Historical figures in Chicago
The atlas holds 67 people and 94 moments here, from 1858 to 2011. The most recorded lives are Enrico Fermi, John F. Kennedy and Frank Lloyd Wright. Among them Writers, Performers and Political Leaders, across the Cold War and the Space Age.
Notable people
Abraham Lincoln
in 1858
1 moment here
American lawyer, Illinois legislator, congressman, and sixteenth president of the United States.…
Ada Yonath
in 1977
1 moment here
Israeli crystallographer whose work on ribosome structure and function earned her a share of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.…
Ahmed Sékou Touré
in 1959
1 moment here
Guinean nationalist, trade-union leader, and Guinea’s first president, serving from independence in 1958 until his death in 1984.…
Alexei Leonov
in 1975
1 moment here
Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, aviator, artist, and writer. Leonov became the first person to conduct a spacewalk on 18 March 1965 and commanded Soyuz…
Amelia Earhart
in 1915
1 moment here
American aviator and author. Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, became a leading aviation pioneer, crossed the Atlantic as a passenger in 1928,…
Amy Winehouse
in 2007
1 moment here
British singer and songwriter Amy Jade Winehouse was born in London and became internationally known for the albums Frank and Back to Black.…
Andrew Johnson
in 1866
1 moment here
Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869 after serving as vice president, U.S.…
Aretha Franklin
in 2011
1 moment here
American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil-rights activist known as the “Queen of Soul.” Her documented movements span childhood relocations…
Bertrand Russell
in 1938
1 moment here
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, was an English philosopher, mathematician, logician, writer, and public campaigner.…
Carl Sagan
in 1951
1 moment here
American astronomer, planetary scientist, educator, author, and science communicator. Sagan studied at the University of Chicago, held appointments…
Carrie Fisher
in 1979
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.…
Diana, Princess of Wales
in 1996
1 moment here
Diana Frances Spencer (1961–1997) was Princess of Wales from 1981 until her divorce in 1996.…
Dorothy Hodgkin
in 1961
1 moment here
English chemist and X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin determined major biomolecular structures including penicillin, vitamin B12,…
Edmund Hillary
from 1959 to 1960
2 moments here
New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, diplomat, and philanthropist. Hillary became internationally known after reaching Mount Everest’s summit with…
Enrico Fermi
from 1942 to 1954
4 moments here
Italian and naturalized-American physicist whose documented movements trace a path from Rome and Pisa through European study in Göttingen and Leiden,…
Ernest Hemingway
from 1899 to 1920
2 moments here
American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Hemingway’s documented movements ranged from Illinois and Michigan to Italy in World War I,…
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
from 1932 to 1937
2 moments here
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as New York state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy,…
Frank Lloyd Wright
from 1887 to 1914
3 moments here
American architect, designer, writer, and educator whose career spanned more than seven decades.…
Gerald Ford
from 1913 to 1974
3 moments 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…
Golda Meir
from 1917 to 1948
2 moments here
Golda Meir was an Israeli political leader who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1969 to 1974.…
Grace Kelly
in 1971
1 moment here
American actress Grace Patricia Kelly became an internationally prominent film star in the early 1950s, then Princess of Monaco after her 1956…
Grover Cleveland
in 1887
1 moment here
Stephen Grover Cleveland was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States.…
Harry S. Truman
in 1948
1 moment here
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953.…
Hastings Banda
in 1931
1 moment here
Hastings Kamuzu Banda was a Malawian physician and politician who led Nyasaland to independence and served as Malawi's prime minister and first…
Moments
- 1858 Answered Douglas in Chicago Abraham Lincoln
- 1861 Chicago visit Henry David Thoreau
- 1866 Swing Around the Circle stop in Chicago Andrew Johnson
- 1868 Republican nomination Ulysses S. Grant
- 1880 Republican National Convention James A. Garfield
- 1880 Republican convention third-term bid Ulysses S. Grant
- 1884 Republican National Convention appearance Theodore Roosevelt
- 1884 Republican National Convention visit Warren G. Harding
- 1884 Republican National Convention delegate William McKinley
- 1885 Twain–Cable tour reaches Chicago Mark Twain
- 1887 Arrival in Chicago Frank Lloyd Wright
- 1887 Visits Washington Park in Chicago Grover Cleveland
- 1888 Republican convention delegate William McKinley
- 1888 One-day visit to Chicago José Rizal
- 1889 Oak Park home and studio residence Frank Lloyd Wright
- 1889 Journey to Chicago Rudyard Kipling
- 1893 World's Columbian Exposition demonstrations Nikola Tesla
- 1893 Columbian Exposition visit Warren G. Harding
- 1893 Arrival in Chicago Swami Vivekananda
- 1893 Visits Chicago Columbian Exposition Thomas Edison
- 1893 Opening address at Parliament Swami Vivekananda
- 1899 Commercial Club address Nikola Tesla
- 1899 Birth in Oak Park Ernest Hemingway
- 1901 Birth at the Disney family home Walt Disney
- 1904 Eight-day Chicago stay Max Weber
- 1905 Marriage to Charmian Kittredge Jack London
- 1906 Visit to Chicago H. G. Wells
- 1908 Wins Republican nomination William Howard Taft
- 1911 Republic celebration meeting Sun Yat-sen
- 1912 Republican National Convention Theodore Roosevelt
- 1913 Infancy in Oak Park Gerald Ford
- 1914 Working in Chicago during the Taliesin attack Frank Lloyd Wright
- 1914 Moves to Chicago Ronald Reagan
- 1915 Schooling in Chicago Amelia Earhart
- 1917 Poale Zion travel in Chicago Golda Meir
- 1917 Return to Chicago for high school Walt Disney
- 1918 Reconciles with Roosevelt at Palmer House William Howard Taft
- 1920 Republican convention campaign supervision Warren G. Harding
- 1920 Chicago editorial work Ernest Hemingway
- 1921 Receives University of Chicago honorary degree Marie Curie
- 1922 Arrival to join King Oliver in Chicago Louis Armstrong
- 1925 Return to Chicago and Hot Five period Louis Armstrong
- 1931 University of Chicago degree Hastings Banda
- 1931 Harris Foundation lectures John Maynard Keynes
- 1932 Accepts presidential nomination in Chicago Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 1934 Garland Sisters at the Oriental Theater Judy Garland
- 1935 College All-Star Game Gerald Ford
- 1937 Delivers Quarantine Speech Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 1938 Visiting professor at the University of Chicago Bertrand Russell
- 1942 Trained at Northwestern John F. Kennedy