Historical figures in Boston

The atlas holds 83 people and 187 moments here, from 1706 to 2016. The most recorded lives are Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Adams and Helen Keller. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Scientists, across the Space Age and the Cold War.

Notable people

1. Abebe Bikila

   in 1963

   1 moment here

   Ethiopian marathon runner and Imperial Guard officer who won Olympic marathon gold in Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964, both in world-record time.…

2. Ada Yonath

   in 1970

   1 moment here

   Israeli crystallographer whose work on ribosome structure and function earned her a share of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.…

3. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

   in 1978

   1 moment here

   Soviet and Russian novelist, essayist, historian, dissident, and Nobel laureate whose writings on Soviet political repression and the Gulag made him…

4. Alexander Graham Bell

   from 1871 to 1877

   6 moments here

   Scottish-born Canadian-American inventor, scientist, teacher of the deaf, and engineer best known for patenting the first practical telephone.…

5. Alexander Hamilton

   in 1772

   1 moment here

   American statesman, lawyer, revolutionary officer, constitutional convention delegate, and first U.S. secretary of the treasury.…

6. Allan MacLeod Cormack

   from 1956 to 1998

   3 moments here

   South African-born American physicist and academic whose mathematical work helped establish computed tomography.…

7. Amelia Earhart

   from 1924 to 1928

   4 moments here

   American aviator and author. Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, became a leading aviation pioneer, crossed the Atlantic as a passenger in 1928,…

8. Andy Warhol

   in 1966

   1 moment here

   American artist and filmmaker whose work helped define Pop art. Born in Pittsburgh, Warhol studied there before moving to New York in 1949.…

9. Anthony Quinn

   from 1977 to 2001

   2 moments here

   Mexican-American actor, painter, sculptor, writer, and civil-rights supporter Anthony Quinn (Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca) worked in film,…

10. Benazir Bhutto

    in 1969

    2 moments here

    Pakistani political leader who served twice as prime minister, from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996.…

11. Benigno Aquino III

    from 1981 to 2014

    2 moments 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…

12. Benjamin Franklin

    in 1706

    1 moment here

    American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…

13. Bhumibol Adulyadej

    in 1927

    1 moment here

    Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) was King of Thailand from 1946 to 2016. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he grew up partly in Thailand and Switzerland,…

14. Bob Marley

    in 1979

    1 moment here

    Jamaican singer, songwriter and guitarist whose work with the Wailers made reggae an international musical force.…

15. Calvin Coolidge

    from 1907 to 1919

    2 moments here

    John Calvin Coolidge Jr. (1872–1933) was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as governor of Massachusetts, vice president of the…

16. Carl Sagan

    in 1963

    1 moment here

    American astronomer, planetary scientist, educator, author, and science communicator. Sagan studied at the University of Chicago, held appointments…

17. Carrie Fisher

    in 2008

    1 moment here

    Carrie Frances Fisher was an American actress, writer, and public advocate, internationally known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films.…

18. Charles Dickens

    from 1842 to 1867

    3 moments here

    English novelist, journalist, editor, social reformer, actor and celebrated public reader. This chronology traces documented residences, workplaces,…

19. Chien-Shiung Wu

    in 1964

    1 moment here

    Chinese-American experimental physicist whose career moved from Jiangsu and eastern China to California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York,…

20. Chinua Achebe

    in 2013

    1 moment here

    Nigerian novelist, poet, critic, editor, educator, and Biafran representative whose life moved between southeastern Nigeria, Lagos, East Africa,…

21. Corazon Aquino

    in 1982

    1 moment here

    María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino was a Filipino political leader and president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992.…

22. Derek Walcott

    from 1981 to 2007

    2 moments here

    Saint Lucian poet, playwright, painter, and teacher who won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature.…

23. Desmond Tutu

    in 2002

    1 moment here

    South African Anglican bishop, theologian, anti-apartheid activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop of Cape Town, and chair of South Africa’s…

24. Dorothy Hodgkin

    in 1965

    1 moment here

    English chemist and X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin determined major biomolecular structures including penicillin, vitamin B12,…

Moments

1. 1706 Birth on Milk Street Benjamin Franklin
2. 1735 Birth on the Adams family farm John Adams
3. 1751 Entered Harvard College John Adams
4. 1761 Residence in the Wheatley household Phillis Wheatley
5. 1761 Arrival in Boston Harbor Phillis Wheatley
6. 1767 Birth at the Adams birthplace John Quincy Adams
7. 1768 Boston residence on Brattle Street John Adams
8. 1768 Moved family to Boston John Adams
9. 1771 Moved family back to Braintree John Adams
10. 1771 Baptism at Old South Meeting House Phillis Wheatley
11. 1772 Authorship examination in Boston Phillis Wheatley
12. 1772 Returned household to Boston John Adams
13. 1772 Arrival in Boston Alexander Hamilton
14. 1773 Return to Boston after London journey Phillis Wheatley
15. 1774 Returned to the Braintree farm John Adams
16. 1775 Occupies Cambridge headquarters George Washington
17. 1776 Return to Boston Phillis Wheatley
18. 1776 Returned home after peace conference John Adams
19. 1778 Marriage to John Peters Phillis Wheatley
20. 1779 Returned from first French mission John Adams
21. 1784 At Boston before Atlantic departure Thomas Jefferson
22. 1784 Death in Boston Phillis Wheatley
23. 1785 Arrival in Cambridge after return to Massachusetts John Quincy Adams
24. 1789 Visits churches in Boston George Washington
25. 1790 Opening a Boston law practice John Quincy Adams
26. 1799 Stayed at Peacefield during peace crisis John Adams
27. 1801 Returned to Peacefield full-time John Adams
28. 1801 Return to Boston after Prussian service John Quincy Adams
29. 1803 Birth in Boston Ralph Waldo Emerson
30. 1807 Visits Boston Simón Bolívar
31. 1809 Birth in Boston Edgar Allan Poe
32. 1812 Begins Boston Latin School Ralph Waldo Emerson
33. 1817 Northern tour: Boston James Monroe
34. 1817 Enters Harvard College Ralph Waldo Emerson
35. 1824 Received Lafayette at Peacefield John Adams
36. 1825 Studies at Harvard Divinity School Ralph Waldo Emerson
37. 1826 Teaches in Roxbury Ralph Waldo Emerson
38. 1826 Teaches and studies in Cambridge Ralph Waldo Emerson
39. 1826 Death at Peacefield John Adams
40. 1827 Travel to Boston Edgar Allan Poe
41. 1827 Army enlistment at Fort Independence Edgar Allan Poe
42. 1828 Residence at Divinity Hall Ralph Waldo Emerson
43. 1829 Ordination at Second Church Ralph Waldo Emerson
44. 1829 Marriage to Ellen Tucker Ralph Waldo Emerson
45. 1831 Harvard commencement appearance John Quincy Adams
46. 1832 Sails for Europe Ralph Waldo Emerson
47. 1833 Lives at Newton Upper Falls Ralph Waldo Emerson
48. 1833 First public lecture Ralph Waldo Emerson
49. 1835 Begins Boston lecture series Ralph Waldo Emerson
50. 1836 Begins Philosophy of History lectures Ralph Waldo Emerson

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