|
Bethlen, Gabor
|
(1580-1629)
|
Hungarian
|
King. He protected protestants from persecution.
|
1
|
|
Bethune, Norman
|
(1899-1939)
|
Canadian
|
Surgeon. He volunteered his services in Spain, during the Civil War, and China during the Japanese invasion.
|
1
|
|
Betti, Ugo
|
(1892-1953)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bevan, Aneurin
|
(1897-1960)
|
English
|
Politician. He tried to socialize Britain and introduced the national health service.
|
1
|
|
Beveridge, William
|
(1879-1963)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bhartrihari
|
(7th-c)
|
Indian
|
Poet and thinker. He wrote important works on ethics and conduct as well as on Hindu religious themes and on language.
|
2
|
|
Bhasa
|
(3rd-c)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bhave, Vinoba
|
(1895-1982)
|
Indian
|
Speaker and writer. He especially supported the distribution of land to peasants, for both economic and spiritual reasons.
|
1
|
|
Bhindranwale, Sant (Jarnail Singh)
|
(1947-1984)
|
Indian
|
Rebel. A Sikh separatist, he was killed by Indian troops.
|
1
|
|
Bhutto, Benazir
|
(1953- )
|
Pakistani
|
Prime minister. A graduate of Harvard, she courageously returned to Pakistan after the execution of her father.
|
1
|
|
Bias
|
(6th-c ac)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bichat ,Xavier
|
(1771-1802)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bickerdyke, Mary Ann
|
(1817-1901)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bidder, George
|
(1806-78)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Biddle, John
|
(1615-1662)
|
British
|
|
1
|
|
Bierce, Ambrose
|
(1842-71914)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Biffen, Sir Rowland
|
(1874-1949)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bigelow, Erastus
|
(1814-1879)
|
American
|
Founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), one of the leading technology centers in the world.
|
1
|
|
Biggs, Ronald
|
(1929- )
|
English
|
Train robber.
|
1
|
|
Bikila, Abebe
|
(1932-73)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Biko, Stephen
|
(1946-1977)
|
South African
|
Revolutionary. He fought the white regime and seems to have been murdered by the police.
|
1
|
|
Bilbo, Theodore
|
(1877-1947)
|
American
|
Politician. Popular senator from Mississippi, he was a racist and demagogue.
|
3
|
|
Binet, Alfred
|
(1857-1911)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bingham, Hiram
|
(1875-1956)
|
American
|
Explorer. He discovered mysterious Inca ruins.
|
1
|
|
Bingham, Millicent
|
(1880-1968)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Binyon, Laurence
|
(1869-1943)
|
English
|
Art curator and writer. His poem, For the Fallen, expresses the pathos and loss of war.
|
1
|
|
Biondi, Matt
|
(1965- )
|
|
|
1
|
|
Birch, A. J.
|
(1915- )
|
|
|
1
|
|
Birdseye, Clarence
|
(1886-1956)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Birney James
|
(1792-1857)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bishop, Sir Henry
|
(1786-1855)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bishop, William
|
(1894-1956)
|
Canadian
|
Aviator. He was a top Allied flier in World War I (Royal Canadian Air Force).
|
1
|
|
Bismarck, Otto
|
(1815-1898)
|
German
|
Creator and chancellor of the German Empire. He espoused a "real-politic" which put national self-interest over principle.
|
1
|
|
Black Hawk
|
(1767-1838)
|
American Indian
|
Sauk and Fox chief. He fought the U.S. Army but was defeated.
|
1
|
|
Black, Eugene
|
(1898-1992)
|
American
|
World Bank head. He helped lead the Bank toward loans for developing countries. The focus on government loans (as opposed to private loans) ultimately proved to be controversial.
|
1
|
|
Black, Hugo
|
(1886-1971)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blackburn, Helen
|
(1842-1903)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blackstone, Harry
|
(1885-1965)
|
American
|
Magician. His name became synonymous with magic.
|
1
|
|
Blackstone, Sir William
|
(1723-1780)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blackwell, Elizabeth
|
(1821-1910)
|
English
|
Doctor and teacher. She was the first woman in the U.S. to obtain a medical degree.
|
1
|
|
Blackwell, Emily
|
(1826-1910)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blackwood, Algernon
|
(1869-1951)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blackwood, William
|
(1776-1834)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blair, Tony
|
(1953- )
|
Scottish
|
Prime minister. He tried to define a "third way" between right and left.
|
1
|
|
Blake, Eugene
|
(1906-1985)
|
American
|
|
1
|
|
Blake, William
|
(1757-1827)
|
English
|
Poet and artist. He exemplified a quirky, dark, and mystical romanticism.
|
2
|
|
Blakemore, Colin
|
(1944- )
|
English
|
|
1
|
|
Blanc, Louis
|
(1811-1882)
|
French
|
Author and politician. He was a leading socialist.
|
1
|
|
Blanchard, Jean Pierre
|
(1753-1809)
|
French
|
Balloon pioneer. He died developing the parachute.
|
1
|
|
Blandrata
|
(c.1515-1588)
|
Italian
|
|
1
|
|
Blanqui, Auguste
|
(1805-1881)
|
French
|
Revolutionary. He was a proponent of violent means to achieve a revolution.
|
1
|
|
Blasis, Carlo
|
(1797-1878)
|
Italian
|
Choreographer. He preserved classic dance.
Choreographer. He helped develop dance notation.
|
1
|
|
Blass, Bill
|
(1922- )
|
American
|
Fashion designer. He became an exemplar of gracious living.
|
1
|
|
Blatch, Harriet
|
(1856-1940)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blavatsky, Helena
|
(1831-1891)
|
Ukranian
|
|
2
|
|
Blessington, Marguerite
|
(1789-1849)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bleuler, Eugen
|
(1857-1939)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bligh, William
|
(c.1754-c.1817)
|
English
|
Naval commander. He became a symbol of excessive discipline.
|
1
|
|
Blixen, Karen
|
(1885-1962)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blok, Alexander
|
(1880-1921)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blondel
|
(12th-c)
|
French
|
Minstrel. He helped rescue his master, King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England, and became a legendary exemplar of faithfulness.
|
1
|
|
Blood, Thomas (Captain Blood)
|
(c.1618-1680)
|
Irish
|
A daredevil often on the wrong side of the law, he was eventually pardoned.
|
1
|
|
Bloom, Harold
|
(1930- )
|
American
|
Critic. A protean and colorful figure, he epitomizes the critic who makes a claim to be read for himself, not just to illuminate the work of others.
|
1
|
|
Bloomfield, Leonard
|
(1887-1949)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bloor Ella
|
(1862-1951)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blow, Susan
|
(1843-1916)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blunden, Edmund
|
(1896-1974)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blunt, Wilfrid
|
(1840-1922)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bly, Nellie
|
(c.1865-1922)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bly, Robert
|
(1926- )
|
|
|
1
|
|
Blyton, Enid
|
(1897-1968)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bo Juyi
|
(772-846)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Boal, Augusto
|
(1931- )
|
|
|
1
|
|
Boas, Franz
|
(1858-1942)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Boccaccio, Giovanni
|
(1313-1375)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Bodhidharma
|
(6th-c)
|
Indian
|
|
3
|
|
Bodichon, Barbara
|
(1827-90)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bodin,Jean
|
(1530-1596)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bodley Sir Thomas
|
(1545-1613)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Boesak, Allan
|
(1945- )
|
South African
|
|
1
|
|
Boethius, Anicius
|
(c.480-524)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Boff, Leonardo
|
(1938- )
|
Brazilian
|
|
2
|
|
Bogart, Humphrey
|
(1899-1957)
|
American
|
Actor. He became a symbol of a certain kind of small but "tough" male.
|
1
|
|
Bohme, Jacob
|
(1575-1624)
|
German
|
|
2
|
|
Boiardo, Matteo
|
(c.1441-1494)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Boileau,Nicolas
|
(1636-1711)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bokassa, Eddine
|
(1921-1996 )
|
Central African Republican
|
President, emperor. He became a symbol of absurd grandiosity and waste.
|
1
|
|
Bolingbroke, Henry
|
(1678-1751)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bolivar, Simon
|
(1783-1830)
|
Venezuelan
|
Liberator. He was a central figure in South American wars of independence.
|
1
|
|
Bolyai, Janos
|
(1802-1860)
|
Romanian
|
|
1
|
|
Bolzano, Bernhard
|
(1781-1848)
|
Czechslovakian
|
He was an important mathematician, but also a Catholic thinker who clashed with his church.
|
1
|
|
Bombard, Alain
|
(1924-2005)
|
French
|
He thought that it would be possible to cross the Atlantic, eating solely from the sea, and then did make his point.
|
1
|
|
Bonaparte, Charles
|
(1851-1921)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bong, Richard
|
(1920-1945)
|
American
|
Aviator. He was a top U.S. flier during World War II.
|
1
|
|
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich
|
(1906-1945)
|
German
|
|
2
|
|
Boniface VIII
|
(c.1235-1303)
|
Italian
|
|
1
|
|
Bonner, Neville
|
(1922-1999)
|
Australian
|
Politician. He was the first Aboriginal to serve in parliament.
|
1
|
|
Bonner, Yelena
|
(1923- )
|
|
|
2
|
|
Bonnet, Charles
|
(1720-93)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Bonney ,William (Billy the Kid)
|
(1859-1881)
|
American
|
Robber and killer. He was shot by Pat Garrett.
|
1
|
|
Boole, George
|
(1815-1864)
|
|
|
1
|
|