Francis Bacon was an English Renaissance statesman and philosopher, best known for his promotion the scientific method.
Journalist and editor Francis P. Church is remembered best for his 1897 editorial reply to Virginia O'Hanlon, in which he declares Santa Claus is real.
Director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola is best known for creating The Godfather film series starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.
Francis Crick is responsible for discovering, along with James Watson, the double-helix structure of the DNA strand.
English admiral Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe in 1577-1578, helped defeat the Spanish Armada and was the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan era.
Francis Galton was an English explorer and anthropologist best known for his research in eugenics and human intelligence. He was the first to study the effects of human selective mating.
Francis Scott Key was an attorney and poet who wrote the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner," the U.S. national anthem.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church in March 2013, becoming Pope Francis. He is the first pope from the Americas.