John II of Castile (1405 - 1454)

John was the son of King Henry III and his wife, Catherine of Lancaster. His mother was the granddaughter of King Peter, who was ousted by Henry III’s grandfather, King Henry II. John succeeded his father on 25 December 1406, and united in his person the claims of both Peter and Henry II. His mother […]

John Jacob Astor (1763 - 1848)

Businessman, Merchant, Investor. He became the first multi-millionaire and creator of the first trust in the United States as a result of his fur business, the American Fur Company. Born Johann Jakob Astor in what is now known as Waldorf, in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, he began working as an assistant in his father’s […]

John Jacob Astor, III (1822 - 1890)

Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General, Financier. Grandson of patriarch John Jacob Astor I and son of William Backhouse Astor. He devoted his life to philanthropy and civic affairs. He and his wife Charlotte provided funding for a host of charities, including the Children’s Aid Society, the Astor Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and […]

John Jacob Astor, IV (1864 - 1970)

Businessman, Disaster Victim. A victim of the RMS Titanic sinking, he was the great-grandson of patriarch John Jacob Astor I, the grandson of “landlord of New York” William Backhouse Astor, and the son of THE Mrs. William Astor, nee Caroline Schermerhorn, legendary queen of New York’s elite “400.” He and his older cousin, William Waldorf […]

John Jacob Astor, Sr (1763 - 1848)

Businessman, Merchant, Investor. He became the first multi-millionaire and creator of the first trust in the United States as a result of his fur business, the American Fur Company. Born Johann Jakob Astor in what is now known as Waldorf, in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, he began working as an assistant in his father’s […]

John Jacob Bausch (1830 - 1926)

Businessman. He was a co-founder of Bausch And Lomb, Incorperated.

John Jakob Raskob (1879 - 1950)

Businessman, Political Leader,  Philanthropist. Educated at Bryant and Stratton Business Institute, in 1900 he was hired as Pierre DuPont’s private secretary. In 1914 DuPont became DuPont Company President, and Raskob became Treasurer. Raskob facilitated the DuPont purchase of a stake in General Motors and creation of General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) in the early 1920s, […]

John James Audubon (1785 - 1851)

Artist. Indelibly linked with the painting of birds, Audubon was the son of a French sea captain and his Creole mistress. Educated in his father’s native France, he had spent a disastrous year at a military school before studying art in Paris with the great David. At age 18 he emigrated to the United States, […]

John James Chalon (1778 - 1854)

Artist. He went to England when quite young, and entered the Schools of the Academy in 1796. His first picture, ‘Banditti at their Repast,’ appeared in 1800, shortly followed by ‘A Landscape’ and ‘Fortune Telling.’ Chalon’s early practice was in oils, but in 1806 he began to exhibit at the gallery of the Water-colour Society, […]

John Jay (1970 - 1970)

Builder and stonemason, erected the neo-gothic Chapel at Abney Park Cemetery (bio by: David Conway)

John Johansen (1876 - 1964)

Portrait Painter. Best known for his landscapes, portraits, and interior scenes. He also created a widely exhibited series of industrial shipyard pictures during World War I. Also during World World I, he was commissioned by the National Art Committee to paint portraits of important international figures involved with the war. (bio by: Laurie)  Family links: […]

John Johansen (1876 - 1964)

Portrait Painter. Best known for his landscapes, portraits, and interior scenes. He also created a widely exhibited series of industrial shipyard pictures during World War I. Also during World World I, he was commissioned by the National Art Committee to paint portraits of important international figures involved with the war. (bio by: Laurie)  Family links: […]

John Johnson (1947 - 2016)

John Johnson played high school basketball at Messmer High School, (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). As a senior, he helped lead Messmer to the Wisconsin state title in 1966. Johnson, a 6’7” small forward, then played for Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming and for the University of Iowa. He set an Iowa record for points in a season during […]

John Johnston Parker (1885 - 1958)

American Jurist. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1907, received a law degree in 1908, and became an attorney. A Republican, he ran unsuccessfully for a number of offices during the post-Reconstruction era when North Carolina was dominated by Democrats, including a 1920 campaign for Governor. From 1923 to 1925 he was […]

John Joseph “Johnny” Klevenhagen (1912 - 1958)

Texas Ranger. Born in New Braunfels, Texas, in 1912, he was determined from a very young age to become a Texas Ranger. As a young man growing up he came in contact with the Rangers several times, seeing them in and around the ranches and farms that he grew up around. At the age of […]

John Joseph Abercrombie (1798 - 1877)

Abercrombie was born and baptized in Baltimore, Maryland, although some accounts suggest he was a native of Tennessee. The son of John Joseph Abercrombie, Sr. and Sarah DeNormandie, their family was living in Nashville, Tennessee when the younger John entered the United States Military Academy in 1818. Graduating 37th of 40 from the United States […]

John Joseph O’Connor (1920 - 2000)

O’Connor was born in Philadelphia, the fourth of five children of Thomas J. and Dorothy Magdalene (née Gomple) O’Connor (1886–1971), daughter of Gustave Gumpel, a kosher butcher and Jewish rabbi. In 2014, his sister Mary O’Connor Ward discovered through genealogical research that their mother was born Jewish and was baptized as a Roman Catholic at […]

John Joshua Kirby (1970 - 1774)

Artist, Author. The son of a land surveyor and topographer, Kirby was a landscape painter who served as President of the Society of Artists, officially known as the Incorporated Society of Artists of Great Britain, which encouraged the public exhibition of works of art by living artists. His main artistic focus was “linear perspective,” based […]

John Justin (1917 - 2002)

John Justin (24 November 1917 – 29 November 2002) was a British stage and film actor. John Justinian de Ledesma was born in London, England, the son of a well-off Argentine rancher. Though he grew up on his father’s ranch, he was educated at Bryanston School in Bryanston, Dorset. He developed an interest in flying […]

John K. “Uh Huh” Collum (1926 - 1962)

Child actor. He is best remembered as “Uh huh” in the Our Gang comedies of the early 1930s. (bio by: Jared Walker)  Inscription:S2  USNRWorld War II

John Keats (1795 - 1821)

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley despite his work having been in publication for only four years before his death. Although his poems […]

John Kee (1874 - 1951)

Lawyer, State Senator. He was a member of the West Virginia State Senate from 1923 to 1927. He was also a United States Representative from West Virginia from 1933 to 1951. He served the 15th District.  John was born in Glenville, Gilmer county West Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in 1897.  On September […]

John Keegan (1934 - 2012)

Keegan was born in Clapham, London, on 15 May 1934, to a family of Irish Catholic extraction. His father saw active service in the First World War.  At the age of 13 Keegan contracted orthopaedic tuberculosis, which subsequently affected his gait. The long-term effects of his tuberculosis rendered him unfit for military service, and the […]

John Kendrew (1917 - 1997)

John Kendrew shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for chemistry with Max Perutz for determining the first atomic structures of proteins using X-ray crystallography. Their work was done at what is now the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Kendrew determined the structure of the protein myoglobin, which stores oxygen in muscle cells. On Saturday […]

John Kennedy Toole (1937 - 1969)

John Kennedy Toole (/ˈtuːl/; December 17, 1937 – March 26, 1969) was an American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, whose posthumously published novel A Confederacy of Dunces won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. He also wrote The Neon Bible. Although several people in the literary world felt his writing skills were praiseworthy, Toole’s novels were […]

John Kerr (1931 - 2013)

John Kerr’s first television acting role was in 1954 on NBC’s Justice as a basketball player who believes that gamblers have ruined his success on the court. His mother appeared with him on the series, which focuses on the cases of attorneys with the Legal Aid Society of New York. John Kerr made The Cobweb for […]

John King (1909 - 1987)

John King (born Miller McLeod Everson, July 11, 1909 – November 11, 1987) was a singer and film actor renowned for his Westerns particularly the Range Busters series. Everson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Everson travelled the country working a variety of jobs, such as chauffeuring motorcars from Detroit […]

John King Fisher (1970 - 1884)

Western Outlaw, Lawman. Born in Collin County, Texas, in his brief life time, John King Fisher transformed from a accomplished outlaw to a very effective lawman. In 1869, he was accused of stealing a horse after he borrowed it without telling the owner. He was arrested but escaped, then arrested again for stealing and sent […]

John Kipling (1897 - 1915)

John Kipling was 16 when the First World War broke out in August 1914. His father, a keen imperialist and patriot, was soon writing propaganda on behalf of the British government. Rudyard sought to get his son a commission, but John was rejected by the Royal Navy due to severe short-sightedness. He was also initially […]

John Kluge (1914 - 2010)

John Kluge was born to a Presbyterian family in Chemnitz, Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1922. He earned his B.A. degree in economics from Columbia University in 1937. Prior to attending Columbia University, Kluge went to Wayne State University for two years. He was of Scots Irish, English and German heritage. During World […]