Writers through history
The atlas holds 180 people and 5,946 moments here, from 620 BC to 2025. The most recorded lives are William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein and Confucius. Across the Cold War and the Interwar Period.
Notable people
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.…
Jules Verne
from 1828 to 1905
30 moments here
French novelist, playwright, and poet whose documented life included residences and work in Nantes, Paris, Amiens, Auteuil, and Le Crotoy, together…
Julius Caesar
from 100 BC to 44 BC
50 moments here
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman politician, general, orator and author whose career spanned the late Roman Republic.…
Justinian I
from 482 to 565
7 moments here
Eastern Roman emperor from 527 to 565, noted for the Corpus Juris Civilis, extensive building programs, religious policy, and campaigns that…
Karl Marx
from 1818 to 1883
53 moments here
German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Born in Trier, Marx studied in Bonn and Berlin, worked in Cologne, and…
Kobe Bryant
from 1978 to 2020
18 moments here
Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers.…
Le Corbusier
from 1887 to 1965
38 moments here
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, known as Le Corbusier, was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, painter, writer, and urban planner.…
Leonardo da Vinci
from 1452 to 1519
27 moments here
Italian Renaissance painter, draftsman, engineer, architect, anatomist, and natural philosopher.…
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,…
Leo Tolstoy
from 1828 to 1910
21 moments here
Russian novelist, essayist, educator, religious thinker, and social critic. Born at Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy studied in Kazan, served in the Caucasus…
Li Bai
from 701 to 762
27 moments here
Li Bai (701–762), also known as Li Bo or Li Po, was a major Tang-dynasty Chinese poet. His surviving biography documents a childhood relocation to…
Liu Xiaobo
from 1955 to 2017
25 moments here
Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, human-rights activist, and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.…
Lope de Vega
from 1562 to 1635
24 moments here
Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist of the Spanish Golden Age. Born and died in Madrid, Lope de Vega studied in Madrid and Alcalá, served in naval…
Lord Byron
from 1788 to 1824
46 moments here
George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1788–1824), was a British poet, peer, and political speaker.…
Mahatma Gandhi
from 1869 to 1948
69 moments here
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist, and leader of mass nonviolent resistance.…
Mao Zedong
from 1893 to 1976
38 moments here
Chinese communist revolutionary and political leader who led the Chinese Communist Party and founded the People’s Republic of China.…
Marco Polo
from 1254 to 1324
25 moments here
Venetian merchant, traveler, and author whose account describes journeys across Asia between 1271 and 1295.…
Marcus Aurelius
from 121 to 180
18 moments here
Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher. This chronology records securely attested physical presence from his birth and Roman residences…
Mark Twain
from 1835 to 1910
108 moments here
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known as Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, journalist, lecturer, riverboat pilot, and traveler.…
Martin Luther
from 1483 to 1546
29 moments here
German Augustinian friar, priest, theologian, professor, translator, and leading figure of the Protestant Reformation.…
Martin Luther King Jr.
from 1929 to 1968
68 moments here
American Baptist minister and civil-rights leader who advanced racial equality through nonviolent protest.…
Matsuo Bashō
from 1644 to 1694
40 moments here
Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) was a Japanese poet of the Edo period, renowned for haikai and for travel writing including Oku no Hosomichi.…
Michael Faraday
from 1791 to 1867
21 moments here
English chemist and physicist whose experimental work transformed the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.…
Michelangelo
from 1475 to 1564
29 moments here
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.…