← Fame through time1986
1986
Whose working lives fell in 1986. 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 1986, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Robin Williams7 decades - 2
Gordon Brown7 decades - 3
Phil Collins4 decades - 4
Ayman al-Zawahiri2 decades - 5
Kurt Russell4 decades - 6
Michael Keaton3 decades - 7
Sting7 decades - 8
Geoffrey Rush2 decades - 9
Mark Hamill4 decades - 10
Bonnie Tyler0 decades - 11
Stellan Skarsgård0 decades - 12
Kirstie Alley2 decades - 13
Kevin Keegan2 decades - 14
Shehbaz Sharif0 decades - 15
Anjelica Huston3 decades - 16
Mohamed Morsi1 decades - 17
Louis van Gaal1 decades - 18
Kathryn Bigelow2 decades - 19
Jill Biden0 decades - 20
Jane Seymour7 decades - 21
Anatoly Karpov5 decades - 22
Kenny Dalglish1 decades - 23
John Deacon1 decades - 24
Claudio Ranieri1 decades - 25
Prabowo Subianto0 decades - 26
Jean-Luc Mélenchon1 decades - 27
Mark Harmon1 decades - 28
Olivia Hussey0 decades - 29
Akhmad Kadyrov2 decades - 30
Cliff Burton0 decades - 31
Sally Ride4 decades - 32
Bob Geldof4 decades - 33
Chris Cooper2 decades - 34
Chris Rea0 decades - 35
Paul Breitner5 decades - 36
Rajnath Singh1 decades - 37
David Coverdale0 decades - 38
Michelle Bachelet2 decades - 39
Ilona Staller4 decades - 40
Ben Carsonnot measured- - 41
Aslan Maskhadov2 decades - 42
Santiago Calatrava3 decades - 43
Treat Williamsnot measured- - 44
Rob Halfordnot measured- - 45
Karen Allennot measured- - 46
Joe Pantolianonot measured- - 47
Jean Smartnot measured- - 48
Jesse Venturanot measured- - 49
Gia Caranginot measured- - 50
Nikolai Patrushev2 decades - 51
Lynda Carternot measured- - 52
Blaise Compaoré4 decades - 53
Queen Noor of Jordannot measured- - 54
Evonne Goolagong Cawleynot measured- - 55
Romina Powernot measured- - 56
Stephen Rootnot measured- - 57
Tommy Hilfigernot measured- - 58
Lou Ferrignonot measured- - 59
Juan Manuel Santos4 decades - 60
François Bayrou5 decades - 61
Joey Ramonenot measured- - 62
Jaco Pastoriusnot measured- - 63
William Kattnot measured- - 64
Chrissie Hyndenot measured- - 65
Zeenat Amannot measured- - 66
Samuel Doenot measured- - 67
Michel Barnier5 decades - 68
Rush Limbaughnot measured- - 69
Orson Scott Card4 decades - 70
Luther Vandrossnot measured- - 71
Beverly D'Angelonot measured- - 72
Jeannot measured- - 73
Ace Frehleynot measured- - 74
Jean-Claude Duvalier5 decades - 75
Chesley Sullenbergernot measured- - 76
James Newton Howardnot measured- - 77
Jackie Jacksonnot measured- - 78
Edward Witten0 decades - 79
Margo Martindalenot measured- - 80
Salva Kiir Mayardit0 decades - 81
Mammoottynot measured- - 82
Dee Dee Ramonenot measured- - 83
Arturo Pérez-Revertenot measured- - 84
Johan Neeskens0 decades - 85
Nana Patekarnot measured- - 86
Kim Peeknot measured- - 87
Christopher Crossnot measured- - 88
Mamoru Oshiinot measured- - 89
Bill Brysonnot measured- - 90
Al Frankennot measured- - 91
Roberto Duránnot measured- - 92
Julian Schnabelnot measured- - 93
Abel Ferraranot measured- - 94
Harry Hamlinnot measured- - 95
Stephen Tobolowskynot measured- - 96
Alexander Bortnikovnot measured- - 97
Neerja Bhanotnot measured- - 98
John McTiernannot measured- - 99
Pierre Lemaitrenot measured- - 100
Ernesto Zedillo5 decades
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.