Historical figures in Boston
The atlas holds 28 people and 65 moments here, from 1706 to 2016. The most recorded lives are John Adams, Helen Keller and John F. Kennedy. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Scientists, across the Space Age and the Cold War.
Notable people
John Adams
from 1735 to 1826
13 moments here
American lawyer, revolutionary leader, diplomat, first vice president of the United States, and second U.S. president.…
Helen Keller
from 1888 to 1956
9 moments here
Helen Adams Keller was an American deafblind author, lecturer, disability-rights advocate, and political activist.…
John F. Kennedy
from 1917 to 1946
6 moments here
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was an American naval officer, journalist, congressman, senator, and the 35th president of the United States.…
Charles Dickens
from 1842 to 1867
3 moments here
English novelist, journalist, editor, social reformer, actor and celebrated public reader. This chronology traces documented residences, workplaces,…
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
from 1900 to 1932
3 moments here
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as New York state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy,…
Edgar Allan Poe
from 1809 to 1827
3 moments here
American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic whose work helped shape Gothic fiction, detective fiction, and early science fiction.…
George Washington
from 1775 to 1789
2 moments here
George Washington was a Virginia surveyor, planter, military commander, revolutionary leader, constitutional statesman, and the first president of…
Jorge Luis Borges
from 1967 to 1968
2 moments here
Argentine writer, poet, essayist, translator, lecturer, librarian, and critic. Borges was born in Buenos Aires, lived in Switzerland and Spain during…
Theodore Roosevelt
from 1876 to 1912
2 moments here
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1858–1919) was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909.…
Judy Garland
from 1949 to 1967
2 moments here
American actress, singer, and vaudevillian, born Frances Ethel Gumm. Garland rose from childhood vaudeville and MGM musical films to become a major…
Benazir Bhutto
in 1969
2 moments here
Pakistani political leader who served twice as prime minister, from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996.…
Maryam Mirzakhani
from 1999 to 2003
2 moments here
Iranian mathematician whose work transformed the study of hyperbolic surfaces, moduli spaces, and dynamics.…
Winston Churchill
in 1949
1 moment here
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874–1965) was a British soldier, journalist, author and statesman whose career ranged from imperial campaigns in…
Thomas Edison
in 1868
1 moment here
American inventor and industrialist whose laboratories developed and commercialized technologies in telegraphy, recorded sound, electric lighting and…
Martin Luther King Jr.
in 1951
1 moment here
American Baptist minister and civil-rights leader who advanced racial equality through nonviolent protest.…
Steve Jobs
in 1997
1 moment here
Steven Paul Jobs was an American entrepreneur, inventor, and executive who co-founded Apple, founded NeXT, and led Pixar.…
Thomas Jefferson
in 1784
1 moment here
Thomas Jefferson was an American lawyer, Virginia political leader, diplomat, secretary of state, vice president, and third president of the United…
Oscar Wilde
in 1882
1 moment here
Irish author, poet, playwright, critic, and leading figure in late nineteenth-century aestheticism.…
Benjamin Franklin
in 1706
1 moment here
American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…
Stephen Hawking
in 2016
1 moment here
English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author whose work on singularities, black-hole thermodynamics, and Hawking radiation reshaped modern…
George H. W. Bush
in 1924
1 moment here
George Herbert Walker Bush was an American naval aviator, oil executive, congressman, diplomat, director of central intelligence, vice president, and…
Kofi Annan
in 1971
1 moment here
Ghanaian diplomat and statesman who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006.…
Simón Bolívar
in 1807
1 moment here
Venezuelan military and political leader known as El Libertador. Bolívar led revolutionary campaigns that helped secure the independence of…
Douglas Adams
in 1984
1 moment here
English author, screenwriter and humourist best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.…
Moments
- 1706 Birth on Milk Street Benjamin Franklin
- 1735 Birth on the Adams family farm John Adams
- 1751 Entered Harvard College John Adams
- 1768 Boston residence on Brattle Street John Adams
- 1768 Moved family to Boston John Adams
- 1771 Moved family back to Braintree John Adams
- 1772 Returned household to Boston John Adams
- 1774 Returned to the Braintree farm John Adams
- 1775 Occupies Cambridge headquarters George Washington
- 1776 Returned home after peace conference John Adams
- 1779 Returned from first French mission John Adams
- 1784 At Boston before Atlantic departure Thomas Jefferson
- 1789 Visits churches in Boston George Washington
- 1799 Stayed at Peacefield during peace crisis John Adams
- 1801 Returned to Peacefield full-time John Adams
- 1807 Visits Boston Simón Bolívar
- 1809 Birth in Boston Edgar Allan Poe
- 1824 Received Lafayette at Peacefield John Adams
- 1826 Death at Peacefield John Adams
- 1827 Travel to Boston Edgar Allan Poe
- 1827 Army enlistment at Fort Independence Edgar Allan Poe
- 1842 Arrives in Boston Charles Dickens
- 1867 Returns to Boston Charles Dickens
- 1867 Reads at Tremont Temple Charles Dickens
- 1868 Works as a Boston telegrapher Thomas Edison
- 1876 Entered Harvard University Theodore Roosevelt
- 1882 Aesthetic lecture visit to Boston Oscar Wilde
- 1888 First visit to Perkins Institution Helen Keller
- 1888 Visit to Bunker Hill Helen Keller
- 1889 Studies at Perkins Institution Helen Keller
- 1896 Cambridge School enrollment Helen Keller
- 1898 College preparation in Boston Helen Keller
- 1899 Radcliffe entrance examinations Helen Keller
- 1900 Matriculates at Harvard Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 1900 Begins Radcliffe College Helen Keller
- 1912 Presidential-nomination declaration Theodore Roosevelt
- 1917 Born at 83 Beals Street John F. Kennedy
- 1917 Baptized at St. Aidan's Church John F. Kennedy
- 1920 Moved to Naples Road John F. Kennedy
- 1920 Campaigns in Boston Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 1924 Birth in Milton George H. W. Bush
- 1932 Campaign address in Boston Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 1936 Entered Harvard College John F. Kennedy
- 1944 Treated at Chelsea Naval Hospital John F. Kennedy
- 1946 Established a Boston political residence John F. Kennedy
- 1949 Speaks at MIT Winston Churchill
- 1949 Hospitalization in Boston Judy Garland
- 1951 Begins Boston University studies Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1955 Honorary degree at Harvard Helen Keller
- 1956 Keller-Macy Cottage dedication Helen Keller