Famous People Through the Decades—List of Choices
1900’s
Orville & Wilber Wright—Inventors
Albert Einstein—Brilliant scientist; discovered the science of black holes & space/time
Theodore Roosevelt—President of the United States
Helen Keller—Deaf and blind educator
Emmeline Pankhurst—Champion for women’s rights
Frank Lloyd Wright—Architect
William Randolph Hearst—Developer of the modern newspaper
Susan B. Anthony—Champion for women’s rights
W.E.B. DuBois—African-American poet, author, & educator; founder of NAACP
Upton Sinclair—Author who stood up for workers’ rights
John Dewey—Public school pioneer
John D. Rockefeller—Business leader & philanthropist
Marie Curie—Famous scientist and winner of 2 Nobel prizes
1910’s
Henry Ford—President of the Ford Motor Company
Woodrow Wilson—President of the United States
Igor Stravinsky—Musician/Composer
Emily Dickenson—Poet
George Eastman—Inventor and president of Eastman Kodak company (cameras)
Willa Cather—Author from Nebraska; wrote about pioneer life and the Southwest
Norman Rockwell—Popular artist; painted image of everyday people/scenes
Ezra Pound—Author
Thomas Edison—Inventor
W.C. Handy—Blues composer
Babe Ruth—Famous baseball player
Mark Twain—Author (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn)
William Jennings Bryan—Politician from Lincoln, Nebraska
Booker T. Washington—African-American educator
1920’s
F. Scott Fitzgerald—Author (The Great Gatsby)
Pablo Picasso—Famous artist (modern and cubist art style)
Philo Farnsworth—Inventor of the television
Edwin Hubble—Scientist and inventor (Hubble telescope named after him)
Georgia O’Keefe—Famous artist (close-up flower paintings and skull paintings)
Langston Hughes—African-American poet
Herbert Hoover—President of the United States at the beginning of the Great Depression
Coco Chanel—Fashion designer
Charles Lindbergh—Famous inventor, author, and aviator (first solo non-stop flight across Atlantic Ocean)
Charlie Chaplin—Comedic actor (silent films)
Duke Ellington—Pioneering jazz musician
Bessie Smith—Jazz singer
1930’s
John Steinbeck—Best-selling, controversial author (The Grapes of Wrath)
Eleanor Roosevelt—Wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt—President of the United States
Walt Disney—Filmmaker, animator, and theme-park designer
Louis B. Mayer—Hollywood pioneer; President of MGM film studio
Amelia Earhart—Female aviator
Jesse Owens—Olympic track-and-field star
Gutzon Borgium—Mt. Rushmore sculptor
George & Ira Gershwin—Popular music composers and lyricists
Shirley Temple—Famous child actress
Joe Lewis—African-American boxer; Longest heavyweight championship reign
1940’s
Jackie Robinson—First African-American in Major League Baseball
Winston Churchill—England’s Prime Minister; American’s ally during World War II
Anne Frank—Holocaust victim whose diary has been translated into dozens of languages
Jackson Pollock—Popular painter; painted in the Abstract-Expressionist style
Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi—Political and spiritual leader who practiced civil disobedience in India
Douglas MacArthur—Pacific general for the United States in World War II
Dwight D. Eisenhower—European general for the United States in World War II; later became President of the
United States
Glenn Miller—Jazz musician (Glenn Miller Band)
Dr. Benjamin Spock—Parenting expert; author of famous books about raising children
John Ford—Famous director of Western movies
Groucho Marx—Comedic Hollywood actor
Ella Fitzgerald—Famous jazz singer
1950’s
Hank Aaron—Major League Baseball player
Jonas Salk—Scientist; developer of the first immunizations against disease
Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)—Children’s book author
Rachel Carson—Author and environmentalist
Harry S. Truman—President of the United States
Frank Sinatra—Popular singer
James Watson & Francis Crick—Scientists who discovered DNA
Isaac Asimov—Author of hundreds of science & science fiction books (I, Robot)
Rosa Parks—Civil rights activist
John Wayne—Actor in Hollywood Westerns
Marlon Brando—Famous actor (The Godfather, A Streetcar Named Desire); born in Omaha
Audrey Hepburn—Famous actress (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady); style icon and humanitarian
Raj Kapoor—Indian actor, film producer, and film director
Alfred Hitchcock—Movie director and producer (Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds); pioneered many techniques in the
suspense and psychological thriller genres
Marilyn Monroe—Hollywood movie star; Married to baseball star Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller
1960’s
Elvis—Famous rock musician
John F. Kennedy—President of the United States; assassinated
Martin Luther King, Jr.—Civil rights leader
Malcolm X—Civil rights activist
Buzz Aldrin/Neal Armstrong—First people to step on the moon
Joan Baez—American folksinger
Bob Dylan—Singer/songwriter (folksinger)
Wilma Rudolph—Track athlete; multi-gold medal winner in the Olympics
Roberto Clemente—Major League Baseball star
Thurgood Marshall—First African-American Supreme Court Justice
Lyndon B. Johnson—President of the United States
The Beatles—Famous rock group
Ray Croc—McDonalds tycoon
Sam Walton—Founder of Walmart
Andy Warhol—Famous artist (pop art)
Gloria Steinem—Women’s rights activist; writer
Betty Friedan—Women’s rights activist; writer
Rogers & Hammerstein—Songwriters for Broadway plays (Oklahoma!, The King and I, The Sound of Music)
Wilt Chamberlain—NBA basketball player; MVP winner
1970’s
Cesar Chavez—Hispanic civil rights activist; politician; organized grape boycott
Billie Jean King—Tennis star
Jesse Jackson—Civil rights activist
Elton John—Musician
Muhammad Ali—Famous boxer
Richard Nixon—President of the United States (impeached)
Jim Henson—Creator of the Muppets and Sesame Street
Pele—Brazilian soccer star; held record for most goals
Mother Teresa—Famous beatified nun; humanitarian
Harvey Milk—First openly gay public official in California; activist (murdered)
Toni Morrison—Author (Beloved)
Betsey Johnson—Fashion designer
1980’s
Sandra Day O’Conner—First female Supreme Court Justice
Sally Ride—First American woman in space
Geraldine Ferraro—First female Vice President candidate
Mikhail Gorbachev—President of the Soviet Union (AKA Russia)
Michael Jackson—Pop music icon
Madonna—Pop music icon
Martina Navratilova—Professional tennis star; cancer survivor; gay rights activist
Ronald Reagan—President of the United States
Pope John Paul II—Catholic Pope for 25+ years
Margaret Thatcher—First and only female UK Prime Minister
Steven Spielberg—Famous movie director and producer (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial, Jurassic Park)
Akio Morita—CEO of Sony
Jackie Joyner-Kersee—Most decorated female athlete in Olympic track and field history
Donna Karan—Fashion designer
Joe Montana—NFL football player; MVP winner
Dan Marino—NFL football player; Record holder; 1st first-year quarterback to start in the Pro Bowl
Wayne Gretzky—NHL hockey player; MVP winner
1990’s
Madeleine Albright—First female U.S. Secretary of State
Rebecca Lobo—WNBA basketball player; first professional female athlete
Tiger Woods—Golf superstar; first billion-dollar athlete
Martha Stewart—Entrepreneur; television show; author; creates home/cooking/craft merchandise
Steve Jobs—CEO of Apple (now deceased)
Bill Gates—CEO of Microsoft; humanitarian; one of the richest people in the world
Warren Buffet—CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; one of the richest people in the world; from Omaha
Michael Jordan—NBA superstar
Nelson Mandela—President of South Africa; Nobel Peace Prize winner; jailed for many years
Jerry Yang—Founder of Yahoo!
George H.W. Bush—President of the United States
Bill Clinton—President of the United States
Andrew Lloyd Weber—Famous composer; wrote music for The Phantom of the Opera
Donatella Versace—Fashion designer
Jerry Rice—NFL football player; MVP winner; Record holder
Deion Sanders—NFL football player; MLB baseball player; Super Bowl winner
2000’s
Kofi Annan—Secretary General of the United Nations; Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Yo-Yo Ma—World famous cello player; has won 16+ Grammy awards
Barack Obama—First African-American President of the United States
Lance Armstrong—Seven-time Tour de France Champion; cancer survivor
Hillary Clinton—Former First Lady; Senator; Presidential candidate; U.S. Secretary of State
Michelle Kwan—Two-time Olympic medalist in figure skating
George W. Bush—President of the United States
Oprah Winfrey—Talk show host; entrepreneur
LeBron James—NBA basketball player; MVP winner
Tom Anderson—Creator/CEO of MySpace
Mark Zuckerberg—Creator/CEO of Facebook
Sonja Sotomayor—First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice
J.K. Rowling—Author of the Harry Potter series
Lionel Messi—Argentinian soccer player; FIFA world player of the year