← Fame through time1953
1953
Whose working lives fell in 1953. 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 1953, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Nelson Mandela6 decades - 2
Richard Feynman4 decades - 3
Nicolae Ceaușescunot measured- - 4
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn6 decades - 5
Ingmar Bergman6 decades - 6
Gamal Abdel Nasser8 decades - 7
Rita Hayworth8 decades - 8
Anwar Sadat5 decades - 9
Katherine Johnson0 decades - 10
Helmut Schmidt9 decades - 11
William Holden11 decades - 12
Leonard Bernstein8 decades - 13
Hank Williams7 decades - 14
Billy Graham7 decades - 15
Spiro Agnew6 decades - 16
Yasuhiro Nakasone4 decades - 17
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan0 decades - 18
Sam Walton3 decades - 19
Louis Althusser6 decades - 20
Kurt Waldheim6 decades - 21
Kakuei Tanaka3 decades - 22
Ida Lupino8 decades - 23
Betty Ford5 decades - 24
Alberto Ascari3 decades - 25
Art Carney6 decades - 26
João Goulart1 decades - 27
Ben Johnsonnot measured- - 28
Mike Wallacenot measured- - 29
George Lincoln Rockwellnot measured- - 30
John Forsythenot measured- - 31
Teresa Wright7 decades - 32
Richard Wintersnot measured- - 33
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro6 decades - 34
Rosemary Kennedynot measured- - 35
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.not measured- - 36
Chaim Herzog8 decades - 37
Ted Williamsnot measured- - 38
João Figueiredonot measured- - 39
Spike Milligannot measured- - 40
Maurice Druon8 decades - 41
Ken Milesnot measured-
- 42
Shankar Dayal Sharma1 decades - 43
Robert Aldrichnot measured- - 44
Carmen Amaya9 decades - 45
Jeff Chandlernot measured- - 46
Birgit Nilsson6 decades - 47
Patricio Aylwinnot measured- - 48
Muriel Spark7 decades - 49
Jørn Utzon0 decades - 50
B. K. S. Iyengarnot measured- - 51
Jerome Robbinsnot measured- - 52
Mickey Spillanenot measured- - 53
Pearl Baileynot measured- - 54
Yigal Allonnot measured- - 55
Robert Prestonnot measured- - 56
Bobby Riggsnot measured- - 57
Ahmed Deedatnot measured- - 58
Madeleine L'Englenot measured- - 59
Cameron Mitchellnot measured- - 60
Frederick Sanger0 decades - 61
Joey Bishopnot measured- - 62
Fanny Blankers-Koennot measured- - 63
Julian Seymour Schwinger0 decades - 64
Theodore Sturgeonnot measured- - 65
Sebastian Cabotnot measured- - 66
Joseph Wisemannot measured- - 67
Anne Shirleynot measured- - 68
Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV of Tonganot measured-
- 69
Volodymyr Scherbytskynot measured- - 70
Jacqueline Susannnot measured- - 71
Ángel Amadeo labrunanot measured- - 72
Gertrude B. Elion0 decades - 73
Philip José Farmernot measured- - 74
Abdul Haris Nasutionnot measured- - 75
Allan Arbusnot measured- - 76
Günther Rallnot measured- - 77
Zhou Xuannot measured- - 78
Gunnar Sønstebynot measured- - 79
Konstantinos Mitsotakisnot measured- - 80
Ian Stevensonnot measured- - 81
André Bazinnot measured- - 82
Charu Majumdarnot measured- - 83
John Dallnot measured- - 84
Massimo Girottinot measured- - 85
François Tombalbayenot measured- - 86
Alexander Shelepinnot measured- - 87
Laila Mouradnot measured- - 88
Elmore Jamesnot measured- - 89
W. Eugene Smithnot measured- - 90
James Dalynot measured- - 91
Jean-Marie Loretnot measured- - 92
María Mercadernot measured- - 93
Mrinalini Sarabhainot measured- - 94
Bobby Troupnot measured- - 95
Edward A. Murphy, Jr.not measured- - 96
Alan Jay Lernernot measured- - 97
Russell Kirknot measured- - 98
Stubby Kayenot measured- - 99
Franco Modigliani5 decades - 100
Anatoly Tarasovnot 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.