Musicians and Composers through history
The atlas holds 47 people and 1,471 moments here, from 600 BC to 2017. The most recorded lives are Michael Jackson, Leonardo da Vinci and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Across the Cold War and the Space Age.
Notable people
Michael Jackson
from 1958 to 2009
17 moments here
American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist whose career began with the Jackson 5 and developed into global solo stardom.…
Leonardo da Vinci
from 1452 to 1519
27 moments here
Italian Renaissance painter, draftsman, engineer, architect, anatomist, and natural philosopher.…
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…
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
from 1756 to 1791
121 moments here
Austrian composer and performer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, Mozart toured Europe as a child prodigy, made three formative journeys to…
Ludwig van Beethoven
from 1770 to 1827
53 moments here
German composer and pianist whose life was centered first in Bonn and, from 1792, in Vienna.…
Charlie Chaplin
from 1889 to 1977
62 moments here
English actor, comedian, director, writer, producer and composer whose screen persona, the Tramp, became an international icon.…
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,…
René Descartes
from 1596 to 1650
45 moments here
French philosopher, mathematician, and natural philosopher whose methodic doubt, mind-body distinction, analytic techniques, and mechanical account…
Rabindranath Tagore
from 1861 to 1941
56 moments here
Bengali poet, novelist, dramatist, composer, painter, philosopher, social reformer, and educationist.…
Marilyn Monroe
from 1926 to 1962
17 moments here
American actress and model born Norma Jeane Mortenson. This chronology maps verified places where Monroe lived, worked, traveled, performed, filmed,…
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,…
Elvis Presley
from 1935 to 1977
29 moments here
American singer and actor Elvis Aaron Presley, widely known as the “King of Rock and Roll.” Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he grew up in Memphis,…
Pythagoras
from 570 BC to 490 BC
5 moments here
Ancient Greek philosopher and founder of the Pythagorean way of life. The surviving evidence for his biography is sparse and often contradictory;…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
from 1646 to 1716
54 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
Richard Wagner
from 1813 to 1883
20 moments here
German composer, conductor, theatre director, and essayist whose movements included early work in German theatre, exile in Switzerland, stays 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…
Marlene Dietrich
from 1901 to 1992
32 moments here
German-American actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (Marie Magdalene Dietrich) was born in Berlin and achieved international fame through stage,…
Mother Teresa
from 1910 to 1997
23 moments here
Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa or Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun.…
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
from 1840 to 1893
46 moments here
Russian Romantic composer whose career ranged from civil-service work and conservatory teaching in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to international…
Johannes Kepler
from 1571 to 1630
16 moments here
German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher, and music theorist. Kepler’s documented life moved from Württemberg schooling…
Giuseppe Verdi
from 1813 to 1901
31 moments here
Italian composer whose career transformed nineteenth-century opera. Born near Busseto, Verdi studied and worked in Busseto and Milan, then traveled…
Freddie Mercury
from 1946 to 1991
44 moments here
Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara) was a British singer, songwriter, pianist, and lead vocalist of Queen.…
Moments
- 600 BC Departure from Mytilene into exile Sappho
- 570 BC Birth and early years on Samos Pythagoras
- 54 Accession before the Praetorian cohort Nero
- 127 Earliest exactly dated astronomical observation Ptolemy
- 1068 Library visit in Bukhara Omar Khayyam
- 1469 Moves to Florence Leonardo da Vinci
- 1484 Family relocates to Mansfeld Martin Luther
- 1577 Family move to Leonberg Johannes Kepler
- 1607 Enters the College of La Flèche René Descartes
- 1687 Stay at Rheinfels Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1700 Moved to Lüneburg Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1703 Opera orchestra post George Frideric Handel
- 1703 Violin teacher at the Ospedale della Pietà Antonio Vivaldi
- 1722 Boarding at Bossey Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1756 Baptized in Salzburg Cathedral Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- 1765 Takes lodgings as a Leipzig student Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- 1777 Childhood home in Rheingasse Ludwig van Beethoven
- 1793 Family relocation to Hamburg Arthur Schopenhauer
- 1823 Schooling in Busseto Giuseppe Verdi
- 1828 First documented Berlin visit Frédéric Chopin
- 1833 Choirmaster appointment Richard Wagner
- 1848 Family move to Moscow Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- 1850 Family relocates to Naumburg Friedrich Nietzsche
- 1872 Countryside stay at Panihati Rabindranath Tagore
- 1894 Makes childhood stage appearance Charlie Chaplin
- 1923 Marriage to Rudolf Sieber Marlene Dietrich
- 1934 Garland Sisters at the Oriental Theater Judy Garland
- 1944 Worked on the Radioplane assembly line Marilyn Monroe
- 1945 First public performance Elvis Presley
- 1950 Establishes Missionaries of Charity Mother Teresa
- 1963 Returned to Zanzibar Freddie Mercury
- 1967 Olympia recital and interview Umm Kulthum
- 1973 Broadway debut in Irene Carrie Fisher
- 1973 First Japanese performances Michael Jackson
- 1975 Solo debut at New Hope Baptist Church Whitney Houston
- 1979 Copacabana live comedy recording Robin Williams
- 1980 Early performances at Papa Gayo's Selena
- 1984 Visited Infocom's Boston offices Douglas Adams
- 1984 Family relocation to Baltimore Tupac Shakur
- 1985 Charity performance tour in the United States Pumpuang Duangjan
- 1985 Wham! concert at Workers' Gymnasium George Michael
- 1989 Music Source recording sessions Kurt Cobain
- 1990 National anthem at Festival Vallenato Rafael Orozco Maestre
- 2004 Glastonbury Festival performance Amy Winehouse
- 2005 Coachella guest appearance Chester Bennington
- 2006 Thousandth SBT program recording Hebe Camargo
- 2008 Coachella headlining appearance Prince