← Fame through time1951
1951
Whose working lives fell in 1951. 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 1951, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Roald Dahl6 decades - 2
François Mitterrand8 decades - 3
Kirk Douglas8 decades - 4
Gregory Peck8 decades - 5
Harold Wilson11 decades - 6
Olivia de Havilland9 decades - 7
Aldo Moro8 decades - 8
Edward Heath7 decades - 9
Claude Shannon6 decades - 10
João Havelange0 decades - 11
Robert McNamara6 decades - 12
Glenn Ford8 decades - 13
Jackie Gleason7 decades - 14
Lyudmila Pavlichenko5 decades - 15
Ferruccio Lamborghininot measured- - 16
Ahmed Ben Bella6 decades - 17
Walter Cronkite7 decades - 18
Hans-Ulrich Rudel4 decades - 19
Sterling Haydennot measured- - 20
Ruth Handlernot measured- - 21
Peter Finch7 decades - 22
Betty Grablenot measured- - 23
Henrietta Lacksnot measured- - 24
Michael Gough4 decades - 25
Natalia Ginzburg8 decades - 26
Tsutomu Yamaguchinot measured- - 27
Shirley Jacksonnot measured- - 28
Francis Crick5 decades - 29
Dinah Shorenot measured- - 30
P. W. Botha5 decades - 31
Yehudi Menuhin9 decades - 32
Sirimavo Bandaranaike5 decades - 33
Herbert A. Simon7 decades - 34
Gough Whitlam5 decades - 35
Camilo José Cela9 decades - 36
Duong Van Minhnot measured- - 37
Mercedes McCambridgenot measured- - 38
Van Johnsonnot measured- - 39
Eugene McCarthynot measured- - 40
Zail Singh4 decades - 41
Dino Risinot measured- - 42
Léo Ferrénot measured- - 43
James Herriotnot measured- - 44
Dorothy McGuirenot measured- - 45
Jack Vancenot measured- - 46
Luigi Comencininot measured- - 47
Keenan Wynnnot measured- - 48
Robert Walkernot measured- - 49
Bernard Bliernot measured- - 50
M. S. Subbulakshminot measured- - 51
Jacque Fresconot measured- - 52
Evelyn Keyesnot measured- - 53
Pierre Messmernot measured- - 54
Raf Vallonenot measured- - 55
Abdul Rahman Arifnot measured- - 56
Masaki Kobayashinot measured- - 57
Richard Fleischernot measured- - 58
Jane Jacobsnot measured- - 59
Giorgio Bassaninot measured- - 60
John D. MacDonaldnot measured- - 61
C. Wright Mills8 decades - 62
Bernard Lewisnot measured- - 63
Harold Robbinsnot measured- - 64
Adriana Caselottinot measured- - 65
Movita Castanedanot measured- - 66
Bismillah Khannot measured- - 67
Rafael Calderanot measured- - 68
Martha Rayenot measured- - 69
Saburō Sakainot measured- - 70
Paul Castellanonot measured- - 71
Yumjaagiin Tsedenbalnot measured- - 72
Ken Curtisnot measured- - 73
Beverly Clearynot measured- - 74
Ephraim Katzirnot measured- - 75
Rossano Brazzinot measured- - 76
Julio César Turbaynot measured- - 77
Harry Jamesnot measured- - 78
Hans Eysenck4 decades - 79
Ernst Wilimowskinot measured- - 80
Walt Whitman Rostownot measured- - 81
Pérez Pradonot measured- - 82
Margaret Lockwoodnot measured- - 83
Alexey Maresyevnot measured- - 84
Halil İnalcıknot measured- - 85
Walker Percynot measured- - 86
Maurice Wilkins2 decades - 87
Consuelo Velázqueznot measured- - 88
Moondognot measured- - 89
Vitaly Ginzburg3 decades - 90
Ray Conniffnot measured- - 91
Chiang Wei-kuonot measured- - 92
Amha Selassienot measured- - 93
Prince Carl Johan Bernadottenot measured- - 94
Lilian, Princess of Réthynot measured- - 95
Peter Weissnot measured- - 96
George Montgomerynot measured- - 97
Emil Gilelsnot measured- - 98
Edward Plattnot measured- - 99
Virginia Satirnot measured- - 100
Hal Smithnot 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.