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
Muhammadu Buhari
from 2016 to 2018
2 moments here
Nigerian army officer, military head of state from 1983 to 1985, and elected president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023.…
Nelson Mandela
in 1999
1 moment here
South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, lawyer and statesman. Mandela helped lead the African National Congress, co-founded its armed wing,…
Nguyễn Phú Trọng
from 2011 to 2022
3 moments here
Vietnamese politician and political theorist who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 2011 until his death in 2024, and…
Nikita Khrushchev
in 1954
1 moment 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 1956 to 2012
9 moments here
Cambodian monarch, politician, and cultural figure who was king (1941–1955; 1993–2004), prime minister, chief of state, and leader in exile.…
Park Chung Hee
in 1945
1 moment 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…
Pol Pot
from 1970 to 1981
4 moments here
Cambodian communist revolutionary and dictator, born Saloth Sâr. As leader of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and Democratic Kampuchea, he oversaw a…
Pridi Banomyong
in 1965
1 moment here
Thai lawyer, political leader, regent, prime minister, and founder of Thammasat University. A civilian leader of the 1932 Siamese Revolution, he…
Puyi
from 1906 to 1967
11 moments here
Puyi (1906–1967), the Xuantong Emperor, was the last emperor of Qing China and later the Kangde Emperor of Japanese-controlled Manchukuo.…
Qin Shi Huang
in 215 BC
1 moment here
Born Zhao Zheng at Handan, he became king of Qin as a child, completed the conquest of the rival Warring States, and proclaimed himself China’s First…
Rabindranath Tagore
in 1924
1 moment here
Bengali poet, novelist, dramatist, composer, painter, philosopher, social reformer, and educationist.…
Richard Nixon
from 1972 to 1979
2 moments here
Richard Milhous Nixon was an American lawyer, naval officer, congressman, senator, vice president, and the 37th president of the United States.…
Ronald Reagan
in 1984
1 moment here
American broadcaster, actor, labor leader, governor of California, and 40th president of the United States.…
Saint-John Perse
in 1916
1 moment here
Saint-John Perse was the pen name of Alexis Léger, a French poet and diplomat. Born in Guadeloupe, he spent formative years in Pau and Bordeaux,…
Sebastián Piñera
in 2019
1 moment here
Chilean economist, businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and from 2018 to 2022.…
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
from 1952 to 1957
2 moments here
Bangladeshi political leader, founding president of Bangladesh, and prime minister. His documented life moved from childhood and schooling in Bengal…
Shinzo Abe
from 2006 to 2018
3 moments here
Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020.…
Simone de Beauvoir
in 1955
1 moment here
French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Born and died in Paris, Beauvoir studied philosophy in Paris,…
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
in 1972
1 moment here
Sri Lankan stateswoman and three-time prime minister of Ceylon/Sri Lanka. Born Sirima Ratwatte in Ratnapura, she became the world’s first woman…
Soong Ching-ling
from 1924 to 1981
4 moments here
Chinese politician and activist, wife of Sun Yat-sen, leading figure of the Kuomintang’s left wing, and later a senior officeholder of the People’s…
Sukarno
in 1956
1 moment here
Sukarno (1901–1970) was an Indonesian nationalist, revolutionary, engineer, and the first president of Indonesia.…
Sun Yat-sen
from 1912 to 1925
4 moments here
Chinese physician, revolutionary, and political thinker who founded the Republic of China and the Kuomintang.…
Sushma Swaraj
in 2015
1 moment here
Indian lawyer, politician and diplomat. Swaraj served in the Haryana government, represented constituencies in Parliament, was Chief Minister of…
Trần Đại Quang
in 2017
2 moments here
Vietnamese police general and politician who served as Minister of Public Security from 2011 to 2016 and as President of Vietnam from April 2016…
Moments
- 1976 Death in Beijing Mao Zedong
- 1976 Arrival in Peking Jean-Bédel Bokassa
- 1976 Great Hall banquet Jean-Bédel Bokassa
- 1977 Beijing and Pyongyang diplomatic trip Pol Pot
- 1978 Visit to China Abdus Salam
- 1978 Law studies at Peking University Li Keqiang
- 1978 Meeting Deng in China Pol Pot
- 1979 Flight to Beijing after Khmer Rouge collapse Norodom Sihanouk
- 1979 Return visit to Beijing Richard Nixon
- 1979 Beijing public lectures Tsung-Dao Lee
- 1980 Opening of Gang of Four trial Jiang Qing
- 1980 Wreath-laying in Tiananmen Square Lee Kuan Yew
- 1981 Death in Beijing Soong Ching-ling
- 1981 Final public appearance Soong Ching-ling
- 1981 Meetings in Beijing Pol Pot
- 1982 Communist Youth League secretary at Peking University Li Keqiang
- 1982 Moves to Beijing for graduate study Liu Xiaobo
- 1982 Visit to Beijing in 1982 Kim Il Sung
- 1982 Visit to Beijing and the Great Wall Muammar Gaddafi
- 1983 Visit to Beijing in 1983 Kim Il Sung
- 1984 Visits Beijing Ronald Reagan
- 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration Margaret Thatcher
- 1985 Wham! concert at Workers' Gymnasium George Michael
- 1985 Visit to Beijing after Tsukuba Dorothy Hodgkin
- 1986 Plenary lecture in Beijing Dorothy Hodgkin
- 1987 Beijing visit with Zhao Ziyang Kim Il Sung
- 1988 Economics graduate studies at Peking University Li Keqiang
- 1988 Doctorate and lectureship at Beijing Normal University Liu Xiaobo
- 1989 Meetings in Beijing George H. W. Bush
- 1989 Returns to Beijing for the democracy movement Liu Xiaobo
- 1989 Presidential visit to Beijing Ali Khamenei
- 1989 Sino-Soviet Summit Mikhail Gorbachev
- 1989 Tiananmen Square hunger strike Liu Xiaobo
- 1991 Death in Beijing Jiang Qing
- 1991 Final documented foreign visit to Beijing Kim Il Sung
- 1992 Medical stay in Beijing Norodom Sihanouk
- 1993 International Union of Crystallography Congress Dorothy Hodgkin
- 1993 Cancer treatment in Beijing after restoration Norodom Sihanouk
- 1993 First secretary of the Communist Youth League Li Keqiang
- 1993 Last public appearance Deng Xiaoping
- 1995 Residential surveillance in suburban Beijing Liu Xiaobo
- 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women Benazir Bhutto
- 1995 Address at the Fourth World Conference on Women Mother Teresa
- 1997 Death in Beijing Deng Xiaoping
- 1999 Pays official visit to Beijing Nelson Mandela
- 1999 First presidential tour of China Hugo Chávez
- 2002 State visit to Beijing Khaleda Zia
- 2003 Return to Tsinghua Yuan Yang Chen-Ning
- 2003 Speech at Peking University Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- 2004 China Friendship Award ceremony Alan MacDiarmid