Historical figures of the Cold War
The atlas holds 395 people and 5,747 moments here, from 1947 to 1991. The most recorded lives are Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mikhail Gorbachev. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Performers.
Notable people
Maya Angelou
from 1954 to 1988
17 moments here
American memoirist, poet, performer, educator, and civil-rights activist. Her documented life moved from Missouri and Arkansas to California and New…
Mercedes Sosa
from 1950 to 1991
26 moments here
Argentine folk singer and leading exponent of the nuevo cancionero movement, internationally known for interpreting Latin American popular song and…
Miguel Ángel Asturias
from 1947 to 1974
28 moments here
Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright, journalist, and 1967 Nobel laureate. Asturias’s documented life moved between Guatemala, Europe,…
Mikhail Gorbachev
from 1950 to 1991
53 moments here
Soviet and Russian politician who led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991.…
Milton Obote
from 1956 to 1985
16 moments here
Apollo Milton Obote was a Ugandan politician who served as prime minister from 1962 to 1966 and as president from 1966 to 1971 and from 1980 to 1985.…
Miriam Makeba
from 1959 to 1990
19 moments here
South African singer, songwriter, actor, and anti-apartheid activist known as “Mama Africa.” Makeba’s career took her from Johannesburg and Pretoria…
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
from 1953 to 1980
22 moments here
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980) was the last shah of Iran, reigning from 1941 until the Iranian Revolution of 1979.…
Mother Teresa
from 1948 to 1990
14 moments here
Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa or Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun.…
Muammar Gaddafi
from 1961 to 1991
37 moments here
Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician, and political theorist who ruled Libya from the 1969 coup until his overthrow and killing during…
Muhammad Ali
from 1959 to 1990
42 moments here
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) was an American boxer, activist, humanitarian, and global cultural figure.…
Neil Armstrong
from 1947 to 1991
16 moments here
American naval aviator, research test pilot, NASA astronaut, aerospace administrator, and professor.…
Nelson Mandela
from 1952 to 1991
47 moments here
South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, lawyer and statesman. Mandela helped lead the African National Congress, co-founded its armed wing,…
Ngô Đình Diệm
from 1950 to 1963
30 moments here
Ngô Đình Diệm was a Vietnamese civil servant, nationalist politician, prime minister of the State of Vietnam, and first president of the Republic of…
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
from 1949 to 1975
23 moments here
South Vietnamese army officer and politician who led South Vietnam as chairman of the National Leadership Committee from 1965 and as president from…
Nikita Khrushchev
from 1949 to 1971
19 moments here
Soviet Communist Party leader and chairman of the Council of Ministers. Khrushchev rose from industrial work in the Donbas through party posts in…
Norodom Sihanouk
from 1948 to 1991
32 moments here
Cambodian monarch, politician, and cultural figure who was king (1941–1955; 1993–2004), prime minister, chief of state, and leader in exile.…
Octavio Paz
from 1952 to 1990
18 moments here
Mexican poet, essayist, editor, and diplomat whose international postings and teaching appointments connected Mexico City, the United States, Europe,…
Olav V
from 1958 to 1991
37 moments here
Olav V of Norway (born Prince Alexander of Denmark) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.…
Olivia de Havilland
from 1951 to 1979
17 moments here
Olivia de Havilland was a British-American-French actress whose career ranged from California community theatre and Warner Bros.…
Osho
from 1951 to 1990
31 moments here
Indian guru and founder of the Rajneesh movement, born Chandra Mohan Jain. His documented life moved between central and western India, the United…
Pablo Neruda
from 1949 to 1973
16 moments here
Chilean poet, diplomat, senator, Communist political figure, and 1971 Nobel laureate. Born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, he lived and…
Pablo Picasso
from 1948 to 1973
14 moments here
Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and co-founder of Cubism. Born in Málaga, Picasso trained in A Coruña, Barcelona, and Madrid…
Park Chung Hee
from 1953 to 1979
12 moments here
Park Chung-hee was a South Korean army officer and politician who led the May 16 coup in 1961 and served as president from 1963 until his…
Patrice Lumumba
from 1956 to 1961
20 moments here
Congolese independence leader and first prime minister of the Republic of the Congo. Lumumba worked in Stanleyville, led the Mouvement National…
Moments
- 1948 Return from Moscow to campaign Golda Meir
- 1948 Execution at Sugamo Prison Hideki Tojo
- 1948 Departure for Europe Juan Manuel Fangio
- 1948 Guerrilla headquarters in the Menoreh hills Suharto
- 1948 Captured at Yogyakarta in Operation Kraai Sukarno
- 1948 Nobel Prize ceremony T. S. Eliot
- 1949 Move to Jakarta Abdurrahman Wahid
- 1949 Move to Millonarios Alfredo Di Stéfano
- 1949 Admission to the Conservatoire de Paris Brigitte Bardot
- 1949 Graduation from Notre Dame Convent School Corazon Aquino
- 1949 Raman Research Institute directorship C. V. Raman
- 1949 Southwest leadership in Chongqing Deng Xiaoping
- 1949 Meeting Lewis A. Riley in Acapulco Dolores del Río
- 1949 Move to London with Peter Lessing Doris Lessing
- 1949 Sell-out Salle Pleyel shows Édith Piaf
- 1949 Climb of the Jungfrau Edmund Hillary
- 1949 Lived at Villa Guardamangia Elizabeth II
- 1949 Final hospitalization at University College Hospital George Orwell
- 1949 Sanatorium at Cranham George Orwell
- 1949 American Academy of Dramatic Arts graduation Grace Kelly
- 1949 Visiting Albert Einstein in Princeton Hideki Yukawa
- 1949 Visiting professorship at Columbia University Hideki Yukawa
- 1949 Deployment to northern Kenya Idi Amin
- 1949 Move to Paris Jacques Derrida
- 1949 Western Pacific submarine patrol Jimmy Carter
- 1949 Public-speaking career expands Jorge Luis Borges
- 1949 Sanremo victory Juan Manuel Fangio
- 1949 Stay at Unité d'Habitation construction site Le Corbusier
- 1949 Move to Izhevsk for weapons work Mikhail Kalashnikov
- 1949 Entered medical school Nawal El Saadawi
- 1949 National Military Academy graduation Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
- 1949 Autonomy negotiations in Paris Norodom Sihanouk
- 1949 Escape route through Hueinahue Pablo Neruda
- 1949 Green Hills Farm residence during humanitarian work Pearl S. Buck
- 1949 Family residence in Ankara Pervez Musharraf
- 1949 Works at Jalan Ampas with L. Krishnan P. Ramlee
- 1949 Exile in China Pridi Banomyong
- 1949 Begins university study Raisa Gorbacheva
- 1949 First anniversary of independent Burma Rajendra Prasad
- 1949 Move into Mumbai film music Ram Narayan
- 1949 University of Fort Hare studies Robert Mugabe
- 1949 Move to Taiwan Soong Mei-ling
- 1949 Look photographer at Sadler's Wells Stanley Kubrick
- 1949 Captivity on Bangka Sukarno
- 1949 Dutch captivity in Parapat Sukarno
- 1949 Stay at Yatung en route to Lhasa Tenzing Norgay
- 1949 Goethe bicentenary celebrations in Frankfurt Thomas Mann
- 1949 Goethe bicentenary celebrations in Weimar Thomas Mann
- 1949 Howard University student Toni Morrison
- 1949 Return to Penang after law studies Tunku Abdul Rahman