Historical figures in London
The atlas holds 249 people and 882 moments here, from 1374 to 2025. The most recorded lives are Charles Dickens, John Milton and William Blake. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Scientists, across the Space Age and the Cold War.
Notable people
Pablo Picasso
in 1919
1 moment here
Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and co-founder of Cubism. Born in Málaga, Picasso trained in A Coruña, Barcelona, and Madrid…
Paul Walker
from 2009 to 2013
2 moments here
Paul William Walker IV was an American actor best known for playing Brian O'Conner in the Fast & Furious franchise.…
Pelé
from 1997 to 2012
2 moments here
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, was a Brazilian footballer who starred for Santos, Brazil and the New York Cosmos.…
Pervez Musharraf
from 2008 to 2010
2 moments here
Pakistani military officer and politician who served as Pakistan’s chief executive after the 1999 coup and as president from 2001 to 2008.…
Peter Paul Rubens
in 1629
2 moments here
Flemish Baroque painter, designer, humanist, collector, and diplomat. Rubens was born at Siegen, spent formative years in Cologne and Antwerp, worked…
Peter the Great
in 1698
2 moments here
Peter I of Russia, known as Peter the Great, was tsar from 1682 and emperor from 1721 until 1725.…
Phillis Wheatley
in 1773
6 moments here
Phillis Wheatley Peters was a poet born in West Africa, enslaved in Boston as a child, and the author of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and…
P. L. Travers
from 1924 to 1996
3 moments here
Pamela Lyndon Travers, born Helen Lyndon Goff, was an Australian-British writer, actress, journalist, and creator of the Mary Poppins books.…
Prince
from 2006 to 2014
3 moments here
Prince Rogers Nelson was an American singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actor, and filmmaker associated with the Minneapolis sound.…
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
from 1861 to 1893
3 moments here
Russian Romantic composer whose career ranged from civil-service work and conservatory teaching in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to international…
Queen Victoria
from 1819 to 1897
13 moments here
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 1819–1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death, and…
Rabindranath Tagore
from 1879 to 1912
2 moments here
Bengali poet, novelist, dramatist, composer, painter, philosopher, social reformer, and educationist.…
Ralph Waldo Emerson
from 1833 to 1848
2 moments here
American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, Unitarian minister, poet, abolitionist, and leading figure in Transcendentalism.…
Ram Narayan
from 1964 to 2009
2 moments here
Indian sarangi player who established the sarangi as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music.…
Ravi Shankar
from 1956 to 2002
3 moments here
Indian sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar (1920–2012) was a leading exponent of Hindustani classical music whose performances, teaching, recordings,…
Richard Nixon
in 1969
1 moment here
Richard Milhous Nixon was an American lawyer, naval officer, congressman, senator, vice president, and the 37th president of the United States.…
Richard Wagner
in 1855
1 moment here
German composer, conductor, theatre director, and essayist whose movements included early work in German theatre, exile in Switzerland, stays in…
Robert Mugabe
in 1979
2 moments here
Zimbabwean nationalist leader, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and President from 1987 to 2017.…
Ronald Reagan
from 1982 to 1989
4 moments here
American broadcaster, actor, labor leader, governor of California, and 40th president of the United States.…
Ronald Ross
from 1874 to 1932
4 moments here
British physician, malariologist, mathematician, writer, and 1902 Nobel laureate. Ross established the mosquito’s role in malaria transmission…
Rosa Luxemburg
in 1907
1 moment here
Polish-born, naturalised-German Marxist theorist, socialist organiser, anti-war activist, and revolutionary.…
Rudyard Kipling
from 1889 to 1936
3 moments here
English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. Born in Bombay, Kipling spent his childhood in India and England, worked as a journalist…
Salvador Dalí
from 1936 to 1938
2 moments here
Spanish painter, sculptor, writer, designer, filmmaker, and leading exponent of Surrealism. Born in Figueres, Dalí trained in Madrid, joined the…
Sarah Bernhardt
from 1879 to 1882
2 moments here
French stage and early film actress, born Henriette-Rosine Bernard in Paris. Bernhardt became an international theatrical star through performances…
Moments
- 1908 Debuts with Fred Karno at the Coliseum Charlie Chaplin
- 1908 Returned to the British Museum Vladimir Lenin
- 1908 Marries at St Margaret’s Winston Churchill
- 1910 Legal studies in London Jawaharlal Nehru
- 1910 Rest cure at Burley House Virginia Woolf
- 1910 Visit to London with Howayek and Rihani Kahlil Gibran
- 1910 St Ignatius College enrolment Alfred Hitchcock
- 1911 Residence at Brunswick Square Virginia Woolf
- 1912 Birth in Maida Vale Alan Turing
- 1912 Brings Gitanjali translations to London Rabindranath Tagore
- 1912 Marriage to Leonard Woolf Virginia Woolf
- 1912 Residence at Clifford's Inn Virginia Woolf
- 1913 Engineering and navigation classes Alfred Hitchcock
- 1913 Banquet in his honour at the Savoy Anatole France
- 1913 Fabian Society peace speech Anatole France
- 1914 Technical clerk at Henley Telegraph and Cable Alfred Hitchcock
- 1914 London at outbreak of World War I Herbert Hoover
- 1914 Called to London at outbreak of war John Maynard Keynes
- 1914 First meeting with Ezra Pound T. S. Eliot
- 1914 Move to Richmond Green Virginia Woolf
- 1915 Treasury appointment John Maynard Keynes
- 1915 Birkbeck teaching post T. S. Eliot
- 1915 Move to Hogarth House Virginia Woolf
- 1915 Marriage to Vivienne Haigh-Wood T. S. Eliot
- 1917 Royal Engineers exercise in Hyde Park Alfred Hitchcock
- 1917 Lloyds Bank employment T. S. Eliot
- 1918 Imprisonment in Brixton Prison Bertrand Russell
- 1918 Moved to St John's Wood Agatha Christie
- 1918 Meetings in Britain Woodrow Wilson
- 1919 Entry into film work at Islington Studios Alfred Hitchcock
- 1919 Séance at Selbit’s Bloomsbury flat Arthur Conan Doyle
- 1919 Lives at the Savoy while designing Le Tricorne Pablo Picasso
- 1920 Public spiritualism debate at Queen’s Hall Arthur Conan Doyle
- 1921 Lectures at King's College London Albert Einstein
- 1921 Appears amid a London crowd Charlie Chaplin
- 1921 Attends Garrick Club dinner Charlie Chaplin
- 1921 Arrival in London Hirohito
- 1921 Banquet at Buckingham Palace Hirohito
- 1921 Returns to London in triumph Charlie Chaplin
- 1921 Stays at the Ritz Charlie Chaplin
- 1921 Visits the Weekly Dispatch office Charlie Chaplin
- 1924 Return to Tavistock Square Virginia Woolf
- 1925 Faber publishing career T. S. Eliot
- 1926 Foundation stone for Spiritualist Temple Arthur Conan Doyle
- 1926 Born at 17 Bruton Street Elizabeth II
- 1926 Baptised at Buckingham Palace Elizabeth II
- 1926 Visited Harrods during disappearance Agatha Christie
- 1926 Marriage to Alma Reville Alfred Hitchcock
- 1927 Lodgings on Portobello Road George Orwell
- 1930 Residence at Chiltern Court H. G. Wells