History by region
Americas historical figures
Explore historical figures from Americas. Read concise biographies, learn key facts, and play a quiz focused on this collection.
People connected to Americas
A growing, people-first guide to world history.
165 figures
Frida Kahlo
Painter
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Harriet Tubman
Abolitionist & humanitarian
Simón Bolívar
Military & political leader
Eva Perón
First Lady of Argentina
George Washington
First President of the United States
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Abraham Lincoln
16th President of the United States
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Pedro I of Brazil
Founder & first Emperor of Brazil
Sitting Bull
Hunkpapa Lakota leader
Susan B. Anthony
Social reformer & suffragist
Che Guevara
Revolutionary & guerrilla leader
Toussaint Louverture
General & revolutionary leader
Benjamin Franklin
Founding Father & polymath
Benito Juárez
President of Mexico
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Thomas Jefferson
3rd U.S. President & Founding Father
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Theodore Roosevelt
26th U.S. President
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Franklin D. Roosevelt
32nd U.S. President
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Ulysses S. Grant
18th U.S. President & Civil War general
John F. Kennedy
35th U.S. President
Barack Obama
44th U.S. President
Martin Luther King Jr.
Civil rights leader & minister
Malcolm X
Civil rights activist & minister
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Rosa Parks
Civil rights activist
Nat Turner
Enslaved rebellion leader
Emiliano Zapata
Revolutionary & guerrilla leader
Billy the Kid
Outlaw & gunfighter
Jesse James
Outlaw & gang leader
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Al Capone
Gangster
Bonnie and Clyde
Outlaw couple
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Pelé
Footballer
Diego Maradona
Footballer & manager
Jackie Robinson
Baseball player
Babe Ruth
Baseball player
Muhammad Ali
Boxer & activist
Jesse Owens
Track and field athlete
Wilma Rudolph
Track and field athlete
Usain Bolt
Sprinter
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Serena Williams
Tennis player
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Michael Jackson
Singer & entertainer
Bob Marley
Musician
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Louis Armstrong
Jazz musician & singer
Elvis Presley
Singer & actor
Michael Jordan
Basketball player
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Wayne Gretzky
Ice hockey player
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Tiger Woods
Golfer
Michael Phelps
Swimmer
Lionel Messi
Footballer
Simone Biles
Gymnast
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Woodrow Wilson
28th U.S. President
James Madison
4th U.S. President & Founding Father
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th U.S. President & WWII general
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Andrew Jackson
7th U.S. President
Ronald Reagan
40th U.S. President
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Bill Clinton
42nd U.S. President
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Harry S. Truman
33rd U.S. President
Thomas Edison
Inventor & businessman
Richard Feynman
Theoretical physicist
Wright Brothers
Aviation pioneers & engineers
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Henry Ford
Industrialist & engineer
Túpac Amaru II
Indigenous rebellion leader
Salvador Allende
President of Chile
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Fidel Castro
Revolutionary & head of state
Gabriel García Márquez
Writer
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
Priest & independence leader
José de San Martín
General & independence leader
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Juan Perón
President of Argentina
Bernardo O'Higgins
Military officer & statesman
Pancho Villa
Revolutionary general
Crazy Horse
Lakota war leader
Isabel Allende
Novelist
Getúlio Vargas
President of Brazil
Rafael Trujillo
Dictator of the Dominican Republic
Rigoberta Menchú
Human rights activist
John A. Macdonald
First Prime Minister of Canada
Jorge Luis Borges
Writer
Pierre Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Tecumseh
Shawnee military leader
Augusto Pinochet
Dictator of Chile
Sacagawea
Guide and interpreter
Diego Rivera
Muralist
Hugo Chávez
President of Venezuela
Geronimo
Apache leader
Neil Armstrong
Astronaut
Katherine Johnson
Mathematician
Ayrton Senna
Racing driver
Duke Ellington
Jazz pianist and composer
Ella Fitzgerald
Jazz vocalist
Jimi Hendrix
Guitarist and songwriter
Aretha Franklin
Singer and songwriter
Bob Dylan
Singer-songwriter
Carlos Gardel
Tango singer and composer
Celia Cruz
Singer
Miles Davis
Jazz trumpeter and composer
Grace Hopper
Computer scientist and naval officer
Alan Shepard
Astronaut
Porfirio Díaz
President of Mexico
Lázaro Cárdenas
President of Mexico
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Theoretical physicist
Barbara McClintock
Cytogeneticist
Nina Simone
Singer, pianist, and civil rights activist
José Martí
Writer and independence leader
Antonio Maceo
Independence general
José Gervasio Artigas
Military leader and founding father
Francisco Morazán
President of the Federal Republic of Central America
José Figueres Ferrer
President of Costa Rica
Omar Torrijos
Military leader of Panama
Augusto César Sandino
Revolutionary leader
Eloy Alfaro
President of Ecuador
Rafael Correa
President of Ecuador
Rafael Reyes
President of Colombia
Andrés Bello
Humanist and educator
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
President of Argentina
Diego Portales
Statesman
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Multi-sport athlete
Jim Thorpe
Multi-sport athlete
Wilt Chamberlain
Basketball player
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Basketball player
Frank Lloyd Wright
Architect
Toni Morrison
Novelist and editor
Grey Owl
Writer and conservationist
Mae Jemison
Astronaut and physician
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Vivien Thomas
Surgical laboratory supervisor
Ronaldinho
Footballer
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Revolutionary leader & first ruler of independent Haiti
Henri Christophe
King of Haiti
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Alexandre Petion
President of the Republic of Haiti
Fabre Geffrard
President of Haiti
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Francois Duvalier
President of Haiti
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Jean-Claude Duvalier
President of Haiti
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Jean-Bertrand Aristide
President of Haiti
Michel Martelly
President of Haiti
Rene Preval
President of Haiti
Cipriano Castro
President of Venezuela
Antonio Guzman Blanco
President of Venezuela
Carlos Andres Perez
President of Venezuela
Rafael Caldera
President of Venezuela
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Marcos Perez Jimenez
Military dictator of Venezuela
Vera Rubin
Astronomer
Katherine Freese
Theoretical physicist
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Sally Ride
Astronaut & physicist
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Peggy Whitson
Astronaut & biochemist
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Christa McAuliffe
Teacher & astronaut
Eileen Collins
Astronaut & Air Force pilot
Ellen Ochoa
Astronaut & engineer
Rosalind Picard
Computer scientist
George Washington Carver
Agricultural scientist & inventor
Elijah McCoy
Engineer & inventor
Garrett Morgan
Inventor & businessman
Elisha Otis
Industrialist & inventor
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Oscar Arias
President of Costa Rica
Manuel Noriega
Military dictator of Panama
Daniel Ortega
President of Nicaragua
Joaquin Balaguer
President of the Dominican Republic
Violeta Chamorro
President of Nicaragua
Wilma Mankiller
Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation
Dolores Huerta
Labor leader & activist
Shirley Chisholm
Politician
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Frances Perkins
US Secretary of Labor
Samuel Morse
Inventor & painter
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Juan Bosch
President of the Dominican Republic
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Eric Williams
First Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
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Forbes Burnham
Leader of Guyana
George Price
First Prime Minister of Belize
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Victor Paz Estenssoro
President of Bolivia
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Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia
Dictator of Paraguay
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Alfredo Stroessner
Military dictator of Paraguay
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