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
Douglas Adams
in 1984
1 moment here
English author, screenwriter and humourist best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.…
Edgar Allan Poe
from 1809 to 1827
3 moments here
American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic whose work helped shape Gothic fiction, detective fiction, and early science fiction.…
Elizabeth Taylor
in 1983
1 moment here
British-American actress and HIV/AIDS activist. Born in London, Taylor moved to Southern California in 1939, became a major Hollywood star, worked…
Emily Dickinson
from 1844 to 1865
3 moments here
American poet Emily Elizabeth Dickinson spent most of her life in Amherst, Massachusetts, with documented childhood schooling, a brief Boston…
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
from 1900 to 1932
3 moments here
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as New York state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy,…
George H. W. Bush
in 1924
1 moment here
George Herbert Walker Bush was an American naval aviator, oil executive, congressman, diplomat, director of central intelligence, vice president, and…
George Washington
from 1775 to 1789
2 moments here
George Washington was a Virginia surveyor, planter, military commander, revolutionary leader, constitutional statesman, and the first president of…
Helen Keller
from 1888 to 1956
9 moments here
Helen Adams Keller was an American deafblind author, lecturer, disability-rights advocate, and political activist.…
Henry David Thoreau
from 1837 to 1859
3 moments here
American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher associated with transcendentalism. Thoreau lived chiefly in and around Concord, Massachusetts,…
Igor Stravinsky
in 1939
1 moment here
Russian-born composer, conductor, and pianist who became a French citizen in 1934 and an American citizen in 1945.…
I. M. Pei
from 1935 to 1994
4 moments here
Ieoh Ming Pei was a Chinese-American architect whose work ranged from U.S. civic and cultural buildings to major projects in China, France, and the…
Isaac Asimov
from 1949 to 1956
3 moments here
American writer and biochemist best known for science fiction, popular-science writing, and the Foundation and Robot series.…
Jacques Derrida
from 1956 to 1957
2 moments here
French philosopher, born Jackie Élie Derrida, associated with deconstruction. His career moved from Algeria and Paris to recurrent teaching and…
James Monroe
in 1817
1 moment here
James Monroe was an American Revolutionary War officer, Virginia politician, diplomat, secretary of state and war, and fifth president of the United…
John Adams
from 1735 to 1826
13 moments here
American lawyer, revolutionary leader, diplomat, first vice president of the United States, and second U.S. president.…
John F. Kennedy
from 1917 to 1946
6 moments here
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was an American naval officer, journalist, congressman, senator, and the 35th president of the United States.…
John Quincy Adams
from 1767 to 1831
5 moments here
John Quincy Adams was an American diplomat, secretary of state, sixth president of the United States, and Massachusetts representative.…
John Tyler
in 1843
1 moment here
John Tyler was an American lawyer, Virginia politician, tenth vice president, and tenth president of the United States.…
Jorge Luis Borges
from 1967 to 1968
2 moments here
Argentine writer, poet, essayist, translator, lecturer, librarian, and critic. Borges was born in Buenos Aires, lived in Switzerland and Spain during…
Judy Garland
from 1949 to 1967
2 moments here
American actress, singer, and vaudevillian, born Frances Ethel Gumm. Garland rose from childhood vaudeville and MGM musical films to become a major…
Kahlil Gibran
from 1895 to 1911
4 moments here
Lebanese-American writer, poet, and visual artist, best known for The Prophet. Born in Bsharri, he emigrated to Boston as a child, studied in Beirut…
Kenneth Kaunda
in 2002
1 moment here
Zambian teacher, nationalist leader, and first president of independent Zambia, serving from 1964 to 1991.…
Kenzaburō Ōe
from 1965 to 2001
2 moments here
Japanese novelist, short-story writer, essayist, Nobel laureate, and prominent pacifist and anti-nuclear campaigner.…
Kim Dae-jung
from 1983 to 2008
2 moments here
South Korean politician, democracy activist, and eighth president of South Korea (1998–2003).…
Moments
- 1837 Harvard senior year Henry David Thoreau
- 1837 Delivers The American Scholar Ralph Waldo Emerson
- 1838 Delivers Divinity School Address Ralph Waldo Emerson
- 1842 Arrives in Boston Charles Dickens
- 1843 Bunker Hill Monument dedication John Tyler
- 1844 Recovery stay with family Emily Dickinson
- 1853 In Boston during first American tour William Makepeace Thackeray
- 1853 Second Maine journey departs Boston Henry David Thoreau
- 1859 Life Misspent lecture Henry David Thoreau
- 1864 First Cambridgeport eye-treatment stay Emily Dickinson
- 1865 Second Cambridgeport eye-treatment stay Emily Dickinson
- 1867 Returns to Boston Charles Dickens
- 1867 Reads at Tremont Temple Charles Dickens
- 1868 Works as a Boston telegrapher Thomas Edison
- 1871 Training teachers at Boston School for Deaf Mutes Alexander Graham Bell
- 1872 School of Vocal Physiology opens Alexander Graham Bell
- 1873 Return to Boston for sound experiments Alexander Graham Bell
- 1875 Telephone trial at 5 Exeter Place Alexander Graham Bell
- 1876 First intelligible telephone sentence Alexander Graham Bell
- 1876 Entered Harvard University Theodore Roosevelt
- 1877 Marriage to Mabel Hubbard Alexander Graham Bell
- 1878 Fortune of the Republic address Ralph Waldo Emerson
- 1881 Lincoln lecture in Boston Walt Whitman
- 1882 Aesthetic lecture visit to Boston Oscar Wilde
- 1887 Golden Jubilee journey through Boston Liliʻuokalani
- 1888 First visit to Perkins Institution Helen Keller
- 1888 Visit to Bunker Hill Helen Keller
- 1889 Studies at Perkins Institution Helen Keller
- 1892 Protection speech in Boston William McKinley
- 1893 Meeting John Henry Wright Swami Vivekananda
- 1895 Enrollment at Josiah Quincy School Kahlil Gibran
- 1896 Cambridge School enrollment Helen Keller
- 1896 Stay in Brookline after pardon Liliʻuokalani
- 1898 College preparation in Boston Helen Keller
- 1899 Radcliffe entrance examinations Helen Keller
- 1900 Matriculates at Harvard Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 1900 Begins Radcliffe College Helen Keller
- 1902 Return to Boston after Sultana's death Kahlil Gibran
- 1906 Harvard College undergraduate T. S. Eliot
- 1907 Massachusetts General Court session Calvin Coolidge
- 1909 Harvard philosophy assistantship T. S. Eliot
- 1910 Return to Boston Kahlil Gibran
- 1911 Harvard Graduate School studies T. S. Eliot
- 1911 Golden Links Society lectures Kahlil Gibran
- 1912 Presidential-nomination declaration Theodore Roosevelt
- 1917 Born at 83 Beals Street John F. Kennedy
- 1917 Baptized at St. Aidan's Church John F. Kennedy
- 1919 Boston Police Strike inspection Calvin Coolidge
- 1920 Moved to Naples Road John F. Kennedy
- 1920 Boston residence and teaching Paramahansa Yogananda