Leading Figures in History

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

24408 persons found

William Camden

b. 1551

English antiquarian (1551–1623)

William Carey (missionary)

English Baptist missionary and a Particular Baptist minister (1761–1834)

William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk

b. 1758

Royal Navy officer (1756–1831)

William Carr (rower)

b. 1876

American rower (1876–1942)

William Castle

b. 1914

American filmmaker (1914–1977)

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire

b. 1720

Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1756 to 1757

William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire

b. 1790

English peer, courtier and politician (1790–1858)

William Chester Minor

b. 1834

American surgeon, dictionary contributor, and psychiatric patient

William Clingan

American Founding Father and politician

William Cobbett

English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist (1763–1835)

William Colby

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1973 to 1976

William Collins Whitney

b. 1841

American politician (1841–1904)

William Conrad Gibbons

American academic (1926–2015)

William Conway (cardinal)

Irish cardinal

William Cornwallis

Royal Navy officer and politician (1744–1819)

William Coventry

17th-century English statesman

William Cowper

English poet and hymnodist (1731–1800)

William Crookes

b. 1832

English chemist and physicist (1832–1919)

William D. Byron

b. 1895

American politician

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 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