← Fame through time1968
1968
Whose working lives fell in 1968. 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 1968, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Yuri Gagarin6 decades - 2
Michael Caine6 decades - 3
Roman Polanski6 decades - 4
Akihito8 decades - 5
Yoko Ono5 decades - 6
Gene Wilder5 decades - 7
James Brown9 decades - 8
Jean-Paul Belmondo6 decades - 9
Nina Simone5 decades - 10
Karl Lagerfeld4 decades - 11
Quincy Jones7 decades - 12
Garrincha6 decades - 13
Dalida8 decades - 14
Willie Nelson5 decades - 15
Joan Rivers5 decades - 16
Paul Biya5 decades - 17
Ruth Bader Ginsburg4 decades - 18
Philip Roth6 decades - 19
Cormac McCarthy3 decades - 20
Kim Novak7 decades - 21
Just Fontaine3 decades - 22
Lina Medina0 decades - 23
Joan Collins6 decades - 24
Susan Sontag6 decades - 25
Larry King5 decades - 26
Carol Burnett6 decades - 27
Bobby Robson1 decades - 28
Amartya Sen4 decades - 29
Tim Conway4 decades - 30
Montserrat Caballé6 decades - 31
Madhubala2 decades - 32
Corazon Aquino4 decades - 33
Julie Newmar2 decades - 34
Asha Bhosle0 decades - 35
David McCallumnot measured- - 36
John Barry9 decades - 37
Oliver Sacks4 decades - 38
H. D. Deve Gowdanot measured- - 39
Tom Skerrittnot measured- - 40
Chuck Grassleynot measured- - 41
Tinto Brassnot measured- - 42
Abolhassan Banisadr1 decades - 43
Fred Willardnot measured- - 44
Gian Maria Volontenot measured- - 45
Danny Aiellonot measured- - 46
Jim Clark7 decades - 47
Meena Kumarinot measured- - 48
Dianne Feinstein4 decades - 49
Michael Dukakisnot measured- - 50
Mohammad-Ali Rajai0 decades - 51
Ali Shariatinot measured- - 52
Jeremy Brettnot measured- - 53
Jalal Talabani3 decades - 54
Louis Farrakhannot measured- - 55
Costa-Gavras6 decades - 56
Elizabeth Montgomerynot measured- - 57
Gulzarnot measured- - 58
Makonot measured- - 59
Francisco Gento0 decades - 60
Michel Aoun4 decades - 61
John Boormannot measured- - 62
Bernardo Provenzanonot measured- - 63
Robert Blakenot measured- - 64
Wilbur Smithnot measured- - 65
Sheldon Adelsonnot measured- - 66
Yevgeny Yevtushenko6 decades - 67
Dom DeLuisenot measured- - 68
Siân Phillipsnot measured- - 69
Katharine, Duchess of Kentnot measured- - 70
Sylva Koscinanot measured- - 71
Bobby Driscollnot measured- - 72
Cissy Houstonnot measured- - 73
Philip Zimbardo2 decades - 74
Wayne Shorternot measured- - 75
Lee Radziwillnot measured- - 76
Horst Buchholznot measured- - 77
Donna Douglasnot measured- - 78
Hope Langenot measured- - 79
Ann Richardsnot measured- - 80
Ken Berrynot measured- - 81
Frank Gorshinnot measured- - 82
Fred Haisenot measured- - 83
Samora Moisés Machel0 decades - 84
Elinor Ostrom4 decades - 85
John Mayallnot measured- - 86
Claudio Abbado6 decades - 87
Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saudnot measured- - 88
John Anistonnot measured- - 89
Tomas Miliannot measured- - 90
Steven Weinberg4 decades - 91
Richard S. Castellanonot measured- - 92
Jerry Falwellnot measured- - 93
Jerzy Kosińskinot measured- - 94
Debra Pagetnot measured- - 95
Franz, Duke of Bavarianot measured- - 96
Jean-Claude Brialynot measured- - 97
William Anders0 decades - 98
Wayne Rogersnot measured- - 99
Conway Twittynot measured- - 100
Johnny Unitasnot 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.