People a to z

Signed to a recording contract at the age of 12, Aaliyah became an overnight R&B sensation. At the height of her stardom, a fatal plane crash ended her life.

Considered one of the best baseball players of all time, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record when he hit his 715th home run in 1974, before setting a new Major League Record with 755 home runs in the same year.

Frank Abagnale became notorious for impersonating a pilot, a doctor, and a laywer. He was hired by the FBI to teach them his fradulent tricks.

Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, and became the unofficial president of the State of Palestine in 2008.

Bud Abbott was a comedian best known for playing the "straight man" of the Abbott and Costello comedy duo.

Director, producer and playwright George Abbott lived to be 107 and participated in such Broadway productions as Boy Meets Girl, The Fall Guy and Our Town.

Grace Abbott is best known for her social activism on behalf of immigrants and children. She headed the Children's Bureau from 1921 to 1934.

Paula Abdul is best known for her hit songs and dancing in the 1990s, and for judging American Idol in the 2000s.

Tunku Abdul Rahman was chief minister of the Federation of Malaya (1955–1957), the first prime minister of an independent Malaya (1957–1963), and the prime minister of Malaysia (1963–1970).

Hall of Fame basketball center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer. He won six NBA titles, five with the Los Angeles Lakers, over 20 years.

Ralph D. Abernathy was a Baptist minister who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a close adviser to Martin Luther King Jr.

Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian business tycoon, one of the richest men in the world and owner of the Chelsea Football Club.

J.J. Abrams is a screenwriter, director and producer known for TV shows like Felicity and Alias and films like Star Trek and Super 8.

Bella Abzug was a leading liberal activist and politician in the 1960s and 1970s, especially known for her work for women’s rights.

Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist and author of Things Fall Apart, a work that in part led to his being called the "patriarch of the African novel."

Hugh Acheson is a celebrity chef and owner of three restaurants in Georgia. He is also a judge on Top Chef and a cookbook author.

Country musician Roy Acuff performed hits suchs as "It Won't Be Long" and "Tennessee Waltz" nearly every weekend on the Grand Ole' Opry during the 1930, 40s and 50s.

Red Adair was an American oil well firefighter best known for completing over 1,000 jobs internationally.

Abigail Adams was the wife of President John Adams and the mother of John Quincy Adams, who became the sixth president of the United States.

American actress Amy Adams has starred in the popular films Julie & Julia, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Enchanted and Junebug, among many others.

Ansel Adams was an American photographer best known for his iconic images of the American West, including Yosemite National Park.

American actor and comedian Don Adams is best known for his role as secret agent Maxwell Smart on NBC's hit 1960s sitcom Get Smart.

Gerry Adams is president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

John Adams was a Founding Father, the first vice president of the United States and the second president. His son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth president.

John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States. He was also the eldest son of President John Adams, the second U.S. president.

John Bodkin Adams is best known for standing trial in the suspicious deaths of 163 former patients in England.

American Revolutionary Samuel Adams organized the Boston Tea Party and signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Joy Adamson was a conservationist who pioneered the movement to preserve African wildlife. She won renown with her books about raising the lion cub Elsa.

Robert Adamson was a Scottish chemist and photographer who is best known for producing 2500 Calotype photographic prints with painter David Octavius Hill.

Charles Addams was an American cartoonist whose work was frequently featured in The New Yorker. His most famous creation was the humorously macabre Addams Family.

Jane Addams co-founded one of the first settlements in the United States, the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, and was named a co-winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.

Singer Adele is a Grammy Award-winning artist whose throwback, soulful sound has made her an international success.

Sheldon Adelson developed COMDEX, a computer trade show, which made him a fortune and launched him into the casino resort business.

Nathan Adrian is an American swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. At the London Games in 2012, he won two gold medals and one silver.

Ben Affleck is known for co-writing and acting in Good Will Hunting, starring in Armageddon, and directing, co-producing and acting in Argo.

Casey Affleck is best known as an actor in films including Gone Baby Gone, and as the brother of actor Ben Affleck.

Andre Agassi is best known for his strong, smart playing style, which helped him win tennis championships throughout the 1990s.

James Agee was a film critic for TIME magazine, penned the screenplay for The African Queen, and won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for his novel A Death in the Family.

Frank Gotti Agnello is best known as the grandson of mafia boss John Gotti, and for his reality TV show.

Maria Gaetana Agnesi is best known for writing the first book discussing integral and differential calculus.

Spiro Agnew was twice elected U.S. vice president under Richard Nixon, but resigned from his second term after being charged with bribery, conspiracy and tax fraud.

Dianna Agron is an actress and dancer who is best known for her role as high school cheerleader Quinn Fabray, in the FOX musical hit, Glee.

American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera is best known for the single "Genie In A Bottle" and the controversial, sexually charged album Stripped.

Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo led his country to achieve independence after fighting off both the Spanish and the Americans.

Freema Agyeman is a British film and TV actress known for her starring roles on the series Law & Order: UK and Doctor Who.

Ahmadou Ahidjo was the first president of the United Republic of Cameroon. He lead one of the few successful attempts at supraterritorial African unity.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is best known as the controversial sixth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Syed Ahmed Khan was an Indian educator, politician and Islamic reformer whose work inspired a new generation of Muslims and pioneered the revival of Indian Islam in the late 19th century.

Howard H. Aiken was a 20th century mathematician and engineer who came up with the idea behind the Mark I, a forerunner to modern computing devices.

Alvin Ailey was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York in 1958.

Anouk Aimée is an acclaimed French actress known for her roles in works like The Lovers of Verona, 8½, La Dolce Vita and A Man and a Woman.

Akbar the Great, Muslim emperor of India, established a sprawling kingdom through military conquests, but is known for his policy of religious tolerance.

Akihito has been emperor of Japan since 1989 and is, according to tradition, the 125th direct descendant of Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor.

Todd Akin is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 2nd District, best known for his controversial statement on abortion made during his 2012 senate bid.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan (1918–2004) was ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates 1971–2004.

As the successor to his father, Hafez, Bashar al-Assad has continued with his father's brutal rule of Syria.

Hafez al-Assad served as president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He is widely criticized for his brutal tactics but also praised for stabilizing the country.

Egyptian Hassan al-Banna was the founder the Muslim Brotherhood, with goals of expelling the British from Egypt and re-establishing the Caliphate.

Muammar al-Qaddafi seized control of the Libyan government in 1969, and ruled as an authoritarian dictator for more than 40 years before he was overthrown in 2011.

Lou Albano was a professional wrestler-turned-wrestling personality in the hugely popular World Wrestling Federation of the 1980s.

Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Edward Albee is best known for penning Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Zoo Story.

Beginning with his first film in 1911 and in the years leading up to World War II, Hans Albers was one of Germany's most beloved movie stars.

Actor Eddie Albert starred in films like The Sun Also Rises and Roman Holiday as well as the TV show Green Acres.

Albert, first duke of Prussia and last grand master of the Teutonic Knights, is known chiefly for ending the Teutonic Knights' government of East Prussia.

Madeleine Albright became the first woman to represent the U.S. in regards to foreign affairs as the secretary of state.

Amos Bronson Alcott, teacher, mystic, writer and the father of Louisa May Alcott, became an itinerant teacher before settling in Boston to found his own school.

Louisa May Alcott was an American author who wrote the classic novel Little Women, as well as various works under pseudonyms.

Actor and director Alan Alda has starred in several films, but is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on the long-running television series M*A*S*H.

Ira Aldridge was a 19th century African-American actor who became a renowned interpreter of Shakespearean tragedy on the European stage.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin was one of the first people to walk on the moon. He and flight commander Neil Armstrong made the Apollo 11 moonwalk in 1969.

Ciro Alegria was a Peruvian novelist who wrote about the struggles of the Peruvian Indians, and whose militant pro-Indian activism led to his arrest and exile.

Nicaraguan writer Claribel Alegria, a major voice in contemporary Central American literature, was known for her volume of poetry, Flowers from the Volcano.

Archibald Alexander was a Protestant clergyman and educator whose teachings, reviews and sermons gave him wide influence during his day.

Flex Alexander is an American actor, dancer and choreographer best known for his roles in the films Juice and Snakes on a Plane.

Actress Jane Alexander won Emmy Awards for her roles in Playing for Time and Warm Springs. In 1992, she became chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Film, theater and television actor Jason Alexander played George Costanza opposite Jerry Seinfeld on the popular television sitcom Seinfeld.

Samuel Alexander was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxford or Cambridge college.

Shaun Alexander is a former running back for the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins who’s one of the leading touchdown scorers in NFL history.