Explore historical lives
Explore turning points, work and surviving evidence, alongside the history around each life.
36 people
1534–1582
Oda Nobunaga
Sengoku warlord
1536 or 1537–1598
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Warlord and political unifier
1543–1616
Tokugawa Ieyasu
First Tokugawa shogun
10th–11th century; exact dates unknown
Murasaki Shikibu
Author of The Tale of Genji and court lady
1835 (lunar) / 1836 (solar)–1867
Sakamoto Ryōma
Late Tokugawa activist and Kaientai leader
1769–1821
Napoleon Bonaparte
Emperor of the French
69–30 BCE
Cleopatra VII
Ptolemaic queen
259–210 BCE
Qin Shi Huang
King of Qin and first emperor of China
?–1582
Akechi Mitsuhide
General in Oda service
1557–1582
Oda Nobutada
Nobunaga’s son and a military leader
1st century–79 CE
Pliny the Elder
Author and fleet commander
1st–2nd century CE
Pliny the Younger
Letter writer and Roman official
574–622 (traditional dates)
Prince Shōtoku
Asuka-period prince
966–1027
Fujiwara no Michinaga
Heian court statesman
Late 10th–early 11th century; exact dates unknown
Sei Shōnagon
Author of The Pillow Book
1147–1199
Minamoto no Yoritomo
Founder of the Kamakura warrior government
1157–1225
Hōjō Masako
Political leader in Kamakura
1358–1408
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
Third Ashikaga shogun
1521–1573
Takeda Shingen
Daimyo of Kai
1530–1578
Uesugi Kenshin
Daimyo of Echigo
1567–1636
Date Masamune
First lord of Sendai
1760–1849
Katsushika Hokusai
Ukiyo-e artist
1745–1818
Inō Tadataka
Surveyor
1864–1929
Tsuda Umeko
Educator and school founder
100–44 BCE
Julius Caesar
Roman Republican statesman and general
15th century BCE; reign c. 1473–1458 BCE
Hatshepsut
Ruler of Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty
3rd century BCE; reign c. 268–232 BCE
Ashoka
Mauryan ruler
624–705
Wu Zetian
Ruler of Tang and Zhou
Birth year debated–1227
Genghis Khan
Founder of the Mongol Empire
c. 1371–1433 or 1435; death year debated
Zheng He
Ming fleet commander
1304–late 14th century; death year debated
Ibn Battuta
Traveler and jurist
Early 14th century; exact life dates unknown
Mansa Musa
Ruler of Mali
c. 1412–1431
Joan of Arc
Figure in the Hundred Years’ War
1452–1519
Leonardo da Vinci
Painter and investigator
1783–1830
Simón Bolívar
Leader in South American independence
1867–1934
Marie Curie
Physicist and chemistImages are original historical imaginings, not authenticated likenesses.