a
-
Juan José Arévalo
World Leader / 1904 - 1990
President of Guatemala Juan José Arévalo pursued a nationalistic foreign policy while internally encouraging the labor movement and instituting social reforms.
See full bio
(1904-1990)
World Leader
-
Nnamdi Azikiwe
World Leader, Journalist / 1904 - 1996
Nnamdi Azikiwe founded newspapers in Ghana and Nigeria before serving as the first president of independent Nigeria from 1963 to 1966.
See full bio
(1904-1996)
World Leader, Journalist
b
-
George Balanchine
Ballet Dancer, Choreographer / 1904 - 1983
Dancer and choreographer George Balanchine founded the New York City Ballet in 1948. His work is known for its neoclassical style.
See full bio
(1904-1983)
Ballet Dancer, Choreographer
-
Count Basie
Songwriter, Pianist / 1904 - 1984
Considered one of history's most influential jazz musicians, Count Basie was known for his piano style and command of big bands such as the Count Basie Orchestra, and for songs like "Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Taxi War Dance" and "Miss Thing."
See full bio
(1904-1984)
Songwriter, Pianist
-
Cecil Beaton
Photographer, Writer / 1904 - 1980
Sir Cecil Beaton was an English fashion photographer who is also known for his work as a diarist, interior designer, and Oscar-winning stage and costume designer.
See full bio
(1904-1980)
Photographer, Writer
-
Ralph Bunche
Diplomat / 1904 - 1971
Ralph Bunche was a U.S. diplomat, a key member of the United Nations for more than two decades, and the winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize for Peace.
See full bio
(1904-1971)
Diplomat
c
-
Bruce Cabot
Film Actor / 1904 - 1972
Bruce Cabot built a sizeable career out of supporting roles, often playing villainous characters over a four-decade span.
See full bio
(1904-1972)
Film Actor
-
Joseph Campbell
Anthropologist, Academic Author, Journalist / 1904 - 1987
Joseph Campbell was a professor and author who focused on comparative folklore with books like The Power of Myth and The Hero With a Thousand Faces.
See full bio
(1904-1987)
Anthropologist, Academic Author, Journalist
-
Alejo Carpentier
Musician, Journalist, Author, Playwright / 1904 - 1980
Writer Alejo Carpentier was a leading Latin American literary figure, who used magic realism and was considered one of the best novelists of the 20th century.
See full bio
(1904-1980)
Musician, Journalist, Author, Playwright
d
-
Salvador Dalí
Painter, Filmmaker, Writer / 1904 - 1989
Salvador Dali is best known for his long surrealist painting career.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1904-1989)
Painter, Filmmaker, Writer
-
Willem de Kooning
Painter / 1904 - 1997
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch-born American painter who was one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism.
See full bio
(1904-1997)
Painter
-
Jimmy Dorsey
Saxophonist / 1904 - 1957
Jimmy Dorsey was known for playing the clarinet and alto saxophone in the Dorsey Brothers, which performed with all the big names in big band and swing music.
See full bio
(1904-1957)
Saxophonist
-
Charles Drew
Doctor, Surgeon / 1904 - 1950
Charles Drew was an African-American surgeon who pioneered methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large-scale blood bank in the U.S.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1904-1950)
Doctor, Surgeon
f
-
Luis A. Ferré
Governor / 1904 - 2003
Luis A. Ferré was a Puerto Rican industrialist who formed the New Progressive Party and was governor of Puerto Rico.
See full bio
(1904-2003)
Governor
-
Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd
Criminal / 1904 - 1934
Pretty Boy Floyd was an American bank robber best known for his constant run-ins with police and violent bank robberies throughout his life.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1904-1934)
Criminal
g
-
Greer Garson
Film Actress / 1904 - 1996
British-born Hollywood starlet Greer Garson was one of the most popular actresses of the World War II era.
See full bio
(1904-1996)
Film Actress
-
John Gielgud
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Director, Producer / 1904 - 2000
John Gielgud was a prolific Shakespearean actor known for his varied film and TV work as well, including Arthur and Prospero’s Books.
See full bio
(1904-2000)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Director, Producer
-
Cary Grant
Film Actor / 1904 - 1986
Actor Cary Grant performed in films from the 1930s through the 1960s. He starred in several Hitchcock films, including the 1959 hit North by Northwest.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1904-1986)
Film Actor
-
Graham Greene
Journalist, Author, Playwright / 1904 - 1991
Graham Greene, who wrote The End of the Affair in 1951, is one of the most widely read and critically acclaimed British novelists of the 20th century.
See full bio
(1904-1991)
Journalist, Author, Playwright
h
-
Moss Hart
Playwright, Screenwriter / 1904 - 1961
Moss Hart won a Pulitzer Prize with George S. Kaufman for their play You Can't Take It With You and directed the original 1956 production of My Fair Lady.
See full bio
(1904-1961)
Playwright, Screenwriter
-
Coleman Hawkins
Saxophonist / 1904 - 1969
Coleman Hawkins was an influential tenor saxophone player and one of the first prominent jazz musicians to be known for the instrument.
See full bio
(1904-1969)
Saxophonist
-
Reinhard Heydrich
Mass Murderer, Military Leader / 1904 - 1942
Reinhard Heydrich was a high-ranking German Nazi official best known for being one of the main architects of the Holocaust during the early years of the war.
See full bio
(1904-1942)
Mass Murderer, Military Leader
-
Alger Hiss
Legal Professional, Spy, Government Official / 1904 - 1996
Alger Hiss was a U.S. State Department official who was accused of membership in a communist espionage ring.
See full bio
(1904-1996)
Legal Professional, Spy, Government Official
k
-
George F. Kennan
Historian, Diplomat, Academic Author / 1904 - 2005
George F. Kennan served as a U.S. diplomat from 1926 to 1953. He wrote a famous Foreign Affairs article, "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," under the pen name Mr. X.
See full bio
(1904-2005)
Historian, Diplomat, Academic Author
l
-
René Lacoste
Tennis Player, Business Leader, Fashion Designer / 1904 - 1996
Member of the legendary Four Musketeers of French tennis, Renee Lacoste also invented the metal tennis racket and was founder of the Lacoste line of sportswear.
See full bio
(1904-1996)
Tennis Player, Business Leader, Fashion Designer
-
Nathan Leopold
Murderer / 1904 - 1971
Nathan Leopold (1904–1971), along with Richard Loeb, killed a 14-year-old boy while trying to commit "the perfect crime." They were caught.
See full bio
(1904-1971)
Murderer
-
Ding Ling
Author / 1904 - 1986
Ding Ling was a Chinese writer who was acclaimed by the literary establishment but condemned by the Nationalist Party in her homeland.
See full bio
(1904-1986)
Author
-
Peter Lorre
Film Actor, Television Actor / 1904 - 1964
Hungarian actor Peter Lorre is most often cast as the sinister foreigner. His role as the serial killer in M was the beginning of his prolific acting career.
See full bio
(1904-1964)
Film Actor, Television Actor
m
-
Seán MacBride
Activist, Diplomat, Government Official / 1904 - 1988
Sean MacBride was an Irish politician and the former chief of staff of the IRA
See full bio
(1904-1988)
Activist, Diplomat, Government Official
-
Ernst Mayr
Educator, Zoologist / 1904 - 2005
Ornithologist Ernst Mayr demonstrated that the development of separate species in higher animals depends on the geographical isolation of precursor populations.
See full bio
(1904-2005)
Educator, Zoologist
-
Glenn Miller
Songwriter, Conductor / 1904 - 1944
Bandleader Glenn Miller inspired the World War II generation and boosted morale with many popular songs.
See full bio
(1904-1944)
Songwriter, Conductor
n
-
Pablo Neruda
Diplomat, Poet / 1904 - 1973
Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize–winning Chilean poet who was once called “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.”
See full bio
(1904-1973)
Diplomat, Poet
-
Alexei Nikolaevich
Duke, Prince, Tsar / 1904 - 1918
Alexei Nikolaevich was the only son of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia, and the tsarina Alexandra. He was killed with his family during the Russian Revolution.
See full bio
(1904-1918)
Duke, Prince, Tsar
o
-
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Academic, Engineer, Physicist / 1904 - 1967
J. Robert Oppenheimer is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for leading the Manhattan Project, the program that developed the first nuclear weapon during World War II.
See full bio
(1904-1967)
Academic, Engineer, Physicist
p
-
Dick Powell
Television Producer / 1904 - 1963
Dick Powell was a musical actor in the 1930s who transitioned into a noir actor in the '40s and then a TV producer in the '50s.
See full bio
(1904-1963)
Television Producer
s
-
Dr. Seuss
Illustrator, Author / 1904 - 1991
Throughout his career, cartoonist and writer Dr. Seuss published 60 children's books, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1904-1991)
Illustrator, Author
-
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Author / 1904 - 1991
Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Jewish-American writer who won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Literature.
See full bio
(1904-1991)
Author
-
B.F. Skinner
Academic, Academic Author / 1904 - 1990
American psychologist B.F. Skinner is best known for developing the theory of behaviorism, and for his utopian novel Walden Two (1948).
See full bio
(1904-1990)
Academic, Academic Author
-
George Stevens
Director / 1904 - 1975
Academy Award-winning director George Stevens is remembered for classic films including Shane (1953) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
See full bio
(1904-1975)
Director
v
-
Joseph Valachi
Organized Crime Boss / 1904 - 1971
Joseph Valachi was a part of Lucky Luciano's mob family from the 1930s through the 1950s.
See full bio
(1904-1971)
Organized Crime Boss
w
-
Fats Waller
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer / 1904 - 1943
American pianist and composer Fats Waller was one of the few outstanding jazz musicians to win wide commercial fame.
See full bio
(1904-1943)
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer
x
-
Deng Xiaoping
Political Leader / 1904 - 1997
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese communist leader, the most powerful figure in the People's Republic of China from the late 1970s until his death in 1997.
See full bio
(1904-1997)
Political Leader