← Fame through time1949
1949
Whose working lives fell in 1949. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in 1949, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Yuri Andropov4 decades - 2
Hedy Lamarr3 decades - 3
Louis de Funès7 decades - 4
Tenzing Norgay3 decades - 5
Alec Guinness8 decades - 6
William S. Burroughs5 decades - 7
Tove Jansson0 decades - 8
Julio Cortázar8 decades - 9
Romain Gary8 decades - 10
Jiang Qing9 decades - 11
Dylan Thomas9 decades - 12
Marguerite Duras8 decades - 13
Joe Louis9 decades - 14
Jonas Salk7 decades - 15
Joe DiMaggio8 decades - 16
Thor Heyerdahl7 decades - 17
Tyrone Power11 decades - 18
Mohammed Zahir Shah1 decades - 19
Octavio Paz10 decades - 20
Richard Widmarknot measured- - 21
Jack LaLanne0 decades - 22
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr0 decades - 23
Jackie Coogannot measured- - 24
Valentino Mazzolanot measured- - 25
Norman Borlaug5 decades - 26
Gino Bartalinot measured- - 27
Abd al-Karim Qasimnot measured- - 28
George Bernard Dantzignot measured- - 29
María de los Angeles Felix Güereñanot measured- - 30
George Reevesnot measured- - 31
Robert Wise7 decades - 32
William Westmorelandnot measured- - 33
Desmond Llewelynnot measured- - 34
Ray Walstonnot measured- - 35
Lilli Palmernot measured- - 36
Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmarknot measured- - 37
Bill Fingernot measured- - 38
Sun Ranot measured- - 39
Bohumil Hrabal0 decades - 40
Woody Strodenot measured- - 41
Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānīnot measured- - 42
Mario Bavanot measured- - 43
Sam Manekshawnot measured- - 44
Shapour Bakhtiarnot measured- - 45
Kim Jong-suknot measured- - 46
Jerry Siegelnot measured- - 47
Ralph Ellison7 decades - 48
Chairil Anwarnot measured- - 49
Arthur Kennedynot measured- - 50
Richard Basehartnot measured- - 51
Dorothy Lamournot measured- - 52
Joan Pujol Garcíanot measured- - 53
Willi Stophnot measured- - 54
Adolfo Bioy Casaresnot measured- - 55
Lída Baarovánot measured- - 56
Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Bruneinot measured- - 57
Karl Carstens7 decades - 58
Norman Lloydnot measured- - 59
Beatrice Straightnot measured- - 60
Aribert Heimnot measured- - 61
Marcel Cerdannot measured- - 62
Frances Oldham Kelseynot measured- - 63
Creighton Abramsnot measured- - 64
Joe Shusternot measured- - 65
Edmund Muskienot measured- - 66
Estelle Reinernot measured- - 67
Martin Gardner7 decades - 68
Marcos Pérez Jiméneznot measured- - 69
Harold Russellnot measured- - 70Patrick O'Briannot measured-
- 71
Pietro Germinot measured- - 72
Kenneth Morenot measured- - 73
Robert Aldanot measured- - 74
Paul Randnot measured- - 75
E. G. Marshallnot measured- - 76
Yuri Levitannot measured- - 77
Nicanor Parranot measured- - 78
Dürrüşehvar Sultannot measured- - 79
Giorgio Almirantenot measured- - 80
Howard Fastnot measured- - 81
Jyoti Basunot measured- - 82
Lakshmi Sahgalnot measured- - 83
John Irelandnot measured- - 84
Juanita Moorenot measured- - 85
Louis, Prince Napoléonnot measured- - 86
Jan Karskinot measured- - 87
Achille Compagnoninot measured- - 88
Jack Parsonsnot measured- - 89
Yakov Zeldovich3 decades - 90
J. Lee Thompsonnot measured- - 91
Vincent J. McMahonnot measured- - 92
Bernard Malamudnot measured- - 93
Juan Carlos Onganíanot measured- - 94
Martin Rittnot measured- - 95
Haroun Tazieffnot measured- - 96
Pierre Balmainnot measured- - 97
Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff, Sr.not measured- - 98
Tito Okellonot measured- - 99
William Castlenot measured- - 100
Carlos Castillo Armasnot measured-
How to read these rankings
- People sit in their own time. Everyone is placed in the century their working life belongs to, and never in one that came after their death.
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record, read across every language rather than one. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus. Those decades are closed, so each curve is measured once and kept.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, or a name belongs to more than one notable person, we would rather show nothing than guess.