Find your favorite hero
Find a Legend
Every legend in one place — search by name, science, music, or country.
110 legends match.
110 legends
Abraham Lincoln
1809 – 1865
A tall, gentle president who helped end slavery in America.
United KingdomAda Lovelace
1815 – 1852
A Victorian girl who wrote the world's very first computer program.
Alan Shepard
1923 – 1998
The first American to fly into space — and hit a golf ball on the Moon.
United KingdomAlan Turing
1912 – 1954
A shy British mathematician who cracked secret codes and dreamed up computers.
Nobel 1921Albert Einstein
1879 – 1955
A dreamy thinker whose imagination unlocked the secrets of space and time.
Alexander Hamilton
c. 1755 – 1804
An orphan boy who grew up to design America's money.
Althea Gibson
1927 – 2003
The first Black tennis champion at Wimbledon.
Amelia Earhart
1897 – 1937
A brave pilot who flew across whole oceans, all by herself.
NetherlandsAnne Frank
1929 – 1945
A young Dutch girl whose diary became one of the most loved books in the world.
Annie Jump Cannon
1863 – 1941
The astronomer who put the stars in order.
Aretha Franklin
1942 – 2018
The Queen of Soul, who sang about kindness and R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
MyanmarAung San Suu Kyi
born 1945
A gentle Burmese leader who spoke up for freedom, even when it was hard.
Barbara Jordan
1936 – 1996
The Texas orator whose booming voice held America to its promises.
Nobel 1983Barbara McClintock
1902 – 1992
The scientist who found that pieces of DNA can hop around inside corn.
Benjamin Banneker
1731 – 1806
A self-taught stargazer who could read the sky like a book.
Benjamin Franklin
1706 – 1790
A printer, inventor, and kite-flyer who helped start a country.
Bill Gates
born 1955
The Washington kid who put a computer on almost every desk.
Cesar Chavez
1927 – 1993
A gentle leader who helped farm workers be treated fairly.
Chief Joseph
c. 1840 – 1904
The Nez Perce leader who spoke for peace and home.
ChinaConfucius
551 – 479 BCE
An ancient Chinese teacher whose kind sayings still guide people today.
Crazy Horse
c. 1840 – 1877
The Lakota leader who fought to protect his people's home.
South AfricaDesmond Tutu
1931 – 2021
A joyful South African bishop who laughed and led his country to peace.
Dolly Parton
born 1946
The Tennessee singer whose songs and kindness travel everywhere.
Dolores Huerta
born 1930
A teacher who marched with farm workers and said, 'Yes, we can!'
Duke Ellington
1899 – 1974
A gentleman at the piano who made jazz sound like a whole storybook.
Duke Kahanamoku
1890 – 1968
The Hawaiian swimmer who shared surfing with the world.
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884 – 1962
A shy girl who grew up to speak for people all around the world.
Nobel 2009Elinor Ostrom
1933 – 2012
The first woman ever to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.
Elizabeth Peratrovich
1911 – 1958
A Tlingit hero who helped end unfair rules in Alaska.
Ella Fitzgerald
1917 – 1996
The First Lady of Song, with a voice like sunshine.
Frank Lloyd Wright
1867 – 1959
The Wisconsin architect who built houses that hug the earth.
Frederick Douglass
c. 1818 – 1895
A brilliant speaker who taught himself to read and freed his own voice.
Frida Kahlo
1907 – 1954
A brilliant painter from Mexico whose colorful art tells her whole story.
George Washington
1732 – 1799
A brave farmer who became America's very first president.
George Washington Carver
c. 1864 – 1943
The scientist who found hundreds of ways to use a peanut.
Georgia O'Keeffe
1887 – 1986
A painter who made flowers as big as mountains.
Grace Hopper
1906 – 1992
The Navy scientist who taught computers to understand plain words.
DenmarkHans Christian Andersen
1805 – 1875
The Danish dreamer who wrote the world's most beloved fairy tales.
Harriet Tubman
c. 1822 – 1913
A brave hero who led people to freedom by following the stars.
JapanHayao Miyazaki
born 1941
A Japanese storyteller whose gentle cartoons feel like magical dreams.
Helen Keller
1880 – 1968
A brave girl who couldn't see or hear — and became a famous writer.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807 – 1882
The Maine poet who turned American stories into songs.
MoroccoIbn Battuta
1304 – 1369
A Moroccan traveler who wandered 75,000 miles across the medieval world.
FranceJacques Cousteau
1910 – 1997
A French explorer who filmed the deep sea and taught the world to love the ocean.
Jane Addams
1860 – 1935
A kind woman who opened her home so anyone could come inside.
Jane Goodall
born 1934
A scientist who lived in the forest and became best friends with wild chimps.
Jeannette Rankin
1880 – 1973
The first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress.
Jim Henson
1936 – 1990
The gentle Mississippi dreamer who gave us the Muppets.
Nobel 2002Jimmy Carter
1924 – 2024
A peanut farmer who became president and never stopped helping.
John Adams
1735 – 1826
America's second president and a champion of fair rules for everyone.
John Deere
1804 – 1886
The Vermont blacksmith whose shiny plow changed farming.
John Lewis
1940 – 2020
A civil-rights hero who taught America how to make 'good trouble.'
Johnny Cash
1932 – 2003
The Man in Black — a country singer with a big deep voice and a big warm heart.
Jonas Salk
1914 – 1995
The doctor whose vaccine saved children from a scary sickness called polio.
Kamala Harris
born 1964
The first woman to become Vice President of the United States.
Katharine Lee Bates
1859 – 1929
The teacher-poet who wrote 'America the Beautiful.'
Katherine Johnson
1918 – 2020
A NASA mathematician whose numbers helped astronauts fly safely to the Moon.
GhanaKwame Nkrumah
1909 – 1972
The teacher who led Ghana to become the first free country in west Africa.
PolandLech Wałęsa
born 1943
A Polish electrician whose big mustache and bigger courage helped change Europe.
ItalyLeonardo da Vinci
1452 – 1519
An Italian painter and inventor who was curious about everything under the sun.
Lewis & Clark
1804 – 1806
Two friends who walked all the way across America to see what was there.
Nobel 1954Linus Pauling
1901 – 1994
A chemist who won two Nobel Prizes — one for science and one for peace.
Louis Armstrong
1901 – 1971
Satchmo — the trumpet player whose smile you could hear.
Louis L'Amour
1908 – 1988
The North Dakota cowboy who wrote a hundred Western books.
GermanyLudwig van Beethoven
1770 – 1827
A German composer who wrote thundering music, even after he couldn't hear it.
IndiaMahatma Gandhi
1869 – 1948
A gentle leader who freed a whole country without ever raising his fists.
PakistanMalala Yousafzai
born 1997
A young girl who stood up so all girls could go to school.
Nobel 1903Marie Curie
1867 – 1934
A friend from Poland whose glowing discoveries changed science forever.
Mark Twain
1835 – 1910
The funniest storyteller of the Mississippi River.
Nobel 1964Martin Luther King Jr.
1929 – 1968
A minister with a dream — that everyone should be treated the same.
Maya Angelou
1928 – 2014
A poet whose warm voice taught America the power of kind, brave words.
Michael Jordan
born 1963
The basketball player who seemed to fly.
Nobel 1976Milton Friedman
1912 – 2006
An economist who studied how money and markets shape our lives.
South AfricaMiriam Makeba
1932 – 2008
The 'Mama Africa' whose songs travelled the world with a message of peace.
Albania / IndiaMother Teresa
1910 – 1997
A tiny nun with a huge heart who cared for the poorest people in the world.
Muhammad Ali
1942 – 2016
The boxer who called himself 'The Greatest' — and was.
RomaniaNadia Comăneci
born 1961
The Romanian gymnast who scored the first perfect 10 at the Olympics.
Neil Armstrong
1930 – 2012
The very first person ever to walk on the Moon.
Nellie Tayloe Ross
1876 – 1977
The first woman to be governor of a U.S. state.
South AfricaNelson Mandela
1918 – 2013
A brave South African who spent 27 years in prison — then became president.
Nobel 1970Norman Borlaug
1914 – 2009
The Iowa farm boy whose wheat helped feed a billion people.
SpainPablo Picasso
1881 – 1973
A Spanish painter who changed how the whole world sees art.
Nobel 1970Paul Samuelson
1915 – 2009
The teacher who wrote the book that taught the world economics.
BrazilPelé
1940 – 2022
The Brazilian boy who grew up to be called the king of football (soccer).
Philo Farnsworth
1906 – 1971
The Utah farm boy who invented the television.
Prince
1958 – 2016
The Minnesota musician who painted the world purple.
Rachel Carson
1907 – 1964
A scientist who listened to the birds and taught America to protect nature.
Nobel 1965Richard Feynman
1918 – 1988
A playful physicist who made the tiniest bits of the universe fun.
NorwayRoald Amundsen
1872 – 1928
The Norwegian explorer who was the first person ever to reach the South Pole.
Roger Williams
c. 1603 – 1683
The preacher who founded Rhode Island so people could believe as they wished.
Rosa Parks
1913 – 2005
A quiet woman whose one big 'no' helped change America.
Ruby Bridges
born 1954
A brave little girl who walked into school and changed history.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1933 – 2020
A tiny judge with a huge heart who fought so girls and boys could do the same jobs.
Sacagawea
c. 1788 – 1812
A young Shoshone woman who guided explorers across America.
Sally Ride
1951 – 2012
The first American woman to fly into outer space.
Sandra Day O'Connor
1930 – 2023
The very first woman to be a Supreme Court judge in America.
Sarah Winnemucca
c. 1844 – 1891
The Paiute writer who spoke up for her people.
Shirley Chisholm
1924 – 2005
The first Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress.
VenezuelaSimón Bolívar
1783 – 1830
The brave general who helped free six countries in South America.
Standing Bear
c. 1829 – 1908
The Ponca chief who proved Native people are people in the eyes of the law.
United KingdomStephen Hawking
1942 – 2018
A British scientist who explored black holes from his wheelchair.
Susan B. Anthony
1820 – 1906
A determined woman who fought for women's right to vote.
TibetThe Dalai Lama
born 1935
A gentle Tibetan monk who teaches the world about kindness and joy.
Thomas Edison
1847 – 1931
The inventor who filled the world with bright ideas — and lightbulbs.
Thomas Jefferson
1743 – 1826
The writer who put America's big ideas onto paper.
Nobel 1993Toni Morrison
1931 – 2019
A wonderful storyteller who wrote about Black families, memory, and love.
CzechiaVáclav Havel
1936 – 2011
A playwright who wrote plays about freedom — then helped make his country free.
KenyaWangari Maathai
1940 – 2011
A Kenyan scientist who planted 50 million trees to heal her country.
Wilma Mankiller
1945 – 2010
The first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Zora Neale Hurston
1891 – 1960
The Florida writer who caught folk stories like fireflies.