wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
March 6, 1844 – June 20, 1908
Russian composer (1844–1908)
Modern era
Modest Mussorgsky
March 9, 1839 – March 16, 1881
Russian composer (1839–1881)
Modern era
Alexander Borodin
October 31, 1833 – February 15, 1887
Russian composer, doctor and chemist (1833–1887)
Modern era
Alexander Scriabin
January 6, 1872 – April 27, 1915
Russian composer and pianist (1872–1915)
Modern era
Bedrich Smetana
March 2, 1824 – May 12, 1884
Czech composer
Modern era
Bela Bartok
March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945
Hungarian composer and pianist (1881–1945)
Modern era
Ralph Vaughan Williams
October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958
English composer (1872-1958)
Modern era
Gustav Holst
September 21, 1874 – May 25, 1934
British composer (1874–1934)
Modern era
Edward Elgar
June 2, 1857 – February 23, 1934
English composer (1857-1934)
Modern era
Benjamin Britten
November 22, 1913 – December 4, 1976
English composer, conductor, and pianist (1913-1976)
Modern era
Arnold Schoenberg
September 13, 1874 – July 13, 1951
Austrian-Jewish American composer (1874-1951)
Modern era
Carl Orff
July 10, 1895 – March 29, 1982
German composer (1895–1982)
Modern era
Aaron Copland
November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990
American composer, composition teacher, writer, and conductor (1900-1990)
Modern era
Samuel Barber
March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981
American composer (1910-1981)
Modern era
Philip Glass
b. January 31, 1937
American composer (born 1937)
Modern era
John Cage
September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992
American avant-garde composer (1912-1992)
Modern era
Arvo Part
b. September 11, 1935
Estonian composer (born 1935)
Modern era
Astor Piazzolla
March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992
Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player and arranger
Modern era
Heitor Villa-Lobos
March 5, 1887 – November 17, 1959
Brazilian composer (1887–1959)
Modern era
Joaquin Rodrigo
November 22, 1901 – July 6, 1999
Spanish composer, best known for his Concierto de Aranjuez (1901–1999)
Modern era
Enrico Caruso
February 24, 1873 – August 2, 1921
Italian opera singer (1873–1921)
Modern era
Vladimir Horowitz
September 18, 1903 – November 5, 1989
Russian/Ukrainian and American pianist (1903-1989)
Modern era
Arthur Rubinstein
January 28, 1887 – December 20, 1982
Polish-American classical pianist (1887-1982)
Modern era
Glenn Gould
September 25, 1932 – October 4, 1982
Canadian composer and pianist (1932–1982)
Modern era
Herbert von Karajan
April 5, 1908 – July 16, 1989
Austrian conductor (1908–1989)
Modern era
Arturo Toscanini
March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957
Italian conductor (1867–1957)
Modern era
Isabella Bird
October 15, 1831 – October 8, 1904
British traveler, writer, photographer and naturalist (1831–1904)
Modern era
Gertrude Bell
July 14, 1868 – July 12, 1926
British traveller, writer, mountaineer, politician, archaeologist and spy (1868–1926)
Modern era
Percy Fawcett
August 18, 1867 – 1925
British explorer, anthropologist and archaeologist (1867–1925)
Modern era
Howard Carter
May 9, 1874 – March 2, 1939
British egyptologist (1874–1939)
Modern era
Heinrich Schliemann
January 6, 1822 – December 26, 1890
German businessman and archaeologist (1822–1890)
Modern era
Louis Leakey
August 7, 1903 – October 1, 1972
Kenyan-British archaeologist and naturalist
Modern era
Mary Leakey
February 6, 1913 – December 9, 1996
British paleoanthropologist (1913-1996)
Modern era
Jacques Piccard
July 28, 1922 – November 1, 2008
Swiss oceanographer (1922–2008)
Modern era
Sylvia Earle
b. August 30, 1935
American oceanographer
Modern era
George Mallory
June 18, 1886 – June 9, 1924
English mountaineer (1886-1924)
Modern era
Reinhold Messner
b. September 17, 1944
Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer (born 1944)
Modern era
Junko Tabei
September 22, 1939 – October 20, 2016
Japanese mountain climber (1939-2016)
Modern era
Beryl Markham
October 26, 1902 – August 3, 1986
British writer, aviator, adventurer, racehorse trainer (1902–1986)
Modern era
Alexandra David-Neel
October 24, 1868 – September 8, 1969
French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, Taoist, anarchist and writer
Modern era
Jim Lovell
March 25, 1928 – August 7, 2025
American astronaut (1928–2025)
Modern era
Eugene Cernan
March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017
NASA astronaut, Naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, electrical engineer, fighter pilot, eleventh human to walk on the Moon (Apollo 10 and Apollo 17)
Modern era
Alexei Leonov
May 30, 1934 – October 11, 2019
Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, first human to conduct a spacewalk (1934-2019)
Modern era
Guion Bluford
b. November 22, 1942
American astronaut (born 1942)
Modern era
Lucy Stone
August 13, 1818 – October 19, 1893
American abolitionist and suffragist (1818-1893)
Modern era
Alice Paul
January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977
American suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885–1977)
Modern era
Millicent Fawcett
June 11, 1847 – August 5, 1929
English politician, writer, and activist (1847–1929)
Modern era
Emily Davison
October 11, 1867 – June 8, 1913
British activist who fought for women's suffrage
Modern era
Mary Seacole
1805 – May 14, 1881
British-Jamaican businesswoman and nurse
Modern era
Dorothea Dix
April 4, 1802 – July 17, 1887
American author and social reformer (1802–1887)
Modern era
John Brown
May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859
American abolitionist
Modern era
William Lloyd Garrison
December 5, 1874 – February 23, 1964
American investment banker
Modern era
Nat Turner
October 1, 1800 – November 11, 1831
American slave rebellion leader (1800-1831)
Modern era
Thurgood Marshall
July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 to 1991 (1908–1993)
Modern era
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020
American lawyer and jurist (1933–2020)
Modern era
Betty Friedan
February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006
American feminist writer and activist (1921–2006)
Modern era
Gloria Steinem
March 25, 1934 – September 2, 2026
American feminist activist and journalist (1934–2026)
Modern era
Angela Davis
b. January 26, 1944
American political activist, scholar, and author (born 1944)
Modern era
Coretta Scott King
April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006
American author, activist, and civil rights leader; wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Modern era
Jesse Jackson
October 8, 1941 – February 17, 2026
American Baptist minister, activist, civil rights leader, politician, and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (1941–2026)