Educators through history
The atlas holds 39 people and 1,339 moments here, from 1225 to 2025. The most recorded lives are Albert Einstein, Leo Tolstoy and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Across the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.
Notable people
Adam Smith
from 1723 to 1790
25 moments here
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist of the Scottish Enlightenment, author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the…
Albert Einstein
from 1879 to 1955
85 moments here
German-born theoretical physicist who transformed modern physics through special and general relativity, foundational work on quantum theory, and…
Arthur Schopenhauer
from 1788 to 1860
38 moments here
German philosopher and writer, born in Danzig and dead in Frankfurt am Main. His documented movements included childhood residences in Hamburg and Le…
Carl Friedrich Gauss
from 1777 to 1855
35 moments here
German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist. Gauss was born in Brunswick, studied there and at Göttingen, worked privately in…
Carl Linnaeus
from 1707 to 1778
29 moments here
Swedish botanist, physician, and naturalist who formalized binomial nomenclature and devised an influential system for classifying organisms.…
Desiderius Erasmus
from 1466 to 1536
27 moments here
Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, theologian, editor, and author. Erasmus was born in the Burgundian Netherlands, educated in the Low…
Dmitri Mendeleev
from 1834 to 1907
24 moments here
Russian chemist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev formulated the periodic law and produced a foundational periodic table.…
Ernest Rutherford
from 1871 to 1937
21 moments here
New Zealand-born physicist and chemist whose research on radioactivity, the atomic nucleus, and nuclear transmutation helped establish nuclear…
Frédéric Chopin
from 1810 to 1849
45 moments here
Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period. Born in Żelazowa Wola, he grew up and trained in Warsaw, travelled through Central…
Friedrich Nietzsche
from 1844 to 1900
32 moments here
German philosopher, classical philologist, cultural critic, poet, and author. Born in Röcken, Nietzsche was educated at Schulpforta and Leipzig,…
Friedrich Schiller
from 1759 to 1805
30 moments here
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, philosopher, historian, and a central figure of Weimar Classicism.…
Galileo Galilei
from 1564 to 1642
35 moments here
Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician, and natural philosopher. Born in Pisa, Galileo was educated in Tuscany, taught mathematics at…
George Frideric Handel
from 1685 to 1759
26 moments here
German-British Baroque composer. Born in Halle, he worked in Hamburg, travelled in Italy, served as Kapellmeister at Hanover, and settled in England.…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
from 1770 to 1831
32 moments here
German philosopher and a central figure of German idealism. His documented movements include formative study in Stuttgart and Tübingen; tutoring…
Giordano Bruno
from 1548 to 1600
31 moments here
Italian Renaissance philosopher, Dominican friar, writer, and cosmological theorist. Born at Nola, Bruno studied and lived in Italy, Switzerland,…
Golda Meir
from 1898 to 1978
39 moments here
Golda Meir was an Israeli political leader who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1969 to 1974.…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
from 1646 to 1716
54 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
Immanuel Kant
from 1724 to 1804
15 moments here
German Enlightenment philosopher whose critical philosophy transformed epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and political thought.…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from 1712 to 1778
39 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
Johann Sebastian Bach
from 1685 to 1750
24 moments here
German Baroque composer, organist, violinist, keyboard virtuoso, and musical director. Born in Eisenach, Bach was educated in Ohrdruf and Lüneburg…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
from 1749 to 1832
78 moments here
German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, theatre director, and statesman. Born in Frankfurt, Goethe studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, practiced…
Jorge Luis Borges
from 1899 to 1986
58 moments here
Argentine writer, poet, essayist, translator, lecturer, librarian, and critic. Borges was born in Buenos Aires, lived in Switzerland and Spain during…
J. R. R. Tolkien
from 1892 to 1973
38 moments here
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English philologist, university professor, and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.…
Leonhard Euler
from 1707 to 1783
18 moments here
Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, engineer, and polymath. Euler’s documented life moved from Basel and nearby Riehen to Saint Petersburg,…
Moments
- 1230 Early education at Monte Cassino Thomas Aquinas
- 1476 Childhood move to Gouda Desiderius Erasmus
- 1484 Family relocates to Mansfeld Martin Luther
- 1564 Baptized at Pisa Cathedral Galileo Galilei
- 1579 University enrollment in Geneva Giordano Bruno
- 1687 Stay at Rheinfels Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1700 Moved to Lüneburg Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1703 Opera orchestra post George Frideric Handel
- 1707 Baptism at St. Martin's Church Leonhard Euler
- 1722 Boarding at Bossey Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1727 Studies at Lund University Carl Linnaeus
- 1730 Attends the Hospitalschule Immanuel Kant
- 1737 Student at Glasgow Adam Smith
- 1763 Childhood and primary schooling in Lorch Friedrich Schiller
- 1765 Takes lodgings as a Leipzig student Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- 1784 Elementary schooling Carl Friedrich Gauss
- 1788 Entered the Tübinger Stift Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
- 1793 Family relocation to Hamburg Arthur Schopenhauer
- 1804 Bookbinder's apprenticeship Michael Faraday
- 1828 First documented Berlin visit Frédéric Chopin
- 1836 Family moves to Moscow Leo Tolstoy
- 1848 Family move to Moscow Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- 1849 Journey to Moscow for university admission Dmitri Mendeleev
- 1850 Family relocates to Naumburg Friedrich Nietzsche
- 1854 Dean at Lille Louis Pasteur
- 1880 Family moves to Munich Albert Einstein
- 1889 Returns to Warsaw Marie Curie
- 1890 Student at Canterbury College Ernest Rutherford
- 1896 Childhood move to Sarehole J. R. R. Tolkien
- 1909 Pampa journey near San Nicolás Jorge Luis Borges
- 1912 Studies in Changsha Mao Zedong
- 1914 Return to Milwaukee and Zionist activity Golda Meir
- 1942 Underground seminary in occupied Kraków Pope John Paul II
- 1949 Begins university study Raisa Gorbacheva
- 1955 NACA research pilot at Lewis Neil Armstrong
- 1995 International Mathematical Olympiad perfect score Maryam Mirzakhani
- 2005 Inauguration Mass Pope Benedict XVI
- 2012 Meeting Hillary Clinton in Cairo Mohamed Morsi
- 2013 Papal inauguration Mass Pope Francis