Babe Adams (1882 - 1968)

Babe Adams Charles Benjamin “Babe” Adams (May 18, 1882 – July 27, 1968) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1906 to 1926 who spent nearly his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Noted for his outstanding location control, his career average of 1.29 walks per 9 innings pitched was the second […]

Barry Allan Ackerley (1934 - 2011)

Barry Allan Ackerley Sports Magnate. He was the principal owner of the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association, from 1983 to 2001. A graduate of the University of Iowa, he rose to the position of Chairman and Corporate Executive Officer (CEO) of Ackerley Communications, a media conglomerate operating television and radio stations in 20 […]

Ray Abruzzese (1937 - 2011)

Raymond Lewis Abruzzese, Jr. (October 27, 1937 – August 22, 2011) was an American college and professional football player.  Abruzzese was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A defensive back, he played college football at the University of Alabama, and played professionally in the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills from 1962 through 1964, when the […]

Harold Abrahams (1899 - 1978)

Abrahams’s father, Isaac, was a Jewish immigrant from Congress Poland. He worked as a financier, and settled in Bedford with his Welsh Jewish wife, Ester. Harold was born in Bedford, and was the younger brother of another British athlete, the Olympic long jumper Sir Sidney Abrahams. Another brother, Sir Adolphe Abrahams, became the founder of […]

Theodore Wade “Ted” Abernathy (1933 - 2004)

Ted Wade Abernathy (March 6, 1933 – December 16, 2004) was a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He batted and threw right-handed. Abernathy appeared in 681 games and picked up 148 saves during a 14–season career between 1955 and 1972, playing for the Washington Senators (1955–57, 1960), Cleveland Indians (1963–64), Chicago Cubs (1965–66, 1969–70), Atlanta […]

Albert Julius “Lefty” Aber (1927 - 1993)

Albert Julius Aber (July 31, 1927 – May 20, 1993), nicknamed Lefty, was a left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played six years in the Major Leagues with the Cleveland Indians (1950, 1953), Detroit Tigers (1953–1957), and Kansas City Athletics (1957). Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Aber was signed as an amateur free agent by the […]

Sid Abel (1918 - 2000)

Born in Melville, Saskatchewan, “Old Bootnose”, as he was known, was the third member of the Red Wings’ celebrated “Production line” along with Hockey Hall of Fame teammates Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. Abel won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 1949. Abel was traded from the Red Wings to the Black Hawks in […]

Clarence John “Taffy” Abel (1900 - 1964)

Clarence John “Taffy” Abel (May 28, 1900 – August 1, 1964) was a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a member of two Stanley Cup championship teams. He was the first United States-born player to become a NHL regular. He is a member of the United States Hockey Hall […]

Senda Berenson Abbott (1868 - 1954)

Born as Senda Valvrojenski, she immigrated to the United States when she was seven years old. Her parents were Albert and Judith Valvrojenski. When Senda was born, she had an older brother Bernard. She would later have another younger brother and two younger sisters. Albert Valvrojenski grew up following an educational track of classical Jewish […]

Charlie S. Abbey (1866 - 1926)

Abbey began his professional career with the independent league Beatrice, Nebraska baseball team in 1888. In 1889, Abbey played for the independent league Kearney, Nebraska baseball team and the Des Moines Prohibitionists of the Western Association. During the 1890 season, Abbey played for the St. Paul Apostles of the Western Association. In 1891, Abbey played […]

Bert Wood Abbey (1869 - 1962)

Abbey first began playing baseball as a freshman in college when he recruited fellow students to form the Vermont Catamounts (UVM) team. At UVM, he made the baseball and training program progress fast with his presence as player, coach and captain. He graduated in 1891 from UVM and the year after, Abbey’s team at the […]

Edward James “Batty” Abbaticchio (1877 - 1957)

Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Abbatticchio was among the first wave of professional football players. He began his professional football career with the Latrobe Athletic Association in 1895, where he starred as a fullback and kicker. In 1896, Abbatticchio kicked a 23-yard kicked field goal to help give Latrobe a 5-0 win over the West Virginia […]

Tommie Lee Aaron (1939 - 1984)

Tommie Lee Aaron (August 5, 1939 – August 16, 1984) was a first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball, and a younger brother of Hall of Famer Hank Aaron. They were the first siblings to appear in a League Championship Series as teammates. Born in Mobile, Alabama, he was signed by the Milwaukee […]

Tony Scott (1944 - 2012)

Scott was born in North Shields, Northumberland, the youngest of three sons of Colonel Francis Percy Scott, who served in the Royal Engineers, and Elizabeth. He followed in his elder brother’s footsteps, studying at Grangefield School, West Hartlepool College of Art and Sunderland Art School, for a fine arts degree. At the age of 16, […]

Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818 - 1894)

Amelia Bloomer was born in 1818 in Homer, New York. Bloomer came from a family of modest means and received only a few years of formal education in the local district school. After a brief stint as a school teacher at the age of 17, she decided to relocate, and moved in with her newly […]

Susan B. Anthony (1820 - 1906)

Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, to Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read in Adams, Massachusetts, the second oldest of seven children. Her family shared a passion for social reform. Her brothers Daniel and Merritt moved to Kansas to support the anti-slavery movement there. Merritt fought with John Brown against pro-slavery forces during […]

Mathilde Franziska Anneke (1817 - 1884)

Mathilde Franziska Anneke (April 3, 1817 – November 25, 1884) was a German feminist, socialist, and newspaper editor, owner, and reporter. Born Mathilde Franziska Giesler, her first marriage to Alfred von Tabouillot, a rich wine merchant, ended in divorce. The ensuing custody battle over the children influenced her feminist views greatly. She later married Fritz […]

Louisa Garrett Anderson (1873 - 1943)

Dr. Louisa Garrett Anderson, CBE (28 July 1873 – 15 November 1943) was a medical pioneer, a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union, a suffragette, and social reformer. She was the daughter of the founding medical pioneer Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. Her aunt, Dame Millicent Fawcett was a British suffragist. Anderson was the Chief […]

Ellen Louise Wilson (1860 - 1914)

Born Ellen Louise Axson in Savannah, Georgia, the daughter of the Reverend Samuel Edward Axson, a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret Jane (née Hoyt) Axson, Ellen was a lady of refined tastes with a fondness for art, music and literature. Thomas Woodrow Wilson first saw her when he was about 3 and she was a baby. […]

Edith White Wilson (1872 - 1961)

Edith Bolling was born October 15, 1872 in Wytheville, Virginia to circuit court judge William Holcombe Bolling and his wife Sarah “Sallie” Spears née White. Her birthplace is a contributing building in the Wytheville Historic District. Edith was a descendant of settlers who came to Virginia early in the British colonization of the Americas. Through […]

Martha Washington (1731 - 1802)

Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731 on her parents’ plantation Chestnut Grove in the British colony, Province of Virginia. She was the oldest daughter of John Dandridge (1700–1756), a Virginia planter and English immigrant, and Frances Jones (1710–1785) of English, Welsh, and French descent. Martha had three brothers and four sisters: John (1733–1749), […]

Angelica Van Buren (1818 - 1877)

Sarah Angelica Singleton Van Buren, née Singleton (February 13, 1818 – December 29, 1877), was the daughter-in-law of the 8th United States President Martin Van Buren. She was married to the President’s son, Abraham Van Buren. She assumed the post of First Lady because the president’s wife, Hannah Van Buren had died 17 years earlier […]

Julia Gardiner Tyler (1820 - 1889)

Julia Gardiner Tyler was born in 1820 on Gardiner’s Island off the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, one of the largest privately owned islands in the United States. She was the daughter of David Gardiner, a prominent landowner and New York State Senator from 1824 to 1828, and his wife Juliana née McLachlan. […]

Bess Truman (1885 - 1982)

Bess Truman was born Elizabeth Virginia Wallace on February 13, 1885, to David Willock Wallace (1860–1903) and his wife, the former Margaret Elizabeth Gates (1862–1952), in Independence, Missouri, and was known as Bessie during her childhood. She was the eldest of four; three brothers: Frank Gates Wallace, (4 March 1887 – 12 August 1960), George […]

Margaret Taylor (1788 - 1852)

Born in Calvert County, Maryland, on September 21, 1788, the daughter of Walter Smith, a prosperous Maryland planter and veteran officer of the American Revolution, and Ann Mackall-Smith, “Peggy” was raised amid refinement and wealth.  While visiting her sister in Kentucky in 1809, she was introduced to Lieutenant Zachary Taylor, then home on leave, by […]

Helen Taft (1861 - 1943)

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the fourth child of Judge John Williamson Herron (1827–1912), a law partner of Rutherford B. Hayes, and Harriet Collins (1833–1902), Nellie graduated from the Cincinnati College of Music and taught school briefly before her marriage. With her parents, she attended the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration of President and Mrs. Rutherford B. […]

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962)

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born at 56 West 37th Street in New York City, to socialites Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt (1860–1894) and Anna Rebecca Hall (1863–1892). From an early age, she preferred to be called by her middle name (Eleanor). Through her father, she was a niece of President Theodore “T.R.” Roosevelt, Jr. (1858–1919). Through her […]

Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt (1861 - 1948)

Roosevelt was born in Norwich, Connecticut, to merchant Charles Carow (1825–1883) and Gertrude Elizabeth Tyler (1836–1895). Gertrude’s father Daniel Tyler (1799–1882) served as Union general in the American Civil War. Edith grew up next door to Theodore “T.R.” Roosevelt, Jr. (1858–1919) (the elder son of philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and socialite Martha Stewart “Mittie” Bulloch) […]

Sarah Childress Polk (1803 - 1891)

Sarah Childress was born in 1803 to Joel Childress, a prominent planter, merchant, and land speculator, and Elizabeth Whitsitt Childress—the third of their six children. Sarah was well educated for a woman of her time and place, attending the exclusive Moravians’ Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1817, one of the few institutions of […]

Jane Appleton Pierce (1806 - 1863)

Born in Hampton, New Hampshire, the daughter of Reverend Jesse Appleton, a Congregationalist minister, and Elizabeth Means-Appleton, Jane was a petite, frail, shy, melancholy figure. After the death of her father, who had served as president of Bowdoin College not long before Franklin enrolled there, she moved at age 13 into the mansion of her […]