Historical Figures

On Election Day, citizens choose a special way to remember her struggle to get U.S. women the right to vote.

By Christopher Hassiotis

"Let them eat cake?" Not her phrase.

By Kathryn Whitbourne

Is Austria's step to remove the place where the Nazi leader was born a way of cleaning up the present and future, or of trying to sweep the past under the rug?

By Christopher Hassiotis

LBJ really dug phones. The 36th U.S. president dug them so much that he had a tree phone. With a switchboard. How many presidents can say that?

By Julia Layton

Harriet Tubman won't be the first non-president whose face appears on the front of U.S. paper currency, but in 2020 hers will be the first black woman's to do so.

By Christopher Hassiotis

Ben Franklin was the kind of guy who couldn't help tinkering with everything he touched, whether it was eyeglasses, catheters or ... the alphabet.

By Bryan Young

Star of a musical, cover boy for the $10 bill, shaper of the American economy — is there anything Founding Father Alexander Hamilton can't do?

By Clint Pumphrey

Simeon Ellerton walked the U.K. in search of the right materials to build his home. Was the centenarian merely eccentric? Or completely brilliant?

By Bryan Young

They gobbled up things like copper sulfate muffins and formaldehyde meatloaf. Meet the 12 hungry men and the chemist behind the 20th-century Poison Squad.

By Candace Gibson

Though not technically remarkable, Adolf Hitler's watercolor paintings still fetch a tidy sum at auction. Who would actually pay that much?

By Chris Opfer

Imagine the cast of the "Ocean’s Eleven" trilogy in breeches and broad collars, and you have an inkling of this famous plot and why Fawkes' likeness lives on.

By Candace Gibson

Insanity on the throne was more common than you might think. Navigating both royal whim and a complete lack of treatment for mental illnesses was also no easy task. See what happened to these 10 mad royals.

By Shanna Freeman

Judas. Brutus. Benedict Arnold. If someone calls you one of those names, that's not a good thing because they've all become synonymous with traitors. But is that deserved? Who else was considered a traitor?

By Laurie L. Dove

Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles. Bill Buckner lost the 1986 Series for the Red Sox. We humans are pretty good at pointing the finger, and these 10 scapegoats have shouldered more than their fair share of blame.

By John Perritano

American politician and inquisitor Joseph McCarthy (1908 - 1957) became famous for his 1950s investigations into supposed communist subversion. What brought about his downfall?

By Mark Larson

The "All for one, one for all" motto of Alexandre Dumas' musketeers may be one of the most famous phrases in fiction. But the story of musketeers -- real musketeers -- began long before they made their literary debut. What were these 17th century soldiers fighting for?

By John Kelly

When these men and women shared their lives with their equally famous other halves. They may be revered (or reviled) for the deeds that secured their presence in history books and pop culture, but they were also loved.

By Candace Keener

It's a grand old flag! The stars and stripes of the American flag symbolize a nation of united states that are devoted to the ideals of freedom and democracy. From its earliest incarnations to some far-off places it's been flown, we'll explore the genesis and the whereabouts of the American flag.

Many people enjoy their cliched 15 minutes these days, but their notoriety quickly fizzles out. The most famous among us remain iconic across generations. But how can you measure John Lennon's fame against Muhammad's?

By Cristen Conger

Becoming famous through war is nothing new -- many military men have been lauded and feared throughout history. Many have had long political careers as well. We’ve collected photos of leaders -- from Caesar to MacArthur -- who have been characterized as both heroes and villains.

He was called the "Washington of the South," but Francis Marion's guerilla war tactics were less distinguished than Gen. George Washington's.

By Cristen Conger

Mary Mallon was an Irish immigrant working as a cook in New York. She was an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever, but was she really a ruthless murderer?

By Jane McGrath

These Harriet Tubman pictures will show photographs and illustrations of the leader of the Underground Railroad. Get to know this influential woman in this gallery.

Take a look at our collection of photographs and illustrations of the Civil War president, Abraham Lincoln.

Our royalty image gallery will show you pictures of famous kings and queens, both ancient and modern.