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Essayist, biographer, lexicographer, and literary critic Samuel Johnson, or Dr. Johnson, is remembered for his A Dictionary of the English Language and Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. He was also a poet, a playwright, and a staunch Tory. His mannerisms indicated he had Tourette syndrome.
Junípero Serra was a Roman Catholic priest who is credited with founding the Franciscan Missions of the Sierra Gorda. He is also credited with founding nine of the 21 Spanish missions in California. On 25 September 1988, Junípero Serra was beatified in the Vatican City by Pope John Paul II. On 23 September 2015, he was canonized by Pope Francis.
Denis Diderot revolutionized the Age of Enlightenment as the co-founder of Encyclopédie, which was banned for questioning religion. He had flirted with the idea of joining the theater and becoming a priest, and even studied law, but later devoted himself to languages, literature, and philosophy.
Known as The Wonderman, 18th-century French adventurer Comte de Saint-Germain was also a talented musician, especially skilled in the violin, and a well-known chemist. Not only was he proficient in almost all European languages, he had traveled to places such as Russia, the Dutch Republic, and Germany.
Torbern Olof Bergman was a Swedish mineralogist and chemist. He is best remembered for his 1775 work Dissertation on Elective Attractions, which contains the largest chemical affinity tables. He also contributed immensely to the development of quantitative analysis. Torbern Olof Bergman also taught physics and mathematics at the University of Uppsala.
Ann Lee is remembered as the founder of the Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also known as the Shakers, for their ritual of shaking during worshipping. Born to a blacksmith in England, she initially worked at a textile mill and later ushered her movement into the U.S.
French astronomer and surveyor César-François Cassini de Thury followed in his father Jacques Cassini’s footsteps to create an authentic topographical map of France. His Carte de Cassini was the first map which charted an entire country based on its topography. He had also been the director of the Paris Observatory.
José de Santa Rita Durão was a Colonial Brazilian Neoclassic poet and orator. He was also an Augustinian friar. He composed the epic poem Caramuru. He studied at the University of Coimbra and began an academic career. He was persecuted during the reign of the Marquis of Pombal and went to exile in Rome.
Italian physicist, mathematician, and astronomer Paolo Frisi is best remembered for his work on hydraulics, expressed through his books such as A Treatise on Rivers and Torrents. His interpretation of the works of eminent scientists such as Galileo and Newton, too, are considered immensely valuable to the scientific community.
Though born into an affluent Japanese family, Yosa Buson renounced his wealth and traveled far and wide to master painting and the art of haiku. His poetic experiments included mingling Chinese and Japanese poetry. He played a major role in popularizing the Nan-ga style of Japanese painting.
Raja Haji was a Bugis warrior and crown prince of the Johor-Riau Sultanate. An important freedom fighter, Raja Haji spearheaded a number of raids on a Dutch fortress in Melacca before he was shot dead by the Dutch forces. His bravery was later commemorated by the Indonesian government with a National Hero of Indonesia title.
Jacob Joseph of Polonne was a rabbi and one of the first disciples of the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the Baal Shem Tov. He was already an accomplished scholar of the school of Lurianic Kabbalah when he became associated with Tov. In his teachings, he addressed the question regarding the dual requirement in Judaism to both love and fear God.
Apart co-establishing the Royal Academy, Nathaniel Hone the Elder made a name for himself as a master painter of miniatures and portraits. Born into a Dutch family in Dublin, he spent most of his professional life in London. His controversial painting The Conjurer was viewed as an attack on Sir Joshua Reynolds.
