Historical figures in Beijing
The atlas holds 81 people and 192 moments here, from 215 BC to 2025. The most recorded lives are Puyi, Kim Il Sung and Empress Dowager Cixi. Among them Political Leaders, Writers and Jurists, across the Space Age and the Cold War.
Notable people
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
in 2006
1 moment here
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2005 until his death in 2015.…
Abdus Salam
in 1978
1 moment here
Pakistani theoretical physicist and 1979 Nobel Prize laureate whose career connected education in Punjab and Cambridge with professorships in Lahore…
Alan MacDiarmid
from 2004 to 2005
2 moments here
New Zealand-American chemist and 2000 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, known for co-developing conductive polymers.…
Ali Khamenei
in 1989
1 moment here
Iranian Shia cleric and politician who was president of Iran from 1981 to 1989 and supreme leader from 1989 until his death in 2026.…
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
in 2003
1 moment here
Indian statesman, poet, journalist and Bharatiya Janata Party leader who served as India’s prime minister in 1996 and from 1998 to 2004.…
Benazir Bhutto
in 1995
1 moment here
Pakistani political leader who served twice as prime minister, from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996.…
Benigno Aquino III
in 2011
1 moment here
Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III, known as Noynoy Aquino or PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as president of the Philippines from 2010…
Bertrand Russell
in 1921
1 moment here
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, was an English philosopher, mathematician, logician, writer, and public campaigner.…
Chester Bennington
in 2016
1 moment here
American singer and songwriter best known as Linkin Park’s lead vocalist. His documented appearances include performances and recording-related…
Chiang Kai-shek
in 1928
1 moment here
Chinese military commander, revolutionary, and statesman. Chiang Kai-shek led the Nationalist government of China through the Northern Expedition,…
Deng Xiaoping
from 1949 to 1997
5 moments here
Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1978 to 1989.…
Dorothy Hodgkin
from 1972 to 1993
4 moments here
English chemist and X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin determined major biomolecular structures including penicillin, vitamin B12,…
Ebrahim Raisi
in 2023
1 moment here
Iranian cleric, judicial official, and politician who served as president of Iran from 2021 until his death in a helicopter crash in 2024.…
Edgar Lungu
from 2015 to 2018
2 moments here
Edgar Chagwa Lungu was a Zambian lawyer and politician who served as Zambia's sixth president from 2015 to 2021.…
Empress Dowager Cixi
from 1835 to 1908
10 moments here
Empress Dowager Cixi (Yehe Nara Xingzhen) was a Manchu noblewoman who exercised decisive power in the Qing government as empress dowager and regent…
Ferdinand Marcos
in 1975
1 moment here
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as president of the Philippines from 1965 until his overthrow…
George H. W. Bush
in 1989
1 moment here
George Herbert Walker Bush was an American naval aviator, oil executive, congressman, diplomat, director of central intelligence, vice president, and…
George Michael
in 1985
1 moment here
English singer-songwriter and record producer, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, England.…
Gerald Ford
in 1975
1 moment here
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 after having served as…
Gough Whitlam
from 1971 to 1973
2 moments here
Edward Gough Whitlam was an Australian lawyer, Royal Australian Air Force navigator, Labor politician and the 21st prime minister of Australia.…
Haile Selassie
in 1971
1 moment here
Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 until his deposition in 1974.…
Ho Chi Minh
in 1957
1 moment here
Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung, who led the Việt Minh, proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, and…
Hosni Mubarak
in 1976
1 moment here
Egyptian military officer and politician who served as president of Egypt from 1981 until his resignation in 2011.…
Huang Xianfan
in 1926
1 moment here
Huang Xianfan was a Zhuang Chinese historian, ethnologist, educator, and pioneer of field research on minority peoples in Guangxi and neighboring…
Moments
- 215 BC Visits ancient Ji Qin Shi Huang
- 1271 Move of headquarters to Khanbaliq Kublai Khan
- 1275 Accompanies Kublai to Khanbaliq Marco Polo
- 1294 Death at Dadu Kublai Khan
- 1345 Claims audience in Beijing Ibn Battuta
- 1399 Defense of Zhenglunba reservoir Zheng He
- 1835 Birth in Beijing Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1852 Entry into the Forbidden City Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1856 Birth of Zaichun at the imperial palace Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1861 Residence at Chuxiu Palace Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1861 Return to Beijing during the Xinyou Coup Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1861 Regency from the Hall of Mental Cultivation Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1879 Arrival and diplomacy in Peking Ulysses S. Grant
- 1889 Retirement residence at the Summer Palace Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1894 Sixtieth-birthday commemoration Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1902 Ceremonious return to Beijing Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1906 Birth in Beijing Puyi
- 1907 Military attaché service in Beijing Lavr Kornilov
- 1908 Death at the Hall of Graceful Bird Empress Dowager Cixi
- 1908 Taken to the Forbidden City Puyi
- 1908 Qing enthronement Puyi
- 1910 Recall from Beijing Lavr Kornilov
- 1912 Residence in Beijing Lu Xun
- 1912 Post-abdication residence Puyi
- 1912 Visit to Beijing Sun Yat-sen
- 1916 French legation service in Beijing Saint-John Perse
- 1917 Manchu Restoration Puyi
- 1919 Return to Beijing Mao Zedong
- 1920 Lecturer at Beijing colleges Lu Xun
- 1921 Lecturing visit to Peking Bertrand Russell
- 1924 Peace-negotiation journey to Beijing Soong Ching-ling
- 1924 Birthday at Peking Normal University Rabindranath Tagore
- 1924 Refuge at Prince Chun's house Puyi
- 1924 Refuge in the Japanese embassy Puyi
- 1924 Arrival in Beijing Sun Yat-sen
- 1925 Admission to Peking Union Medical College Hospital Sun Yat-sen
- 1925 Death in Beijing Sun Yat-sen
- 1926 Entered Beijing Normal University Huang Xianfan
- 1928 Arrival in Beijing Chiang Kai-shek
- 1929 Move to Tsinghua Yuan Yang Chen-Ning
- 1929 Lecture visit to Peking Lu Xun
- 1930 Theatrical work in Beijing Jiang Qing
- 1932 Second Peking lecture visit Lu Xun
- 1934 Journey to Beijing after release Jiang Qing
- 1939 Visit to China before World War II Jawaharlal Nehru
- 1941 Journey to Beijing from Manchuria Yasunari Kawabata
- 1945 Travel to Beijing after Japan's surrender Park Chung Hee
- 1949 Attends proclamation of the People's Republic Deng Xiaoping
- 1949 Proclamation of the People's Republic Mao Zedong
- 1949 CPPCC and PRC founding ceremony Soong Ching-ling