a
-
Henry Allen
Trumpet Player / 1908 - 1967
Jazz trumpeter Henry Allen belonged to Fletcher Henderson’s big band, was in Mills Blue Rhythm band and accompanied Louis Armstrong in Luis Russell’s band.
See full bio
(1908-1967)
Trumpet Player
-
Salvador Allende
World Leader / 1908 - 1973
Salvador Allende was the president of Chile from 1970 until 1973, and the first democratically elected Marxist president of Latin American country.
See full bio
(1908-1973)
World Leader
-
Don Ameche
Film Actor, Television Actor / 1908 - 1993
Don Ameche was an actor know mostly for films in the 1930s and 1940s, radio and TV in the 1950s-1970s, and later the film Trading Places.
See full bio
(1908-1993)
Film Actor, Television Actor
-
Tex Avery
Illustrator / 1908 - 1980
Tex Avery was an American cartoonist best known for creating characters such as Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Droopy and Chilly Willy.
See full bio
(1908-1980)
Illustrator
b
-
Red Barber
Radio Personality, Television Personality / 1908 - 1992
American sportscaster Walter "Red" Barber is best known for his play-by-play radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball in the early 1900's.
See full bio
(1908-1992)
Radio Personality, Television Personality
-
John Bardeen
Educator, Inventor, Physicist / 1908 - 1991
Physicist John Bardeen was co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956 for inventing the transistor, and in 1972 for the theory of superconductivity.
See full bio
(1908-1991)
Educator, Inventor, Physicist
-
Milton Berle
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Radio Personality, Television Personality / 1908 - 2002
Milton Berle was a Jewish-American comedian who started in vaudeville acts, and was a success in the early days of TV, becoming known as "Uncle Miltie."
See full bio
(1908-2002)
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Radio Personality, Television Personality
-
Harry Blackmun
Supreme Court Justice / 1908 - 1999
Harry Blackmun was the 98th U.S. Supreme Court Justice, known for his landmark ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade.
See full bio
(1908-1999)
Supreme Court Justice
-
Mel Blanc
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Musician, Radio Talk Show Host, Talk Show Host / 1908 - 1989
Mel Blanc was a voice actor and entertainer who provided voices for Bugs Bunny and over 400 other cartoon characters.
See full bio
(1908-1989)
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Musician, Radio Talk Show Host, Talk Show Host
-
Paul Brown
Coach, Football Player / 1908 - 1991
Football coach Paul Brown is best known for the innovative coaching techniques that he developed throughout his long and successful career.
See full bio
(1908-1991)
Coach, Football Player
c
-
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Photographer, Filmmaker / 1908 - 2004
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer whose humane, spontaneous photographs helped establish photojournalism as an art form.
See full bio
(1908-2004)
Photographer, Filmmaker
-
Alistair Cooke
Scholar, Critic, Radio Personality, Television Personality, Journalist / 1908 - 2004
Alistair Cooke was a British-born journalist who worked in newspaper, radio and television. He hosted television's Masterpiece Theatre.
See full bio
(1908-2004)
Scholar, Critic, Radio Personality, Television Personality, Journalist
-
Quentin Crisp
Writer / 1908 - 1999
Quentin Crisp became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant, describing his life in homophobic British Society.
See full bio
(1908-1999)
Writer
d
-
Bette Davis
Actress, Pin-up / 1908 - 1989
Bette Davis is remembered as one of Hollywood's legendary leading ladies, famous for her larger-than-life persona and for her nearly 100 film appearances.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1908-1989)
Actress, Pin-up
-
Simone de Beauvoir
Philosopher, Academic Author, Journalist / 1908 - 1986
French writer Simone de Beauvoir laid the foundation for the modern feminist movement. Also an existentialist philosopher, she had a romance with Sartre.
See full bio
(1908-1986)
Philosopher, Academic Author, Journalist
-
Michael DeBakey
Educator, Inventor, Doctor, Surgeon / 1908 - 2008
Michael DeBakey was an American cardiovascular surgeon and surgical pioneer.
See full bio
(1908-2008)
Educator, Inventor, Doctor, Surgeon
e
-
Buddy Ebsen
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Dancer / 1908 - 2003
Dancer and actor Buddy Ebsen performed on Broadway and films, but he’s best known for his role as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, which ran for nine seasons.
See full bio
(1908-2003)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Dancer
f
-
Ian Fleming
Author / 1908 - 1964
Ian Fleming is a 20th-century novelist known for inventing popular spy character James Bond.
See full bio
(1908-1964)
Author
g
-
Martha Gellhorn
Journalist / 1908 - 1998
Martha Gellhorn was a distinguished war correspondent who covered every war that occurred across the globe over a period extending nearly 60 years.
See full bio
(1908-1998)
Journalist
-
Sam Giancana
Organized Crime Boss / 1908 - 1975
Organized crime boss, Sam Giancana climbed to the top of Chicago's underworld and became a player on the national stage through shadowy ties to the Kennedys.
See full bio
(1908-1975)
Organized Crime Boss
-
Arthur J. Goldberg
Supreme Court Justice, Diplomat / 1908 - 1990
Arthur J. Goldberg served as secretary of labor (1961–1962), Supreme Court Justice (1962–1965) and ambassador to the United Nations (1965–1968).
See full bio
(1908-1990)
Supreme Court Justice, Diplomat
-
Lita Grey Chaplin
Film Actress / 1908 - 1995
Lita Grey Chaplin was an actress known mostly for her tumultuous marriage to screen legend Charlie Chaplin.
See full bio
(1908-1995)
Film Actress
h
-
Lionel Hampton
Musician / 1908 - 2002
Lionel Hampton was a jazz musician and bandleader, known for the rhythmic vitality of his playing and his showmanship as a performer.
See full bio
(1908-2002)
Musician
-
Rex Harrison
Film Actor, Theater Actor / 1908 - 1990
Rex Harrison was a Tony- and an Oscar-winning English actor known for his film and stage performances. His most famous role is that of Henry Higgins in the film musical My Fair Lady.
See full bio
(1908-1990)
Film Actor, Theater Actor
-
A.D. Hershey
Biologist / 1908 - 1997
American biologist A.D. Hershey won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1969 for his research done on viruses that infect bacteria.
See full bio
(1908-1997)
Biologist
j
-
Lyndon B. Johnson
U.S. President, U.S. Vice President / 1908 - 1973
Lyndon B. Johnson was elected vice president of the U.S. in 1960 and became the 36th president in 1963, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1908-1973)
U.S. President, U.S. Vice President
-
Louis Jordan
Saxophonist, Singer / 1908 - 1975
Louis Jordan was a saxophonist-singer who was a seminal figure in the development of both rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
See full bio
(1908-1975)
Saxophonist, Singer
k
-
Lee Krasner
Painter / 1908 - 1984
Modernist abstract painter and collage artist Lee Krasner, wife of Jackson Pollock, created the Little Image painting series and the multimedia collage "Milkweed."
See full bio
| Watch video
(1908-1984)
Painter
l
-
Louis L'Amour
Author / 1908 - 1988
Louis L'Amour was a prolific and hugely popular writer of mostly Western novels and short stories.
See full bio
(1908-1988)
Author
-
Estée Lauder
Entrepreneur / 1908 - 2004
Estée Lauder started her own company. Seven years later, her Youth-Dew beauty oil launched Estée Lauder, Inc., which became a billion-dollar-a-year business.
See full bio
(1908-2004)
Entrepreneur
-
David Lean
Director, Producer, Screenwriter / 1908 - 1991
David Lean was a British director and screenwriter best known for his spectacular cinematography and adaptations of Charles Dickens classics, including Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).
See full bio
(1908-1991)
Director, Producer, Screenwriter
-
Willard Libby
Chemist / 1908 - 1980
Willard Libby was a chemist whose technique of carbon-14 dating provided an extremely valuable tool for a variety of scientists.
See full bio
(1908-1980)
Chemist
-
José Limón
Ballet Dancer, Choreographer / 1908 - 1972
José Limón was a Mexican-born American modern dancer and choreographer, and was the founder-director of the José Limón Dance Company.
See full bio
(1908-1972)
Ballet Dancer, Choreographer
-
Carole Lombard
Film Actress, Pin-up / 1908 - 1942
Carole Lombard starred in comedic films during the 1930s. She married actor Clark Gable in 1939, but died in a tragic plane accident a few years later.
See full bio
(1908-1942)
Film Actress, Pin-up
m
-
Fred MacMurray
Film Actor, Television Actor / 1908 - 1991
Comedic actor Fred MacMurray starred in films from the ‘30s through the ‘60s, but was known for his role as the father in the 1960s TV show My Three Sons.
See full bio
(1908-1991)
Film Actor, Television Actor
-
Anna Magnani
Film Actress, Theater Actress / 1908 - 1973
Academy-award winning Italian stage and film actress Anna Magnani was in the movie Open City, and inspired playwright Tennessee Williams to pen The Rose Tattoo.
See full bio
(1908-1973)
Film Actress, Theater Actress
-
Thurgood Marshall
Civil Rights Activist, Lawyer, Judge, Supreme Court Justice / 1908 - 1993
Thurgood Marshall was instrumental in ending legal segregation and became the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1908-1993)
Civil Rights Activist, Lawyer, Judge, Supreme Court Justice
-
Abraham Maslow
Educator, Scholar, Psychologist, Academic Author / 1908 - 1970
U.S. Psychologist Abraham Maslow was a practitioner of humanistic psychology. He is known for his theory of “self-actualization.”
See full bio
(1908-1970)
Educator, Scholar, Psychologist, Academic Author
-
Joseph McCarthy
U.S. Representative / 1908 - 1957
Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that communists had infiltrated the U.S. State Department. He became chair of the Senate's subcommittee on investigations.
See full bio
(1908-1957)
U.S. Representative
-
Penny Singleton
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Singer / 1908 - 2003
Penny Singleton is an actress and singer who had a long career in show business and best known for her role as the legendary comic strip character Blondie.
See full bio
(1908-2003)
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Singer
-
Robert Merle
Author / 1908 - 2004
Robert Merle was a French novelist who is best known for publishing war memoirs and novels inspired by English genres.
See full bio
(1908-2004)
Author
-
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Educator, Philosopher, Political Scientist, Academic Author, Editor, Journalist / 1908 - 1961
Maurice Merleau-Ponty was a French philosopher and man of letters, the leading exponent of phenomenology in France.
See full bio
(1908-1961)
Educator, Philosopher, Political Scientist, Academic Author, Editor, Journalist
-
Ethel Merman
Theater Actress / 1908 - 1984
Ethel Merman is best known as a gutsy, powerful musical comedy performer and remembered for her brassy style and powerful mezzo-soprano voice.
See full bio
(1908-1984)
Theater Actress
-
Olivier Messiaen
Songwriter / 1908 - 1992
French organist Olivier Messiaen created works inspired by Roman Catholic theology. Even when captured in World War II, he continued to compose.
See full bio
(1908-1992)
Songwriter
-
John Mills
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Producer / 1908 - 2005
John Mills was an award-winning actor, dancer and producer whose career spanned eight decades with works like Great Expectations and Ryan’s Daughter.
See full bio
(1908-2005)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Producer
-
Edward R. Murrow
Radio Personality, News Anchor, Journalist / 1908 - 1965
American radio and television news broadcaster Edward R. Murrow gave eyewitness reports of WWII for CBS and helped develop journalism for mass media.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1908-1965)
Radio Personality, News Anchor, Journalist
n
-
Baby Face Nelson
Criminal / 1908 - 1934
"Baby Face" Nelson was a gangster, bank robber and triggerman who work for Al Capone and John Dillinger.
See full bio
(1908-1934)
Criminal
p
-
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Civil Rights Activist, U.S. Representative, Pastor / 1908 - 1972
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was a 20th century clergyman and U.S. representative who was a major force in establishing civil rights for African Americans.
See full bio
| Watch video
(1908-1972)
Civil Rights Activist, U.S. Representative, Pastor
r
-
Michael Redgrave
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Writer / 1908 - 1985
British thespian Michael Redgrave is acclaimed for his theater and film roles. He has also sired two generations of acting luminaries.
See full bio
(1908-1985)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Writer
-
Nelson Rockefeller
Governor, U.S. Vice President / 1908 - 1979
The son of John D. Rockefeller Jr., Nelson Rockefeller served four terms as governor of New York. He was later appointed vice president under President Gerald Ford.
See full bio
(1908-1979)
Governor, U.S. Vice President
-
Theodore Roethke
Poet / 1908 - 1963
Poet and professor Theodore Roethke was best known for winning the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for his poetry volume The Wakening. His other works include "Open House" and "The Far Field."
See full bio
(1908-1963)
Poet
-
Joseph Rotblat
Activist, Physicist, Journalist / 1908 - 2005
Physicist Joseph Rotblat participated in the Manhattan project. After the World War II, he devoted himself to peaceful applications of nuclear physics.
See full bio
(1908-2005)
Activist, Physicist, Journalist
s
-
Jimmy Stewart
Film Actor, Theater Actor / 1908 - 1997
Jimmy Stewart was a major motion-picture star known for his portrayals of diffident but morally resolute characters in films such as It’s a Wonderful Life.
See full bio
(1908-1997)
Film Actor, Theater Actor
w
-
Simon Wiesenthal
Activist / 1908 - 2005
Simon Wiesenthal was a survivor of the Holocaust who worked as an author and Nazi hunter, wishing to ensure that what befell his community would be remembered.
See full bio
(1908-2005)
Activist
-
Cootie Williams
Trumpet Player / 1908 - 1985
Cootie Williams was a jazz trumpeter best known for his longtime work and recorded legacy with composer and bandleader Duke Ellington.
See full bio
(1908-1985)
Trumpet Player
-
Richard Wright
Journalist, Author, Poet / 1908 - 1960
Pioneering African-American writer Richard Wright is best known for the classic texts Black Boy and Native Son.
See full bio
(1908-1960)
Journalist, Author, Poet