance of power in Europe, he is considered one of the most important diplomats of the early Nineteenth Century.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)American writer and philosopher. Seen by some as a pioneer for anarchism, he only published two books in his own lifetime, notably the work Walden. He has, however, come to be regarded as one of the greatest writers America has produced.
Enoch Sontonga (c.1873-1905)South African composer. He is best known for composing the anthem Nikosi Sikelel iAfrika (‘Lord Bless Africa’) in 1897, which subsequently became the national anthem of the states of South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania.
Bernardo O’Higgins (1778-1842)Chilean statesman. A leader of the Chilean independence movement, he helped Chile achieve independence from Spain in the early nineteenth century. He went on to become Supreme Director of Chile between 1817 and 1824.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598)Japanese politician. From humble origins he went on to unify the disparate political factions of Japan. He developed considerable national moral authority and instituted a number of reforms, including barring the right for non Samurai to posses weapons.
Julian (332-363)Roman emperor. The successor of Constantius II, he officially proclaimed freedom of worship but secretly attempted to restore old Roman religion at the expense of Christianity. His anti Christian views led him to be known as ‘Julian the Apostate’.
Diodorus of Sicily (c.80 BCE-29 BCE)Greek writer. He wrote the Historical Library, a general world history in forty installments covering the age of myth to 60 BCE. His work, while extensive, is today considered largely inaccurate and obsessed with the ‘strong man’ of history.
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia (1873-1918)Russian royal. The youngest brother of Tsar Nicholas II, he was named heir as Michael II when Nicholas abdicated in March 1917 amidst the Russian Revolution. He did not survive the revolution however and was later imprisoned and killed.
William Weir (1877-1959)British politician. Originally a successful businessman in the manufacturing sector, he went on to become Scottish Director of Munitions and then the first Secretary of State for Air during the First World War.
Dame Nellie Melba (1861-31)Australian opera singer born in Melbourne, Australia, she made her first appearance when she was six. She studied in Paris in 1882 and appeared in opera for the first time in Brussels in 1887. Melba received the DBE for her charitable work during the First World War.
James Belcher (1781-1811)English prize fighter. Born in Bristol he was victorious in six great fights between 1799 and 1803. In 1805, he was beaten by Hen Pearce, who was known as ‘the game chicken’. He was beaten also by the boxer Cribb in 1807 and 1809. Belcher died at the age of 30.
Nicolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1905)Russian composer born at Tikhvin. He attended St Petersburg Military Academy where he studied under Balakirev. His first symphony was produced at St Petersburg in 1865. He was a professor at the Conservatoire there from 1871 until his death. He composed 13 operas.
Akhenaten (? - 1336 BC)Egyptian Pharaoh. Ruling for seventeen years, he is known for his attempts to radically change Egyptian religious beliefs towards the worship of one deity, Aten, the Sun God. His religious changes were not popular however, and did not last after his death. He was later known as the ‘Heretic King’.
Tatsukichi Minobe (1873-1948)Japanese constitutional lawyer and professor at Tokyo University. He devised a constitutional concept centering on the principal that the emperor was no more than the chief organ of state. By such a concept, this lent theoretical support to the further development of political parties and responsible cabinets.
Qaydu (1269-1303)Mongol ruler in eastern Turkestan and parts of western Mongolia. The grandson of Ogetei, he claimed the title of Great Khan, which was held by Kublai Khan. Qaydu united behind him many Mongols who were opposed to the increasing Sinification of the empire.
Nekhtnebef (380-363 BCE)Egyptian King who instituted a massive building program, notably on the island of Philae. In 373 he repelled a Persian invasion of the Egyptian Delta.
November 2012
Argentine general and independence leader. After a career as revolutionary general with sympathies for the monarchy, he lost his position as leader of the patriot armies in 1814. Then turning to civil and diplomatic matters, my reform proposals embraced manufacturing, agriculture, trade and education.
Robert Whitehead (1823-1905)British inventor of the torpedo that bears his name in 1866. Ten years later he improved the weapon by installing the ‘servomotor’ and finally by the addition of the gyroscope.
SiegfriedIn German legend, a king of the lower Rhine, who captured the treasure of the Nibelungs. He is the central figure in Wagner’s operas, ‘The Ring of the Niebulungs’.
Robert Koch (1843-1910)German bacteriologist. A surgeon during the France Prussian War, he later commenced research into the causative organisms of infectious diseases. In 12 years, he and his pupils discovered 11 such organisms. In 1905, he was awarded the Nobel Prize.
Edwin (583-633)King of Northumbria. He was the first northern ruler to make himself overlord of all the English kingdoms, apart from Kent, and the first Christian ruler of the north. When he died in battle against the Welsh this led to a transitory collapse of Christianity in Northumbria.
Sakamoto Ryoma (1836-1867)Japanese Samurai. A talented swordsman, he was the leader of the patriotic movement which sought to overthrow that Tokugowa Shogunate and restore Imperial rule to Japan. He was assassinated at the age of 33, months before his ambitions were largely fulfilled by the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
Francis Townsend (1867-1960)American Reformer. A physician by trade, he became known for his campaign for generous pensions for the American elderly. At its peak the movement had 3.5 million members, and gave American senior citizens political clout which continues to this day.
Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873-1932)Brazillian Aeronaut. Moving to Paris at aged 18, he began mastering airships, flying such a ship around the Eiffel Tower in 1902, and later become a pioneer of heavier than air machines. He committed suicide in 1932 however, depressed by, amongst other things, the use of aircraft in war.
Ramesses II (1303 BCE - 1213 BCE)Egyptian Pharaoh. Acting as regent since the age of 14, his reign is known for the large cities and monuments he constructed, his war with the Hittites and at 67 years, for its long duration. He is considered as one of the greatest Pharaohs in Egyptian history.
Robert Koch (1843-1910)German bacteriologist. A surgeon during the France Prussian War, he later commenced research into the causative organisms of infectious diseases. In 12 years, he and his pupils discovered 11 such organisms. In 1905, he was awarded the Nobel Prize.
J.A. Hobson (1858–1940)British Social theorist. His writings on poverty helped influence Edwardian liberal social reforms which introduced pensions and unemployment benefit. He later became an impassioned critic of imperialism, stating it was damaging both for colonies and the mother country.
ThetisIn Greek mythology, one of the Nereids, the wife of Peleus, and mother of Achilles. It was at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus that Eris, who had been left uninvited, threw into the midst of the gods the golden apple, which was ultimately the cause of the fall of Troy.
Feng Yuxiang (1882-1938)Chinese General and Warlord. Yuxiang had a long and varied career, acting as an officer for the Imperial Army and Nationalist party, and instituting the Beijing Coup in 1924. His tendency to switch sides led him to be nicknamed the ‘Betraying General’.
Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794)French Philosopher. A leading figure in the French Revolution, he acted as a Paris representative and later secretary of the Revolutionary Assembly. Many of his views, such as a universal woman’s suffrage, were too radical for many revolutionaries however, and he died in suspicious circumstances in 1794.
Karl Liebknecht (1871-1919)German Politician. A key figure of the Socialist left in Germany during the First World War, he founded the Communist Party of Germany in 1919. He directed the failed Spartacist Uprising of 1919, and was later killed, along with co conspirator Rose Luxemburg, by right wing forces.
Gustav Stresemann (1978-1929)German Statesman. He was one of the key figures of stability in the tumultuous years of the Weimar Republic in Germany, acting as Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926, his untimely death coincided with the beginning of Weimar’s demise.
Jose Miguel Carrera (1785-1821)Chilean General. Noted for his charisma, he fought for the patriot side in Chile’s War for Independence again Spain. After the success of the war, he plotted against Chilean leader Bernando O’Higgins, and was later executed.
Shaka Zulu (1787-1828)Zulu King. After defeating his brother to secure the Zulu crown in 1816, within the space of twelve years he had organised an immense army of skilled and disciplined warriors, conquering and pacifying a territory larger than Europe. He is considered the most influential leader of the Zulu kingdom.
Jean Moulin (1899 - 1943)French Spy. Originating as a civil servant, his left wing views led to him being sacked in 1940, inspiring him to join the sparse French resistance. After meeting with De Gaulle in London, he helped unite the free French forces dispersed around France, before being betrayed and captured in 1943.
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)Japanese Warlord. Living a life of continuous military conquest, he began unifying Japan under the Shogunate in the 1560s. Towards the end of his life he dominated nearly half of Japan, and was on the brink of conquering much more, before he was killed by a disloyal commander.
Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (1852-1925)Austrian General. Chief of the Austria-Hungary General Staff at the outset of the First World War, he is often advanced as the most passionate Austrian advocate of war. His military success was limited however, and his influence steadily declined by the end of the conflict.
George Stephenson (1781-1848)British Engineer. A pioneer in the development of railways, he invented the ‘Rocket’, the most famous early railway locomotive. Lauded by British Victorian society, he became known as the ‘Father of Railways’, with railway track gauge still named after him.
Ashoka (Maurya) (272-232 BCE)Indian emperor. Inheriting an East Indian dynasty, a string of military conquests led to his empire growing to encompass nearly all of the Indian subcontinent. After a subsequent conversion to Buddhism, he abandoned conquest and embraced nonviolent principles.
Sigismund (1368-1437)Roman Emperor, son of Charles IV. He became Margrave of Brandenburg in 1378 and King of Hungary in 1387. In 1396, he led a crusade against the Turks and was routed at Nicopolis. After many protracted conflicts he was elected German king in 1410, and crowned emperor in 1433.
Robin HoodIn English folk-lore and literature a celebrated outlaw, who dwelt in Sherwood Forest. He is first mentioned in 1377 in Piers Plowman. Later on poems, stories and ballads concerning him are common. A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode (1510) was a collection of earlier stories and set the standard of future tales of Robin Hood.
Vincent Novello (1781-1861)English composer and music publisher, founder of the Novello & Co and part-founder of the Philharmonic Society of London. His works consisted mostly of church music. He was succeeded by his son, Joseph Alfred, who carried on his father’s business and did valuable work in publishing affordable quality music.
George Lockhart (1673-1731)Scottish politician and writer. MP for Edinburgh, and a commissioner to arrange the Union with England in 1705. He took part in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 and was imprisoned.
Justus von Liebig (1803-1873)German chemist born in Darmstadt; one of the founders of modern organic chemistry. He was appointed Professor of Chemistry at Giessen, and later at Munich. Apart from his work in organic chemistry, he also discovered a large number of new compounds such as chloroform and chloral.
Shivaji Bhonsle (1620-1680)Indian Emperor. Founder of the Maratha Empire, he was an able administrator and military leader. His military prowess, particularly the pioneering use of guerilla tactics, helped him defeat much more powerful enemies like the Mughal Empire.
John D Rockefeller (1839-1937)American oil billionaire, financier and founder of Standard Oil, the precursor of, inter alia, Exxon-Mobil. Born at Richford New York, after a few years as an assistant book keeper, at 19 he bought a share in a produce commission firm. He and his partner invested $1,600 in support of a new oil-refining process, which proved enormously successful. Rockefeller gave away around half his wealth and in today’s currency would be two or three times wealthier than the world’s richest individual.
October 2012
French playwright, novelist and journalist. He is best known for his dramas, of which Les Mauvais Bergers (1897) and Les son les Affaires (1903) were the most popular.
Prester JohnIn medieval legend, a Christian king of an undefined eastern country, mentioned in many early books of travel. According to some accounts he reigned in Asia, according to others, in Abyssinia. The leaders of the Seventh Crusade unsuccessfully sought to establish contact with him.
Frances Wright (1795-1852)Scots-American social reformer. She emigrated from Scotland in 1824, and quickly became a leading reformer. A passionate advocate for abolition, universal education and equal rights for women, she led the Workingmen’s Party in New York.
Josef Pilsudski (1867-1935)Polish Statesman. An agitator for Polish independence and army leader during the First World War. After becoming frustrated with the newly independent Polish democratic government, he staged a coup and ruled Poland until his death in 1935.
Georges Boulanger (1837-1891)French general and politician. After a successful army career, he moved into politics and became a right wing leader. By 1888 many expected he would institute a coup, but he never did, and he later became discredited, committing suicide in 1891.
Michael Collins (1890-1922)Irish nationalist. A highly effective military leader during the Irish War of Independence, he was later selected to negotiate peace with the rest of Britain. After successfully brokering the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he was assassinated months later by dissident republicans.
Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934)German soldier and statesman. He rose to the position of Chief of the General Staff during the First World War, gradually usurping the authority of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Elected German President in 1925, he appointed Hitler Chancellor in 1933.
Squanto (c.1580s-1622)Native American guide. A Patuxet tribe member, he was kidnapped in 1614 by English explorer Thomas Hunt and taken to Europe. Squanto eventually returned to his native region and became an interpreter and guide to the Pilgrim settlers in New England.
Behramji Malabari (1853-1912)Indian journalist. Possessing considerable literary talent, he was an editor of the Indian Spectator, and also an outspoken social reformer, particularly on women’s rights. His impassioned advocacy for the rights of widows and against child marriage attracted much attention in Britain.
Qiu Jin (1875-1907)Chinese revolutionary. She was an outspoken advocate of women’s rights and a member of various organisations plotting against the ruling Qing Dynasty. Executed after a failed uprising in 1907, she is lauded as a revolutionary heroine in China.
Nennius (circa 800)Welsh chronicler. The supposed author of the Historia Britonum, which deals with the early legendary history of Britain, and is the chief sources for the history of King Arthur and the Round Table.
Frederick Jackson Turner (1861-1932)American historian. Holding positions at the University of Wisconsin and later Harvard, his ‘frontier thesis’, that American expansion westwards was essential to American development, colored American identity for a generation.
Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816)American statesman. Called to the Bar in 1771, Morris was a member of the Continential Congress from 1777 to 1780. He assisted in the preparation of the United Sates Constitution in 1787, and played a pivotal role in establishing the United States’ coinage system.
Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)African freed slave and author. Equiano was born into slavery but later managed to purchase his freedom. His heart-rending account of being kidnapped and sold into slavery became a bestseller and fuelled the abolitionist campaign.
W.H. Russell (1820-1907)Irish Journalist. A journalist at The Times, Russell at first hand reported the Indian Mutiny, American Civil War and, most notably, Crimean War, where he spent 22 months covering the conflict. He is often considered one of the first modern war correspondents.
Joseph Paxton (1803-1865)British gardener and architect. Despite being self-taught, Paxton became one of the most visionary architects of his age. His most famous design, the Crystal Palace in London, was originally conceived by Paxton as a doodle on a blotter during a meeting.
Sir Surendranath Banerji (1848-1925)Indian Revolutionary. After facing racial discrimination in the Civil Service, he became a prominent Indian political leader during British rule. He founded the Indian National Association, ‘The Bengali’ newspaper and became a leader in the Indian National Congress.
John Newton (1725-1807)British sailor and Anglican clergyman. He began his career as a slave trader and slave ship captain, before undergoing a religious conversion; becoming an Anglican priest and prominent abolitionist. He authored the famous hymn ‘Amazing Grace’.
Huang Jinrong (1867-1951)Chinese gangster. Known as ‘Pockmarked Huang’, he was leader of the infamous ‘Green Gang’ crime syndicate in Shanghai, as well as acting as a senior detective. His criminal activities and government links led to his execution by the communists in 1951.
Claire Chennault (1893-1958)U.S. military aviator. In a career with the United States Army Air Corps, he often clashed with his superiors on air tactics, and he later became an air force strategist for the Chinese Nationalists. He led the ‘Flying Tigers’ of American air force volunteers in China.
Lin Biao (1907-1971)Chinese general and politician. He started his career as an army general, leading the civil war campaign in Northern China. During the cultural revolution he was designated as Mao’s successor, but later died mysteriously in a plane crash while trying to flee China.
Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928)Indian revolutionary. He held the presidency of the Indian National Congress in 1920 and travelled throughout the United States to encourage support for the cause. He died after being heavily beaten during a protest, with his death date a martyr’s day in India.
Puyi (1906–1967)Chinese Qing emperor. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912, marking the end of centuries of dynastic rule in China. Commonly known as the ‘Last Emperor’, Puyi continued to be involved in Chinese affairs in different guises until his death.
Vespasian (9-79)Roman military commander and emperor. After many military successes, including the Roman invasion of Britain, Vespasian outmaneuvered his rivals to become emperor. He succeeded in restoring peace and stability after a year of civil war and founded the Flavian dynasty of emperors.
King Charles II (1630 – 1685)In 1649 Charles II, whilst still Prince of Wales witnessed the execution of his father King Charles I, in the dramatic conclusion to the English Civil War. On his father’s death, Charles was immediately declared King of Scotland, however during the English Interregnum, Charles was effectively exiled, spending his time in France, the United Provinces and the Spanish Netherlands. In 1660, Charles was invited to return to London as King, and the monarchy was restored. The ensuring decades became known as the Restoration, which sparked a new age of culture, literature, architecture and art in Britain.
Captain Matthew Flinders (1774 – 1814)Matthew Flinders was a British navigator and cartographer, who was the first to circumnavigate Australia, and declare it a continent, as well as identifying Tasmania as an island, when he successfully sailed through Bass Strait. Flinders was imprisoned for six years by the French governor of Mauritius. It was during this captivity that he recorded the details of his voyages, in which he also suggested the new found continent be named ‘Australia’.
Empress Dowager Cixi of China (1835 – 1908)Cixi was a powerful and charismatic woman who effectively controlled China for 47 years, from 1861 to her death in 1908, as the matriarch of the Manchu Qing dynasty. Cixi was the mother of the Emperor Tongzhi, and was appointed the regent upon his accession. However on the death of her son, she appointed her nephew as the Emperor Guangxu, thus consolidating her power. Historians have generally portrayed her as a despot and villain responsible for the fall of the Dynasty, which collapsed in 1912.
Queen Maud of Norway (1869 – 1938)Born HRH Princess Maud of Wales in 1869, she was the youngest daughter of the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. In 1896 she married Prince Carl of Denmark, who was later created King of Norway in 1905, thus Maud became Queen of Norway. She died in London in 1938, the last surviving child of Edward VII.
Pheidippides (530 – 490 BC)Pheidippides was a hero of Ancient Greece, whose story has inspired the modern day marathon. Pheidippides was an Athenian herald, or messenger, who ran from Marathon of Athens, a distance of 25 miles, to announce the Greek victory over the Persians, only to then collapse and die.
Edward W Scripps (1854-1926)United States newspaper mogul who created a publishing empire which controlled some 30 newspapers in 15 US states, and a news service that became the United Press Association.
Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967)American theoretical physicist. He was one of the leading scientists involved in the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons, and to this end was dubbed the ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb’. Frictions developed with the government however, and his security clearance was revoked in 1954.
September 2012
Chinese Scholar. A member of a resistance movement against the Manchu Qing Dynasty in early life, he later devoted himself to scholarship. His critique of Imperial Absolutism, written in 1662, exerted a considerable influence on early 20th century Chinese revolutionaries.
Abigail Adams (1744-1818)American first lady. She was the wife of John Adams and mother to John Quincey Adams, both Presidents of the United States. She is famed for her letters, which show her skill in debating political issues and her influence with two Presidents.
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)American novelist. Growing up in poverty, she resorted to writing to support her family and produced over 300 novels, stories and poems during her lifetime. Alcott was a strong supporter of black rights and women’s suffrage, and has since become a cult American literary figure.
Aristilde Briand (1862-1932)French socialist statesman. He served as Prime Minister eleven times between 1909 and 1929, where he holds a strong legacy for peace efforts, being active in the League of Nations and urging the formation of a United Europe to avoid conflict. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.
Marc Bloch (1886-1944)French historian and soldier. He fought bravely in the First World War, being admitted to the Legion d’Honneur, and in the interwar period published a range of pioneering historical works. At the outset of the Second World War he joined the Resistance, and was later tortured and killed by the Nazis.
Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944)British special operations officer. Khan was the first female radio operator sent into Nazi occupied France by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Initially she was the only operator in Paris to avoid detection, but was later arrested and executed by the Gestapo.
Charles Gordon (1833-1885)British general and colonial governor. After early service in the Crimean War and in China, he became involved in the Sudan, where he organised a year long defense of Khartoum against Sudanese rebels. The siege was eventually broken and Gordon killed, after which he was hailed a national hero.
Agricola (40-93)Roman statesman and soldier. As Governor of Britannia he did much to assert Roman authority, completing the subjugation of Welsh tribes and conquering areas of northern England and Scotland. He was awarded ornaments of a triumph, the highest military honor expected.
Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)British economist. He is known for his widely read theories on the perils of population growth, contained in his ‘Essay on the Principle of Population’. Often termed Malthusianism, his ideas heavily influenced Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, which to this day remain controversial.
John Donne (1572–1631)British poet and priest. The most famous of the metaphysical poets, Donne produced a vast range of work from love sonnets to religious poems. He rose to become Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral and also served twice as a member of Parliament.
Charles Hughes (1862–1948)U.S. Republican Statesman. Originally a lawyer, Hughes went on to hold a variety of noted posts including Governor of New York, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Secretary of State. He was the Republican candidate in the 1916 Presidential election, but was defeated by Woodrow Wilson.
Tiradentes (1746–1792)Brazilian revolutionary. He was part of the ‘Inconfidência Mineira’ movement, which sought to achieve Brazilian independence from Portugal. After betrayal by one of his co-conspirators, the plan was discovered and Tiradentes was arrested and hanged. The date of his death is now a public holiday in Brazil.
Khafra (2558 BC-2532 BC)Egyptian pharoah. Considered by historical records to be a cruel and heretical ruler, Khafra was the builder of the second largest pyramid of Giza. Many Egyptologists also credit him with the building of the Great Sphinx, which guards his tomb.
Yu Kwan-Sun (1904–1920)Korean Student and Independence Figure. She helped organise protests for Korean Independence from Japan, including the March 1st Movement, before she was arrested and imprisoned in 1920. Here she died at the age of 16, and was later dubbed the Korean ‘Joan of Arc’.
Prince Shotoku (574-622)Japanese Regent. A prominent Buddhist, he helped spread Buddhism and Chinese culture and ideas, across Japan. A devotional cult developed around him in the generations after his death, and he remains a revered figure to this day.
Admiral Yi Sun-Shin (1545–1598)Korean Military Leader. Despite never having received formal naval training, he grew to excel as a naval commander and strategist. He was famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war, and for his contributions to the development of naval tactics.
Yongzheng Emperor (1678-1735)Chinese Qing emperor. A noted hard worker, his reign was a prosperous era in Chinese history. His many reforms, such as improving financial administration and initial formulation of the Junjichu (Grand Council), held a considerable impact on the future of imperial China.
Georgi Zhukov (1896-1974)Soviet Military Commander. One of most distinguished Soviet army leaders of the Second World War, his often costly victories over the German army did much to accelerate Soviet progress to Berlin. He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union four times.
Roy JenkinsBritish Labor politician and author. Jenkins served with distinction in the Second World War and was a leading member of the British Cabinet before becoming president of the European Community in 1977. He later was a founder of the Social Democratic Party.
Henry Grattan (1746-1820)Irish statesman. He was elected to the Irish Parliament in 1775, where his notably eloquent speeches made a deep impression. A fervent nationalist, Grattan was a leading force in gaining the independence of the Irish Parliament.
Rob Roy McGregor (1671-1734)Scots Highlander who raised clansmen and obtained a commission from James II to make war on all who refused to acknowledge the ex-monarch. In 1722 he was sentenced to transportation to Barbados, but was pardoned at the last moment.
John Hunter (1728-1793)British surgeon and anatomist. In his youth he was a cabinet maker in Glasgow, but went to London to study surgery. In 1776 he was appointed surgeon-extraordinary by King George III. He built an anatomical museum in Leicester Square in 1784-85. His principal writings included On the Venereal Disease and Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation and Gunshot Wounds.
Janos Hunyadi (1387-1456)Famous Hungarian soldier, born in Transylvania. He fought under King Sigismund in the Hussite War and later against the Turks. He was regent during the minority of Ladislaus V. Hunyadi’s generalship was far in advance of his time. He was the first to use a regular army on a large scale and to rely on strategy rather than on brute strength and courage.
Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly (1559-1631)Holy Roman Empire commander. His success in the first half of the Thirty Years War won him many plaudits, but his devotion to traditional military tactics was cruelly exposed in the later stages of the war by King Gustav II of Sweden.
Manuel Godoy (1767-1851)Dictator of Spain between 1792 and 1808. He rose from an obscure guardsman to become a court favorite as a result of a claimed romantic relationship with Queen Maria Luisa and through him being a confidant to King Charles IV. At the age of 25 he effectively became the dictator of Spain. Unsuccessfully ought to negotiate with Napoleon the creation of a kingdom in Algarve with him as sovereign.
Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911-)Vietnamese military commander. He helped build up the Vietnamese People’s Army with scant resources. With it he defeated two of the great powers, France and the United States, in the First Indochina War and Vietnam War respectively.
Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1735)Habsburg military commander. He was one of the most successful military commanders in modern history, rising to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court in Vienna. He won European wide fame for military success against the Ottomans and during the War of Spanish Succession.
Joan of Arc (c. 1412 - 1431)French national heroine. Led a troop of French soldiers and served as a temporary focus of French resistance to English occupation in the last phase of the Hundred Years War.
John Jay (1745-1829)American Diplomat and Optician. He guided American foreign policy from the end of the Revolution until George Washington’s first administration was under way. Jay headed the U.S. Supreme Court during its formative years.
Hung Hsiu-ch'uan (1814-1864)Chinese religious leader. He was the founder of the Taipeng sect, a religious belief with roots in Christianity. These beliefs led to the ten year long Taipeng Rebellion.
August 2012
English Puritan and pamphleteer. He was imprisoned and lost his ears for aspersions on the Queen in Histriomastix (1634). He supported the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, but was an enemy of the Commonwealth.
Jesse Woodson James (1847-1882)American outlaw. A confederate guerilla during the American Civil War, James became a colorful bandit and gang member, contributing to bank, train and stagecoach robberies. His escapades made him a legendary figure of the American Wild West.
Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885)Greatest of the French Romantic authors. Hugo’s writings are notable for their metrical skill and colorful diction, and his work has been made immortal by his tremendous vitality. His Notre Dame de Paris in 1831 revolutionised prose. In 1852 he was exiled from France for his political opinions. Perhaps his most famous work is Les Miserables, published in 1862.
James II (1633-1701)King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1685-1688. Britain’s last Stuart and Catholic Monarch, he granted religious minorities the right to worship. His motives were treated as suspicious by many and he was deposed by the ‘Glorious Revolution’.
Innocent III (1160-1216)Pope from 1198 to 1216. He was an Italian aristocrat, theologian and canon lawyer before acceding to the pontificate. His reign has customarily been taken to mark the most splendid moment of the medieval papacy.
Imhotep (?-300 BCE)Ancient Egyptian polymath. He is often considered the first architect, engineer and physician in early history, with achievements including the invention of the pyramid. His talents were so vast that he became one of only a handful of individuals of non-royal birth to be promoted to godhood.
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)Spanish soldier and ecclesiastic. After an early career as a soldier, his conversion led to his desire to live as a Knight for Christ. He was one of the greatest mystics of Christianity and the founder of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuit order.
Anne Marbury Hutchinson (1591-1643)Early Massachusetts colonist. She was banished from Massachusetts colony for dissenting traditional religious beliefs. Her ‘case’ was one of several pre-figuring the eventual separation of church and state in the United States.
William Hull (1753-1825)American military commander. He surrendered United States troops at Detroit to the British during the War of 1812, dealing a severe blow to the American war effort. A court-martial found Hull guilty of cowardice and neglect of duty.
Howard Robard Hughes (1905-1976)American entrepreneur. He was a flamboyant figure who used an inherited fortune to achieve a national reputation in the motion picture and aviation industries, remaining in the news in later years because of his adroit increase in his net worth and paranoid concern for privacy.
Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928)English suffragette. The beautiful daughter of a Manchester cotton manufacturer she was a brilliant speaker, and formed the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903. She was sentenced to three years jail in 1913 but released after a year. Later in life her politics moved to the Right and she agreed to stand as a Conservative Party candidate but died before the election took place.
Edwin Powell Hubble (1889-1953)American astronomer. Established the scale of the universe and laid the observational basis for the cosmological theory of the expanding universe. In 1990, NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope, which was named in his honor.
Boris Fedorovich Godunov (1552-1605)Tsar of Muscovy, elected Tsar in 1598 on the death of Theodore. The greatest of the Muscovite Tsars, he encouraged commercial and cultural relations with foreign powers and re-colonised Siberia. His liberalism did not extend to the lower classes, and he introduced a tyrannical system of serfdom.
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792)British politician, became earl at the age of 11. From 1784-1751 he was First Lord of the Admiralty. The navy deteriorated under his control and fell into disrepute. He is said to have originated the sandwich as a convenient form of food, to permit him to gamble without interruptions for meals.
Hsun-tzu (312-235 B.C.E)Chinese philosopher. He was one of the most important early Confucian philosophers and was a stringent critic of superstition and religious observances of his time. He is famous for his theory that human nature is basically evil.
Enver Hoxha (1908-1985)Albanian political leader. Leader of the Communist Party of Albania from its foundation in 1941 and a leader of the effort to force German withdrawal in 1944. He headed the Albanian government for the next four decades, longer than any other postwar European Leader.
Johnnie Jonson (1916-2001)British fighter pilot. He was the top fighter pilot of the RAF in the Second World War, with a score of 38 planes shot down, as well as being the highest scoring Allied fighter ace against the Luftwaffe. He flew in the Battle of Britain, the Dieppe Raid and during the D-Day build-up.
Nicholas Sebastien Roch (1741-1794)French man of letters, famed for his witty conversations, which made him welcome at the French Court and in the Jacobin Club alike. During the Reign of Terror he committed suicide. The gems of his wit are recorded in his uncompleted Maximes et Pensees.
Milan I (1854-1901)King of Serbia, he was proclaimed prince, under a regency, on the assassination of his cousin Michael Obrenovich in 1868 and became king in 1882. Seven years later he abdicated in favor of his son. He later was made Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian army. He was banished in 1900.
Sebastien le Prestre de Vaughan (1633-1707)French soldier and engineer, known for his extensive construction of fortresses, and his conduct of many sieges. He improved or constructed some 160 fortresses and wrote treatises on attack and defense. He was made Marshal of France in 1703.
Charlotte Corday (1768-1793)French revolutionary who assassinated Marat. She became involved in politics on the outbreak of the revolution. Believing Marat to be a tyrant, she went to Paris in July 1793 and stabbed him in his bath. She was subsequently tried and guillotined.
Coriolanus (5 Century BC)Roman legendary patrician, he was awarded his name after the capture of Volscian Corioli. In 493BC he was exiled from Rome and took refuge with the Volscians. A play of Shakespeare’s is based on his life.
Chester Nimitz (1885-1966)U.S. admiral. Nimitz was Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet during the Second World War. An outstanding strategist, he was responsible for bringing the US fleet from its weak situation after Pearl Harbour to a position of initiative within the first year of the war in the Far East.
Xuanzong of Tang (685-762)Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. While an astute ruler and capable administrator in the early years of his reign, his poor choice of allies towards the end of his life led to the Anshi Rebellion and the end of the Tang dynasty’s’ golden age.
Vasco da Gama (1460-1524)Portuguese navigator. He was the first to travel by sea from Portugal to India. The term “Da Gama epoch” is used to describe the era of European commercial and imperial expansion launched by his navigational enterprise.
Galen (130-200)Greek physician, anatomist and philosopher. He contributed greatly to the understanding of disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology, and neurology. His works were largely undisputed for the next 1500 years, and he was perhaps the most influential physician of all time.
John Charles Fremont (1813-1890)American explorer, politician and soldier. Through his exploration of the American West, Fremont helped foster America’s desire to expand into these regions. He was later the first presidential candidate of the Republican Party.
St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)Italian mystic. He founded the religious order known as the Franciscans. Renowned for his love, simplicity and practice of poverty, he is one of the most famous and venerated religious figures in history.
Charles James Fox (1749-1806)English parliamentarian. He won the reputation of being the champion of individual liberties against the oppressive tendencies of government and was dubbed ‘the man of the people’. He was a stringent critic of George III.
July 2012
British bacteriologist. He is best known for helping to discover penicillin, which has been hailed as the ‘greatest contribution medical science ever made to humanity’. For this he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.
Luigi Galvani II (1737-1798)Distinguished Italian scientist, whose experiments during a course of lectures on anatomy at Bologna discovered the principle of animal electricity, hence the term Galvanism.
Edward VIII (1894-1972)King of the United Kingdom. Edward was King for only one year, 1936, abdicating the throne to marry the ‘woman I love’, the twice divorced American Wallis Simpson. Controversy continued to later surround Edward when he was suspected of holding Nazi sympathies.
Leif Ericson (971-1015)Norse mariner and adventurer. He was the first Norseman to seek out the coast of North America, and introduced Christianity into Greenland. He is often regarded as being the first European to land in North America, 500 years before Christopher Columbus.
Robert Emmett (1778-1803)Irish Nationalist. He was executed after leading an unsuccessful revolution against British Rule. His youth, passionate oratory, and courage in the face of death made him a symbol of romantic, revolutionary, Irish Nationalism.
Elizabeth I (1533-1603)Queen of England and Ireland. She preserved stability in a nation rent by political and religious dissension and maintained the authority of the Crown against the growing pressures of Parliament. Famously dubbed the ‘Virgin Queen’ for not marrying or bequeathing an heir.
James Harold Doolittle (1896-1993)American pilot. Doolittle set two early transcontinental flying time records, pioneered advancements in aviation, led the Tokyo raid in 1942, and commanded the Eighth Air Force attack on Germany. He was awarded the US Medal of Honor.
John Frederick Charles Fuller (1878-1966)British soldier and early tank expert. After serving in the South African War and First World War he was appointed chief of the fledging tank corps in 1917. The British tanks success at Cambrai was attributed to him. He later wrote Tanks in the Great War and Foundations of a Science of War, among other books.
Sir Francis Drake (ca.1541-1596)English navigator. He was the first of his countrymen to circumnavigate the globe. His daring exploits at sea helped to establish England’s naval supremacy over other European nations and contain the threat of Spain.
Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-1963)South Vietnam’s first premier and president. Leader of South Vietnam after the 1954 partition, he initially provided inspiring leadership but later became dictatorial when pressed by the Vietcong assault against his government.
John Dillinger (1903-1934)American criminal. During the depression of the 1930s his bank robberies were seen by many as revenge on society’s financial institutions that were unfairly exploiting the economically distressed, winning him short-lived national fame and popularity.
Edward VI (1537-1553)King of England and Ireland. Ascending to the throne at the age of 9, at the death of his father Henry VIII, his short reign witnessed the introduction of the English Prayer Book and the Forty-Two articles, and thus was important for the development of English Protestantism.
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910)Religious leader. Eddy was the American founder of the Christian Science Church, which developed a unique understanding of the relationship between religion and health. It resulted in one of the era’s most influential religious books, ‘Science and Health’.
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)English American Author. Paine wrote the successful pamphlet Common Sense, published in January 1776, which argued for American independence from Britain. The work was hugely popular across the colonies and was even read to American solders prior to battle.
King Stephen (1097-1154)English King, 1135-1154. Stephen reigned during a dismal period known as ‘the anarchy’. The King was in constant conflict with rival claimant to the throne, Empress Matilda, amid escalating lawlessness elsewhere. Medieval texts describe Stephen’s reign as one of ‘nineteen long winters’.
Charles De Gaulle (1898-1970)French statesman. An army general, he escaped to Britain when France was conquered in 1940, and became the leader of the Free French, uniting those who opposed the German occupation. He was an influential president of France in 1944-46, and in 1959-69.
David Glasgow Farragut (1801-1870)American (Union) Admiral. A midshipman at the age of 11 and a prize master of a captured British Ship at 12, Farragut excelled during the American Civil War, where he led the New Orleans expedition and later captured the town of Mobile. He was promoted Admiral in 1866, the first to hold the rank in the United States Navy.
John Cronyn Tovey (1885-1971)British admiral and commander of the Home Fleet 1940-3. Tovey led the pursuit and destruction of the Bismarck, pride of Hitler’s Navy, whose escape into the North Atlantic threatened North American trade routes. The sinking was the most important surface battle fought by the Royal Navy in home waters during the Second World War.
Mao Zedong (1893-1976)Chinese communist leader. He helped establish the Chinese Communist Party, eventually defeating Chinese nationalists to establish the People’s Republic of China in 1949. He was ruler of China until his death, taking the country through both the ‘Great Leap Forward’ from 1958-1962 and the ‘Cultural Revolution’ of 1966.
Richard Sorge (1985-1944)A Soviet spy based in Shanghai and later Tokyo, Sorge developed a sophisticated spy ring with high level sources in the Japanese government. His prescient warnings that the Nazis intended to invade the USSR in June 1941 were ignored. He later was hanged by Japanese authorities and was made a posthumous hero of the USSR.
Mungo Park (1771-1806)Scottish explorer. In 1794 he was appointed by the African Association to explore the Niger. After his first African expedition he produced his book Travels in the Interior of Africa. In a second expedition in 1803 to Niger with a party of 35 private soldiers the group was struck down by disease leaving only six. He and the remainder of the party subsequently drowned.
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498)Italian religious reformer of the Dominican Order. His oratory against the sins and apostasy of the age excited great popular interest. Attempted to set up a ‘Christian commonwealth’ in Florence. In response to his speeches against sin, the women of Florence eagerly cast their jewels into ‘bonfires of vanities’. Claimed the gift of prophecy and was suspected of heresy. Tried and found guilty, and was strangled and burnt.
Pedro I (1798-1834)Emperor of Brazil, the son of John VI of Portugal. On the invasion of his country by Napoleon in 1807, his father retired to Brazil, and on his return to Portugal in 1821, left Pedro in Brazil. In the following year Pedro was elected emperor, and in 1825 succeeded in establishing Brazil as an independent kingdom.
Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911)American newspaper owner of Hungarian birth. He fought in the Civil War and later became a reporter. He went on to buy the St Louis Post Despatch in 1877 and the New York World in 1883. In his will be set up a fund for annual prizes for journalism, literature and music.
Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius (d 13BC)Roman leader. A strong supporter of Julius Caesar, yet after his murder he joined with Mark Anthony and Octavian in forming the Second Triumvirate. He was appointed commander of Africa and seized Sicily for Rome. Augustus then removed him from office.
Ethelred I (d 871)King of Wessex, brother and predecessor of Alfred the Great. He was at his prayers when the Battle of Asldown (871) began, yet the Danes sustained their first decisive defeat.
Thomas Erskine 1st Baron Erskine (1750-1823)British lawyer, born in Scotland. Successfully defended Admiral Keppel who was charged with incompetence. He secured the acquittal of Lord George Gordon who was charged with treason for the riots that bore his name. Later Erskine was appointed Lord Chancellor of England. He was an advocate of the emancipation of Black slaves.
William Avery Bishop (1894-1956)Canadian fighter ace. Second-ranking amongst British aces of the First World War, Bishop shot down seventy two enemy aircraft and was awarded the Victoria Cross, despite not starting operational flying until March 1917. In 1918 he scored twenty five victories in a mere twelve-day period.
William Wallace (1272-1305)Scottish resistance hero. By 1296, England had conquered much of Scotland, but under Wallace’s leadership the English were driven out of Perthshire and Lanarkshire, with a famous victory secured at Stirling Bridge. In 1305 he was betrayed and captured, sent to the Tower of London and later hanged and quartered.
Al 'Scarface' Capone (1888-1947)American Gangster. A notorious figure of the prohibition era, he led criminal activities that included smuggling, bootlegging liquor and prostitution in Chicago in the 1920s. His career illustrated the power and influence or organised crime in the United States during this era. Jailed for tax evasion. Died of syphilis.
Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE)Greek Philosopher and scientist. He organised the knowledge of his time into a coherent whole, which served as the base for much of the science and philosophy of Greek and Roman times, and even affected medieval science and philosophy.
June 2012
American politician. Vice president to Richard Nixon between 1968 and 1973, dubbed by Nixon as leading spokesman for ‘the silent majority’. He was later forced to resign after being charged with bribe-taking, an event which preceded by less than a year Nixon’s own resignation.
John Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834-1902)British intellectual. Action was a famous scientific historian and Catholic philosopher. His work is distinguished by the application of rigorous standards of accuracy and ethical principles to history.
William Beveridge (1879-1963)British liberal politician and economist. He drew up the Beveridge Plan in 1942, which in the post war era became the backbone of the British system of social security initiated by the Labour Party.
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)British-American Inventor. Originally born in Edinburgh before emigrating to Canada, and later America. In 1876 he exhibited an invention that eventually developed into the telephone. He devoted much attention to the education of deaf-mutes.
Hugh Latimer (1485-1555)English Protestant reformer and priest. He favored Henry VIII’s divorce. In 1535 he became Bishop of Worcester. His famous sermons included On the Plough, and that preached at Jane Seymour’s funeral. Under Queen Mary he was condemned for heresy and burnt at Oxford with Nicholas Ridley in 1555.
Ferdinand Lasalle (1825-1864)German socialist politician. He conducted an intensive campaign using speeches and pamphleteering aimed at improving the social and political status of the poor. He was wealthy and lived lavishly and founded the German Socialist movement. He was killed in a duel.
James Gillespie Blaine (1830-1893)US politician, who, in 1884, was a Republican presidential candidate against incumbent Garfield. He was defeated after a bitter campaign in which his slogan directed against his opponent of ‘Rum, Romanism and Rebellion’ was his undoing.
Qintilian (35-95 AD)Roman orator and critic. His school of oratory was the greatest of his day. His great work was his Institutio Oratoria, an expert critique of the rhetoric of his time.
George Mortimer Pullman (1831-97)American industrialist. He invented and, in America, practically monopolized the manufacture of the railway sleeping cars and luxury day coaches named after him. The town of Pullman, Illinois was built for his employees.
Franz von Hipper (1863-1962)German admiral. The commander of the German battle cruiser force at the inconclusive Battle of Jutland in World War One, and the final commander-in-chief of the High Seas Fleet. Notably he spent his whole life at sea, never once holding a shore staff appointment.
Kublai Khan (1215-1294)Mongol Emperor. The greatest Mongol emperor after Genghis Khan and founder of the Yuan dynasty in China. Though basically a nomad, he was able to rule a vast empire of different nations by adapting their traditions to his on government.
Sir Douglas Haig (1861-1928)British field marshal. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 until 1918. His command involved considerable lows, such as the Battle of the Somme, and highs, such as repulsing of the Luddendorf Offensive and ensuing counter attack, which helped lead to the 1918 armistice.
Lavr Kornilov (1870-1918)Russian General. He acted as general for both the Imperial Russian Army and the counter-revolutionary army fighting the Bolsheviks. He is most famous for attempting a military coup against the Russian Government while serving as its commander-in-chief.
Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929)Marshal of France. Foch attained early prestige for the 1914 victory at the Marne and eventually rose to become supreme commander of the Allied Forces in 1918, overseeing the final stages of the war. Foch was the only French general also to be named a British field marshal.
Hugh Dowding (1882-1970)British air marshal. Named commander-in-chief of RAF fighter command in 1936, Dowding prepared it for the Second World War and masterfully directed it in the pivotal Battle of Britain in 1940.
Karl Donitz (1981-1980)German admiral. He had a long and varied career in the Germany navy before becoming grand admiral in 1943. Named as his successor by Hitler in his will, Donitz presided over the last days of the Third Reich and surrounded unconditionally to the Allies on May 7, 1945.
Geoffrey De Haviland (1882-1965)British Aircraft Designer. He founded the de Haviland Aircraft Company in 1920 and developed revolutionary aircraft, most famously the Mosquito, which was made primarily of wood and was the fastest operational aircraft in the world when it entered production.
Lazaro Cardenas (1895-1970)Mexican President. During his administration he revitalized the people’s faith in the revolution by implementing extensive land reforms, expropriating foreign-owned properties, and nationalising the oil industry.
Hattie Wyatt Caraway (1878-1950)American Politician. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in early 1931 to complete her late husband’s term, and she won election to a full six-year term in 1932, and again in 1938, to become the first women elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right.
Canute the Great (ca. 995-1035)Viking king. He united the English and Danish people to become the first ruler since the fall of Rome to rule over all of England. He ruled England through a combination of English and Scandinavian customs.
George Canning (1770-1827)British orator and statesman. He opposed intervention by continental powers like France and Spain in the affairs of other states. He successfully supported the insurgent Spanish-American colonies and the establishment of Greek autonomy.
Daniel Burnham (1846-1913)American architect and city planner. His maxim, ‘think big’, dominated his successful career and he created master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and Washington D.C. The firm of Burnham & Root played a significant role in developing the skyscraper.
William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)American lawyer, editor and politician. He was the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee three times, losing each time, but eventually became secretary of state. Called the ‘Great Commoner’, Bryan advocated grass roots rural democracy.
Marcus Junious Brutus (ca. 85-42 BC)Roman Statesman. Brutus’ contemporaries admired him for his political integrity, powerful oratory and eclectic intellectual and literary achievements. He was one of the key conspirators who assassinated Julius Caesar.
John Bright (1811-1889)British politician. He was one of the leading figures of 19th century British reform. An outstanding orator, he was the most prominent British supporter of the North during the American Civil War.
James Bridger (1804-1881)American trapper and fur trader. He was one of the most famous frontiersmen, credited with discovering the Great Salt Lake, Utah. He acted as a wilderness guide for many military units and married a number of native American women.
William Balfour Baikie (1825-1864)British explorer. He proved in his 1854 expedition up the Niger and Benue rivers that Europeans could not only penetrate the interior of tropical Africa but also survive it. It opened up much of central Africa to both commerce and religious missionaries.
Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836)American pioneer. He was the chief coloniser of Texas, possessing a grant that allowed him to bring 300 American families to Texas. With the exception of Utah, no other US state so owes its existence to one man.
Aurangzeb (1618-1707)Mughal Emperor. He was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India and the last of the ‘Great Mughals’. He extended the Empire to its farthest boundaries, ruling nearly a quarter of the world’s population, but his reign was harsh and marked by constant revolts.
Benedict Arnold (1741-1801)American general. Arnold was a skilled American revolutionary general who defected to the British, plotting to surrender his command of the fort at West Point, New York. After the plot was exposed, he was commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general.
May 2012
Spartan king and general. Despite being lame from birth, he grew to dominate and control Spartan politics. Through military might and ruthless subjugation, he made his state supreme in the Greek world by 380.
Aelfric (955 - 1012)Anglo-Saxon monk. He was a scholar and a writer, and his works, especially his collection of sermons, are often considered to be stylistically the most accomplished in Old English. They were designed to explain Christianity simply and clearly to his fellow citizens.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)Sixth President of the United States. A brilliant statesman and outstanding secretary of state, he played a major role in formulating the basic principles of American foreign policy and promoting economic modernization.
Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886)American diplomat and politician. He was the United States ambassador to Great Britain during the American Civil War. By helping to preserve the neutrality of the British, he frustrated Confederate hopes for foreign aid and intervention in the war.
Robert Adam (1728-1792)British architect. He was the leading practitioner of the neo-classic design style in the late 18th century. His graceful, elegant work is based chiefly on Ancient Roman and Renaissance motifs, and strongly influenced the development of western architecture.
Charlemagne (742-814)King of the Franks. He came to govern an empire comprising Gaul, Italy and large parts of Spain and Germany, and was crowned emperor by the Pope on Christmas Day 800. His revival of the Western Empire was the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire.
Abu Bakr (573-624)Arab Ruler. He was the first caliph, or successor of Mohammed, as ruler of the Arab State. He held together the political structure created by Mohammed at Medina, defeated separatist revolts, and initiated the expansion of Islam into Syria and Iraq.
Al-Idrisi (1100-1166)Traveler and geographer. Born in Morocco, Ai-Idrisi studied in many Islamic centers, but worked mainly at the Christian court of the Norman King Roger II of Sicily. His most famous work was a silver globe of the world. Idrisi’s maps show the superiority of Arab geography at this time.
Abbas the Great (1558-1629)Shah of Persia. The greatest of the Safavid rulers, he created a professional army and greatly enlarged Persian territory, driving out the Uzbeks and wining land from the Ottoman Turks. He encouraged the arts and trade, granting commerce rights to European merchants.
Akbar (1542-1605)Mughal Emperor of India. After conquering most of India, he had ambitions to develop a strong and united empire, in which Muslims and Hindus held parity. He even tried to introduce a religion that combined elements of Hindu and Muslim orthodoxy.
Ptolemy (? - 168)Greek Scholar of Alexandria. The study of Astronomy and Geography in Europe was based on his writings until disproved by Renaissance astronomers, such as Copernicus, in the 16th century. He believed that the Earth was the centre of the universe, and thought it smaller than it really is.
Justinian (483-565)Byzantine Emperor. With his wife Theodora, he reigned over an acclaimed court. He is remembered best for his collection of Roman law and his buildings, especially the Church of St. Sophia. His generals and allies succeeded in winning back much of the western empire for a short time.
Hannibal (247-183 BC)Carthaginian general. In 218 BC he invaded Italy by crossing the Alps from Spain with an army including elephants. He defeated the Romans in Italy but could not capture Rome. After 15 years in Italy, he returned to defend Carthage from a Roman attack and was defeated at the Battle of Zama (202 BC).
Heraclius (? - 641)Byzantine emperor. The Byzantine (East Roman) Empire was in a state of collapse when Heraclius became emperor in 610. He built up the military and in six years defeated many of his enemies, including the Persians, who had almost captured Byzantine. In the 630s he was unable to stop new invaders, the Arabs.
Hugo Junkers (1859-1935)German aeronautical Engineer. Junker’s aircraft innovations included the production of the world’s first all metal plane, the J1, in 1915, While his name is most commonly associated with Nazi Germany combat aircraft, he was in fact a pacifist and lost control of his company in 1934 because of his refusal to cooperate with the Nazi’s.
Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC)King of Macedon. He led a Greek army against the Persians and in 13 years conquered an immense empire that stretched from Greece to India. His empire did not last long after his death, but it spread Greek ideas in Asia and brought Eastern Influences into the Mediterranean world.
Pacal (603-683)Mayan King of Palenque, 615-683. During the reign of Pacal and his son, Palenque’s control extended to many Mayan cities and a large number of fine buildings were erected in Palenque. Pacal, who was only five feet tall, was still leading his army when he was seventy.
1st Marquess Cornwallis (1738-1805)British General who commanded the British forces which surrendered to the Americans at Yorktown in 1781, thus ending the American War of Independence. He later forged a career as a Colonial administrator, being twice Governor-General of India.
Cyrus the Great (? - 529 BC)Founder of the Persian Empire. After uniting the Medes and the Persians, he conquered Babylon in 529 BC. He was more tolerant than most conquerors and allowed the Jews, held captive in Babylon, to return home. His dynasty, the Achaemaenids, ruled the huge Persian Empire until 331 BC.
James Cook (1728-1779)British Explorer. Cook surveyed the coast of Newfoundland before he made pioneering voyages of discovery to New Zealand and Australia in the ships under his command, Endeavour, Resolution and Adventure. Cook was killed in Hawaii in a fight with natives during his third voyage in the Pacific.
Constantine (? - 337)Roman Emperor. Became sole emperor in 324AD after defeating several rivals. He founded an eastern capital of the empire at Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople after himself. He made Christianity a legal religion and became a prominent Christian figure, calling the Council of Nicaea (325) to settle differences in Christian doctrine.
Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)American Civil War leader. Born in Kentucky, he was made president of the Confederate States when the Civil War broke out. He struggled to effectively direct the conflict in the South’s favour and drastically faltered in the management of its economy. After the war he was tried for treason but discharged.
Thomas Cochrane (1775-1860)A British naval flag officer who enjoyed much success in different conflicts. Originally a British captain, where he helped to cripple a French fleet in Biscay (1809), he later served other navies, where he aided the liberation of Chile and Peru from Spanish rule (1819-22), of Brazil from Portuguese rule (1823-25), and assisted the Greeks in their independence struggle.
William Pitt the Elder (1708-1788)British statesman. His skillful conduct of the Seven Years War was an important factor in the British victory, and to acquisitions in Canada and India. In the dispute with the American colonies he upheld their right to resist imposed taxation, and collapsed while making a last speech on this dispute.
Archimedes (? - 221 BC)Inventor. He invented a water pump which used the principle of the screw. Another famous discovery was made in the bath, the ‘Archimedes Principle’, which concluded that the weight lost by a body in water equals the weight of the water the body displaces.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)British Civil Engineer. He was an engineer of the Great Western Railway, built the ocean liners Great Western, Great Britain and Great Eastern, and developed a string of noted tunnels and bridges. Many of his designs revolutionised the civil and modern engineering of the time.
Augustus (63 BC - AD 14)First Roman emperor. Born Octavian, he was the nephew and heir of Julius Caesar. He became ruler of the Roman world after defeating his rival, Mark Anthony, and was given the title Augustus (‘Exalted’) by the Senate. His reign was a golden period for the Roman Empire in architecture and literature.
Charles Babbage (1801-1871)British Mathematician. He designed an analytical engine that eventually led to more complex computational designs. His work is considered the forerunner of the modern digital computer, and to this end he is often considered a ‘father of the computer’.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1882-1962)The wife of President Franklin Roosevelt, she strongly supported civil rights for African Americans and women. After her husband’s death she became a delegate to the newly formed United Nations, and headed the UN Human Rights Commission (1947-1951).
Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)Scholastic philosopher and theologian, whose theological system of ‘Thomism’ is still accepted by many in the Catholic Church. He understood Aristotle well and interpreted much of his thought in accordance with Christian teaching.
Prince Consort Albert (1819-61)Married Queen Victoria in 1840. He helped the Queen with political duties, campaigned for public causes and projected the international exhibition of 1851. He died of typhoid fever, descending the Queen into a deep mourning that many speculate lasted for the rest of her life.
April 2012
Italian traveler and merchant, Marco Polo worked for Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan for 17 years as a trading and political ambassador traveling throughout China, as well as Tibet and Burma. After journeying to India, Sumatra, Persia and Turkey, he was later jailed in Italy where he dictated the stories of his adventures to a fellow prisoner; the subsequent book becoming widely read. Polo was popularly believed to have introduced spaghetti to Italy.
Jimmie H Davis. (1899-2000)Governor of Louisiana for two terms. Combined two careers of country music and politics. Popularised the song ‘You are My Sunshine’.
Count Nogi Maresuke (1849-1912)Japanese general who achieved great distinction by his able and successful conduct of the siege of Port Arthur in 1904 against the Russians.
Li Li-San (1899-1967)Chinese Communist Party chief associated with organizing labor in China during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He advocated urban uprisings to overthrow the government. His plans proved disastrous, with all his initiatives quelled. He retired in disgrace in Moscow and eventually committed suicide.
Aaron Burr (1756-1836)U.S. Vice President, 1801-1805. The first Vice President to not be eventually elected in his own right, Burr was one of the most colorful political figures of his era. While vice president he killed political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel and later was arrested on charges of treason.
Dr Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-96)Swedish engineer and chemist and the inventor of dynamite. He amassed an enormous fortune, a great portion of which at his death he set apart as a fund for annual prizes for those who have contributed most materially to the benefit of mankind. Initially five prizes were awarded in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace and each was worth 8000 pounds sterling.
Arthur (believed 6th century)Legendary British chieftain and supposed king, who is believed to have lived in the 6th century. He was thought to have led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders. Around his life many enduring legends have been written, including Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63-12BC)The greatest military commander of Rome after Julius Caesar. Chiefly responsible for the defeat of Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Not burdened by false modesty or self doubt, he was disliked by the Roman aristocracy.
Marshall Alexandre Averescu (1859-1938)Romanian statesman and soldier. Chief of the General Staff in the war against Bulgaria in 1913. He was commander of the Romanian army in World War One and was later three times Premier of Romania.
Mary Wallstonecraft Godwin (1759-97)One of the pioneers of the women’s emancipation and education movement in Britain, penning A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792. Though her proto-feminist views – considering domesticity tantamount to servitude – were considered unorthodox for the time, she nevertheless married William Godwin in 1796, himself a noted radical.
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843-1911)British radical politician whose political career was left in tatters due to his involvement in a scurrilous, high-profile divorce case. Noted for his oratory and his republicanism. Wentworth served as undersecretary for foreign affairs and eventually held a post in the cabinet steering the 1885 Redistribution Bill through the House of Commons.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo (1492-1584)Spanish conquistador and historian made most famous for his True History of the Conquest of New Spain, an eyewitness account of the Spanish destruction of the Aztecs. Diaz served with Cortes in Mexico and felt that official accounts did not shed enough light on ordinary soldiers that served under him.
William Wilberforce (1759-1833)English politician, reformer and anti-slavery campaigner. Converting to evangelical Christianity he set up the Society for the Reformation of Manners in 1784. He was a political conservative yet established the Abolition Society in 1787 to halt the slave trade. In 1807 he was partially successful in abolishing the trade in the Empire but not slavery itself. Founded the Anti-Slavery Society in 1823 and by the year of his death, slavery was indeed outlawed in Britain and her empire.
Ngomo (1560-89)Ruler of the Mwenemutapa Empire in Southern Africa who expanded relations with the Portuguese and accepted Christianity despite violent pressures to oppose foreign innovation and influence.
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)Though more widely known for penning Utopia, the book in which an ideal state is envisaged, More was also a lawyer, politician, scholar and eventually martyr. He contributed to books against Martin Luther and Richard III, and collaborated with Erasmus in The Praise of Folly. He was against the Reformation and was for a time a favorite of Henry VIII. Harboring dislike for Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, he refused to take the Oath of Succession in full and was later executed.
Alfonso the Wise (1221-1284)Celebrated King of Leon and Castille and founder of the legal code which became the basis of Spanish jurisprudence. He was a liberal patron of literature and science, especially astronomy. In 1282 he was dethroned by his son Sancho.
Frederick the Great (1712-86)On ascending the Prussian throne, Frederick attacked Austria and Silesia during the Silesian Wars, winning military acclaim for Prussia. He also created a thoroughfare by conquering territories of Poland in its first partition. Corresponding with the enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, he was one of the first proponents of enlightened absolutism, encouraging religious tolerance throughout his kingdom and transforming Prussia from a European backwater into a strong, industrialized, if highly militaristic, modern state.
Edward III (1312-1377)One of the ablest of English monarchs who, although occupied with the long and bitter wars with France and Scotland, did much for the commercial interests of the nation. He encouraged large numbers of Flemings to immigrate to England, who laid the foundation of English textile manufacturing. He married Philippa of Hainault and was the father of Edward the Black Prince.
Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)German clergyman and leader of the protestant opposition during the Third Reich. He served in the German Navy in the First World War. When the Nazis came to power, he attacked pro-Nazi protestant sympathizers. He became part of the Confessing Church, which denied the right of the state to totalitarian control in 1934. He refused to cooperate with the Reich government and was interned in a concentration camp from 1937 until the war’s end. Afterward, he actively opposed West German rearmament and campaigned for peace.
Roger Bacon (1214-94)English alchemist and sorcerer, who was believed to have invented gunpowder and the air-pump and experimented with a rudimentary telescope.
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973)Democratic representative, Vice President and President following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 in Johnson’s home state of Texas. Known as ‘LBJ’ he was elected in his own right in 1964 and proceeded to create a liberal, ‘Great Society’ in the US passing the Civil Rights bill among legislation to reduce poverty. Controversy followed his supporting a war in Vietnam, and sending in troops during the period of Urban Riots. Johnson argued it was possible to have both ‘guns and butter’.
Aeschylus (525-456BC)The father of the Greek Tragic drama. Composed seventy plays and gained the prize for dramatic excellence in Ancient Greece 13 times. He was US Senator Robert F Kennedy’s favorite poet.
James Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937)The first Labor politician to become Prime Minister of Britain in 1924 and was the architect of their first success. The Labor Party under his helm grew to become the largest party in Britain on a disarmament platform that was overshadowed by crippling unemployment.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)German astronomer and discoverer of the laws of planetary motion. A protestant, he drew the ire of Archduke Ferdinand and left for Prague in 1600 to join Tycho Brahe, the celebrated Danish astronomer. The system he formulated became known as ‘Kepler’s Laws’ and paved the way for Newton’s discovery of universal gravitation.
John Foster Dulles (1888-1959)United States lawyer, diplomat, statesman and secretary of state from 1953 until 1959. Accompanied his grandfather to the second Hague conference and was a member of the US delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. He served as Secretary of State under President Eisenhower espousing the containment of Communism in Europe as his major policy thrust.
James Clerk-Maxwell (1831-79)Scottish physicist and principal founder of the electromagnetic theory of light and dynamical theory of gases. Both contributions to science were instrumental in the development of 20th century physics and engineering.
Muhammad Maulana Ali (1878-1931)Leader of the Khilafat movement in India. Based initially in Calcutta, he became a publisher, writer and agitator for the expression of Pan-Islamic views. Was a tireless fighter for constitutional safeguards for Muslims in pre-partition India.
Luis de Ataide (1512-1581)Twice Viceroy of Portugese India. His masterly defense of Goa against the Sultans of Birjapur and Golconda won for him the reputation as a military genius.
Lady Nancy Astor (1879-1964)First woman MP of the British House of Commons. Born in America she was a Member of Parliament 26 years. A Christian Scientist and temperance advocate she piloted a bill preventing the sale of liquor to persons under the age of 18. Enormously wealthy she was an active political hostess and supporter of appeasement in foreign affairs.
Charles Babbage (1801-1871)British Mathematician who designed an analytical engine that eventually led to more complex computational designs. His work is considered the forerunner of the modern digital computer, and to this end he is often considered a ‘father of the computer’.
March 2012
British Arctic Explorer who, early in his career, accompanied his uncle Sir John Ross and Captain Perry on their expeditions. He discovered the North Magnetic Pole in 1831.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-90)One of the United States’ founding fathers and prolific writer and statesman. Franklin published the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard’s Almanac, a compendium of useful information. He was elected to the Continental Congress and submitted a draft plan of union in July 1775. In Paris he served as an ambassador of the nascent US country and secured the Franco-American alliance in 1778.
Maximilian Robespierre 1758-94French Revolutionary figure and enthusiastic leader of the Jacobin Party. In the Reign of Terror, as President of the Committee of Public Safety, he sent vast numbers to the guillotine. He was later denounced in the Assembly, and, while trying to escape was shot and subsequently guillotined while in a dying state.
Decimus Magnus Ausonius (AD 310-95)Bordeaux poet and politician who became a praetorian prefect of Gaul and consul. His warm and lyrical poetry is seen as an important reflection of contemporary Gallic society.
Cleopatra (69-30BC)Queen of Egypt, she became joint ruler with her brother but was expelled by his guardians before winning the valued support of Julius Caesar who restored her to the throne. She married Marc Antony in 37BC giving him support in the civil war spurred by the regicide of Caesar. She committed suicide a few days after Octavian’s capture of Alexandria.
James Clerk-Maxwell (1831-79)Scottish physicist and principal founder of the electromagnetic theory of light and dynamical theory of gases. Both contributions to science were instrumental in the development of 20th century physics and engineering.
David Livingstone (1813-73)Missionary and explorer who traversed over one-third of the African continent. An advocate for African nationalism and advancement, he crossed the continent from west to east, naming the falls on the Zambezi after Queen Victoria. His most famous encounter was with H. M. Stanley whom uttered the famous line, upon contact, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”.
King Louis XIV of France (1648-1715)Ascending the throne aged five, Louis XIV was dubbed the Sun King due to his steadfast belief in the greatness of France. He pursued aggrandizing commercial, internal and foreign policies. A great patron of the arts, Louis ensured the cultural life of France flourished and promoted a binding unity of the French state and the papacy.
Thomas Alva Edison (1841-1931)Edison was one of the most prodigious inventors of his time, patenting over 1100 inventions many of which are still used today. Edison is credited with creating the phonograph, the incandescent lamp and a means to power it – a central power station with which to generate electricity.
Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618)English soldier, courtier, writer and explorer, Raleigh volunteered in the Huguenot armies and after a short expedition became enamored with exploration. A favorite of Queen Elizabeth I he was granted valuable tracts of land and monopolies. He fell out of favor and was subsequently executed for treason.
Procopius (c. 500-70)Byzantine historian and chronicler of the wars of conquest under the acclaimed General Belisarius during the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian. He glorified his achievements (such as the reoccupation of the Italian peninsula) in his capacity as official historian and also acted as his trusted legal adviser.
James Stanhope, First Earl of Stanhope (1673-1721)Having served in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession during 1906-7 he was captured and returned to Whig politics. His skill lay in foreign policy, negotiating the Triple Alliance of 1717 and Quadruple Alliance of 1718 allowing Europe to recover after the wars led by Louis XIV.
Simon Bolivar (1783-1830)The revolutionary hero of Latin America during the wars of independence. Seeking to emulate Napoleon, he liberated his homeland from Spanish rule, creating the new nation of Gran Colombia, and was its first president. He had aspirations of confederating the South American nations into a grand coalition much like the United States.
Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909)Ito played a pivotal role in shaping modern Japan. Born a low-level Shogun in Choshu, he served as prime minister four times. Ito was assassinated by a Korean nationalist’s bullet in 1909. He was credited with raising Japan from a backward and vulnerable state into a modern industrial Empire.
James Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937)The first Labour politician to become Prime Minister of Britain in 1924 and was the architect of their first success. The Labour Party under his helm grew to become the largest party in Britain on a disarmament platform that was overshadowed by crippling unemployment.
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (1888-1938)Russian journalist and politician and one of the early members of the Bolshevik party and was the editor of the party organ, Pravda. He clashed with Lenin about ending the war prematurely and backed Stalin over Trotsky after Lenin’s passing.
William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-91)One of the highly decorated and revered leaders in the US Civil War, having the command of the entire Western theater of operations. He launched several devastating attacks on the Confederacy, seizing Atlanta and the Carolinas, punishing them with his cruel “scorched earth” policy.
Gregory the Great (540-604)Pope Gregory I was born of a patrician of Rome, he was a prefect of the city before he became a monk and converted his family home into the monastery of St. Andrew. He was pivotal in spreading Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons, further cementing his grip on power.
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (1888-1938)Russian journalist and politician and one of the early members of the Bolshevik party and was the editor of the party organ, Pravda. He clashed with Lenin about ending the war prematurely and backed Stalin over Trotsky after Lenin’s passing.
On This Day
1908 – King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Lisbon.
More at: History
Holly From HistoryWow on Instagram
Holly may be an AI creation. But she’s an all English girl. History arouses the naughty in her.
See Her Here
Got a History Question?
Have you an intriguing, fascinating or inspirational history question and answer? Then, we'd love to hear from you. The best ones, ideally with the source provided, will be posted on either the History Question of the Day or History Question of the Week.
SubmitHistoryWow’s Amazing History Tales
A short, sharp hit of history in audio format.
Just totin' my flattery trowel
Listen to more than 120 additional history audios.
HistoryWow’s Quick Shot Videos
A short, sharp hit of history in video format. Acclaimed Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde was the toast of London society in the 1890s until things came decidedly unstuck through an association with a young British aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as ‘Bosie’.
The source for this HistoryWow video is: Oscar and Bosie - A Fatal Passion by Trevor Fisher; General Historical Texts.
More Quick Shot Videos on HistoryWow's YouTube Channel: 
Great Moments in American History
A new audio offering from HistoryWow.
The Richest American Gives It All Away
The Man Who Could Fly
America's help in the aftermath of World War One
Who Am I?
- I was born in Huanggang, China, in 1908.
- After training as a soldier, I became a leader in the Chinese Communist Party
- During the Chinese Civil War (1927-1950) my leadership was pivotal in a string of Communist victories.
- After the war I initially avoided politics, but later became minister of defence in 1959. In 1968 I replaced Liu Shaoqui (1898-1969) as the heir apparent to Mao Zedong (1893-1976).
- In 1971, after a political struggle, I was killed in a plane crash in Mongolia while attempting to seek refuge in the USSR.
Last week’s answer:
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
More at: History
HistoryWow’s Highlighted Historical Quotation
“In Russia a man is a called reactionary if he objects to having his property stolen and his wife and children murdered.”
Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British statesmanSource: The Wicket Wit of Winston Churchill by Dominique Enright
More at: History
HistoryWow in the News
Articles from The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, Acuity – the professional magazine of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand - and more. View hereHistoryWow’s Featured Historical Figure of Note
Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149BCE)Roman statesman, soldier and writer of virtue, simplicity and wisdom. He condemned the luxury of his time and was nicknamed “the censor”. He became Consul in 195BCE, took part in the defeat of Hannibal at Zama, held command in Sardinia and Spain, and in 191 BCE assisted the Greeks in overthrowing Antiochus III at Thermopolyae.
More at: History
© 2024 HistoryWow and the HistoryWow logo are trademarks. All Rights Reserved. | Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons | Legal Disclaimer | Contact Us