An online biographical encyclopedia

Discover the people who shaped the world — and the extraordinary stories that inspire us to shape what comes next.

Browse by domain

The natural sciences

PhysicistsMathematiciansAstronomersChemistsBiologists

Invention and computing

Computer scientistsInventorsEngineers

Business & Economy42

Enterprise and economics

Business & industryEconomists

History & Society130

Power and reform

Political leadersActivists & reformersJurists & legal scholars

Philosophy & Religion77

Ideas and belief

Painting, music and performance

PaintersComposersSingers & songwriters

Writers, poets and playwrights

PoetsPlaywrightsWriters

Explore by achievement

Nobel laureate43 Founders & entrepreneurs32 Inventors20 Heads of state13 Polymaths11

Notable people

Marilyn Monroe, Actors

Anton Chekhov, Playwrights

Franz Kafka, Writers

Jimmy Wales, Business & industry

American Internet entrepreneur

Pope Francis, Theologians

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Philosophers

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Mao Zedong, Political leaders

Political leaders

Steve Jobs, Business & industry

American entrepreneur

Che Guevara, Political leaders

Political leaders

Edgar Allan Poe, Poets

Edgar Allan Poe

Niccolò Machiavelli, Philosophers

Niccolò Machiavelli

Augustine of Hippo, Philosophers

Augustine of Hippo

Molière, Playwrights

Thomas Jefferson, Political leaders

Thomas Jefferson

Political leaders

Oscar Wilde, Poets

Adam Smith, Economists

Charles de Gaulle, Political leaders

Charles de Gaulle

Political leaders

Angela Merkel, Political leaders

Chancellor of Germany

Neil Armstrong, Astronauts & cosmonauts

Astronauts & cosmonauts

Lord Byron, Poets

Otto von Bismarck, Political leaders

Otto von Bismarck

Political leaders

Nikola Tesla, Inventors

Serbian-American inventor

Benjamin Franklin, Diplomats

Benjamin Franklin

Elvis Presley, Singers & songwriters

Singers & songwriters