People

Mao Anying (1922–1950), the eldest son of Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui, was a Russian-language interpreter and secretary killed during the Korean War.

Chinese revolutionary who founded the People's Republic of China and led the Chinese Communist Party until his death in 1976.

American politician and diplomat, secretary of state since 2025 and former U.S. senator from Florida.

American computer scientist who led Apollo flight-software development at MIT and advanced methods for reliable software engineering.

British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold that office.

Marie Curie was a Polish-born French physicist and chemist who discovered polonium and radium and received Nobel Prizes in two sciences.

German theologian whose 1517 challenge to indulgences launched the Protestant Reformation, reshaping Christianity, the German language, and early modern Europe.

American Baptist minister and leader of the civil rights movement who used nonviolent direct action to challenge racial segregation until his assassination in 1968.

Marvin Minsky was an American artificial intelligence pioneer known for neural-network research, frame-based knowledge representation, and the Society of Mind theory.

Max Planck was a German theoretical physicist whose work on thermal radiation introduced energy quanta and helped establish quantum theory.

German sociologist and political economist whose studies of religion, authority, and rationalization helped shape modern social science.

Chinese Confucian philosopher known for the goodness of human nature, moral cultivation, and benevolent government.

Miao Poya is a Taiwanese politician and rights activist, elected to Taipei City Council in 2018 and reelected in 2022.

American entrepreneur who founded Dell and led its expansion from personal computers into enterprise technology.

Michael Faraday was an English experimental scientist whose discoveries established fundamental principles of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.

American singer, songwriter and dancer (1958–2009), known as the "King of Pop," whose albums, videos and dance style reshaped popular music.

Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet whose works transformed European art.

Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish novelist, playwright, and poet whose Don Quixote transformed the possibilities of prose fiction.

Mike Rogers is the name of two American Republican politicians associated with Michigan and Alabama, respectively.

Last leader of the Soviet Union (1985–1991), architect of glasnost and perestroika, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who helped end the Cold War.

American economist, leading monetarist, and advocate of market-oriented public policy, awarded the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Japanese military commander whose victories in the Genpei War and subsequent downfall inspired a lasting literary and theatrical tradition.

Japanese swordsman, strategist, writer, and artist who founded Niten Ichi-ryū and wrote The Book of Five Rings.

Mo Yan is a Chinese novelist and short-story writer awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature for fiction combining folk traditions, history, and contemporary life.

French Enlightenment thinker whose The Spirit of the Laws (1748) classified governments, linked laws to climate and society, and developed the doctrine of separation of powers.

Muhammad (c. 570–632 CE) was a Meccan merchant and statesman who, in Islamic belief, received God's revelations and is regarded as the last prophet, with his life reconstructed mainly from Muslim sources.

French military commander who seized power in 1799, ruled as Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815, and left lasting marks on European law, administration and warfare.

South African jurist who served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008–2014) and as a judge at several international courts; 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

South African anti-apartheid leader, political prisoner for 27 years, and the country's first democratically elected president (1994–1999).

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer whose mathematical model of a moving Earth transformed European astronomy.

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist whose work on atomic structure, quantum theory, and nuclear physics helped establish modern physics.

Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer (1856–1943) whose work on alternating current, induction motors and radio shaped modern power systems and wireless technology.

Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician who helped establish cybernetics and made foundational contributions to probability, mathematical analysis, and statistical prediction.

Serbian tennis player, holder of a men's record 24 Grand Slam singles titles and the 2024 Olympic singles gold medal.

English soldier and statesman who led Parliamentarian forces in the English Civil War and ruled England, Scotland and Ireland as Lord Protector from 1653 to 1658.

Prussian statesman who unified Germany under Prussian leadership in 1871 and served as the German Empire's first chancellor until 1890.

Spanish painter and sculptor (1881–1973) who co-founded Cubism and produced Guernica; one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

English musician and songwriter known for the Beatles, Wings, and a wide-ranging solo career.

Chinese soprano, music educator, and wife of Xi Jinping, known for her performing career and international health and education advocacy.

Pericles (c. 495–429 BCE) was the leading Athenian statesman who guided democracy, empire, and the building of the Acropolis during the Periclean Age.

American defense secretary, Army veteran, author, and former television host.

Peter I of Russia (r. 1682–1725), who transformed Muscovy into an empire oriented toward Europe, and the reforms that defined his rule.

French economist (born 1956), co-recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for theories of innovation-driven growth and creative destruction.

Pierre Curie was a French physicist whose research established key findings in piezoelectricity, magnetism, and radioactivity.

Pierre-Simon Laplace was a French mathematician and astronomer whose work transformed celestial mechanics, probability theory, and mathematical physics.

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher whose dialogues and Academy shaped enduring debates about knowledge, reality, ethics, and political order.

Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, became pope in 2025, the first from the United States and the first Augustinian.

Ptolemy was a second-century scholar whose writings shaped astronomy, geography, astrology, optics, and music theory for many centuries.

Pu Songling was a Qing-dynasty Chinese writer best known for Liaozhai zhiyi, a collection of supernatural tales in literary Chinese.

Puma Shen is a Taiwanese lawyer, criminologist, and Democratic Progressive Party politician who entered the Legislative Yuan in 2024.

Puyi was China’s last Qing emperor, later ruler of Japanese-controlled Manchukuo, and subsequently a citizen of the People’s Republic of China.

Russian Romantic composer (1840–1893) whose ballets, symphonies, operas and concertos, including Swan Lake, the Pathétique Symphony and The Nutcracker, are among the most performed works of the classical repertoire.

Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician (c. 570–c. 490 BCE) who founded the Pythagorean brotherhood; few details of his life are reliably known.

Chinese painter (1864–1957), self-taught former carpenter, famous for ink paintings of shrimp and small creatures, and one of the most celebrated artists of modern China.

Qing emperor whose long reign combined territorial expansion, cultural patronage, centralized rule, and mounting administrative pressures.

The first emperor of unified China (r. 221–210 BCE), who ended the Warring States period and built a centralized imperial state that shaped later Chinese government.

Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) reigned as monarch of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death in 2022, the longest reign in British history.

Queen Victoria (1819–1901) ruled the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901 and became Empress of India in 1876. Her name is given to the Victorian era.

Bengali poet, composer, artist, and educator who received the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature and founded Visva-Bharati.

Rainey Bethea was an African American man hanged in Kentucky in 1936 in what is widely described as the last fully public execution in the United States.