Historic figures: B

Charles Babbage (1791 - 1871) - Victorian pioneer of computer science
Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) - Renaissance philosopher, statesman, scientist
Roger Bacon (c.1214-c.1292) - medieval philosopher, scientist
John Logie Baird (1888 - 1946) - inventor of television
Robert Bakewell (1725 - 1795) - 18th century poineer of stockbreeding
Stanley Baldwin (1867 - 1947) - 20th century Conservative prime minister
Sir Joseph Banks (1743 - 1820) - 18th century naturalist and explorer
Joseph Bazalgette (1819 - 1891) - Victorian engineer, architect of London's sewers
Thomas Becket (c.1120 - 1170) - medieval archbishop of Canterbury, murdered
The Venerable Bede (673 AD - 735 AD) - Anglo-Saxon theologian, historian
Mrs Beeton (1836 - 1865) - Victorian author on household management
Aphra Behn (1640 - 1689) - first female professional writer, 17th century
Alexander Graham Bell (1847 - 1922) - Victorian inventor of the telephone
Tim Berners Lee (1955 - ) - 20th century inventor of the World Wide Web
Annie Besant (1847 - 1933) - 19th-20th century social reformer
Aneurin Bevan (1897 - 1960) - post-war architect of the National Health Service
William Beveridge (1879 - 1963) - post-war pioneer of the Welfare State
Ernest Bevin (1881 - 1951) - post-war Labour foreign secretary
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) - first chancellor of united Germany, 19th century
Edward, the Black Prince (1330 - 1376) - medieval English military hero
Tony Blair (1953 - ) - Labour prime minister
William Blake (1757 - 1827) - 18th century poet, artist
Anne Boleyn (c.1504 - c.1536) - second wife of Henry VIII, executed
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821) - 18th-19th century emperor of France, general
Boudicca (died c.AD 60) - queen of the Iceni, rebelled against Rome
Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691) - 17th century pioneer of chemistry
Willy Brandt (1913-1992) - post-war German chancellor, Nobel prize winner
The Brontë Sisters (1818-1855) - 19th century authors
Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915) - World War One soldier, poet
Robert the Bruce (1274 - 1329) - medieval king of Scotland, national hero
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859) - pioneering Victorian engineer
Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) - 18th century politician, political philosopher
Sir Richard Burton (1821 - 1890) - Victorian explorer, writer
George Bush (1924 - ) - late 20th century US president
George W Bush (1946- ) - US president
Josephine Butler (1828 - 1906) - 19th century social reformer
Richard Austen Butler (1902 - 1982) - post-war architect of the Education Act
Lord Byron (1788-1824) - 19th century Romantic poet

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