The Battle of Cartagena de Indias was an amphibious military engagement between the forces of Britain under Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon and Spain under Admiral Blas de Lezo. It took place at the city of Cartagena de Indias in March 1741, in...

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I. He was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the Ho...

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke...

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier was a French nobleman and chemist central to the 18th-century Chemical Revolution and a large influence on both the histories of chemistry and biology. He is widely considered to be the "Father of Modern Chemist...

Jean-Paul Marat was a physician, political theorist and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution. His journalism became renowned for its fierce tone, uncompromising st...

François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, also Toussaint Bréda, was a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born in Saint-Domingue, in a long struggle for independence Toussaint led enslaved Africans and Afro-Haitians to victory over French colo...

Sir Joseph Banks was an British naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage (1768–1771). Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia...

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States 1801-1809, and founder of the University of Virginia, voiced the aspirations of a new Americ...

Mayer Amschel Rothschild was the founder of the Rothschild family international banking dynasty that became one of the most successful business families in history. In 2005, he was ranked 7th on the Forbes magazine list of "The Twenty Most...

Eise Jeltes Eisinga was a Frisian amateur astronomer who built the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in his house in Franeker, Frisia Province in the Netherlands. The orrery still exists and is the oldest functioning planetarium in the world. Alt...

Jean-Baptiste de la Marck, often just known as "Lamarck", was a French soldier, naturalist, academic and an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws. In the modern era, Lamarck is re...

Samuel Hearne, explorer, fur trader. He joined the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1766 and was chosen to search for a western passage, by river or sea, across the Barren Lands. His first 2 attempts ended ingloriously, as he was bullied, robb...

Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was one of the most prominent Africans involved in the British movement of the abolition for the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawma...

Andrianampoinimerina (Andriana-am-Poin-Imerina, "The-King-in-the-Heart-of-Imerina", born as Ramboasalama or Ramboasalamarazaka, nicknamed Nampoina, Imboasalama, or Ny Ombalahibemaso "The-Big-Eyed-Bull"; was a Merina (litt. "Highlander") mi...

Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, was a Russian prince and field marshal who commanded the Russian army during major engagements with Napoleon between 1805 and 1812, including the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino. A national hero in Russia f...