w
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Roger Waters
Bassist, Songwriter, Singer / 1943 -
Roger Waters was the singer, songwriter and bassist for the British rock band Pink Floyd. He also has had an extensive solo career.
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(1943-)
Bassist, Songwriter, Singer
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Emily Watson
Actress / 1967 -
British actress Emily Watson won acclaim with film roles such as Bess McNeil in Breaking the Waves, and the title character in Angela's Ashes.
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(1967-)
Actress
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Charlie Watts
Drummer / 1941 -
Charlie Watts is best known for playing drums as part of the famed rock 'n' roll group the Rolling Stones. He is also a noted jazz musician.
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(1941-)
Drummer
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Naomi Watts
Film Actress / 1968 -
Actress Naomi Watts starred in Mulholland Drive and The Ring. She's also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, and works on HIV/AIDS awareness programs.
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(1968-)
Film Actress
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Evelyn Waugh
Educator, Artist, Journalist, Author / 1903 - 1966
English writer Evelyn Waugh is regarded by many as the most brilliant satirical novelist of his day. His works include The Loved One and Brideshead Revisited.
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(1903-1966)
Educator, Artist, Journalist, Author
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Hugo Weaving
Film Actor / 1960 -
Hugo Weaving is best known for playing Agent Smith in the Matrix film trilogy and Elrond in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
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(1960-)
Film Actor
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Andrew Lloyd Webber
Songwriter / 1948 -
Composer. Andrew Lloyd Webber is an English composer known for such musical theater hits as Cats, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Phantom of the Opera.
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(1948-)
Songwriter
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Rachel Weisz
Film Actress, Television Actress, Model / 1970 -
British actress and model Rachel Weisz is best known for her performances in The Mummy, Stealing Beauty and The Constant Gardener.
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(1970-)
Film Actress, Television Actress, Model
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Florence Welch
Singer / 1986 -
Florence Welch is the lead singer of the English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. She can be heard on popular songs such as "Kiss with a Fist" and "Shake It Out."
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(1986-)
Singer
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H.G. Wells
Author / 1866 - 1946
H.G. Wells was a writer of science-fiction works—including The Time Machine and War of the Worlds—who had a great influence on our vision of the future.
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(1866-1946)
Author
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John Wesley
Philanthropist, Evangelist / 1703 - 1791
John Wesley was an Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and founder, with his brother Charles, of the Methodist movement in the Church of England.
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(1703-1791)
Philanthropist, Evangelist
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Fred West
Murderer / 1941 - 1995
Fred West is best known for the gruesome murders and brutal sexual assaults in 1960's and 1970's England.
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(1941-1995)
Murderer
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Rosemary West
Serial Killer / 1953 -
Serial killer Rosemary West murdered at least 10 young women. Most of them were dismembered and buried in the cellar of her home on Cromwell Street.
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(1953-)
Serial Killer
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Samuel West
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Director / 1966 -
Samuel West is a British actor best known for his roles in the films Howards End, Notting Hill, Van Helsing and Hyde Park on Hudson.
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(1966-)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Director
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Lee Westwood
Golfer / 1973 -
Golfer Lee Westwood, who made his PGA debut in 1995, has had several close finishes on some of golf's biggest stages, including third place at the U.S. Open.
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(1973-)
Golfer
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Vivienne Westwood
Fashion Designer / 1941 -
Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood helped set the style for modern punk and New Wave music.
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(1941-)
Fashion Designer
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Ben Whishaw
Actor / 1980 -
British actor Ben Whishaw is best known for playing Freddie Lyon on the television series The Hour and Q in the 2012 film Skyfall.
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(1980-)
Actor
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John White
Illustrator, Explorer, U.S. Governor / 1540 - 1593
John White was a British artist, explorer, cartographer and governor of the English settlement on Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina, U.S.).
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(1540-1593)
Illustrator, Explorer, U.S. Governor
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T.H. White
Journalist, Author / 1906 - 1964
T.H. White was an English writer known for his novel series about King Arthur, The Once and Future King.
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(1906-1964)
Journalist, Author
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Alfred North Whitehead
Philosopher, Mathematician, Journalist / 1861 - 1947
British mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead’s Treatise on Universal Algebra extended Boolean symbolic logic. He received the Order of Merit.
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(1861-1947)
Philosopher, Mathematician, Journalist
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Richard Widmark
Film Actor, Television Actor / 1914 - 2008
Actor Richard Widmark had a long and successful film career and is best known for his shocking debut as a psychopath in Kiss of Death.
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(1914-2008)
Film Actor, Television Actor
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William Wilberforce
Philanthropist, Political Leader / 1759 - 1833
William Wilberforce was a British politician who spent his life fighting to end slavery in the UK and abroad.
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(1759-1833)
Philanthropist, Political Leader
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Alan Wilder
Songwriter, Pianist / 1959 -
British musician and producer Alan Wilder is best known as a keyboardist and songwriter for the band Depeche Mode. Wilder wrote songs like "The Great Outdoors," "The Landscape Is Changing" and "In Your Memory."
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(1959-)
Songwriter, Pianist
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Tom Wilkinson
Actor / 1948 -
English actor Tom Wilkinson is best known for his Oscar-nominated roles in the films In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton.
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(1948-)
Actor
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William IV
King / 1765 - 1837
William IV was king of Great Britain and Ireland and king of Hanover in the early 19th century.
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(1765-1837)
King
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Olivia Williams
Actress / 1968 -
Olivia Williams is a British actress known for appearing in such films as Rushmore, The Postman and Hyde park on Hudson.
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(1968-)
Actress
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Richard Wilson
Painter / 1714 - 1782
Richard Wilson is one of Britain's earliest landscape painters and is best known for the picturesque effects and serenity in his pieces.
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(1714-1782)
Painter
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Amy Winehouse
Entrepreneur, Songwriter, Singer / 1983 - 2011
Amy Winehouse won five Grammy Awards for her 2006 album Back to Black, and is remembered for songs like "Rehab," "Back to Black" and "Valerie." She died in 2011, at age 27.
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(1983-2011)
Entrepreneur, Songwriter, Singer
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Anna Wing
Actress / 1914 -
English actress Anna Wing is known for her long career on stage and screen, but most of all for her role on the long-running television series EastEnders.
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(1914-)
Actress
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Kate Winslet
Film Actress / 1975 -
Oscar winner Kate Winslet has starred in a number of acclaimed dramas and comedies. She first gained fame in the blockbuster Titanic.
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(1975-)
Film Actress
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John Winthrop
U.S. Governor / 1588 - 1649
John Winthrop was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the chief figure among the Puritan founders of New England.
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(1588-1649)
U.S. Governor
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Anna Wintour
Editor / 1949 -
Anna Wintour is best known as the influential editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, and for her iconic pageboy haircut and large sunglasses.
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(1949-)
Editor
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P. G. Wodehouse
Author, Playwright, Screenwriter / 1881 - 1975
Author P. G. Wodehouse, the creator of Bertie Wooster and his manservant Jeeves, wrote more than 90 books during his career.
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(1881-1975)
Author, Playwright, Screenwriter
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Mary Wollstonecraft
Educator, Philosopher, Scholar, Women's Rights Activist, Journalist / 1759 - 1797
Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer who advocated for women's equality. Her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman pressed for educational reforms.
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(1759-1797)
Educator, Philosopher, Scholar, Women's Rights Activist, Journalist
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Thomas Wolsey
Political Leader, Cardinal / 1475 - 1530
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was lord chancellor during the reign of Henry VIII, becoming a major figure in the king’s administration.
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(1475-1530)
Political Leader, Cardinal
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Ron Wood
Bassist, Songwriter, Guitarist / 1947 -
English rocker Ron Wood became the Rolling Stones' guitarist in the mid-1970s, and is now a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.
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(1947-)
Bassist, Songwriter, Guitarist
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Virginia Woolf
Journalist, Author / 1882 - 1941
English Writer Virginia Woolf became famous for her nonlinear prose style, especially noted in her novels Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse.
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(1882-1941)
Journalist, Author
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Dorothy Wordsworth
Writer / 1771 - 1855
Dorothy Wordsworth was a writer and sister of William Wordsworth, often serving as his inspiration.
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(1771-1855)
Writer
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William Wordsworth
Poet / 1770 - 1850
William Wordsworth was a poet regarded as the central figure in the initiation of English Romanticism.
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(1770-1850)
Poet
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Bill Wyman
Bassist / 1936 -
Bill Wyman is best known for being the bass player for The Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
See full bio
(1936-)
Bassist
y
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Thom Yorke
Environmental Activist, Songwriter, Guitarist, Singer / 1968 -
Thom Yorke is the lead singer and songwriter of the English alternative rock band Radiohead, whose hit albums include OK Computer and The Bends.
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(1968-)
Environmental Activist, Songwriter, Guitarist, Singer
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Graham Young
Serial Killer / 1947 - 1990
Graham Young is best known as the Teacup Poisoner, responsible for the killing of at least three people in England.
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(1947-1990)
Serial Killer
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Zacarias Moussaoui
Terrorist
Convicted terrorist. Born May 30, 1968 in Morlaix, France. Raised by a single mother, Moussaoui received his master's degree in international business from London??s South Bank University in 1995. By 1996, he was meeting with Islamic extremists in London
See full bio
Terrorist
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Catherine Zeta-Jones
Actress / 1969 -
Catherine Zeta-Jones is a Tony Award-winning Welsh actress who's married to actor Michael Douglas.
See full bio
(1969-)
Actress