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From discussion: https://www.geni.com/discussions/268230
In order posted:
of the sciences
- Dr. Samuel A. Silk - Hero psychiatrist.
- Herman Boerhaave - Dutch botanist, chemist, Christian humanist, and physician of European fame.
- Gregor Mendel - founder of the modern science of genetics.
- Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev - created his own version of the periodic table of elements
- Abraham Waksman, Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 1952 - Discoverer of several antibiotics (a word which he coined).
- (Toni) Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker 'The flying Dutchman' - Aviation pioneer, especially important for setting up the aviation industry.
- Santos Dumont, o Pai da Aviação - Aviation pioneer
- Carlos Chagas, MD “… we insist on a posthumous Nobel Prize for the man who made the most complete medical-scientist discovery of all time."
- J. Robert Oppenheimer - American theoretical physicist and professor of physics and is among those who are credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb"
- Thomas Newcomen - We would be much further back in time without a good steam engine, and especially without the principles he used, which would be used in other 'Things' to advance and simplify our lives. So thanks to him too we don't live in an Fred Flinstone-like-Age !
- Marie Curie & Pierre Curie - one of the greatest couples in History.
- Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - It was he who discovered bacteria, free-living and parasitic microscopic protists, sperm cells, blood cells, microscopic nematodes and rotifers, and much more by building his own microscopes. His researches, which were widely circulated, opened up an entire world of microscopic life to the awareness of scientists.
Thinkers & inventors
- Baruch Spinoza - also known as Benedictus de Spinoza or Bento de Spinosa, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin who lived in the Dutch Republic in the 17th century. He wrote his name in different ways, depending on the language and context.
- Donald Byron Poynter. - "I remember coming home from elementary school and asking Mom what we should say when our teachers ask, "What does your father do for a living?" She looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Just say 'self-employed'." –Molly Poynter Maundrell.
- Santos Dumont, o Pai da Aviação - had an important role in helping to develop the airplanes
- James Henry Joyce - in 1904 invented the "Joyce Stick" for airplanes. He sold his design for $400 and it was later renamed the "Joystick."
- Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. - African American inventor.
- Rachel Louise Carson - one of the most important individuals in World History.
- Henry David Thoreau - was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist.
- Thomas Godfrey, Sr. - Undertook the development of an improved quadrant for determining latitude. He carried out much of his work in part of a home that he rented from Benjamin Franklin. Godfrey completed his quadrant in 1730; its accuracy was subsequently proved during voyages in Delaware Bay and in the Atlantic Ocean to Jamaica. Godfrey’s son, Thomas (1736–63), won notice as a colonial playwright and poet.
In the arts
- George Frederick Gedge - Early Australian Actor and Director George Frederick Gedge (AKA George Osborne)
- Sinéad O'Connor - The late and very great singer-songwriter and force of nature.
- Eugene George Standingbear - Lakota tribe actor, dancer, visual artist, and so much more.
- Tom Stoppard -the famous English playwright born in Czech Republic.
- Cornelio Pires - was a journalist, writer, composer, film director, and folklorist. He is the Patron of Brazilian Country Music because in the '20s (last century - XX) he was responsible for collecting music and folk traditions of the countrymen. Without his work, this knowledge could be lost now.
- Thomas Godfrey, Jr. - The Prince of Parthia, a tragedy of ancient times written in blank verse. Its plot of villainies and murders was original with Godfrey. Performed by the American Company in Philadelphia on 24 Apr. 1767, it was the first play written by an American to be staged by professionals.
Founders
- Jan van Riebeeck - Founder of Cape Town.
- Capt. Christopher Newport, Admiral of Virginia - led the fleet of colonists who established the first permanent English settlement in the New World. He chose the site for Jamestown, led the initial exploration for King James, and negotiated peacefully with Chief Powhatan's Indian tribes.
- Colonel Loammi Baldwin - is called “ The Father of Civil Engineering in America.”
- S. Clinton Hastings, U.S. Representative, Iowa & California Chief Justice - was a California Supreme Court justice whose financial support established the UC original law school. But historians have said he also orchestrated killings of Native Americans in order to remove them from ranch land he purchased in Northern California.
- James Lewis Cowles - "The Father of the Parcel Post". He pursued the idea that the Post Office should be able to deliver packages and this was achieved in 1914, largely through his efforts to right a wrong that had damaged not only his family's substantial fortunes but hindered the interests of small businesses across the US.
- Rev. John Martin Boltzius - founder of the Salzburger settlement in Georgia.
Explorers
- Captain James Waterman Buddington - He went on incredible journeys throughout his life, ranging from being a 15-year-old cabin boy on the mission to salvage the HMS Resolute to being captain of the very last whaling voyage out of Connecticut (which sailed to Antarctica!). His home is still standing.
- Torbjørn C. ‘Thor’ Pedersen - On October 10, 2013, Torbjørn “Thor” Pedersen left his job, girlfriend, and family behind in Denmark to embark on an epic journey. His goal? To visit every country in the world without flying..
- Jacob Roggeveen - a Dutch explorer who was sent to find Terra Australis and Davis Land, but instead found Easter Island (called so because he landed there on Easter Sunday). Jacob Roggeveen also found Bora Bora and Maupiti of the Society Islands, as well as Samoa.
Of the law
- Judge Constance Motley - A key strategist of the civil rights movement, she was New York state senator, and Borough President of Manhattan in New York City before becoming the first African American female to serve as United States federal judge.
Military service
- Samuel C. Reid (USN), Hero of Fayal - Samuel Chester Reid was an officer in the United States Navy who commanded a privateer during the War of 1812. He is also noted for having helped design the 1818 version of the flag of the United States, which first established the rule of keeping thirteen stripes and adding one star for each U.S. state.
- Milton Rubenfeld - In addition to serving in the British Royal Air Force, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, he was one of the five founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force and served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Prior to that, he had served in the Zionist paramilitary. And prior to that, he trained as an artist in New Mexico.
- General Oliver Prescott, MD - Revolutionary War General, Judge and Doctor.
- Colonel Julian Minor Quarles, Jr. - WWII Colonel, recipient of the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Oak Leaf Cluster. Shot 3 enemy soldiers before being taken prisoner. He and his CO jumped off of a moving train and spent 33 days behind enemy lines, before making it back to their unit. Featured in Look Magazine American Heroes series.
- CWO Clifton Phillip Wolcott - was a U.S. war hero whose efforts were celebrated in the movie "Blackhawk Down".
- Philip Sr. Jackman, "The Last Engineer" - Philip Jackman’s life is the story of a pioneering spirit. The man went from humble beginnings as a farm labourer in Devon, England in the mid-19th century to a pillar of the community in Langley, BC before the turn of the century. Jackman was one of the Royal Engineers of the Columbia Detachment who decided to stay in British Columbia when it disbanded in 1863.
- Rear Admiral Reid Puryear Fiala, USN - Bronze Star and Navy Cross.
Government service
- Dean Rusk, U.S. Secretary of State - Prominent member of the John F. Kennedy Cabinet that is not as well known as he should be. He was a Rhodes Scholar in the 30's studying Nazi Germany, and another graduate student asked to go with him on one of his trips to Berlin. When they got there the storm trooper wouldn't let the Indian student into the Nazi rally because he wasn't Aryan. To which Dean replied "He's more Aryan than you or I" to which the storm trooper took personal offense. At that point the Indian student just wanted to get out of there before the Gestapo arrived, but Dean was ready to argue the point with the storm Trooper.
- Dr. Thomas Oakes - Speaker of the Massachusetts State House.
- Simeon Eben Baldwin, 65th Governor of Connecticut - It's hard to see where the time came from for so many accomplishments.
People of religion
- Jean Calvin - influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation (Calvinism).
- Bishop William James, Dean of Durham - In 1611, Bishop James was given charge over King James I's first cousin, Arbella Stuart, after she had plotted in secret to marry against the King's permission. The marriage was seen as a direct challenge to the King's claim to the throne. Before Bishop James could safely remove Arbella to Durham, she claimed illness and escaped. This event seemingly near ruined Bishop James's credibility with the Crown in matters of justice, and Bishop James retired for a time to Bath to recover from the affair.
- Doctor Elsie Quinlan - Sister Aidan (37), an Irish nun and medical doctor was stoned, stabbed and burned to death at Duncan Village, East London, South Africa.
- Rev. Urian Oakes - Urian Oakes was the fourth president of Harvard College, serving as acting president from April 7, 1675 to February 2, 1680 and as president from February 2, 1680 to July 25, 1681. This collection consists of Urian Oakes' commission as vicar, 1656, and a poem on his death, written in 1682.
Folk heroes
- Jesse James, American Outlaw - American outlaw.
Heroes
- Mark Bingham - His heroic efforts on United Flight 93, on September 11, 2001, as well as his athletic physique, were noted for having prompted a reassessment of gay stereotypes.
- Rev. John Rankin - Prominent 19th cent. abolitionist writer, and conductor on the underground railroad.
- Samuel Shattuck, of Salem - in 1661, Samuel brought to Massachusetts King Charles II’s order that revoked the death penalty for repeat Quaker proselytizers.
- John Bryant, Jr., of Randolph County - Militia captain John Bryant surrendered to the Tory guerrilla David Fanning to spare his home for his wife and children. Fanning immediately shot him.
Business people
- Johannes Gutenberg - Publisher and a printer who introduced modern book printing.
Nobility
Crime victims
- Alexander Parker Crittenden - In November 1870, as he sat next to wife aboard a ferry from Oakland to San Francisco, his lover of four years, Laura Fair, shot him in the heart and he died the next day.
- Doctor Elsie Quinlan - Sister Aidan (37), an Irish nun and medical doctor was stoned, stabbed and burned to death at Duncan Village, East London, South Africa.
Interesting family
- Henrietta Wilhelmina Schade - and her brother Friedrich Wilhelm Procknow were Born 12 days apart in 1822.
- Dr. Frederick Arthur Jefferson - A great grandson of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings gassed himself to death. Despondency over the death of his wife several years earlier is believed to have led to the suicide.
- Arch ‘Little Arch’, ‘Walkabout’ Wolfe - survived the posse attack on his cousin, the so called outlaw and current day folk hero, Ne-de Wa-de ‘Ned’ Christie.
- Jason Babcock - captured by Indians, and saved by the chief’s daughter. Or, it was his excellent fiddling.
- Gavita Rosa Gonçalves & Cruz e Souza, o Cisne Negro - A tragic love story typical of the 19th century. Cruz e Souza was the most important poet of Symbolism in South America. Unfortunately, the couple and the four children died of tuberculosis. Gavita showed signs of madness after losing three children.
- Thomas Seymour - The Seymours—father and son—and their cabinetmaking wizardry have been known for generations, largely thanks to the work of Vernon Stoneman who published John and Thomas Seymour: Cabinetmakers in Boston, 1794–1816 (1959) and A Supplement six years later.
Interesting women
- Martha Gasquet Westfeldt - Badass southern belle.
- Narcissa Young - Excellent pioneer healer of humans and dogs.
- Captain Minnie May Hill - steamboat captain.
- Laura D. Fair - married (at least) 4 times and killed her lover, became a “suffragette” cause celebre. Her actress daughter, also a notable beauty, Lillian Lorraine Hollis died of starvation.
- Inez Ann Crittenden - She was given a military funeral, which was very unusual for a civilian telephone operator.
- Margaret Brent - best known for being the first woman in America to request the right to vote.
- Pvt. Deborah Gannett, Rev. War Hero - was the only woman to fight in the Revolutionary War. She served 17 months in the army, as "Robert Shurtliff", of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was wounded in battle and discharged honorably at West Point. Her husband was one of the famous 'minute-men'.
- Frances Hook, (USA) - claimed that she, disguised as a man, enlisted as a soldier in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. She stated her aliases were Pvt. Frank Miller, Frank Henderson, Frank Martin and Frank Fuller.
- Gráinne Ní Mháille, Sea Queen of Connacht - "She was born into a politically strong seafaring family and married into a warrior family. After avenging her first husband’s death, O’Malley retreated, with recruits from her late husband’s clan, to her father’s land. Then, she took to the seas, pirating along the trade routes between Scotland and England and the Continent. Her superior knowledge of the nooks and crannies along Ireland’s west coast meant she could hide from the pursuing, angry robbed."
- Mary Delano Cathard Craig - was an American writer, teacher, and attorney. She moved to California in 1859. She owned property in San Francisco, and was an activist for women's property rights. Because California's Constitution is based on Spanish law and not the Magna Carta, California women have always had the right to own property in their own name ... the rest of American women would have to wait until the 1970s.
- Alice Lisle - Many writers have described Lady Alice's execution a judicial murder. Her son in law was Dr. Leonard Hoar, President of Harvard
- I think most people would agree that the life story of Dr. Temple Grandin continues to defy our sense of what is possible. As the woman behind the woman, the Harvard educated Quaker Momma Grizzle...who refused to lock her daughter up in an institution and throw away. Anna Eustacia Cutler is my submission for interesting profiles .... in fact the whole family (both sides) are very interesting!
- Wealthy socialites can get into lots of trouble... Her first husband shot himself in the head, but somehow was not classified as a suicide... then her second husband, Frederick Ogden Beach, Sr., was accused of slitting her throat, but not by her... see the news articles under sources for Camilla Woodward Beach
- Eugenia Amanda Bacon In 1898, she published "Lyddy - A tale of the old South”: partly in rebuttal to "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Her cousin was
- memorialist Mary Cornelia Pond, who also described family slaves.
Interesting for creepy reasons
- John Oliver Story - Bigamist, train robber, arsonist, committed insurance fraud, murderer. He had 15 children.