Educators through history
The atlas holds 39 people and 1,339 moments here, from 1225 to 2025. The most recorded lives are Albert Einstein, Leo Tolstoy and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Across the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.
Notable people
Albert Einstein
from 1879 to 1955
85 moments here
German-born theoretical physicist who transformed modern physics through special and general relativity, foundational work on quantum theory, and…
Leo Tolstoy
from 1828 to 1910
21 moments here
Russian novelist, essayist, educator, religious thinker, and social critic. Born at Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy studied in Kazan, served in the Caucasus…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
from 1749 to 1832
78 moments here
German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, theatre director, and statesman. Born in Frankfurt, Goethe studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, practiced…
Galileo Galilei
from 1564 to 1642
35 moments here
Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician, and natural philosopher. Born in Pisa, Galileo was educated in Tuscany, taught mathematics at…
Martin Luther
from 1483 to 1546
29 moments here
German Augustinian friar, priest, theologian, professor, translator, and leading figure of the Protestant Reformation.…
Johann Sebastian Bach
from 1685 to 1750
24 moments here
German Baroque composer, organist, violinist, keyboard virtuoso, and musical director. Born in Eisenach, Bach was educated in Ohrdruf and Lüneburg…
Friedrich Nietzsche
from 1844 to 1900
32 moments here
German philosopher, classical philologist, cultural critic, poet, and author. Born in Röcken, Nietzsche was educated at Schulpforta and Leipzig,…
Immanuel Kant
from 1724 to 1804
15 moments here
German Enlightenment philosopher whose critical philosophy transformed epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and political thought.…
Marie Curie
from 1867 to 1934
37 moments here
Polish-born, naturalized-French physicist and chemist who pioneered research on radioactivity. With Pierre Curie she discovered polonium and radium.…
Pope Francis
from 1936 to 2025
71 moments here
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, was an Argentine Jesuit priest, archbishop of Buenos Aires, cardinal, and head of the Catholic Church and…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from 1712 to 1778
39 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
Mao Zedong
from 1893 to 1976
38 moments here
Chinese communist revolutionary and political leader who led the Chinese Communist Party and founded the People’s Republic of China.…
Adam Smith
from 1723 to 1790
25 moments here
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist of the Scottish Enlightenment, author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the…
Neil Armstrong
from 1930 to 2012
20 moments here
American naval aviator, research test pilot, NASA astronaut, aerospace administrator, and professor.…
Carl Linnaeus
from 1707 to 1778
29 moments here
Swedish botanist, physician, and naturalist who formalized binomial nomenclature and devised an influential system for classifying organisms.…
Louis Pasteur
from 1822 to 1895
24 moments here
French chemist and microbiologist whose work on molecular asymmetry, fermentation, germ theory, pasteurization, and vaccines transformed modern…
Thomas Aquinas
from 1225 to 1274
21 moments here
Italian Dominican friar, priest, theologian, and philosopher. His documented movements connected family residences in southern Italy, Dominican and…
Pope John Paul II
from 1920 to 2005
31 moments here
Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920–2005), Pope John Paul II from 1978, was a Polish Catholic priest, bishop, cardinal, and pope.…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
from 1646 to 1716
54 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
J. R. R. Tolkien
from 1892 to 1973
38 moments here
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English philologist, university professor, and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.…
Carl Friedrich Gauss
from 1777 to 1855
35 moments here
German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist. Gauss was born in Brunswick, studied there and at Göttingen, worked privately in…
Frédéric Chopin
from 1810 to 1849
45 moments here
Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period. Born in Żelazowa Wola, he grew up and trained in Warsaw, travelled through Central…
Pope Benedict XVI
from 1927 to 2022
40 moments here
Joseph Alois Ratzinger (1927–2022), Pope Benedict XVI, was a German Catholic theologian, archbishop, cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for the…
Jorge Luis Borges
from 1899 to 1986
58 moments here
Argentine writer, poet, essayist, translator, lecturer, librarian, and critic. Borges was born in Buenos Aires, lived in Switzerland and Spain during…
Moments
- 1230 Early education at Monte Cassino Thomas Aquinas
- 1476 Childhood move to Gouda Desiderius Erasmus
- 1484 Family relocates to Mansfeld Martin Luther
- 1564 Baptized at Pisa Cathedral Galileo Galilei
- 1579 University enrollment in Geneva Giordano Bruno
- 1687 Stay at Rheinfels Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1700 Moved to Lüneburg Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1703 Opera orchestra post George Frideric Handel
- 1707 Baptism at St. Martin's Church Leonhard Euler
- 1722 Boarding at Bossey Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1727 Studies at Lund University Carl Linnaeus
- 1730 Attends the Hospitalschule Immanuel Kant
- 1737 Student at Glasgow Adam Smith
- 1763 Childhood and primary schooling in Lorch Friedrich Schiller
- 1765 Takes lodgings as a Leipzig student Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- 1784 Elementary schooling Carl Friedrich Gauss
- 1788 Entered the Tübinger Stift Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
- 1793 Family relocation to Hamburg Arthur Schopenhauer
- 1804 Bookbinder's apprenticeship Michael Faraday
- 1828 First documented Berlin visit Frédéric Chopin
- 1836 Family moves to Moscow Leo Tolstoy
- 1848 Family move to Moscow Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- 1849 Journey to Moscow for university admission Dmitri Mendeleev
- 1850 Family relocates to Naumburg Friedrich Nietzsche
- 1854 Dean at Lille Louis Pasteur
- 1880 Family moves to Munich Albert Einstein
- 1889 Returns to Warsaw Marie Curie
- 1890 Student at Canterbury College Ernest Rutherford
- 1896 Childhood move to Sarehole J. R. R. Tolkien
- 1909 Pampa journey near San Nicolás Jorge Luis Borges
- 1912 Studies in Changsha Mao Zedong
- 1914 Return to Milwaukee and Zionist activity Golda Meir
- 1942 Underground seminary in occupied Kraków Pope John Paul II
- 1949 Begins university study Raisa Gorbacheva
- 1955 NACA research pilot at Lewis Neil Armstrong
- 1995 International Mathematical Olympiad perfect score Maryam Mirzakhani
- 2005 Inauguration Mass Pope Benedict XVI
- 2012 Meeting Hillary Clinton in Cairo Mohamed Morsi
- 2013 Papal inauguration Mass Pope Francis