← Fame through time1979
1979
Whose working lives fell in 1979. 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 1979, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
George Lucas6 decades - 2
Michael Douglas5 decades - 3
Gerhard Schröder8 decades - 4
Danny DeVito3 decades - 5
Diana Ross5 decades - 6
Larry Ellison3 decades - 7
Joe Cocker5 decades - 8
Jimmy Page3 decades - 9
Angela Davis5 decades - 10
Sid Vicious4 decades - 11
Rutger Hauer2 decades - 12
Yoweri Museveni4 decades - 13
Jacqueline Bisset4 decades - 14
Rudy Giuliani3 decades - 15
Reinhold Messner5 decades - 16
Joe Frazier5 decades - 17
Jeff Beck4 decades - 18
Dzhokhar Dudayev3 decades - 19
Danny Trejo0 decades - 20
Geraldine Chaplin3 decades - 21
Tony Scott6 decades - 22
Gennady Zyuganov3 decades - 23
Ban Ki-moon2 decades - 24
R. Lee Ermey0 decades - 25
John Rhys-Davies0 decades - 26
Alice Walker8 decades - 27
Barry White5 decades - 28
Rajiv Gandhi4 decades - 29
Sam Elliottnot measured- - 30
Jonathan Demme4 decades - 31
Frank Oz2 decades - 32
Alexander Van der Bellen3 decades - 33
Teri Garr3 decades - 34
Udo Kiernot measured- - 35
Françoise Hardy6 decades - 36
Omar al-Bashir1 decades - 37
Nick Mason2 decades - 38
Alan Parker5 decades - 39
Harold Ramisnot measured- - 40
Gigi Riva5 decades - 41
Stockard Channingnot measured- - 42
Peter Weir4 decades - 43
Gary Buseynot measured- - 44
Roger Daltreynot measured- - 45
Bernard Hillnot measured- - 46
Michelle Phillipsnot measured- - 47
Robert Mueller5 decades - 48
Sharmila Tagorenot measured- - 49
Jerry Springernot measured- - 50
Sirhan Sirhannot measured- - 51
Craig T. Nelsonnot measured- - 52
Jairzinhonot measured- - 53
Sepp Maier5 decades - 54
Nguyễn Phú Trọngnot measured- - 55
Coluchenot measured- - 56
Jill Clayburghnot measured- - 57
Sondra Lockenot measured- - 58
Ian McDiarmidnot measured- - 59
Dennis Farinanot measured- - 60
Keith Emersonnot measured- - 61
Sylvie Vartannot measured- - 62
Ram Chandra Poudelnot measured- - 63
Carlos Alberto Torres0 decades - 64
Ernő Rubik0 decades - 65
Oleg Yankovskynot measured- - 66
John Holmesnot measured- - 67
Robert Kardashiannot measured- - 68
Peter Toshnot measured- - 69
Jeffrey Tambornot measured- - 70
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucesternot measured- - 71
Gladys Knightnot measured- - 72
John Entwistlenot measured- - 73
Rafic Hariri0 decades - 74
Brenda Leenot measured- - 75
Kunishige Kamamoto0 decades - 76
Dietrich Mateschitznot measured- - 77
Günter Netzernot measured- - 78
Patti LaBellenot measured- - 79
Leila Khalednot measured- - 80
Kary Mullis0 decades - 81
Roger Scruton4 decades - 82
Ben Steinnot measured- - 83
Carl Bernsteinnot measured- - 84
Robert Hanssennot measured- - 85
John Glovernot measured- - 86
Gianni Morandinot measured- - 87
Helmut Bergernot measured- - 88
Peter Mayhewnot measured- - 89
Pattie Boydnot measured- - 90
Jimmy Cliffnot measured- - 91
G. W. Baileynot measured- - 92
Chico Buarquenot measured- - 93
Kelly Bishopnot measured- - 94
Tim Ricenot measured- - 95
Wesley Clarknot measured- - 96
Jeroen Krabbénot measured- - 97
Minnie Ripertonnot measured- - 98
Dick Durbinnot measured- - 99
Johnny Winternot measured- - 100
Jon Andersonnot 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.