Important Historical Figures
Go beyond the founding fathers and presidents with biographies of a wide range of historical figures who shaped American history, including soldiers, activists, scholars, athletes, and more.
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Biography of Joseph McCarthy, Senator and Leader of Red Scare Crusade
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Biography of Robert Kennedy, US Attorney General, Presidential Candidate
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Biography of John Hay, Author and Influential American Diplomat
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Biography of Doc Holliday, Wild West Legend
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Cotton Mather, Puritan Clergyman and Early American Scientist
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P.T. Barnum, the "Greatest Showman on Earth"
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Biography of Stephen F. Austin, Founding Father of Texan Independence
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George McGovern, 1972 Democratic Nominee Who Lost in Landslide
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Tip O'Neill, Powerful Democratic Speaker of the House
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Meriwether Lewis: Biography of an American Explorer
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Biography of Alger Hiss: Government Official Accused of Spying
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Biography of William Travis, Texas Revolution Hero
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Biography of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy
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Biography of William Lloyd Garrison, Abolitionist Who Inflamed America
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Chuck Yeager: The Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier
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Biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, Troubled First Lady
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Biography of General Tom Thumb, Sideshow Performer
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Biography of John Sutter, Owner of Where California Gold Rush Began
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Who Was Aristotle Onassis, Jackie Kennedy's Second Husband?
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Maria Reynolds and the First U.S. Political Sex Scandal
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Thinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Who Was the Real Hercules Mulligan?
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Biography of Sam Houston, Founding Father of Texas
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Life of John Jay, Founding Father and Supreme Court Chief Justice
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Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge Washington A. Roebling
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Biography of Peggy Shippen, Socialite and Spy
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King George III: British Ruler During the American Revolution
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Biography of Henry Kissinger
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Biography of Jill Biden, Professor and First Lady
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Biography of Eugene V. Debs: Socialist and Labor Leader
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The Faces on Every U.S. Bill
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Biography of James 'Jim' Bowie
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Harriet Tubman
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Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Lincoln's Dressmaker and Friend
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Did Christopher Columbus Actually Discover America?
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The Rise of American Gangsters Al Capone and Lucky Luciano
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8 Important People of the Texas Revolution
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Was Mary Todd Lincoln Mentally Ill?
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Thomas Nast's Campaign Against Boss Tweed
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Understanding Daniel Webster's Seventh of March Speech
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The XYZ Affair: A Dispute Between France and the U.S.
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Biography of Samuel Adams, Revolutionary Activist and Philosopher
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George Catlin, Painter of American Indians
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John Muir, the "Father of the National Park System"
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Henry Clay
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Invention of the McCormick Mechanical Reaper
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Ida B. Wells
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Biography of William Jennings Bryan
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Timeline of the Texas Revolution
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JFK’s Brain and Other Missing Body Parts of Historical Figures
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Images of Custer's Last Stand
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Biography of Daniel Webster, American Statesman
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Jenny Lind's Tour of America
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Biography of Wendell Phillips
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Jane Jacobs: New Urbanist Who Transformed City Planning
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James Oglethorpe and the Georgia Colony
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The Grimké Sisters
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Tappan Brothers
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Patrick Henry
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Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Tammany Hall Politican
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The Legacy of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species"
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George Perkins Marsh, Advocate for Wilderness Conservation