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(#1) Alabama
Rosa Parks - Leading civil rights activist who took a stand (by taking a seat) against racial segregation on public busses in the 1950s.
Zelda Fitzgerald - Novelist, painter, and socialite of the roaring 1920s; wife of The Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Zora Neale Hurston - Harlem Renaissance author of Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Helen Keller - Activist, author, lecturer and champion of the blind and hard of hearing.
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(#2) Alaska
Archie Van Winkle - A US Marine during the Korean War and the only Alaskan to receive the Medal of Honor. He died in 1986.
Dick Wilmarth - a miner and trapper from Red Devil who was the very first winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1973.
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(#3) Arizona
Cesar Estrada Chavez - Civil rights activist and labor reformist; co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association.
Barry Goldwater - Multi-term senator and Republican presidential nominee; godfather of the libertarian movement.
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(#4) Arkansas
Johnny Cash - Folk musician famous for his songs like "Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire."
General Douglas MacArthur - Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II who obtained Japanese surrender in 1945.
Sam Walton - Founder of Wal Mart and Sam's Club stores.
Paul "Bear" Bryant - One of the most celebrated college football coaches of all time with 323 victories and six national championships at the University of Alabama.
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(#5) California
Joe DiMaggio - New York Yankees baseball player, winner of three MVP awards and two batting championships. Once married to Marilyn Monroe.
Robert Frost - 20th century Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Although his poetry is often associated with New England, he was actually born and raised in San Francisco.
Jack London - Adventurer and author of Call of the Wild.
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(#6) Colorado
Scott Carpenter - One of the original 7 US astronauts and the second American to orbit the earth.
Lon Chaney - Silent film-era actor of 157 films. Famous for playing the titular characters in both The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).
Florence Sabin - Pioneering scientist and the first woman to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences and hold a full professorship at Johns Hopkins University.
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(#7) Connecticut
Benedict Arnold - Famous traitor of the Revolutionary War, former best friend of George Washington he betrayed him by siding with the British.
Noah Webster - Author of the famous Merriam-Webster dictionary, published in 1828.
John Brown - A famous Civil War abolitionist about whom a song was widely sung.
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(#8) Delaware
Annie Jump Cannon - Astronomer credited with creating the Harvard Classification Scheme, the first attempt to classify stars based on temperature.
Henry Heimlich - Surgeon and inventor who created the anti-choking procedure, the Heimlich Maneuver.
Howard Pyle - Famous children’s book and magazine illustrator whose works include The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, a King Arthur book series, and St. Nicholas magazine.
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(#9) Florida
Jim Morrison - Lead singer of The Doors.
A. Phillip Randolph - Civil Rights activist and labor leader.
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(#10) Georgia
Martin Luther King Jr. - Face of the 1960s American Civil Rights movement, champion of non-violent civil disobedience.
Flannery O’Conner - One of the 20th century’s most praised short story writers.
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(#11) Hawaii
Barack Obama - The first African American elected President of the United States.
Liliuokalani - The Hawaiian Island’s last reigning monarch.
Hiram L. Fong - The first Asian American and Chinese-American U.S. Senator.
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(#12) Idaho
Sacagawea - A Native American interpreter and guide on the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Ezra Pound - A 20th century American poet and a fascist tried for treason against the US.
Gutzon Borglum - The sculptor who designed Mount Rushmore and worked on it for 14 years.
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(#13) Illinois
Walt Disney - Pioneer in the visual arts, creator of Mickey Mouse and the Disney empire.
Ernest Hemingway - Prolific 20th century American author.
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(#14) Indiana
James Dean - 1950s actor who died tragically young in a car accident; remembered for Rebel Without A Cause.
Wilbur Wright - One half of the famous Wright brothers who invented the first airplane.
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(#15) Iowa
Buffalo Bill - Born William Frederick Cody, one of the most famous figures of the Old American West.
Pauline Esther Phillips - Also known as Abigail Van Buren of the “Dear Abby” column, the most widely syndicated column in the world.
Grant Wood - Painter of “American Gothic.”
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(#16) Kansas
Gwendolyn Brooks - First African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, for her work Annie Allen.
Amelia Earhart - First American woman with a pilot’s license and first to fly solo across the Atlantic.
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(#17) Kentucky
Muhammad Ali - Considered one of the greatest boxers in American history.
Abraham Lincoln - Civil War-era president, signed the Emancipation Proclamation which effectively ended slavery in the US.
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(#18) Louisiana
Louis Armstrong - Jazz musician, singer and trumpet player.
Truman Capote - Novelist famous for In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Huey P. Long AKA "The Kingfish" - Populist senator whose expanded government services and died by assassination.
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(#19) Maine
Dorothea Dix - The Union’s Superintendent of Female Nurses during the Civil War and crusader for prison and mental health care reform.
Margaret Chase Smith - The first woman to serve in both houses of the United States Congress and at the time, the longest-serving female Senator in history.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - One of New England’s “Fireside Poets” and author of “Paul Revere’s Ride.”
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(#20) Maryland
Spiro Agnew - Vice President of US under Richard Nixon, left office in disgrace after a lengthy investigation.
John Wilkes Booth - Actor who assassinated President Lincoln.
Frederick Douglass - Slave-born abolitionist leader.
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(#21) Massachusetts
Benjamin Franklin - Inventor, brainiac, and a leader in the American Revolution.
Edgar Allan Poe - Macabre poet and short story writer; author of “The Raven” and “The Telltale Heart.”
Susan B. Anthony - Activist and leader for women's suffrage.
Samuel Adams - The “Father of the American Revolution” who organized the Boston Tea Party.
Clara Barton - Pioneering nurse during the American Civil War; founder of the Red Cross.
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(#22) Michigan
Henry Ford - Revolutionized the American auto industry by mass-producing cars and making them available to the middle class.
Charles Lindbergh - Aviator who made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 1927.
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(#23) Minnesota
F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1920s writer, author of The Great Gatsby.
Judy Garland - Singer and actress most famous for The Wizard of Oz.
Charles Schulz - Cartoonist and creator of the Peanuts comic strip; widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists of all time.
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(#24) Mississippi
Elvis Presley - Influential rock n’ roll singer from the 1950s and '60s.
Tennessee Williams - A playwright who authored Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Glass Menagerie.
B.B. King - A famous guitarist and nicknamed “King of Blues."
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(#25) Missouri
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) - Gilded Age-era author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Jesse James - Infamous outlaw and Wild West-era gang leader.
Maya Angelou - Renowned poet, author and actress most famous for her autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Yogi Berra - Baseball player, catcher for the New York Yankees that won 10 World Series.
Martha Jane Canary (Calamity Jane) - Frontierswoman, showman and humanitarian.
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(#26) Montana
Gary Cooper - Western film star of over 100 movies.
Robert “Evel” Knievel - Famous motorcycle daredevil and world record holder for most broken bones (37).
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(#27) Nebraska
Fred Astaire - Actor, singer and dancer most famous for his stage and screen work with Ginger Rogers.
Malcolm X - Leader of the 1960s Black Power movement.
Susette La Flesche - Native American writer and lecturer, spokesperson for Native American rights.
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(#28) Nevada
Pat Nixon - Wife of President Nixon and philanthropist.
James E. Casey - Founder of the United Parcel Service (UPS).
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(#29) New Hampshire
Sarah Josepha Hale - Author and journalist who edited the first periodical for American women, Ladies' Magazine, and wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
Alan Shepard - An American astronaut (one of the original NASA Mercury seven) and the first American to travel into space, in 1961.
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(#30) New Jersey
Frank Sinatra - Singer and actor who was on of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.
Charles Addams - Cartoonist who created The Addams Family.
Joseph Campbell - Founder of Campbell’s Soup.
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(#31) New Mexico
William Hanna - An animator and producer who cofounded Hanna-Barbera cartoons and created shows like The Jetsons, The Flintstones, and Yogi Bear.
Conrad Hilton - Founder of the Hilton Hotels chain.
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(#32) New York
Lucille Ball - Actress and comedian.
Norman Rockwell - Famous painter of Americana.
Lou Gehrig - Player of 2,130 consecutive baseball games, he died from ALS which is often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Teddy Roosevelt - 26th president of the United States and founder of the National Parks system.
Herman Melville - Author of Moby Dick.
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(#33) North Carolina
Caleb Bradham - Creator of Pepsi-Cola which began as a treatment for indigestion.
Nina Simone - Singer, composer, and Civil Rights activist.
Andrew Jackson - 7th President of the United States.
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(#34) North Dakota
Peggy Lee - A well-known jazz/pop singer of the 20th century who provided the vocals for Disney's Lady and the Tramp.
Lawrence Welk - A musician and television host who emceed The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982.
Eric Sevareid - A journalist who worked with Ed Murrow as one of "his boys" and was one of the first to report on the WWII Fall of Paris when the city was captured by Germany.
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(#35) Ohio
Thomas Edison - Inventor with over 1,000 patents most famous for the light bulb and phonograph.
Ulysses S. Grant - Civil War general and 18th President of the US.
Annie Oakley - First American female superstar and exhibition sharpshooter.
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(#36) Oklahoma
Woody Guthrie - Folk singer and poet, prominent voice of the tumultuous 20th century America.
Mickey Mantle - Famous baseball player for the New York Yankees.
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(#37) Oregon
Chief Joseph - Leader of the Nez Perce tribe who led a war in 1877 to gain lost territory.
Raymond Carver - Writer and poet who is credited with reviving the American short story during the 1980s.
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(#38) Pennsylvania
Louisa May Alcott - Novelist who authored of Little Women.
Robert Fulton - Inventor who developed the first commercially successful steamboat.
Arnold Palmer - One of the biggest golf stars of all time with a drink named after him.
Daniel Boone - Pioneer of the American West and a captain in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
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(#39) Rhode Island
H.P. Lovecraft - 20th century horror and science fiction writer.
Nicholas Brown - A key figure in the ratification of the American Constitution and founder of Brown University.
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(#40) South Carolina
Mary McLeod Bethune - Child of former slaves who became the founder of the National Council of Negro Women and vice president of the NAACP.
Dizzy Gillespie - Composer and innovative jazz player.
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(#41) South Dakota
Crazy Horse - Legendary warrior of the Lakota tribe, he led multiple resistances to white settlers' encroachment on Lakota land.
Gladys Pyle - The first woman elected to the US Senate.
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(#42) Tennessee
Davy Crockett - Politician and frontiersman most famous for his defense of the Alamo for Texan Independence.
Cordell Hull - The longest serving Secretary of State (11 years) under Franklin Delano Roosevelt during World War II.
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(#43) Texas
Mary Kay Ash - The founder of Mary Kay cosmetics.
Dwight D. Eisenhower - The 34th president of the United States during the post-WWII 1950s.
Buddy Holly - One of the fathers of rock n’ roll.
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(#44) Utah
Butch Cassidy - The “Robin Hood of the West,” led a gang on one of the most successful bank robberies in history.
Philo Farnsworth - Inventor of electric television.
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(#45) Vermont
Calvin Coolidge - 30th president of the United States.
Stephen Douglas - US Senator who opposed Lincoln in the 1860 Presidential Election. Despite losing, he remained a popular politician who advocated popular sovereignty and popular will.
Joseph Smith - Religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint Movement.
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(#46) Virginia
Thomas Jefferson - Founding Father, primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, and 3rd President of the United States.
Nat Turner - A preacher who led the most effective slave rebellion in US history and later became an icon of rebellion during the 1960s black power movement.
George Washington - Founding Father, famed Revolutionary War general, and the 1st President of the United States.
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(#47) Washington
Bing Crosby - A hugely popular and successful actor, comedian, and musician, hailed as the first multimedia star in history.
Jimi Hendrix - Influential guitarist of the 1960s.
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(#48) West Virginia
Pearl S. Buck - Pulitzer prize winning author and novelist.
Katherine Johnson - Mathematician whose calculations were critical to the success of the NASA's first manned spaceflights.
Booker T. Washington - Educator, author, orator, and African-American civil rights leader during the late-19th and early-20th century.
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(#49) Wisconsin
John Bardeen - Two times Nobel Prize Physicist and co-inventor of the transistor.
Joseph McCarthy - US Senator who led a subversive and controversial campaign against members of the government, film industry, and other parts of society whom he alleged were Communists or Communist sympathizers.
Orson Welles - Influential actor and director.
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(#50) Wyoming
Jackson Pollock - Influential abstract expressionist painter.
Washakie - Leader of the Shoshone people during the mid-19th Century.
Robert R. Wilson - Physicist, group leader of the Manhattan Project, and architect of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
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About This Tool
There are many important figures in American history, and they have made great contributions to the advancement of American history. Since the beginning of American history, countless influential pioneers were born here. They are known for their creative talents, scientific inventions, or their courage to resolutely defend human rights, these influential historical figures have made outstanding contributions to the development of the United States.
Although these famous historical figures have passed away, their influence is far-reaching, and their contributions will be remembered by mankind forever. Here the generator introduced some basic information about 50 of the most significant historical figures from every US state.
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