a
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Dai Ailian
Ballet Dancer, Choreographer / 1916 - 2006
Dai Ailian was a dancer and choreographer who co-founded the Central Ballet of China (also known as the National Ballet of China).
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(1916-2006)
Ballet Dancer, Choreographer
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Milton Babbitt
Educator, Songwriter / 1916 - 2011
Milton Babbitt is an avant-garde composer and was one of the first Americans to write electronically synthesized music.
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(1916-2011)
Educator, Songwriter
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Sirimavo R.D. Bandaranaike
Prime Minister / 1916 - 2000
Sirimavo R.D. Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan political leader, becoming the world’s first woman prime minister in 1960.
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(1916-2000)
Prime Minister
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P.W. Botha
World Leader, Prime Minister / 1916 - 2006
P.W. Botha was a former South African prime minister and president who maintained the racial caste system of apartheid.
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(1916-2006)
World Leader, Prime Minister
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Alice Childress
Author, Playwright / 1916 - 1994
Alice Childress is an African-American playwright associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She is also the author of several young adult novels.
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(1916-1994)
Author, Playwright
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Charlie Christian
Guitarist / 1916 - 1942
Charlie Christian was a pioneering electric jazz guitarist of the mid-20th century who would go on to greatly influence his successors.
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(1916-1942)
Guitarist
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Francis Crick
Biologist, Physiologist / 1916 - 2004
Francis Crick is responsible for discovering, along with James Watson, the double-helix structure of the DNA strand.
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(1916-2004)
Biologist, Physiologist
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Walter Cronkite
News Anchor, Journalist / 1916 - 2009
Walter Cronkite was a lifelong news man who became the voice of the truth for America as a nighttime anchorman.
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(1916-2009)
News Anchor, Journalist
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Roald Dahl
Author / 1916 - 1990
Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, among other famous works. He was married to actress Patricia Neal.
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(1916-1990)
Author
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Olivia de Havilland
Film Actress, Pin-up / 1916 -
Best known as Melanie in Gone with the Wind, actress Olivia de Havilland won Academy Awards for her roles in To Each His Own and The Heiress.
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(1916-)
Film Actress, Pin-up
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Kirk Douglas
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Director, Producer / 1916 -
Actor Kirk Douglas brought his formidable chin and talent to movies like Spartacus and The Bad and the Beautiful. You may also know him as the father of Michael Douglas.
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(1916-)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Director, Producer
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Peter Finch
Film Actor / 1916 - 1977
British-Australian actor Peter Finch is known for his portrayal of anchorman Howard Beale in Network, for which he received the first-ever posthumous Oscar.
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(1916-1977)
Film Actor
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Shelby Foote
Journalist, Author / 1916 - 2005
Shelby Foote was an American historian and novelist who wrote The Civil War: A Narrative. He was also a significant contributor to the Ken Burns series The Civil War.
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(1916-2005)
Journalist, Author
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Glenn Ford
Film Actor, Television Actor / 1916 - 2006
Actor Glenn Ford rose to fame after serving in World War II, thanks to several film roles in the '30s and beyond.
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(1916-2006)
Film Actor, Television Actor
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Jackie Gleason
Actor, Comedian / 1916 - 1987
Jackie Gleason was a pioneer of television comedy. "The Honeymooners" and "The Jackie Gleason Show" have been audience favorites for more than half a century.
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(1916-1987)
Actor, Comedian
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Betty Grable
Film Actress, Pin-up / 1916 - 1973
Betty Grable was a musical film star and popular pin up model, after starting as a chorus-line dancer in the 1930's.
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(1916-1973)
Film Actress, Pin-up
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Art Hanes
Lawyer, Mayor / 1916 - 1997
Art Hanes was mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, between 1961 and 1963. He actively opposed racial integration.
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(1916-1997)
Lawyer, Mayor
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James Herriot
Medical Professional, Author / 1916 - 1995
James Herriot was a British veterinarian and author best known for his books detailing life as a country vet. Two films and a TV series were based on his book All Creatures Great and Small.
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(1916-1995)
Medical Professional, Author
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Shirley Jackson
Author / 1916 - 1965
Writer Shirley Jackson is best known for her story “The Lottery," which suggests a sinister underside to small-town America, and The Haunting of Hill House.
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(1916-1965)
Author
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Jane Jacobs
Activist, Journalist / 1916 - 2006
Author and activist Jane Jacobs wrote about preserving urban neighborhoods, in books like The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Dark Age Ahead.
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(1916-2006)
Activist, Journalist
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Harry James
Songwriter, Conductor, Trumpet Player / 1916 - 1983
American jazz musician Harry James learned to play the trumpet at age eight and became one of the most admired trumpet players of the big band era.
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(1916-1983)
Songwriter, Conductor, Trumpet Player
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Eugene J. McCarthy
Educator, U.S. Representative, Author / 1916 - 2005
American politician Eugene J. McCarthy challenged Lyndon B. Johnson in the race for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination, which led to Johnson's withdrawal.
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(1916-2005)
Educator, U.S. Representative, Author
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Robert S McNamara
Entrepreneur, Military Leader, Government Official / 1916 - 2009
Robert S. McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth U.S. Secretary of Defense. He is best known for helping lead the U.S. into the Vietnam War.
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(1916-2009)
Entrepreneur, Military Leader, Government Official
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C. Wright Mills
Activist, Journalist, Sociologist / 1916 - 1962
Sociologist C. Wright Mills believed sociology should be used to advocate for social change and he disapproved of “abstract empiricalism.”
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(1916-1962)
Activist, Journalist, Sociologist
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François Mitterrand
World Leader / 1916 - 1996
François Mitterrand served as France’s president from 1981 to 1995. He was associated with the Socialist Party, and tried to unify the French Left.
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(1916-1996)
World Leader
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Aldo Moro
Educator, Lawyer, Political Leader / 1916 - 1978
Aldo Moro was leader of the Christian Democratic Party, who served five times as premier of Italy. In 1978 he was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists.
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(1916-1978)
Educator, Lawyer, Political Leader
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Gregory Peck
Actor / 1916 - 2003
Gregory Peck is best known for his larger-than-life film roles, particularly as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.
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(1916-2003)
Actor
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Walker Percy
Author / 1916 - 1990
Walker Percy was a novelist known chiefly for his first novel, The Moviegoer, which explored spiritual emptiness.
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(1916-1990)
Author
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Tokyo Rose
Radio Personality / 1916 - 2006
Tokyo Rose, whose real name was Iva Toguri, was an American-born Japanese woman who hosted a Japanese propaganda radio program aimed at U.S. troops during World War II.
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(1916-2006)
Radio Personality
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Sherwood Schwartz
Musician, Television Producer, Screenwriter / 1916 - 2001
Sherwood Schwartz created two of television's most enduring comedies: Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.
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(1916-2001)
Musician, Television Producer, Screenwriter
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Robert Shaw
Conductor / 1916 - 1999
American conductor Robert Shaw is best known for his innovations in seating a choir in quartets and for bringing new standards to choral performance.
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(1916-1999)
Conductor
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Dinah Shore
Singer, Television Personality / 1916 - 1994
Dinah Shore was an award-winning television personality and singer known for her string of TV shows, including Dinah!, Dinah's Place, and Dinah and Friends.
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(1916-1994)
Singer, Television Personality
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Irene Worth
Film Actress, Theater Actress / 1916 - 2002
Irene Worth was an American and English actress, widely respected for her vast versatility. She was a leading actress on London and Broadway stages.
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(1916-2002)
Film Actress, Theater Actress