John Kundla (1916 - 2017)

John Kundla was born in the mining town of Star Junction, Pennsylvania to an Austro-Hungarian mother and Slovak father. He moved to Minneapolis at age 5. After attending and playing basketball for Minneapolis Central High School (which closed in 1982), Kundla attended the University of Minnesota and was a standout for the Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball […]

John L. Balderston (1889 - 1954)

Screenwriter, Playwright. Born John Lloyd Balderston, he began his career as a journalist around 1912 while still a student at Columbia University. During World War I he was European war correspondent for a newspaper syndicate. After the war he stayed in Europe, working as a foreign correspondent, editor for the Outlook magazine and finally head […]

John Lafarge (1835 - 1910)

Artist. Born in New York City to wealthy French parents and was raised bilingual. John Lafarge received his first artistic training at the age of six and learned to use watercolors while still in grammar school. At the age of 24, after studying law for a time, John went to Paris to study painting under […]

John Laing (1879 - 1978)

Born in Carlisle and educated at the grammar school there, he became President of John Laing and Sons, the building contractors, and was also President of the London Bible College. He was knighted in 1959. (bio by: Iain MacFarlaine)  Family links:  Spouse:  Beatrice Laing (____ – 1972)* *Calculated relationship

John Lautner (1911 - 1994)

Architect. Lautner’s first building experience came when he helped his parents build a chalet-style retreat in Michigan, designed by his mother, that looked out over Lake Superior from a hillside high above it. After graduating with a degree in English from the Northern Michigan University, he became an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright for six […]

John Lawrence (1970 - 1970)

English scholar. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

John Leech (1817 - 1864)

Illustrator. Leech illustrated many works for Charles Dickens and was the greatest friend of William Makepeace Thackerey. (bio by: Kieran Smith)

John Lennon (1940 - 1980)

John Lennon John Ono Lennon, MBE, born John Winston Lennon; (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980), was an English musician, singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a founder member of the rock band the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. With Paul McCartney, he formed a songwriting partnership that is one of […]

John Leonard “Jack” Swigert, Jr (1931 - 1982)

Astronaut, US Congressman. Born John Leonard Swigert in Denver, Colorado, he served with the US Air Force as a fighter pilot 1953 to 1956 and with the Air National Guard 1957 to 1965. He held a position as engineering test pilot for North American Aviation, Inc. before joining NASA as an Astronaut in April 1966. […]

John List (1925 - 2008)

Born in Bay City, Michigan, John List was the only child of German American parents, John Frederick List (1859–1944) and Alma Maria Barbara Florence (Hubinger) List (1887–1971). Like his father, he was a devout Lutheran and a Sunday school teacher. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army and served in the infantry as a laboratory […]

John Litel (1892 - 1972)

John Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. During World War I, Litel enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Back in the U.S. after the war, Litel enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his stage career. In 1929, he started […]

John Logie Baird (1888 - 1946)

Baird was born at 8am on 14 August 1888 in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute (then Dunbartonshire), and was the youngest of four children of the Reverend John Baird, the Church of Scotland’s minister for the local St Bride’s church and Jessie Morrison Inglis, the orphaned niece of a wealthy family of shipbuilders from Glasgow.  He […]

John Lund (1911 - 1992)

John Lund’s father was a Norwegian immigrant and glassblower in Rochester, New York. Lund did not finish high school, and he tried several businesses before settling on advertising in the 1930s. His jobs included being “a soda-jerk, carpenter and timekeeper.”  While working for an advertising agency, he was asked by a friend to appear in […]

John M Keynes (1883 - 1946)

 John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB, FBA (/ˈkeɪnz/ kaynz; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was a British economist whose ideas have fundamentally affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics and informed the economic policies of governments. He built on and greatly refined earlier work on the causes of business cycles, and […]

John M. “Jack” Mack (1864 - 1924)

Businessman. He was the founder of Mack Trucks, which is now North America’s largest producers of heavy-duty trucks. Their line of medium-duty trucks are now sold in more than 65 countries worldwide.  Family links:  Spouse:  Mary S. Mack (1874 – 1955)

John M. Bradstreet (1815 - 1863)

Businessman. He founded the John M. Bradstreet financial company in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1849 In 1933 it merged with Dunn and Company, forming what is now the Dun and Bradstreet Company.  Family links:  Parents:  Daniel Porter Bradstreet (1773 – 1833)  Lydia Yaman Bradstreet (1781 – 1852)  Children:  John M Bradstreet (____ – 1863)*  Henry Bradstreet […]

John M. Fox (1912 - 2003)

Businessman. He was the founder of The Minute Maid Corporation which revolutionized frozen orange juice concentrate. He also popularized the Chiquita brand-name banana by putting the Chiquita sticker on the bananas. (bio by: John  Sheets)

John Maier Collier (1850 - 1934)

Artist. English painter and writer. The younger son of Sir Robert Perret Collier (later Lord Monkswell), Collier and was educated at Eton College. After being introduced to the artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, he studied at the Slade School of Art in London, under Edward Poynter, before moving to Paris where he studied under Jean-Paul Laurens […]

John Mason Peck (1789 - 1858)

Pioneer Baptist missionary, statesman, author, educator & founder of Shurtleff College (now the Southern Illinois University at Alton Dental School). There is a memorial marker is located next to the Robert Wadlow statue on the grounds of Southern Illinois University Dental School, marking the original site of Shurtleff College.  Family links:  Spouse:  Sarah Paine Peck […]

John Matthews (1970 - 1870)

Inventor, Businessman. Born in England, he was known as “The Soda Fountain King”. Immigrating to America, in the mid-19th Century, he created a fountain apparatus that could be positioned on a pharmacist’s counter to dispense carbonated drinks. He also invented a method to put carbonated soda water into pressured bottles. Manufacturing the carbonating machinery, his […]

John Mavrakos (1913 - 1975)

Founder of the St. Louis-based Mavrakos Candy Company. (bio by: Connie Nisinger)

John May (1894 - 1929)

Gangster. A member of Bugs Moran crime gang, he was a victim of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago, Illinois. The other victims were Reinhardt Schwimmer, Frank Gusenberg and his brother Peter Gusenberg, Adam Meyer, Albert Weinshenker and Albert Kachellek. On January 19, 1929, Al Capone gangster Patsy Lolordo and his wife, Aleina, were […]

John McCain (1936 - 2018)

John McCain Whenever America was in a fight during his long lifetime, John McCain was in the thick of it. McCain, who has died at the age of 81, was a naval bomber pilot, prisoner of war, conservative maverick, giant of the Senate, twice-defeated presidential candidate and an abrasive American hero with a twinkle in […]

John McCulloch Spencer (1917 - 1965)

Philanthropist, Political Leader. Born in New York City as Eric Winter, he was orphaned as a boy and adopted into the Troy, Ohio family that produced Spencer Corsets, a top selling women’s undergarment from the late 19th to mid 20th Centuries.  Spencer was educated at Alma College and Yale University.  A heavy drinker, he was […]

John McElroy (1782 - 1877)

Religious and Educational Leader.  He moved to America at age 21, attended Georgetown University and became a Jesuit lay brother in 1806.  McElroy taught at Georgetown and managed its finances until becoming a priest in 1817.  In 1822 he was appointed Pastor of St. John’s Church in Frederick, Maryland, where he remained for 23 years. […]

John McGiver (1913 - 1975)

McGiver was born in New York City, the son of Irish immigrants. He graduated from the Jesuit-run Regis High School in Manhattan in 1932. He received a B.A. in English from Fordham University in 1938 and master’s degrees from Columbia University and Catholic University. He became an English teacher and worked as an actor and […]

John McLaughlin (1927 - 2016)

John McLaughlin was originally a supporter of the Democratic Party and opposed the Vietnam War, but then became a war supporter and changed his party affiliation to Republican. In 1970 he sought permission from the Jesuit order to run for a seat in the United States Senate, representing Rhode Island. They had given permission to […]

John McLoughlin (1784 - 1857)

“The Father of Oregon”. Superintendant of Hudson’s Bay Company, Columbia District (1824- 1846).  Family links:  Spouse:  Marguerite Wadin McLoughlin (1775 – 1860)*  Children:  Joseph McLoughlin (1809 – 1848)*  John McLoughlin (1812 – 1842)*  Marie Eloisa McLoughlin Harvey (1817 – 1884)*  David McLoughlin (1821 – 1903)* *Calculated relationship

John Merivale (1917 - 1990)

John Herman Merivale (1 December 1917 – 6 February 1990), also known as Jack Merivale, was a Canadian-born British theatre actor, and occasional supporting player in British films. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, John Merivale was the son of English actor Philip Merivale. His stepmother was the renowned English actress Gladys Cooper. Merivale was educated in […]

John Metz “J.M.” Schneider (1859 - 1942)

Businessman, Entrepreneur. He and his wife, Helena, were the founders of Schneider Foods Ltd.  A native of Berlin (later Kitchener), Ontario, he was working as a butcher in 1890 when he came up with the idea of creating his own meat business. The company which specialized in wieners, luncheon meat, bacon, ham, grocery products, specialty […]