Category: Biography
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660-1731). British novelist and journalist, the son of a London butcher. In 1703 he published a political satire that led to his imprisonment for 15 …
Claude Debussy Claude Debussy (1862-1918), French composer. He studied piano and composition at the Paris Conservatoire and won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1884. His style of composition …
James Dean James Dean, stage name of James Byron (1931-55). US actor, whose moody performances and early death have made him a lasting symbol of youthful rebel-lion. Dean studied …
Humphry Davy Humphry Davy (1778-1829), British chemist. In 1802 he became professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution in London. As the result of experiments in electrolysis he discovered the …
Miles Davis Miles Davis (1926-91). US jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader. Born into a middle-class Black family, he studied music at the Juilliard school in New York. He began …
Charles Darwin Charles Darwin (1809-82), British naturalist. At university Darwin studied first medicine and then theology, but he abandoned both to pursue his consuming interest — natural history. In …
Darius I Darius I (550-486), King of Persia. After seizing the throne in 522, Darius organized the Persian Empire, dividing it into a number of semi-independent provinces and establishing …
Georges Danton Georges Danton (1759-94), French revolutionary leader. He led the rising of 1792, which over-threw Louis XVI and the monarchy, and was effectively head of the revolutionary government. …
