Portal:Biography

The Biography Portal

A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description or account of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death. It portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.

Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography.

An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An unauthorized biography is one written without such permission or participation. An autobiography is written by its subject, sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter. (Full article...)

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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

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Amaker in 2024

Harold Tommy Amaker Jr. (/ˈæməkər/; born June 6, 1965) is an American college basketball coach and the head coach of the Harvard University men's basketball team. He has also coached for the University of Michigan and Seton Hall University. He played point guard and later served as an assistant coach at Duke University under Mike Krzyzewski. An All-American player, Amaker set numerous records and earned many honors and awards. He took Seton Hall to the postseason in each of his four seasons as their coach, helped Michigan win the National Invitation Tournament the year after a probationary ban from postseason play, and had the three highest single-season win totals in the history of Harvard basketball, the school's first six Ivy League championships and first NCAA tournament victory.

Amaker was a high school basketball star at W. T. Woodson High School from 1979 to 1983 under coach Paul (Red) Jenkins. Amaker led the Woodson Cavaliers to four straight Northern District titles, including victories over the national powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School. A McDonald's All-American, Amaker also earned the Wooden Defensive Player of the Year award in 1983, awarded to the nation's best high school defensive player. He averaged almost 18 points, and contributed 7.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game while at Woodson. In December 1992, the Connection named Amaker to the Connection Dream Team, as a point guard.McDonald's All-American and a Parade All-American. As a college basketball player, he set most of the assists records and many steals records for Duke basketball. He also set the Atlantic Coast Conference single-season games played and games started records. Among his numerous accolades, he was the first winner of the NABC Defensive Player of the Year, and he was a third team All-American. (Full article...)
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Jesus (c. 6 to 4 BC – AD 30 or 33), also known as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and by various other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader in the Roman province of Judaea. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most branches of Christianity consider Jesus the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah or Christ. Accounts of Jesus's life are contained in the Gospels, especially the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament. Since the Enlightenment, academic research has produced various views on the historical reliability of the Gospels and the extent to which they reflect the historical Jesus, but virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically.

According to Christian tradition, as represented in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus was circumcised at eight days old, presented at the Temple in Jerusalem at 40 days old, baptized by John the Baptist as a young adult, and, after 40 days and nights of fasting in the wilderness, began his public ministry. He was an itinerant teacher whom his followers believed to possess divine authority in interpreting Jewish law. Jesus often debated with other Jews, most commonly the Pharisees and Sadducees, about how best to follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables, and gathered followers, 12 of whom he appointed as his apostles. According to the New Testament accounts, he was arrested in Jerusalem and tried by the Sanhedrin, handed over to the Roman authorities, and crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judaea. In Christian theology, the Resurrection is the event in which Jesus rose from the dead, on the third day after his death, and this belief became the foundation of the early Christian Church, which expanded into a worldwide movement. (Full article...)
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Publicity still of Koufax, c. 1965

Sanford Koufax (/ˈkoʊfæks/; né Braun; born December 30, 1935), nicknamed "the Left Arm of God", is an American former professional baseball player. Widely considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time, he played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Koufax was the first three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, each time winning unanimously and the only pitcher to do so when a single award was given for both leagues; he was also named the National League Most Valuable Player in 1963. Retiring at age 30 due to chronic pain in his pitching elbow, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972 at age 36, the youngest player ever elected.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Koufax was primarily a basketball player in his youth and had pitched in only a few games before signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers at age 19. Due to the bonus rule he signed under, Koufax never pitched in the minor leagues. His lack of pitching experience caused manager Walter Alston to distrust Koufax, who saw inconsistent playing time during his first six seasons. After making adjustments prior to the 1961 season, Koufax quickly rose to become the dominant pitcher in the major leagues, as well as the first major sports star on the West Coast. He was an All-Star in each of his last six seasons, leading the National League (NL) in earned run average each of his last five years, in strikeouts four times, and in wins and shutouts three times each. He was the first pitcher in the live-ball era to post an earned run average below 2.00 in three different qualifying seasons and the first in the modern era to record a 300-strikeout season three times. (Full article...)
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John Gould Stephenson (March 1, 1828 – November 11, 1883) was an American medical doctor and soldier who served as Librarian of Congress from 1861 to 1864. Born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, to a prominent merchant family, he attended the Dartmouth Medical College and Castleton Medical College, where he received his M.D in 1849. Stephenson moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, in the early 1850s, where he became active in the temperance movement and the nascent Republican Party. He campaigned for Abraham Lincoln in the 1859 Senate race in Illinois and the 1860 presidential election. He pursued an appointment as Librarian of Congress immediately following Lincoln's election, possibly due to his brother's work as a librarian in Cincinnati. After a lengthy pressure campaign from prominent Republicans, Lincoln appointed Stephenson as Librarian of Congress, replacing long-term incumbent John Silva Meehan despite opposition from the Joint Committee on the Library.

Believing the library had fallen into neglect under Meehan's administration, Stephenson began a mass change of staff soon after taking office, firing all but one assistant. He hired journalist Ainsworth Rand Spofford, a friend of his brother, as assistant librarian in August 1861. Although never formally commissioned, Stephenson began serving in the Union Army soon after his appointment as Librarian of Congress. He briefly served as an acting naval surgeon to the 19th Indiana Infantry in 1861, before serving as an aide-de-camp in the Indiana militia, where he achieved the rank of colonel. In 1863, he served as the aide-de-camp of Solomon Meredith, commander of the Iron Brigade, and saw action at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He resigned as librarian for unclear reasons in December 1864, and was succeeded by Spofford. He served in various positions as a legal clerk during the 1870s, and was appointed as a medical examiner at the Bureau of Pensions in Washington in the early 1880s. He died after a period of illness and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery. (Full article...)
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William McGregor (13 April 1846 – 20 December 1911) was a Scottish association football administrator in the Victorian era who was the founder of the Football League (now English Football League), the first organised association football league in the world.

After moving from Perthshire to Birmingham to set up business as a draper, McGregor became involved with local football club Aston Villa, which he helped to establish as one of the leading teams in England. He served the club for over 20 years in various capacities, including president, director and chairman. In 1888, frustrated by the regular cancellation of Villa's matches, McGregor organised a meeting of representatives of England's leading clubs, which led to the formation of the Football League, giving member clubs a guaranteed fixture list each season. This was instrumental in the transition of football from an amateur pastime to a professional business. (Full article...)
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Charles Green at Wewak, New Guinea, in September 1945

Charles Hercules Green (26 December 1919 – 1 November 1950) was an Australian military officer who was the youngest Australian Army infantry battalion commander during World War II. He went on to command the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), during the Korean War, where he died of wounds. He remains the only commanding officer of a Royal Australian Regiment battalion to die on active service. Green joined the part-time Militia in 1936, and before the outbreak of World War II had been commissioned as a lieutenant. He volunteered for overseas service soon after the war began in September 1939, and served in the Middle East and the Battle of Greece with the 2/2nd Battalion. After the action at Pineios Gorge on 18 April 1941, Green became separated from the main body of the battalion, and made his way through Turkey to Palestine, to rejoin the reformed 2/2nd Battalion. The 2/2nd Battalion returned to Australia in August 1942 via Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), to meet the threat posed by the Japanese.

Green performed instructional duties and attended courses until July 1943 when he rejoined the 2/2nd Battalion as its second-in-command. At the time, the unit was training in Queensland. From March to July 1945, Green commanded the 2/11th Battalion during the Aitape-Wewak campaign in New Guinea. For his performance during the campaign, Green was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. After the war, Green briefly returned to civilian life and part-time military service as commanding officer of the 41st Battalion. When the Regular Army was formed, Green returned to full-time service in early 1949. (Full article...)
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Winslet in 2025

Kate Elizabeth Winslet (/ˈwɪnzlət/ ; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Primarily known for her roles as headstrong women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012.

Winslet studied drama at the Redroofs Theatre School. Her first screen appearance, at age fifteen, was in the British television series Dark Season (1991). She made her film debut playing a teenage murderess in Heavenly Creatures (1994), and went on to win a BAFTA Award for playing Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1995). Global stardom followed with her leading role in James Cameron's epic romance Titanic (1997), which was the highest-grossing film at the time. Winslet then eschewed parts in blockbusters in favour of critically acclaimed period pieces, including Quills (2000) and Iris (2001). (Full article...)
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Akhmad Bassah (also Bassakh; [axˈmad baˈsax]; fl. 1923–30), best known by the pen name Joehana ([juˈhana]; Perfected Spelling: Yuhana), was an author from the Dutch East Indies who wrote in Sundanese. He worked for a time on the railroad before becoming an author by 1923, and had a strong interest in social welfare; this interest influenced his novels. He was also a productive translator, dramatist, and reporter, and operated a company which offered writing services. Sources disagree when Joehana died; some offer 1930, while others give 1942–45.

During the seven years in which he was active, Joehana wrote a number of stories and articles, as well as several novels. The years of publication are generally unclear, as reprints included neither the year of first publication nor the printing number. Stylistically, Joehana has been classified as a realist owing to his use of the names of actual locations and products in his works, as well as the predominantly vernacular Sundanese in his novels. However, influences from traditional theatrical forms such as wayang and literature such as pantun are evident. Joehana's works cover a wide range of themes, although in general they are oriented towards social criticism and promote modernization. (Full article...)
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Depiction of Tolui from a 14th-century manuscript of Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-tawarikh

Tolui (c. 1191 – 1232) was the youngest son of Genghis Khan and Börte. A prominent general during the early Mongol conquests, Tolui was a leading candidate to succeed his father after his death in 1227 and ultimately served as regent of the Mongol Empire until the accession of his brother Ögedei two years later. Tolui's wife was Sorghaghtani Beki; their sons included Möngke and Kublai, the fourth and fifth khans of the empire, and Hulagu, the founder of the Ilkhanate.

Tolui was less active than his elder brothers Jochi, Chagatai, and Ögedei during their father's rise to power, but once he reached adulthood he was considered the finest warrior of the four. He commanded armies under his father during the first invasion of Jin China (1211–1215), and his distinguished service during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire secured his reputation. After the fall of the cities of Transoxiana in 1220, Genghis dispatched Tolui early the following year to subjugate the region of Khorasan, which had begun to cause trouble for the Mongol armies. Tolui executed his orders with ruthless efficiency, assaulting the major cities of Merv, Nishapur, and Herat, and subjugating numerous others. Medieval chroniclers attributed more than three million deaths to the massacres he ordered at Nishapur and Merv; while these figures are considered exaggerated by modern historians, they are evidence of the abnormal brutality of Tolui's campaign. (Full article...)
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Lieutenant General Sir James Whiteside McCay, (21 December 1864 – 1 October 1930), who often spelt his surname M'Cay, was an Australian general and politician.

A graduate of the University of Melbourne, where he earned Master of Arts and Master of Laws degrees, McCay established a successful legal practice, McCay & Thwaites. He was a member of the Victorian Parliament for Castlemaine from 1895 to 1899, where he was a champion of women's suffrage and federation. He lost his seat in 1899 but became a member of the first Australian Federal Parliament in 1901. He was Minister for Defence from 1904 to 1905, during which he implemented long-lasting reforms, including the creation of the Military Board. (Full article...)
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Quartzite statue of Nynetjer wearing ceremonial clothes of the Sed festival, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

Nynetjer (also known as Ninetjer and Banetjer) was the third pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt during the Early Dynastic Period, prior to the Old Kingdom period. The dates for his reign are uncertain; Egyptologists have proposed that it took place at some point between the late 29th and the early 27th century BC for 35 to 49 years, and most probably lasted around 40 years. Archaeologically, Nynetjer is the best-attested king of the early Second Dynasty and he is also recorded on several king lists dating to the Old Kingdom and the later Ramesside and Ptolemaic periods. There is strong evidence that he succeeded Nebra on the throne. The events at the end of his reign and the identity of his successor are much less clear. Both historical sources and archaeological evidence point to some breakdown or partition of the state along both religious and political lines, most probably seeing concurrent rulers reigning over Upper and Lower Egypt until the country was reunited by Khasekhemwy at the end of the dynasty.

Most of the events recorded for Nynetjer's reign on the Palermo Stone, the Old Kingdom royal annals, are regular religious festivals and censuses undertaken for taxation purposes. The probable locations for these events indicate that royal activity was largely confined to the capital Memphis and its vicinity in Lower Egypt, with the possible exception of a military campaign in Nubia. The administrative structure of the state continued on its First Dynasty (c. 3150 – 3000 BC) basis but became more sophisticated, with the earliest evidence for the administrative partition of Egypt into nomes, a regional management system, dating to Nynetjer's reign. (Full article...)
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Prince Romerson (c. 1840 – March 30, 1872) was a Union army soldier of Native Hawaiian descent. One of the "Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War", he was among a group of more than 100 documented Native Hawaiian and Hawaii-born combatants who fought in the American Civil War while the Kingdom of Hawaii was still an independent nation.

Living in the American Northeast before the war, Romerson enlisted in the Union navy in 1863 as part of the Blockading Squadrons responsible for maintaining the blockade of the ports of the Confederacy. After being discharged from naval service, he reenlisted in the Union army under the 5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry, a United States Colored (USCT) regiment, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant on June 1, 1864. Romerson fought with the 5th USCC until the end of the war. Illness prevented him from continuing with his regiment's reassignment to Clarksville, Texas, and he was mustered out in 1865. After the war, like many former USCT veterans, he remained in the army on the frontier as one of the Buffalo Soldiers. He died in 1872. (Full article...)
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The murder of Sir William de Cantilupe, who was born around 1345, by members of his household, took place in Scotton, Lincolnshire, in March 1375. The family was a long-established and influential one in the county; de Cantilupes traditionally provided officials to the Crown both in central government and at the local level. Among William de Cantilupe's ancestors were royal councillors, bodyguards and, distantly, Saint Thomas de Cantilupe.

De Cantilupe's death by multiple stab wounds was a cause célèbre. The chief suspects were two neighbours—a local knight, Ralph Paynel; and the sheriff, Sir Thomas Kydale—as well as de Cantilupe's entire household, particularly his wife Maud, the cook and a squire. The staff were probably paid either to carry out or to cover up the crime, while Paynel had been in dispute with the de Cantilupes for many years; it is possible that Maud was conducting an affair with Kydale, during her husband's frequent absences on service in France during the Hundred Years' War. (Full article...)
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Grace White Sherwood (1660–1740), called the Witch of Pungo, is the last person known to have been convicted of witchcraft in Virginia.

A farmer, healer, and midwife, she was accused by her neighbors of transforming herself into a cat, damaging crops, and causing the death of livestock. She was charged with witchcraft several times. The court ordered that Sherwood's guilt or innocence be determined by ducking her in water. If she sank, she was innocent; if she did not, she was guilty. Sherwood floated to the surface and may have spent almost eight years in jail before being released. (Full article...)
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1855 drawing, based on a now-lost photograph

Qalaherriaq (Inuktun pronunciation: [qalahəχːiɑq], c. 1834 – June 14, 1856), baptized as Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua, was an Inughuaq hunter from Cape York, Greenland. He was recruited in 1850 as an interpreter by the crew of the British survey barque HMS Assistance during the search for John Franklin's lost Arctic expedition. He guided the ship to Wolstenholme Fjord to investigate rumors of a massacre of Franklin's crew, but only found the corpses of local Inughuit and crew from an unrelated British vessel. With the help of the crew of the vessel, he produced accurate maps of his homeland. Although Assistance initially planned to return him to his family after the expedition, poor sea conditions made landing at Cape York impossible, and he was taken to England and placed under the care of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK).

Enrolled at St Augustine's College in Canterbury, England, Qalaherriaq studied English and Christianity for several years. He was appointed by the Bishop of Newfoundland Edward Feild to accompany him on religious missions to the Inuit of Labrador. He arrived at St. John's in October 1855, and began studying at the Theological Institute. Plagued by illness since his time aboard Assistance, he died from complications of long-term tuberculosis in June 1856, shortly before he was scheduled to travel to Labrador. A posthumous biography, Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian, was published by the SPCK shortly after his death. Inughuit oral histories, collected by Knud Rasmussen in the early 20th century, describe him as the victim of an abduction by the British, and relate that his mother mourned him without learning of his fate. (Full article...)

More featured articles

Did you know... - show different entries

... that Indonesian diplomat Linggawaty Hakim assisted the Bahamas government in determining its maritime border with Cuba?
... that artist Agnes Gallus fled Hungary for Canada during the 1956 revolution?
... that Bishop Anselm, Abbot Geoffrey, and Viscount Rohard were sent in 1142 to delicately inform the Byzantine emperor that he was welcome in Jerusalem—just not with an army?
... that a painting by the artist Bichitr shows an Indian emperor preferring a Sufi saint over the king of England and the Ottoman sultan?
... that the Battle of Shangi ended when the Congo Free State commander personally shot the leader of the opposing Rwandan army?
... that last year, Pope Francis simplified the book for papal funerals?
... that a host of the Longform.org podcast once interviewed a writer while accidentally high on edibles?
... that the politician Veylma Falaeo is the first woman to be President of the Congress of New Caledonia?
... that artist Cate Giordano once played both Henry VIII and his wife Anne of Cleves for a solo exhibition?
... that Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi campaigned in Birmingham, England, while running to become the vice president of Somaliland?
... that the fantasy writer M. A. R. Barker wrote the neo-Nazi novel Serpent's Walk in 1991, but his authorship was only confirmed in 2022?
... that Bad Bunny was the first Spanish-language Latino solo artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show?

General images

The following are images from various biography-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Cover of the first English edition of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, 1793 (from Autobiography)
Image 2A scene from the Baburnama (from Autobiography)
Image 3Einhard as scribe (from Biography)
Image 4Eminent Victorians set the standard for 20th century biographical writing, when it was published in 1918. (from Biography)
Image 5Third volume of a 1727 edition of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans printed by Jacob Tonson (from Biography)
Image 6James Boswell wrote what many consider to be the first modern biography, The Life of Samuel Johnson, in 1791. (from Biography)
Image 7John Foxe's The Book of Martyrs, was one of the earliest English-language biographies. (from Biography)
Image 8Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote Confessions, the first Western autobiography ever written, around AD 400. Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, 17th century. (from Autobiography)

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Selected portrait

Image 1
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Photo credit: Royal family of Bhutan
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the fifth and current Bhutan Dragon King and head of the Wangchuck dynasty. He became king on 14 December 2006, and was officially crowned on 6 November 2008. The young king began his unusual reign overseeing the democratization of Bhutan, stating that the responsibility for this generation of Bhutanese was to ensure the success of democracy.
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Fridtjof Nansen
Photo: Henry Van der Weyde; Restoration: Smalljim/PLW
Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930) was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his North Pole expedition of 1893–96. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. In 1922 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of the displaced victims of the First World War and related conflicts.
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Moshe Ya'alon
Photograph: Reuven Kapuscinski
Moshe Ya'alon (b. 1950) is an Israeli politician and current Defense Minister. Ya'alon was called up as a reserve during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. After the war, he rejoined the army as an officer and rose through the ranks, leading the Sayeret Matkal commando unit, the Paratroopers Brigade, and Military Intelligence. In 2002 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, resigning in 2005. Since 2013 he has served as the country's Defense Minister.
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Frederick III, German Emperor
Image credit: Illustrated London News
Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, later Frederick III, in the August 20, 1870 issue of the Illustrated London News, during his time as commander of one of the three divisions of the German Army in the Franco-Prussian War. He was noted for his fondness for liberal democracy and pacifism, but died less than a year after he became king, before he could institute any real reforms. His death and replacement by his more militaristic son, without the reforms that might have impeded his son's urges, is often considered one of the factors that led to World War I. This engraving is based on a portrait photograph of him taken in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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Frederick Douglass
Photo credit: George K. Warren
American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer Frederick Douglass, shown here in 1879. Born a slave, Douglass was one of the most prominent figures in African American history and a formidable public presence. He was a firm believer in the equality of all people, whether black, female, American Indian, or recent immigrant. He was fond of saying, "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong."

February is Black History Month in the United States and Canada.
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Fyodor Dostoevsky
Painting: Vasily Perov
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–81; depicted in 1872) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher. After publishing his first novel, Poor Folk, at age 25, Dostoyevsky wrote (among others) eleven novels, three novellas, and seventeen short novels, including Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880).
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Mary of Teck
Photo credit: Bain News Service
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of King George V as well as the Empress of India. Before her accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales. By birth, she was a princess of Teck, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, with the style Her Serene Highness. To her family, she was informally known as May, after her birth month. Queen Mary was known for setting the tone of the British royal family, as a model of regal formality and propriety, especially during state occasions. She was the first Queen Consort to attend the coronation of her successors. Noted for superbly bejewelling herself for formal events, Queen Mary left a collection of jewels now considered priceless.
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Rory Kennedy
Photograph credit: Lyndie Benson
Rory Kennedy (born December 12, 1968) is an American documentary filmmaker and the youngest child of U.S. senator Robert Kennedy and Ethel Skakel. Born six months after the assassination of her father, her life has seen many tragedies. As a director and producer, she has made documentary films that center on social issues such as addiction, nuclear radiation, the treatment of prisoners of war, and the politics of the Mexican border fence. Her films have been featured on many TV networks, and her 2014 documentary Last Days in Vietnam was nominated for an Academy Award.
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George IV
Artist: Sir Thomas Lawrence
An oil on canvas portrait of George IV of the United Kingdom as the Prince Regent, by Sir Thomas Lawrence. In 1814, Lord Stewart, who had been appointed ambassador in Vienna and was a previous client of Thomas Lawrence, wanted to commission a portrait by him of the Prince Regent. He arranged that Lawrence should be presented to the Prince Regent at a levée. Soon after, the Prince visited Lawrence at his studio in Russell Square. Lawrence wrote to his brother that: To crown this honour, [he] engag'd to sit to me at one today and after a successful sitting of two hours, has just left me and comes again tomorrow and the next day.
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Image 10
Lillian Gish
Photo credit: Bain News Service
A portrait of Lillian Gish from 1921. Gish was one of the first female movie stars, called "The First Lady of the Silent Screen", starting in 1912 and continuing to appear in films until 1987. The American Film Institute named Gish 17th among the greatest female stars of all time and awarded her a Life Achievement Award, making her the only recipient who was a major figure in the silent era. Remarkably, she never won an Academy Award for her work, although she did receive a Special Academy Award in 1971.
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Image 11
John Henry Newman
Painting: John Everett Millais
John Henry Newman (1801–90) was a British cleric and leader in the Oxford Movement, a group of Anglicans who wished to return the Church of England to many Catholic beliefs and forms of worship traditional in the medieval times. In 1845 Newman converted to Catholicism, eventually rising to cardinal.
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Image 12
Al Grey
Photograph credit: William P. Gottlieb; restored by Adam Cuerden
Al Grey (June 6, 1925 – March 24, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist who was known for his plunger-mute technique. After serving in World War II, he joined Benny Carter's band, then the bands of Jimmie Lunceford, Lucky Millinder, and Lionel Hampton. In the 1950s, he was a member of the big bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie before forming his own bands in the 1960s. This photograph by William P. Gottlieb shows Grey still performing into the 1980s.
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Image 13
Frédéric Chopin
Photo credit: Louis-Auguste Bisson
The only known photograph of Frédéric Chopin, often incorrectly described as a daguerreotype. It is believed to have been taken in 1849 during the degenerative stages of his tuberculosis, shortly before his death. Chopin, a Polish pianist and composer of the Romantic era, is widely regarded as one of the most famous, influential, admired and prolific composers for the piano. He moved to Paris at the age of twenty, adopting the French variant of his name, "Frédéric-François", by which he is now known.
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Image 14
Donald Pleasence
Photo: Allan Warren; Restoration: Peter Weis
Donald Pleasence (1919–1995) was a British film, television and stage actor best known for his roles in You Only Live Twice, where he played James Bond's arch-enemy Dr Blofeld, and The Great Escape, where he drew upon his experience in a German POW camp. He was nominated four times for the Tony Award for best performance by a leading actor in a Broadway play, and made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the acting profession by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
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L-to-R: Allan Pinkerton, Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand
Photo credit: Alexander Gardner
Allan Pinkerton (left), President Abraham Lincoln (center), and Major General John A. McClernand (right). This photo was taken not long after the Civil War's first battle on northern soil in Antietam, Maryland, on October 3, 1862. Pinkerton was the head of Union Intelligence Services at the time. He also, allegedly, foiled an assassination attempt against Lincoln. His wartime work was critical in Pinkerton's development, which he later used to pioneer the American private detective industry when he formed the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
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On this day – September 24

Births

AD 15 - Vitellius, Roman Emperor (d. AD 69)
1717 - Horace Walpole, British novelist and politician (d. 1797)
1724 - Sir Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (d. 1803)
1739 - Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin, Russian statesman (d. 1791)
1896 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist (d. 1940)
1898 - Howard Walter Florey, Nobel Laureate (d. 1968)
1911 - Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet premier (d. 1985)
1936 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer (d. 1990)
1941 - Linda McCartney, American singer (d. 1998)
1946 - "Mean" Joe Greene, American football player
1946 - Lars Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of Greenland
1949 - Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish movie director

Deaths

1180 - Manuel I Comnenus, Greek Byzantine Emperor (b. 1118)
1541 - Paracelsus, Swiss alchemist (b. 1493)
1834 - Pedro I of Brazil, Emperor of Brazil (pictured) (b. 1798)
1991 - Dr. Seuss, American children's writer (b. 1904)
2002 - Youssouf Togoïmi, Chadian rebel (b. 1953)

More of today's anniversaries...

In the news

22 September 2026 – Eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly: Diplomatic sources and the United Nations say that the United States refused to issue Sudanese military chief and de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan a visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York City. Sudan asks the UN to intervene. (AFP)
14 September 2026 – 78th Primetime Emmy Awards: Canadian–American actor Michael J. Fox wins the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his contributions to research and advocacy on Parkinson's disease. (Reuters)
13 September 2026 – 2026 Swedish general election: Swedes vote to elect all 349 seats of the Riksdag. Incumbent prime minister Ulf Kristersson, who seeks to lead the Moderates to a second consecutive government while including the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats in his cabinet, is being challenged by the former prime minister and SAP leader Magdalena Andersson. Preliminary results indicate that the Red-Greens and the Centre Party are projected to have a combined total of 175 seats, while the four Tidö parties are projected to have a total of 174 seats. (AP) (DW)
12 September 2026 –: Libya's RADA Special Deterrence Forces seize about 100,000 MDMA pills moulded with former leader Muammar Gaddafi's likeness after tracking a shipment smuggled from Europe. Officers find the drugs hidden in a cargo van and refer several suspects to prosecutors. (The Independent)
10 September 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet confirm that they have killed Hamas senior leader Farah Hamed, a senior member who was accused of carrying out the 2003 attack that resulted in the killing of Shalom Har-Melech [he], the late husband of Limor Son Har-Melech, in a airstrike in the Gaza Strip. (Israel National News) (The Times of Israel)
8 September 2026 – Israel–United Kingdom relations, Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Legality of Israeli settlements: To reciprocate the UK sanctions, Israel announces it will close the UK consulate in East Jerusalem. Israel also forbids the UK from participating in the U.S.-led mission for Gaza, and bans some British officials, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, from entering the country. (The North West Star)

Updated: 1:05, 24 September 2026

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Quote of the week

"When are you people going to learn? It's not about who's right or wrong. No denomination's nailed it yet, and they never will because they're all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn't matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith. Your hearts are in the right place, but your brains need to wake up. I have issues with anyone who treats faith as a burden instead of a blessing. You people don't celebrate your faith; you mourn it."

— Kevin Smith

Said by the character Serendipity in Dogma

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