wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
A. E. Goonesinha
May 1, 1891 – August 1, 1967
Sri Lankan politician (1891-1967)
Modern era
Vivienne Goonewardena
September 18, 1916 – October 3, 1996
Sri Lankan politician (1916–1996)
Modern era
Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera
January 20, 1827 – April 29, 1911
Monk (1827–1911)
Modern era
Arthur V. Dias
February 10, 1886 – July 31, 1960
Sri Lankan activist
Modern era
Ponnambalam Ramanathan
April 15, 1851 – November 30, 1930
Solicitor-General of Ceylon and Sri Lankan Tamil political leader
Modern era
Ponnambalam Arunachalam
September 14, 1853 – January 9, 1924
Sri Lankan politician (1853–1924)
Modern era
E. W. Perera
December 12, 1875 – February 16, 1953
Sri Lankan politician
Modern era
Tribhuvan of Nepal
June 30, 1906 – March 13, 1955
King of Nepal (1906-1955)
Modern era
Yogmaya Neupane
1860 – 1941
One Nepali poet
Modern era
Ganesh Man Singh
November 9, 1915 – September 18, 1997
Nepali politician (1915–1997)
Modern era
B. P. Koirala
September 8, 1914 – July 21, 1982
Nepalese politician and writer (1914-1982)
Modern era
Dharma Bhakta Mathema
1908 – January 25, 1941
Nepalese politician
Modern era
Dashrath Chand
1903 – 1941
Nepalese revolutionary
Modern era
Gangalal Shrestha
1919 – January 25, 1941
Nepalese revolutionary
Modern era
Motiram Bhatta
September 8, 1866 – 1896
Nepalese poet (1866–1896)
Modern era
Parijat (writer)
1937 – 1993
Nepalese Writer (1937-1993)
Modern era
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
1838 – March 9, 1897
Political activist and Islamic ideologist (1838–1897)
Modern era
Mahmud Tarzi
August 23, 1865 – November 22, 1933
Afghan politician, secular activist and journalist (1865–1933)
Modern era
Soraya Tarzi
November 24, 1899 – April 20, 1968
Princess Consort (1919-1926), later Queen Consort of King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan (1926-1929)
Modern era
Khalilullah Khalili
1907 – May 4, 1987
Persian language writer and poet (1907–1987)
Modern era
Abdul Hai Habibi
1910 – May 9, 1984
Afghan writer and historian (1910–1984)
Modern era
Noah
January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946
American actor (1882–1946)
Modern era
Jacob
July 10, 1830 – November 13, 1903
Danish-French painter (1830-1903)
Modern era
Isaiah
June 6, 1909 – November 5, 1997
Russo-British-Latvian Jewish social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas (1909–1997)
Modern era
Charles Spurgeon
June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892
British preacher, author, pastor and evangelist (1834-1892)
Modern era
Brigham Young
June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877
American religious leader, second president of the LDS Church, and governor of Utah Territory (1801–1877)
Modern era
Pope Benedict XVI
April 16, 1927 – December 31, 2022
265 th pope of the Catholic Church (2005–2013)
Modern era
Oscar Romero
August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980
Fourth archbishop of San Salvador (1917–1980)
Modern era
Padre Pio
May 25, 1887 – September 30, 1968
Italian saint, priest, stigmatist and mystic
Modern era
Ramakrishna
February 18, 1836 – August 16, 1886
Indian mystic and religious preacher (1836–1886)
Modern era
Ramana Maharshi
December 30, 1879 – April 14, 1950
Indian spiritual teacher (1879–1950)
Modern era
Empress Dowager Cixi
November 29, 1835 – November 15, 1908
Chinese empress (1835–1908)
Modern era
William McKinley
January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901
President of the United States from 1897 to 1901 (1843-1901)
Modern era
Calvin Coolidge
July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933
President of the United States from 1923 to 1929
Modern era
Herbert Hoover
August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964
President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 (1874–1964)
Modern era
Gerald Ford
July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006
President of the United States from 1974 to 1977 (1913–2006)
Modern era
George H. W. Bush
June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018
41st President of the United States (1989–1993)
Modern era
John McCain
August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018
American politician (1936–2018)
Modern era
Robert F. Kennedy
November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968
American politician and lawyer (1925–1968)
Modern era
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994
First Lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963
Modern era
Colin Powell
April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021
American general and diplomat (1937–2021)
Modern era
Henry Kissinger
May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023
American diplomat and geopolitical advisor, served as U.S. Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977 (1923–2023)
Modern era
Sitting Bull
1831 – December 15, 1890
Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man (1831–1890)
Modern era
Crazy Horse
December 4, 1849 – September 5, 1877
Oglala Sioux chief (1840–1877)
Modern era
Geronimo
June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909
Leader of the Bedonkohe Apache (1829-1909)
Modern era
Chief Joseph
March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904
19th-century Native American leader
Modern era
William Tecumseh Sherman
February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891
United States Army general (1820–1891)
Modern era
Douglas MacArthur
January 26, 1880 – April 5, 1964
United States Army general in WWI, WWII and Korea (1880–1964)
Modern era
Neville Chamberlain
March 18, 1869 – November 9, 1940
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940
Modern era
Bernard Montgomery
November 17, 1887 – March 24, 1976
British Army officer (1887–1976)
Modern era
T. E. Lawrence
August 16, 1888 – May 19, 1935
British archaeologist, army officer and diplomat (1888–1935)
Modern era
Edward VIII
June 23, 1894 – May 28, 1972
King of the United Kingdom in 1936
Modern era
Wallis Simpson
June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986
American socialite and wife of the Duke of Windsor (1896-1986)
Modern era
Prince Philip
June 10, 1921 – April 9, 2021
Consort of Elizabeth II from 1952 to 2021 (1921-2021)
Modern era
Napoleon III
April 20, 1808 – January 9, 1873
President of the Second French Republic, Emperor of the Second French Empire and last monarch of France (1808–1873)
Modern era
Georges Clemenceau
September 28, 1841 – November 24, 1929
Prime Minister of France, 1906–1909 and 1917–1920 (1841–1929)
Modern era
Kaiser Wilhelm II
January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941
As King of Prussia last German Emperor from 1888 to 1918 (1859–1941)
Modern era
Erwin Rommel
November 15, 1891 – October 14, 1944
German field marshal (1891-1944)
Modern era
Claus von Stauffenberg
November 15, 1907 – July 21, 1944
German aristocrat, army officer and resistance fighter (1907-1944)
Modern era
Helmut Kohl
April 3, 1930 – June 16, 2017
Chancellor of West Germany and reunified Germany (1982–1998)