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The Biography Portal

A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.

Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography.

An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An autobiography is written by the person themselves, sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter. (Full article...)

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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Image 1

portrait by Nicola Marschall

John Adair (January 9, 1757 – May 19, 1840) was an American pioneer, slave trader, soldier, and politician. He was the eighth Governor of Kentucky and represented the state in both the U.S. House and Senate. A native of South Carolina, Adair enlisted in the state militia and served in the Revolutionary War, during which he was twice captured and held as a prisoner of war by the British. Following the War, he was elected as a delegate to South Carolina's convention to ratify the United States Constitution.

After moving to Kentucky in 1786, Adair participated in the Northwest Indian War, including a skirmish with the Miami Chief Little Turtle near Fort St. Clair in 1792. Popular for his service in two wars, he entered politics in 1792 as a delegate to Kentucky's constitutional convention. Adair was elected to a total of eight terms in the state House of Representatives between 1793 and 1803. He served as Speaker of the Kentucky House in 1802 and 1803, and was a delegate to the state's Second Constitutional Convention in 1799. He ascended to the United States Senate to fill the seat vacated when John Breckinridge resigned to become Attorney General of the United States in the Cabinet of Thomas Jefferson, but failed to win a full term in the subsequent election due to his implication in a treason conspiracy involving Vice President Aaron Burr. After a long legal battle, he was acquitted of any wrongdoing; and his accuser, General James Wilkinson, was ordered to issue an apology. The negative publicity kept him out of politics for more than a decade. (Full article...)
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Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri (c. 1955–2008) was a Pintupi-Luritja-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region, and sister of artist Molly Jugadai Napaltjarri. Daisy Jugadai lived and painted at Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory. There she played a significant role in the establishment of Ikuntji Women's Centre, where many artists of the region have worked.

Influenced by the Hermannsburg School, Jugadai's paintings reflect her Tjuukurrpa, the complex spiritual knowledge and relationships between her and her landscape. The paintings also reflect fine observation of the structures of the vegetation and environment. Jugadai's works were selected for exhibition at the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards five times between 1993 and 2001, and she was a section winner in 2000. Her paintings are held in major collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. (Full article...)
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Henry Washington Sawyer III (December 23, 1918 – July 31, 1999) was an American lawyer, civil rights activist and politician. Born in Philadelphia, he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, afterwards returning to the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Sawyer worked as a corporate lawyer but is best known for his advocacy of civil liberties, especially in First Amendment cases. In Abington School District v. Schempp and Lemon v. Kurtzman, he successfully argued cases on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union before the Supreme Court of the United States that became the basis for all modern Establishment Clause jurisprudence. Sawyer also pursued civil rights causes in Philadelphia and in the South during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Originally a Republican, he was elected as a Democrat to serve a four-year term on the Philadelphia City Council, where he worked for civil service reform and to increase the amount of public art in the city. (Full article...)
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Jolie in 2022

Angelina Jolie (/dʒoʊˈliː/; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood's highest-paid actress multiple times.

Jolie made her screen debut as a child alongside her father, Jon Voight, in Lookin' to Get Out (1982). Her film career began in earnest a decade later with the low-budget production Cyborg 2 (1993), followed by her first leading role in Hackers (1995). She starred in the biographical television films George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998) and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a sociopath in the 1999 drama Girl, Interrupted. Her role as the titular heroine in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) established her as a star. She continued her action-star career with Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), and Salt (2010). She also received critical acclaim for her performances in the dramas A Mighty Heart (2007) and Changeling (2008); the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her biggest commercial successes include the fantasy picture Maleficent (2014), its 2019 sequel, and the superhero film Eternals (2021). She has performed a voice role in the animation film series Kung Fu Panda since 2008. Jolie has also directed and written the war dramas In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011), Unbroken (2014), and First They Killed My Father (2017). (Full article...)
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Cunningham in 1943

Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, (7 January 1883 – 12 June 1963) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He was widely known by his initials, "ABC".

Cunningham was born in Rathmines in the south side of Dublin on 7 January 1883. After starting his schooling in Dublin and Edinburgh, he enrolled at Stubbington House School, at the age of ten. He entered the Royal Navy in 1897 as a naval cadet in the officers' training ship Britannia, passing out in 1898. He commanded a destroyer during the First World War and through most of the interwar period. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and two Bars, for his performance during this time, specifically for his actions in the Dardanelles and in the Baltics. (Full article...)
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Henderson in 2019

Paul Garnet Henderson, (born January 28, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames and five in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls. He played over 1,000 games between the two major leagues, scoring 376 goals and 758 points. Henderson played in two NHL All-Star Games and was a member of the 1962 Memorial Cup-winning Hamilton Red Wings team as a junior.

Henderson is best known for playing for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Played during the Cold War, the series was viewed as a battle for both hockey and cultural supremacy. Henderson scored the game-winning goal in the sixth, seventh and eighth games, the last of which has become legendary in Canada and made him a national hero: it was voted the "sports moment of the century" by The Canadian Press and earned him numerous accolades. Henderson has twice been inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame: in 1995 individually and in 2005 along with all players of the Summit Series team. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2013. (Full article...)
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Sudirman (Old Spelling: Soedirman; 24 January 1916 – 29 January 1950) was a high-ranking Indonesian military officer during the Indonesian National Revolution. The first commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, he continues to be widely respected in the country.

Born in Purbalingga, Dutch East Indies, Sudirman moved to Cilacap in 1916 and was raised by his uncle. A diligent student at a Muhammadiyah-run school, he became respected within the community for his devotion to Islam. After dropping out of teacher's college, in 1936 he began working as a teacher, and later headmaster, at a Muhammadiyah-run elementary school. After the Japanese occupied the Indies in 1942, Sudirman continued to teach, before joining the Japanese-sponsored Defenders of the Homeland as a battalion commander in Banyumas in 1944. In this position he put down a rebellion by his fellow soldiers, but was later interned in Bogor. After Indonesia proclaimed its independence on 17 August 1945, Sudirman led a break-out then went to Jakarta to meet President Sukarno. Tasked with overseeing the surrender of Japanese soldiers in Banyumas, he established a division of the People's Safety Body there. On 12 November 1945, at an election to decide the military's commander-in-chief in Yogyakarta, Sudirman was chosen over Oerip Soemohardjo in a close vote. While waiting to be confirmed, Sudirman ordered an assault on British and Dutch forces in Ambarawa. The ensuing battle and British withdrawal strengthened Sudirman's popular support, and he was ultimately confirmed on 18 December. (Full article...)
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Raymond is appointed regent for the underage Baldwin V of Jerusalem by the child's uncle King Baldwin IV

Raymond III (1140 – September/October 1187) was count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187. He was a minor when Nizari Assassins murdered his father, Raymond II of Tripoli. Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli, made Raymond's mother, Hodierna of Jerusalem, regent. Raymond spent the following years at the royal court in Jerusalem. He reached the age of majority in 1155, after which he participated in a series of military campaigns against Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler of Damascus. In 1161 he hired pirates to pillage the Byzantine coastline and islands to take vengeance on Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who had refused to marry his sister Melisende. He was captured in the Battle of Harim by Nur ad-Din's troops on 10 August 1164, and imprisoned in Aleppo for almost ten years. During his captivity, Amalric I of Jerusalem administered the county of Tripoli on his behalf.

Raymond was released for a large ransom which he had to borrow from the Knights Hospitaller. He married Eschiva of Bures, making him prince of Galilee and one of the wealthiest noblemen in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Amalric died in 1174, leaving a minor son, Baldwin IV, as his successor. As the child-king's closest male relative, Raymond was elected bailiff (or regent). Raymond remained neutral during the conflicts between Nur ad-Din's successors and his former commander, Saladin, which facilitated the unification of Egypt and a significant part of Syria under Saladin. When Baldwin reached the age of majority in 1176, Raymond's regency ended and he returned to Tripoli. Baldwin was ailing, and Raymond and Bohemond III of Antioch sought to diminish the influence of his mother, Agnes of Courtenay, and her brother, Joscelin III of Edessa, over the government. Before Easter 1180, they marched to Jerusalem, but their arrival had the opposite effect: Baldwin promptly arranged for his sister and heir Sibylla to be married to Guy of Lusignan, a supporter of the Courtenays, and Raymond had to leave the kingdom. In the following years, relations between Baldwin IV and Guy became tense, and the dying king disinherited his sister in favour of her son Baldwin V. On his deathbed In 1185, the king made Raymond bailiff for Baldwin V. Raymond's authority would be limited, because Joscelin III of Edessa was made the child's guardian, and all royal fortresses were placed into the custody of the military orders. (Full article...)
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James Longstreet (January 8, 1821 – January 2, 1904) was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse". He served under Lee as a corps commander for most of the battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Eastern Theater, and briefly with Braxton Bragg in the Army of Tennessee in the Western Theater.

After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Longstreet served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War. He was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec, and during recovery married his first wife, Louise Garland. Throughout the 1850s, he served on frontier duty in the American Southwest. In June 1861, Longstreet resigned his U.S. Army commission and joined the Confederate Army. He commanded Confederate troops during an early victory at Blackburn's Ford in July and played a minor role at the First Battle of Bull Run. (Full article...)
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A 1611 woodcut of Josquin des Prez, possibly copied from a now-lost oil painting made during his lifetime. There have been doubts concerning whether this depiction is an accurate likeness, see § Portraits.

Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez (c. 1450–1455 – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the Franco-Flemish School and had a profound influence on the music of 16th-century Europe. Building on the work of his predecessors Guillaume Du Fay and Johannes Ockeghem, he developed a complex style of expressive—and often imitative—movement between independent voices (polyphony) which informs much of his work. He further emphasized the relationship between text and music, and departed from the early Renaissance tendency towards lengthy melismatic lines on a single syllable, preferring to use shorter, repeated motifs between voices. Josquin was a singer, and his compositions are mainly vocal. They include masses, motets and secular chansons.

Josquin's biography has been continually revised by modern scholarship, and remains highly uncertain. Little is known of his early years; he was born in the French-speaking area of Flanders, and he may have been an altar boy and have been educated at the Cambrai Cathedral, or taught by Ockeghem. By 1477 he was in the choir of René of Anjou and then probably served under Louis XI of France. Now a wealthy man, in the 1480s Josquin traveled Italy with the Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, may have worked in Vienna for the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, and wrote the motet Ave Maria ... Virgo serena, and the popular chansons Adieu mes amours and Que vous ma dame. He served Pope Innocent VIII and Pope Alexander VI in Rome, Louis XII in France, and Ercole I d'Este in Ferrara. Many of his works were published by Ottaviano Petrucci in the early 16th century, including the Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae. In his final years in Condé, Josquin produced some of his most admired works, including the masses Missa de Beata Virgine and Missa Pange lingua; the motets Benedicta es, Inviolata, Pater noster–Ave Maria and Praeter rerum seriem; and the chansons Mille regretz, Nimphes, nappés and Plus nulz regretz. (Full article...)
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Air Marshal Sir James Anthony Rowland, (1 November 1922 – 27 May 1999) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1975 to 1979. He held office as Governor of New South Wales from 1981 to 1989, and was Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991.

Born in rural New South Wales, Rowland cut short his aeronautical engineering studies at the University of Sydney to join the RAAF in 1942. He was posted to Britain and served as a bomber pilot with the Pathfinders in the air war over Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. The following year he was forced to bail out over Germany following a collision with another Allied aircraft, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. (Full article...)
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Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams

Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, (3 August 1890 – 7 February 1980), is widely regarded as the "father" of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He was the first military pilot trained in Australia, and went on to command Australian and British fighter units in World War I. A proponent for air power independent of other branches of the armed services, Williams played a leading role in the establishment of the RAAF and became its first Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) in 1922. He served as CAS for thirteen years over three terms, longer than any other officer.

Williams came from a working-class background in South Australia. He was a lieutenant in the Army when he learned to fly at Point Cook, Victoria, in 1914. As a pilot with the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) in World War I, Williams rose to command No. 1 Squadron AFC, and later 40th Wing RAF. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and finished the war a lieutenant colonel. Afterwards he campaigned for an Australian Air Force run separately to the Army and Navy, which came into being on 31 March 1921. (Full article...)
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Bobby Peel c. 1895

Robert Peel (12 February 1857 – 12 August 1941) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman who played in the middle order. Between 1884 and 1896, he was regularly selected to represent England, playing 20 Test matches in which he took 101 wickets. Over the course of his career, he scored 12,191 runs and took 1,775 wickets in first-class cricket. A match-winning bowler, particularly when conditions favoured his style, Peel generally opened the attack, an orthodox tactic for a spinner at the time, and was highly regarded by critics.

Peel began playing for Yorkshire in 1883 but, after a successful debut, was overshadowed in the team by Edmund Peate and often played only a minor role with the ball. Improvements in his batting and his excellence as a fielder kept him in the team, and when Peate was sacked for drunkenness in 1887, Peel became Yorkshire's main spinner. He had already played for England, touring Australia with two professional teams, although he did not play a Test in England until 1888. Over the following years he regularly took over 100 wickets in each season and often played in the prestigious Gentlemen v Players matches. He was generally Yorkshire's leading bowler—until the emergence of George Hirst, he generally received little support from other members of the attack—and often among their leading batsmen. His best season in county cricket came in 1896, when he recorded the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, and made his highest first-class score of 210. Among his notable feats in Tests, he bowled England to victory after they had followed on in Australia in 1894–95 and took six for 23 in his final Test. The first English cricketer to reach 100 wickets against Australia, in 1894–95 he also became the first player to fail to score in four successive Test innings. (Full article...)
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Rear Admiral Uriel Sebree

Uriel Sebree (February 20, 1848 – August 6, 1922) was a career officer in the United States Navy. He entered the Naval Academy during the Civil War and served until 1910, retiring as a rear admiral. He is best remembered for his two expeditions into the Arctic and for serving as acting governor of American Samoa. He was also commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1867, Sebree was posted to a number of vessels before being assigned to a rescue mission to find the remaining crew of the missing Polaris expedition in the Navy's first mission to the Arctic. This attempt was only a partial success—the Polaris crew was rescued by a British ship rather than the US Navy—but this led to Sebree's selection eleven years later for a second expedition to the Arctic. That mission to rescue Adolphus Greely and the survivors of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition was a success. Sebree was subsequently appointed as the second acting governor of American Samoa. He served in this position for only a year before returning to the United States. In 1907, he was promoted to rear admiral and given command of the Pathfinder Expedition around the South American coast before being appointed commander of the 2nd Division of the Pacific Fleet and then commander-in-chief of the entire fleet. He retired in 1910 and died in Coronado, California, in 1922. Two geographical features in Alaska—Sebree Peak and Sebree Island—are named for Admiral Sebree. (Full article...)
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Portrait by Johann Georg Ziesenis (1763)

Frederick II (German: Friedrich II.; 24 January 1712 – 17 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Silesian wars, his reorganisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Frederick was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great (German: Friedrich der Große) and was nicknamed "Old Fritz" (German: der Alte Fritz).

In his youth, Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than in the art of war, which led to clashes with his authoritarian father, Frederick William I of Prussia. However, upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked and annexed the rich Austrian province of Silesia in 1742, winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. He became an influential military theorist whose analyses emerged from his extensive personal battlefield experience and covered issues of strategy, tactics, mobility and logistics. (Full article...)

More featured articles

Did you know... - show different entries

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... that Spanish diplomat Ángel Sagaz Zubelzu secured the release of more than 1,500 Jews from prison in Egypt by arguing they were descended from expelled Jews and thus entitled to Spanish citizenship?
... that Katō Kanji, leader of the fleet faction, shouted that "war with America starts now" after the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty?
... that little has been known of the exact whereabouts of Iranian communist leader Ashraf Dehghani since she escaped prison in 1973?
... that Lucy Salani is considered the only known Italian transgender person to survive the Nazi concentration camps?
... that Zimbabwean musician Joshua Sacco and his band used to perform songs at ZANU–PF election rallies before he became a party member?
... that Walt Nauta would bring a Diet Coke to the Oval Office whenever President Donald Trump requested one via his call button?
... that Raihan Rafi, the writer and director of the 2021 Bangladeshi film Janowar, interviewed the alleged perpetrators of the quadruple murder on which it is based?
... that when reggae musician Bob Marley was arrested in London for cannabis possession, he falsely told the police he lived in Collingham Gardens?
... that Chinese writer Feng Xuefeng rewrote his 500,000-character manuscript, lost after he was captured by the Nationalists—only for him to burn it himself?
... that musician John Mayer dismissed Taylor Swift's "Dear John" as "cheap songwriting"?
... that nursing educator Helen Turner Watson was one of the first African-American women to become a commissioned officer in the United States Navy?

General images

The following are images from various biography-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1John Foxe's The Book of Martyrs, was one of the earliest English-language biographies. (from Biography)
Image 2Third volume of a 1727 edition of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans printed by Jacob Tonson (from Biography)
Image 3Einhard as scribe (from Biography)
Image 4Eminent Victorians set the standard for 20th century biographical writing, when it was published in 1918. (from Biography)
Image 5Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote Confessions, the first Western autobiography ever written, around 400. Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, 17th century. (from Autobiography)
Image 6Cover of the first English edition of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, 1793 (from Autobiography)
Image 7James Boswell wrote what many consider to be the first modern biography, The Life of Samuel Johnson, in 1791. (from Biography)
Image 8A scene from the Baburnama (from Autobiography)

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Selected portrait

Image 1
Robin Hunicke
Photo: Charlie Chu
Robin Hunicke (b. 1973) is an American video game designer and producer who worked for several companies before establishing her own, Funomena, in 2011. She also supports independent game development.
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Enrico Caruso
Photo: Bain News Service; Restoration: Michel Vuijlsteke
Enrico Caruso (1873–1921) was an Italian tenor who was one of the most famous male opera singers in history. He sang to great acclaim at major opera houses around the world, and spent 18 consecutive seasons as the lead tenor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He was one of the first major classical vocalists to make numerous recordings (more than 260), and his 1902 recording of "Vesti la giubba" was the first to sell over a million copies. His records sold so well that the Collector's Guide to Victor Records asks, "Did the phonograph make Caruso, or did Caruso make the phonograph?"
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Lucy Arbell
Photograph credit: Nadar; restored by Adam Cuerden
Lucy Arbell (8 June 1878 – 21 May 1947), was a French mezzo-soprano whose operatic career was largely centred in Paris. Her career was particularly associated with the composer Jules Massenet, who created a number of operatic roles for her before his death in 1912. This carte de visite of Arbell was created by the French photographer Nadar.
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Sonia Sotomayor
Photograph: Steve Petteway
Sonia Sotomayor is an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. She was nominated in 2009 by President Barack Obama to replace retiring Justice David Souter. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and the third woman to be appointed to the Court.
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Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir
Photo credit: Underwood and Underwood
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (left) and nature preservationist John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, stand together on Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. In the background can be seen Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. During this trip in 1903, Muir convinced Roosevelt to add Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to the park, which had been established in 1890.
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Dilma Rousseff
Photo: Agência Brasil
Dilma Rousseff is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She was the first woman to hold the office. Previously she was Chief of Staff to the President of Brazil, serving under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from 2005 to 2010. The daughter of a Bulgarian entrepreneur, she is an economist by training and co-founder of the Democratic Labour Party. She served as Da Silva's Minister of Energy and became Chief of Staff after José Dirceu's resignation amidst scandal. She was elected the presidency in a run-off election on 31 October 2010.
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Alice Paul
Photograph credit: Harris & Ewing; restored by Adam Cuerden
Alice Paul was an American suffragist, feminist, and women's-rights activist, and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote. Along with Lucy Burns and others, she strategized events such as the Woman Suffrage Procession and the Silent Sentinels as part of the successful campaign that resulted in the amendment's passage on August 18, 1920. This photograph of Paul was taken in 1915 by the Harris & Ewing photographic studio in Washington, D.C.
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Célestine Galli-Marié
Photograph credit: Nadar; restored by Adam Cuerden
Célestine Galli-Marié (1837–1905) was a French mezzo-soprano who is most famous for creating the title role in the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. It was said that, during the opera's 33rd performance on 2 June 1875, Galli-Marié had a premonition of Bizet's death while singing in the third act, and fainted when she left the stage; the composer in fact died that night and the next performance was cancelled due to her indisposition. This photograph by Nadar depicts Galli-Marié as the titular character in Carmen.
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Mumtaz Ahmed Khan
Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
Mumtaz Ahmed Khan is an Indian humanitarian. A surgeon by trade, in 1966 he established the Al-Ameen Educational Society; it now operates eight schools in the Bangalore area.
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Alexz Johnson
Photo: Epitome Pictures
Alexz Johnson (b. 1986) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress, best known for roles as Jude Harrison in the CTV series Instant Star (character shown here), Annie Thelan in the Disney Channel series So Weird, and as Erin Ulmer in the 2006 horror film Final Destination 3. Her album Voodoo was released in 2010.
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Wayne Gretzky
Photo credit: Håkan Dahlström
Ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, as a member of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1997. Gretzky, nicknamed "The Great One", is widely considered the best hockey player of all time. Upon his retirement in 1999, he held forty regular-season records, fifteen playoff records, and six All-Star records. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season—a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 15 NHL seasons, 13 of them consecutively. He is the only player to have his number (99) officially retired by the NHL for all teams.
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Morgan Pressel
Photograph: Keith Allison; Edit: Brandmeister
American professional golfer Morgan Pressel, who first qualified for the Women's Open at age 12. Pressel had her first victory in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007. She made her first professional hole-in-one, an eagle, at that year's Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
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Image 13
Walt Whitman
Photograph: George C. Cox; restoration: Adam Cuerden
Walt Whitman (1819–1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass (first published in 1855, but continuously revised until Whitman's death), which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality.
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Brian Nankervis
Photo: John O'Neill; edit: JJ Harrison
Brian Nankervis (b. 1956), an Australian comedian and writer, shown here during a live performance. Nankervis rose to popularity while playing Raymond J. Bartholomeuz on Hey Hey It's Saturday; since 2005 he has been a host of the gameshow RocKwiz.
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Image 15
Jeff Dunham
Photograph: Richard Mclaren
American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham with his puppet "Achmed the Dead Terrorist". Dunham, whose puppets Time magazine has described as "politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill tempered", uses Achmed to satirize terrorists.
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On this day – January 9

Births

1890 - Karel Čapek, Czech writer (d. 1938)
1904 - George Balanchine, Russian dancer/choreographer (d. 1983)
1908 - Simone de Beauvoir, French author (d. 1986)
1911 - Gypsy Rose Lee, burlesque performer (d. 1970)
1913 - Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)(pictured)
1935 - Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
1944 - Jimmy Page, British musician and producer (Led Zeppelin)
1967 - Dave Matthews, South African singer and musician

Deaths

1923 - Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer (b. 1888)
1939 - Johnny Gruelle, American cartoonist, children's book writer and creator of Raggedy Ann (b. 1880)
1995 - Peter Cook, British actor, satirist, writer, and comedian (b. 1937)

More of today's anniversaries...

In the news

8 January 2024 – Nuclear program of Iran: According to De Volkskrant, a Dutch engineer recruited by the General Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands released the malicious computer worm Stuxnet in an Iranian nuclear complex in 2007, disrupting the Iranian nuclear program for years. (NOS) (The Times)
5 January 2024 –: South African former Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is released on parole after serving eight and a half years in prison for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. (France 24)
4 January 2024 – Iraqi conflict: A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq, kills four Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba militants, including senior leader Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi. (Reuters)
4 January 2024 –: A private plane en route from J. F. Mitchell Airport in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to Hewanorra International Airport in Saint Lucia crashes shortly after takeoff, killing four people including German actor Christian Oliver and his two daughters. (Loop News) (AFP via Hindustan Times)
22 December 2023 – War in Sudan: De facto ruler of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announces that he will meet with Rapid Support Forces leader Hemedti. The announcement comes after the Rapid Support Forces took control of Gezira State from the Sudanese Armed Forces. (Radio Dabanga)
20 December 2023 – Insurgency in Balochistan: In Pakistan, Sarfraz Bungulzai, leader of the separatist Baloch Nationalist Army, surrenders to authorities alongside 70 other militants in Balochistan. (AP)

Updated: 6:33, 9 January 2024

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Quote of the week

"History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth."

— E. L. Doctorow

Interviewed by George Plimpton in The Paris Review, Winter 1986

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