20th Century People & Events

Learn about the most significant figures and events of the period from the turn of the century to the new millennium in this collection. Learn about the milestones that defined the era and the people who made them happen.

  • Photograph of broadcaster Edward R. Murrow
    Edward R. Murrow, Broadcast News Pioneer
  • photo of attorney Clarence Darrow
    Clarence Darrow, Famous Defense Attorney and Crusader for Justice
  • Tom Hayden in front of a bookshelf
    Biography of Tom Hayden, Activist and Politician
  • Joe Hill black and white close up photograph.
    Joe Hill: Poet, Songwriter, and Martyr of the Labor Movement
  • Mexican General Francisco "Pancho" Villa
    Biography of Pancho Villa, Mexican Revolutionary
  • Howard Hughes
    Biography of Howard Hughes, Businessman and Aviator
  • Statue of Eva Perón
    Biography of Eva Perón, First Lady of Argentina
  • Andy Warhol At His Whitney Museum Retrospective
    Biography of Andy Warhol, Icon of Pop Art
  • The Romanoff family
    Biography of Czar Nicholas II, Last Czar of Russia
  • Henri Charrière on the set of the 1973 film Papillon.
    The Story of Henri Charrière, Author of Papillon
  • MONTGOMERY, AL - MARCH 25: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking before crowd of 25,000 Selma To Montgomery, Alabama civil rights marchers, in front of Montgomery, Alabama state capital building. On March 25, 1965 in Montgomery, Alabama.
    Biography of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Leader
  • Historical photo of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler
    Biography of Benito Mussolini, Fascist Dictator of Italy
  • John D. Rockefeller
    Biography of John D. Rockefeller, America's First Billionaire
  • Writer Ernest Hemingway
    Biography of Ernest Hemingway, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize Winning Writer
  • President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    Biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President
  • Jim Jones and his family
    Biography of Jim Jones, Leader of the Peoples Temple Cult
  • Helen Keller
    Biography of Helen Keller, Deaf and Blind Spokesperson and Activist
  • Saddam Hussein during his trial
    Biography of Saddam Hussein, Dictator of Iraq
  • Booker T. Washington
    Biography of Booker T. Washington, Early Black Leader and Educator
  • Albert Einstein
    Biography of Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist
  • Louis Armstrong playing trumpet
    Biography of Louis Armstrong, Expert Trumpeter and Entertainer
  • Elvis Presley
    Biography of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll
  • Mother Teresa
    Biography of Mother Teresa, 'The Saint of the Gutters'
  • Cary Grant
    Biography of Cary Grant, Famous Leading Man
  • Fidel Castro
    Biography of Fidel Castro, President of Cuba for 50 Years
  • Theodor Seuss Geisel, "Dr. Seuss," in 1957
    Biography of Dr. Seuss, Popular Children's Author
  • Portrait of Zelda Fitzgerald
    The Life of Zelda Fitzgerald, the Other Fitzgerald Writer
  • John Kennedy, Jr. Attends Ceremony Awarding the John Kennedy Prize
    Biography of John F. Kennedy Jr.
  • Anne Frank Center USA
    Biography of Anne Frank, Writer of Powerful Wartime Diary
  • photograph of Depression era populist Huey Long
    Huey Long, Populist Politician of the Depression Era
  • Emmeline Pankhurst
    Biography of Emmeline Pankhurst, Women's Rights Activist
  • Beryl Markham in her plane
    Biography of Beryl Markham, Aviation Pioneer
  • Photograph of H.L. Mencken at his desk
    Life and Work of H.L. Mencken: Writer, Editor, and Critic
  • Babe Ruth at the plate
    Biography of Babe Ruth, Home Run King
  • Harry S. Truman
    Biography of Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
  • Nikita Khrushchev addressing the United Nations
    Biography of Nikita Khrushchev, Cold War Era Soviet Leader
  • Robert McNamara
    Life of Robert McNamara, Architect of the Vietnam War
  • Adlai Stevenson
    Adlai Stevenson: American Statesman and Presidential Candidate
  • Hubert Humphrey
    Biography of Hubert Humphrey, the Happy Warrior
  • Illustration depicting museum exhibit featuring famous African American individuals and their contributions
    Famous Black American Men and Women of the 20th Century
  • Walter Cronkite at the CBS News anchor desk
    Biography of Walter Cronkite, Anchorman and TV News Pioneer
  • Al Capone
    Biography of Al Capone, Prohibition Era Crime Boss
  • Typhoid Mary
    Biography of Typhoid Mary, Who Spread Typhoid in Early 1900s
  • Ghandi
    Biography of Mohandas Gandhi, Indian Independence Leader
  • Ronald Reagan at a podium
    32 Ronald Reagan Quotes You Should Know
  • Helen Keller visits President John F. Kennedy, April 8, 1961
    100 Famous Women of the 20th Century
  • Serbian soldiers with a Howitzer during World War I.
    The Major Wars and Conflicts of the 20th Century
  • Liberace
    Biography of Liberace
  • Governor To Be
    Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes
  • Genealogical Chart of Adolf Hitler
    Adolf Hitler's Family Tree
  • Queen Victoria's Mausoleum
    Queen Victoria's Death and Final Arrangements
  • The body of Joseph Stalin lying in state in Moscow
    Stalin's Body Removed From Lenin's Tomb
  • Vietnamese Army's Crack Troops In Action
    A Short Guide to the Vietnam War
  • Nyamata Catholic Church memorial crypt
    A Short History of the Rwandan Genocide
  • Adolf Hitler in Munich in the spring of 1932.
    A Short History of the Nazi Party
  • Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) in Munich in the spring of 1932.
    10 Facts About Adolf Hitler
  • People hitting the Berlin Wall with hammers between Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag.
    The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall
  • Identical twins at a Holocaust exhibit.
    A History of Mengele's Gruesome Experiments on Twins
  • FDR at Infamy speech
    FDR's 'Day of Infamy' Speech
  • Albert Einstein and His Wife Leaving California
    Most Influential Scientists of the 20th Century
  • Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) in Munich in the spring of 1932.
    Hitler's Political Statement Before His Suicide
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