Leading Figures in History

Discover the people who shaped our world — from rulers and scientists to artists and activists.

39103 persons found

William Courtenay (bishop)

Archbishop of Canterbury from 1381 to 1396

William Coventry

17th-century English statesman

William Cowper

English poet and hymnodist (1731–1800)

William Croft

English composer and organist (1678–1727)

William Crookes

b. 1832

English chemist and physicist (1832–1919)

William D. Byron

b. 1895

American politician

William D. Coleman (politician)

Former President of Liberia

William D. Leahy

American admiral (1875–1959)

William Dampier

b. 1651

English explorer, pirate, privateer and naturalist (1651–1715)

William Dannemeyer

American politician (1929–2019)

William de Braose (died 1230)

13th-century Welsh nobleman

William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber

Lord of Bramber (died 1211)

William de Brus, 3rd Lord of Annandale

Scottish noble (died 1212)

William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk

15th-century English noble

William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey

Norman warrior in the Battle of Hastings, died 1088

William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey

English nobleman and royal official

William Dean Howells

American author, critic, and playwright (1837–1920)

William Debenham

b. 1794

British businessman

William Dobinson Halliburton

b. 1860

William Douglas Cook

New Zealand writer

William Duddell

b. 1872

British physicist

William E. Moerner

b. 1953

Nobel prize winning American chemical physicist (born 1953)

William Eccles (physicist)

English physicist (1875–1966)

William Edwin Self

b. 1921

American actor and producer (1921–2010)