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Joy Adamson
Animal Rights Activist, Journalist / 1910 - 1980
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.
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(1910-1980)
Animal Rights Activist, Journalist
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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.
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(1908-1980)
Illustrator
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Roland Barthes
Philosopher, Literary Critic, Academic Author / 1915 - 1980
Roland Barthes was a French literary philosopher whose work influenced structuralism, semiotics and anthropology.
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(1915-1980)
Philosopher, Literary Critic, Academic Author
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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.
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(1904-1980)
Photographer, Writer
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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.
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(1904-1980)
Musician, Journalist, Author, Playwright
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Jacqueline Cochran
Pilot / 1910 - 1980
Jacqueline Cochran is a pioneering 20th century pilot who was an advocate for female aviators during WWII and the first woman to break the sound barrier.
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(1910-1980)
Pilot
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Dorothy Day
Women's Rights Activist, Anti-War Activist, Religious Leader, Editor, Journalist / 1897 - 1980
Dorothy Day was an activist who worked for such social causes as pacifism and women’s suffrage through the prism of the Catholic Church.
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(1897-1980)
Women's Rights Activist, Anti-War Activist, Religious Leader, Editor, Journalist
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Walter Dornberger
Engineer, Scientist / 1895 - 1980
Walter Dornberger was an engineer whose rockets were the precursor to all postwar spacecraft.
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(1895-1980)
Engineer, Scientist
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William O. Douglas
Educator, Lawyer, Judge, Supreme Court Justice, Government Official / 1898 - 1980
William O. Douglas was a government official who in 1939 became the second youngest Supreme Court justice in U.S. history.
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(1898-1980)
Educator, Lawyer, Judge, Supreme Court Justice, Government Official
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Jimmy Durante
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Comedian, Pianist, Singer, Television Personality / 1893 - 1980
Jimmy Durante was an American comedian whose career in every major entertainment performance medium spanned more than six decades.
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(1893-1980)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Comedian, Pianist, Singer, Television Personality
e
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Bill Evans
Pianist / 1929 - 1980
Bill Evans is best known for his jazz piano work on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and many other records.
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(1929-1980)
Pianist
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Erich Fromm
Psychiatrist, Academic Author / 1900 - 1980
Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm studied the effect of society on the human psyche in such works as To Have or to Be and Escape from Freedom.
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(1900-1980)
Psychiatrist, Academic Author
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Keith Godchaux
Musician / 1948 - 1980
Keith Godchaux is known for his tenure as a keyboardist with the Grateful Dead in the 1970s.
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(1948-1980)
Musician
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Mohammed Hatta
Economist, Diplomat, Prime Minister / 1902 - 1980
Mohammed Hatta was a leader of the Indonesian independence movement who was prime minister (1948–50) and vice president (1950–56) of Indonesia.
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(1902-1980)
Economist, Diplomat, Prime Minister
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Robert Hayden
Poet / 1913 - 1980
Robert Hayden was an African-American poet and professor who is best known as the author of poems, including “Those Winter Sundays” and “The Middle Passage.”
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(1913-1980)
Poet
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Alfred Hitchcock
Director, Producer, Television Personality, Screenwriter / 1899 - 1980
Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was nicknamed the "Master of Suspense" for employing a kind of psychological suspense in his films, producing a distinct viewer experience.
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(1899-1980)
Director, Producer, Television Personality, Screenwriter
l
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John Lennon
Songwriter, Singer / 1940 - 1980
John Lennon, pop star, composer, songwriter and recording artist, founded the Beatles, a band that impacted the music scene like no other before or since.
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(1940-1980)
Songwriter, Singer
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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.
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(1908-1980)
Chemist
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Professor Longhair
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer / 1918 - 1980
Professor Longhair is an African American singer and songwriter who helped shape New Orleans jazz and blues during the 1940's.
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(1918-1980)
Songwriter, Pianist, Singer
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Marshall McLuhan
Educator, Journalist / 1911 - 1980
Famous for his aphorism, "the medium is the message," communications theorist Marshall McLuhan was an influential educator during the 20th century.
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(1911-1980)
Educator, Journalist
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Steve McQueen
Film Actor / 1930 - 1980
American film star Steve McQueen was one of the most popular and well-paid actors of the 1960s and ‘70s. He starred in films like The Great Escape, Bullit and The Getaway.
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(1930-1980)
Film Actor
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George Meany
Activist / 1894 - 1980
U.S. union leader George Meany helped guide the 1955 merger between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
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(1894-1980)
Activist
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Henry Miller
Author / 1891 - 1980
Henry Miller was a 20th century American writer, who created a new sort of novel—later characterized as a fictionalized autobiography.
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(1891-1980)
Author
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Luis Muñoz Marín
Governor / 1898 - 1980
Luis Muñoz Marín was Puerto Rico's first governor, serving four terms.
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(1898-1980)
Governor
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A.C. Nielsen
Entrepreneur / 1897 - 1980
A.C. Nielsen was an American market-research engineer and business executive, best known for creating Nielsen ratings, a national rating of television viewing.
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(1897-1980)
Entrepreneur
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Jesse Owens
Track and Field Athlete / 1913 - 1980
American track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. His long jump world record stood for 25 years.
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(1913-1980)
Track and Field Athlete
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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Political Leader / 1919 - 1980
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He had a pro-Western foreign policy and fostered economic development.
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(1919-1980)
Political Leader
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Jean Piaget
Psychologist, Biologist / 1896 - 1980
Psychologist Jean Piaget identified stages of mental development, called Schema, and established the fields of cognitive theory and developmental psychology.
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(1896-1980)
Psychologist, Biologist
s
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Colonel Harland Sanders
Entrepreneur, Chef / 1890 - 1980
Colonel Sanders is best known for creating a fried chicken recipe that would become the world's fast-food chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken.
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(1890-1980)
Entrepreneur, Chef
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Jean-Paul Sartre
Philosopher, Activist, Literary Critic, Academic Author, Journalist, Author, Playwright, Screenwriter / 1905 - 1980
Jean-Paul Sartre was a 20th century intellectual, writer and activist who put forth pioneering ideas on existentialism.
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(1905-1980)
Philosopher, Activist, Literary Critic, Academic Author, Journalist, Author, Playwright, Screenwriter
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Peter Sellers
Actor, Comedian / 1925 - 1980
British actor Peter Sellers was incredibly versatile, playing Chief Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films with as much ease as Clare Quilty in Lolita.
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(1925-1980)
Actor, Comedian
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Elizabeth Stern
Scientist / 1915 - 1980
Pathologist Elizabeth Stern tracked the 250 stages of a cell's progression from normal to cancerous, enabling early cancer screening.
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(1915-1980)
Scientist
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Dorothy Stratten
Film Actress, Model / 1960 - 1980
Dorothy Stratten was a Playboy model and actress before she was murdered at the age of 20.
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(1960-1980)
Film Actress, Model
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Mae West
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Pin-up / 1893 - 1980
Mae West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in films known for their blunt sexuality and steamy settings.
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(1893-1980)
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Pin-up