A. J. Casson (1898 - 1992)

Artist. While not one of the original members of the Group of Seven, a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933 that included Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley, he was invited to join the Group in 1926 after Frank Johnston […]

A. King Calder (1898 - 1964)

Actor. He is best remembered for his role as ‘Lieutenant Grey’ in the television series “Martin Kane, Private Eye” from 1952 to 1954. He appeared in the films, “Ready For The People” (1964), “Everything’s Ducky” (1961), “Hong Kong Confidential” (1958), “Mardi Gras” (1958), “On The Threshold Of Space” (1956), “Timetable” (1956), “The Rains Of Ranchipur” […]

A. Lawrence Lowell (1856 - 1943)

President of Harvard.  Family links:  Parents:  Augustus Lowell (1830 – 1900)  Katharine Bigelow Lawrence Lowell (1832 – 1895)  Spouse:  Anna Parker Lowell Lowell (1856 – 1930)*  Siblings:  Infant Lowell (____ – 1870)**  A. Lawrence Lowell (1856 – 1943)  Roger Lowell (1862 – 1863)*  Amy Lowell (1874 – 1925)* *Calculated relationship**Half-sibling

A.O. Smith (1970 - 1970)

Businessman. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he began in 1874, as a parts maker for baby carriages and other hardware specialties. In 1899, he developed the world’s first pressed steel automobile frames and incorporated the A. O. Smith Company in Milwaukee, in 1904. To date, the A. O. Smith Corporation is a global leader applying innovative […]

A.Y. Jackson (1882 - 1974)

Artist. He was one of the original members of the Group of Seven, a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933 that also included Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley. He was born Alexander Young Jackson in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on October 3, 1882. […]

Aachi Manorama (1937 - 2015)

Indian Tamil Actress. Manorama, born Gopishantha, was an actress whose career spanned over 1,500 films, a thousand stage productions, and several television series. She started acting on the stage at an early age and continued until 1958 when she gained her first film role in “Maalayitta Mangai”.  Throughout her career, Manorama’s films ranged from comedies […]

Aaliyah (1979 - 2001)

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York. Born of African American descent, with Oneida heritage from her grandmother, she was the second and youngest child of Diane and Michael Haughton. At a young age, Aaliyah was enrolled in voice lessons by her mother. She started performing at weddings, church […]

Aaron Alexis (1979 - 2013)

On Monday, September 16, Aaron Alexis left his hotel and arrived at the Navy Yard in a rented Toyota Prius at around 7:53 a.m., using a valid pass to enter the Yard. He entered Building 197 at 8:08 a.m. through the main entrance, carrying the disassembled shotgun (the barrel and stock of which had been […]

Aaron Burr, Sr (1716 - 1757)

Educator and Founder of Princeton University. Born in Connecticut, he attended Yale College (now Yale University) where in 1735 he obtained his BA Degree in religious studies. Upon graduation, he became a Presbyterian Minister in Newark, New Jersey, where he also opened a school for classical studies, to earn extra money. In 1752, he married […]

Aaron Dale Allston (1960 - 2014)

Author. He is the author of 13 Star Wars novels as well as many other science fiction, game based fiction and mystery novels, short stories and technical guides for writers. He was a widely sought out speaker and lecturer for state and national conferences and traveled extensively throughout the country teaching and mentoring aspiring writers. […]

Aaron Spelling (1923 - 2006)

Aaron Spelling Spelling was born in Dallas, Texas. He was the son of Pearl (née Wald) and David Spelling, who were Jewish emigrants from Poland. His father worked as a tailor and changed his surname from Spurling to Spelling after emigrating to the United States. Spelling had three brothers: Sam, Max, and Daniel, and a […]

Aarthi Agarwal (1984 - 2015)

Aarthi Agarwal (March 5, 1984 – June 6, 2015) was an Indian-American actress who primarily worked in Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood. Aarthi Agarwal was born on March 5, 1984, to a Gujarati family. Her father, Shashank, is in the hotel business and her mother, Veema, is a homemaker. She has two siblings. At around […]

Abbey Lincoln (1930 - 2010)

Lincoln was one of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday. She often visited the Blue Note jazz club in New York City. Her debut album, Abbey Lincoln’s Affair – A Story of a Girl in Love, was followed by a series of albums for Riverside Records. In 1960 she sang on Max Roach’s landmark civil […]

Abbot Kinney (1850 - 1920)

Industrialist and Real Estate Baron. An important figure in Los Angeles history, Abbot Kinney founded the nearby city of Venice, California. Convinced that the area’s mild climate would attract artists from around the world, Kinney decided to provide the setting for this cultural renaissance by re-creating Venice,  Italy,  just south of Santa Monica.  In 1902 […]

Abby Dalton (1932 - 2020)

Abby Dalton Sleek and striking Abby Dalton became a very familiar perky and sexy presence in 1960s TV households. Known not only for her award-worthy acting on TV comedy, she became an avid game-show panelist and appeared on a slew of TV’s more popular programs. It might come as a surprise to some that she […]

Abby Singer (1917 - 2014)

Production Manager/Assistant Director. In a career that spanned over fifty years, he worked either as a production manager or an assistant director on several films but he worked primarily on television shows. As an assistant director, he worked on movies such as “Death of a Salesman”, “Shot in the Frontier”, “7th Cavalry”, “The Guns of […]

Abdel Halim Hafez (1929 - 1977)

Without a doubt no living or dead entertainer has ever achieved such a tremendous amount of fame and admiration by so many people in the Arab world of music and beyond. Halim was a master oboe player, he graduated from Academy of Arab Music in 1948.  However, what made Halim a superstar was the combination […]

Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi (1952 - 2012)

Libyan Terror Figure. On 31 January 2001, Megrahi was convicted, by a panel of three Scottish judges sitting in a special court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, of 270 counts of murder for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. His […]

Abdulaziz al-Omari (1979 - 2001)

Little is known about Abdulaziz al-Omari’s life, and it is unclear whether some information refers to Omari or another person by that name. He has used birth date May 28, 1979. He is alleged to have often served as an Imam at his mosque in Saudi Arabia and is believed by American authorities[who?] to have been a […]

Abdullah Shah (1965 - 2004)

Abdullah Shah (1965-20 April 2004) was an Afghan man found guilty in Kabul of killing more than 20 people, including his wife. His sanctioned execution was the first in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Shah served under Zardad Khan—even earning the nickname Zardad’s dog— who served under Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the […]

Abe Axler (2024 - 1933)

Abe Axler Organized Crime Figure. One of the most prominent members of Detroit’s Purple Gang. He was born and raised in Williamburg, Brooklyn, along with future Purples like Eddie Fletcher, Irving Milberg, Sam Abramson, and Isadore Cantor. In the fall of 1921, Abe and his brother Simon were convicted on burglary charges and did 4 […]

Abe Fortas (1910 - 1982)

Fortas was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Ray (née Berson) and William Fortas. He was the youngest of five children. His parents were Orthodox Jews, were of British descent, and his father worked as a cabinetmaker. Fortas acquired a lifelong love for music from his father, who encouraged his playing the violin, and […]

Abe Pollin (1923 - 2009)

Abe Pollin was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 3, 1923 to Jennie and Morris Pollin. When he was 8, Pollin’s family moved to the Washington area from Philadelphia. Pollin graduated from The George Washington University in 1945 and took a job with his family’s construction company for 12 years. The […]

Abe Reles (1906 - 1941)

Organized Crime Figure. Known as “Kid Twist”, he was a member of the murder-for-hire group of mafia assassins that became known as “Murder Inc”. About to go to trial for his involvement, he instead became a government witness. Just prior to his scheduled testimony against crime boss Lepke Buchalter and other figures. he either fell, […]

Abe Saperstein (1902 - 1966)

Abe Saperstein (July 4, 1902 – March 15, 1966) was an owner and coach of the Savoy Big Five, which later became the Harlem Globetrotters. He was born in London, England, to a Jewish family. Saperstein was the commissioner of the American Basketball League, which he founded in 1961 after repeatedly being denied an NBA expansion […]

Abe Vigoda (1921 - 2016)

Abe Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Lena (née Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a tailor who had two other sons: Hy and Bill. The latter was a comic book artist who drew for the Archie comics franchise and others in the 1940s. Abe Vigoda began […]

Abelard Reynolds (1785 - 1878)

Business magnate. In 1828, he built the Reynolds Arcade on Main Street in Rochester, New York, the first multi-level shopping center in America. The Western Union Telegraph Company was founded in the Reynolds Arcade and continued to maintain its central offices there for decades. He moved to Rochester from Red Hook NY around 1812 and […]

Abigail “Tommye” Adams (1922 - 1955)

Actress. Born Margaret Thomas Adams in Greenville, South Carolina, she had a limited motion picture career, seeing only bit, uncredited roles in most of the 15 films she appeared in (she was only credited in 4 of those films). However, she gained renown for her many affairs with Hollywood notables, including an 11 year affair […]

Abigail Adams (1922 - 1955)

Abigail Adams Actress, 37, once the fiancee of George Jessel, the comedian , and his frequent social companion, was found dead in what a police physician said was apparently suicide. Miss Adams’ body was found in her apartment by Max Marks, a drug store owner, who called, following a date with her. She was in […]

Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)

Abigail Adams was born at the North Parish Congregational Church in Weymouth, Massachusetts, to The Reverend William Smith (1707-1783) and Elizabeth (née Quincy) Smith. On her mother’s side she was descended from the Quincy family, a well-known political family in the Massachusetts colony. Through her mother she was a cousin of Dorothy Quincy, wife of […]