Some of the Most Notable Figures in Contemporary History

Mahatma Gandhi
circa 1869-1948
Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who became the leader of the nationalist
movement against the British rule of India. As such, he came to be considered the father of his
country. Gandhi is internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest (satyagraha)
to achieve political and social progress.

Laura Jane Addams

circa 1860-1935
She was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public
administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and
women’s suffrage in the United States and advocated for world peace.

Henry Ford
circa 1863-1947
He was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and
chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first
automobile that middle-class Americans could afford, he converted the automobile from an
expensive luxury into an accessible conveyance that profoundly impacted the landscape of the
20th century.
Marcus Alonzo Hanna
circa 1837-1904
He was an American businessman and Republican politician who served as a United States
Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is also a
Republican Party leader and United States Senator who was a mentor and patron of President
William McKinley.

Andrew Carnegie
circa 1835-1919
He was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the
American steel industry in the late 19 th century and became one of the richest people in history.
He became a leading philanthropist in the English-speaking world.
Theodore Roosevelt II
circa 1887-1944
He was an American government, business, and military leader. He was the eldest son of
President Theodore Roosevelt and First Lady Edith Roosevelt. Roosevelt is known for his World
War II service, including the directing of troops at Utah Beach during the Normandy landings,
for which he received the Medal of Honor.

Ernest Hemingway
circa 1899-1961
Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist and short-story writer, awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1954. He was noted both for the intense masculinity of his writing and for his
adventurous and widely publicized life. His succinct and lucid prose style exerted a powerful
influence on American and British fiction in the 20th century.

Nelson Mandela
circa 1918-2013
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a Black nationalist and the first Black president of South Africa.
His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk helped end the
country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority
rule. Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 for their
efforts.

J.K. Rowling
circa 1965-present
Joanne Rowling also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, was a British author and
philanthropist. She wrote Harry Potter, a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from
1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 500 million copies, been translated into at least 70
languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films and video games. The Casual
Vacancy (2012) was her first novel for adults. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime
fiction series, as Robert Galbraith.

Steve Jobs
circa 1955-2011
Steven Paul Jobs was a cofounder of Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.), and a charismatic
pioneer of the personal computer era.
Bill Gates
circa 1955-present
William Henry Gates III was an American computer programmer and entrepreneur who
cofounded Microsoft Corporation, the world’s largest personal-computer software company.

John Maxwell
circa 1947-present
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestselling author, John Calvin
Maxwell is an internationally respected leadership expert and author who has sold more than 21
million books. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP, a non-profit organization that has trained
nearly six million leaders in 177 countries worldwide. Each year he speaks to the leaders of
diverse organizations, such as Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments, the National
Football League, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the United Nations.
Mark Zuckerberg
circa 1984-present
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg was an American computer programmer who was cofounder and CEO of
Facebook, a social networking website.