John Updike (1932 - 2009)

Updike’s most famous work is his “Rabbit” series (the novels Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and the novella “Rabbit Remembered”), which chronicles the life of the middle-class everyman Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom over the course of several decades, from young adulthood to death. Both Rabbit Is Rich (1982) and Rabbit At […]

John Vernon (1932 - 2005)

Vernon was born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz in Zehner, Saskatchewan, and was baptised at Sacred Heart Catholic parish in the nearby town of Arat. He was one of two sons of Adolf Agopsowicz, a grocer, and his wife Eleonore Krückel (also spelled as Kriekle or Kriekel). Both parents’ families emigrated to the Edenwold district in […]

John Vincent Imbragulio (1927 - 2000)

Businessman. He founded Ace Records, Ace Music Publisher and Avanti Records. Cause of death: heart failure

John W. Cornelius (1970 - 1916)

Mr. Cornelius built the first theater in St. Louis that was designed expressly for the production of moving pictures. In addition to the original Lyric Theater, he eventually also owned the West End Lyric Theater, the Lyric Skydome and the Royal Theater. He made a fortune in the motion picture business in St. Louis. (bio […]

John W. Garrett (1820 - 1884)

American banker, philanthropist, and president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). In 1855, he was named to the board of the B&O, and in 1858, became its president, a position he held until the year he died. His tenure was marked by his support for the Union cause during the Civil War, the expansion […]

John W. Kluge (1914 - 2010)

Entrepreneur. He was best known as a television industry mogul whom parlayed a small fortune into a multibillion-dollar communications empire. In the mid-1950s, he became the major stockholder of the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation and he was the company’s board chairman in control of television and radio broadcasting by 1958. From the 1960s to mid-1980s, his […]

John W. Nordstrom (1871 - 1963)

Bussinessman. Born in Alvik Neder Lulea, Sweden, he was a entrepreneur most noted for being the founder of Nordstrom’s department stores. In 1887, he arrived in America, worked as a wagon loader, brick worker, lumberjack and potato farmer, then made a small fortune in the Alaska Gold Rush. Settling in Seattle in 1901, he opened […]

John Warne Gates (1855 - 1911)

Businessman. He started as a barbed wire salesman for Washburne-Moen. In San Antonio, Texas in 1876, his demonstration of the holding power of the wire against long horn cattle resulted in more orders than the company could fill. The company refused to make him a partner, and he went into business with Alfred Clifford, building […]

John Wesley Hardin (1853 - 1895)

John Wesley Hardin John Wesley Hardin, one of the bloodiest killers of the Old West, is murdered by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas. Born in central Texas on May 26, 1853, Hardin killed his first man when he was only 15 during the violent period of post-Civil War reconstruction. During […]

John Wesley Lacey (1848 - 1936)

Lawyer. Served as the Attorney that defended Western Outlaw figure Tom Horn in the 1903 murder trial of Willie Nickle.  Family links:  Spouse:  Elizabeth Van Devanter Lacey (1861 – 1945)  Children:  Herbert V Lacey (1879 – 1930)*  Walter M Lacey (1884 – 1942)*  Ruth Lacey Barber (1885 – 1975)* *Calculated relationship

John Wickham (1763 - 1839)

Attorney. He was a respected Virginia lawyer for many years. Raised in New York City by a British Loyalist family, he studied at the Military Academy in Arras, France, before returning to America. During the American Revolution he was arrested as a British spy on orders from Governor Thomas Jefferson and tried but acquitted. After […]

John William “Will” Fritz (1896 - 1984)

Lawman, Kennedy Assassination Figure. As head of the Dallas Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide unit in 1963, he was Lee Harvey Oswald’s primary interrogator.  Law enforcement officers led by him interrogated Oswald over the less than 48 hours between his arrest and death. John Fritz was present for more of the questioning than any other officer.  Family […]

John William Anglin (1930 - 1970)

Folk Figure. Convict who drowned while trying to escape Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary. Anglin brothers Alfred Clarence and John William worked as farmers and laborers. Together they started to rob banks in Georgia and were arrested in 1956. Clarence and John were given 15-20 year sentences and sent to Atlanta Penitentiary (where they first met […]

John William Corrington (1932 - 1988)

Novelist, and screenwriter. Graduate of Jesuit High School and Centenary College of Louisiana, both in Shreveport, Louisiana, and of the graduate school of the University of Sussex in Great Britain. He also held a law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Among his novels are “Decoration Day,” “Omega Man,” “Shad Sentell,” “The Risi’s […]

John William Fritz (1896 - 1984)

Lawman, Kennedy Assassination Figure. As head of the Dallas Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide unit in 1963, he was Lee Harvey Oswald’s primary interrogator.  Law enforcement officers led by him interrogated Oswald over the less than 48 hours between his arrest and death. John Fritz was present for more of the questioning than any other officer.  Family […]

John William Godward (1861 - 1922)

Artist. Born of a wealthy family who disapproved of his vocation of art, Godward was shy and reclusive, so very little is known of his life. A Victorian Classicist painter, he was a member of the so-called “Marble School,” followers of Lawrence Alma-Tadema whose work concentrated almost exclusively on Classical Grecian or Roman subjects, such […]

John William MacKay (1831 - 1902)

Businessman. A mining magnate and transatlantic cable-layer, he developed the Big Bonanza Silver Mine in Nevada in the 1860s, and the famous Comstock Lode beginning in 1869.  Family links:  Children:  John William MacKay (1870 – 1895)*  Clarence Hungerford Mackay (1874 – 1938)* *Calculated relationship

John Winston Coleman, Jr (1898 - 1983)

Historian, Author. A 1920 graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.S. degree he received an M.A. from U.K. in 1929. A Lexington businessman he was a noted collector, historian and author. “Squire” Coleman as he was known authored more than 150 pamphlets and articles, mostly on historical topics, and more than twenty books. […]

John Wolfe Barry (1836 - 1918)

Wolfe-Barry was educated at Glenalmond and King’s College London, where he was a pupil of civil engineer Sir John Hawkshaw, as was Henry Marc Brunel, son of the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Barry and Hawkshaw worked on railway bridge crossings across the Thames, among other projects (Brunel pursued his own business from 1871, but in […]

John Wood (1930 - 2011)

John Wood was born 5 July 1930 in Derbyshire, England, and was educated at Bedford School. He did his national service as a lieutenant with the Royal Artillery, where he was invalided out after being accidentally shot in the back and later almost killed in a jeep accident. He read law at Jesus College, Oxford. He […]

John Zawahri (1989 - 2013)

After setting fire to the house, John Zawahri, armed with an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle, which he put together himself from legally purchased components, some of which required machining with a mill. He stopped a woman driving a Mazda hatchback, holding her at gunpoint. A passing female driver tried to intervene and was shot and wounded […]

John, King of England (1166 - 1216)

John was born to Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine on 24 December 1166. Henry had inherited significant territories along the Atlantic seaboard—Anjou, Normandy and England—and expanded his empire by conquering Brittany. Henry married the powerful Eleanor of Aquitaine, who reigned over the Duchy of Aquitaine and had a tenuous claim to Toulouse […]

Johnnie Cochran (1937 - 2005)

Johnnie Cochran Johnnie L Cochran, Jr. (October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005) Legal Figure. He was best known for successfully defending Football star O.J. Simpson from 1994 to 1995 on double homicide charges as part of Simpson’s “Dream Team.” Cochran, who originally was from Shreveport, Louisiana, moved to Los Angeles, California, at a young age […]

Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr (1937 - 2005)

Legal Figure. He was best known for successfully defending Football star O.J. Simpson from 1994 to 1995 on double homicide charges as part of Simpson’s “Dream Team.” Cochran, who originally was from Shreveport, Louisiana, moved to Los Angeles, California, at a young age with his family. Cochran was a graduate of UCLA and received his […]

Johnnie Wright (1914 - 2011)

Johnnie Wright Wright first performed with Anglin in 1936. In 1937, he married Kitty Wells. The two, along with Wright’s sister Louise, performed as Johnnie Wright & the Harmony Girls. In 1939, Wright and Anglin formed the duo Johnnie & Jack. They teamed up full-time in the 1940s and, except for the time Anglin spent […]

Johnny Allen (1933 - 2010)

Professional Football Player. For four seasons (1955 to 1958), he played at the center and linebacker positions in the National Football League with the Washington Redskins. Born John McKee Allen, he attended Ross High School in Freemont, Ohio and played collegiate football at Purdue University before being chosen by Washington during the 8th round of […]

Johnny Arthur (1883 - 1951)

Actor.  Comedic character performer of silent and early talkie films.  Born in Scottsdale,  Pennsylvania,  he began performing as a teen and had 25 years of experience in vaudeville and English music hall before making his movie debut in 1923.  He starred in the 1925 horror spoof “The Monster” (as the unlikely romantic interest),  and in […]

Johnny Baker (1869 - 1931)

Showman, Entertainer. Foster son of William “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Although his parents never allowed Cody to officially adopt him, he nevertheless travelled, worked and studied with Buffalo Bill from the age of 7 years, after the death of Cody’s natural son, Kit Carson, in 1876 at the age of 5. Under Cody’s tutelage he became […]

Johnny Barnes (1924 - 2016)

Johnny Barnes, born to parents from St. Kitts, was an electrician by trade and worked on the Bermuda Railroad as an electrician until the railroad closed in 1948. He then became a bus driver. Barnes was fond of waving to people while driving the bus, and would occasionally sit and wave to people on his […]

Johnny Bristol (1939 - 2004)

Johnny Bristol first came to local attention in the Detroit area as a member of the soul duo ‘Johnny & Jackey’ with Jackey Beavers, an associate Bristol met while in the US Air Force. The pair recorded two singles in 1959 for Anna Records, a label owned by Gwen Gordy (Berry Gordy’s sister) and Billy […]