B. B. King (born 1925) is one of the most successful artists in the history of the blues. Today his ability as a blues guitarist is remains unparalleled. "B. B. King is widely recognized as the greatest living blues guitarist," Dimitri Ehr...

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) was an Indian social reformer and politician who devoted himself to improving the life of untouchables, particularly of his own caste, the Mahars. Bhimrao Ambedkar was born at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. He att...

Balthazar Johannes Vorster (1915-1983) was a South African political leader who emerged as a major figure in Afrikaner nationalism. Noted as a right-wing figure, he was passionately hostile to liberalism and communism. Balthazar Vorster wa...

Ba Maw (1893-1977) was the first premier of independent Burma (now Myanmar) and the leader of the wartime government that ruled in cooperation with the occupying Japanese from 1942 to 1945. Ba Maw was born in Maubin on February 8, 1893. Hi...

Called "the athlete phenomenon of our time, man or woman," Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (1913-1956) participated in almost every sport. She excelled as an Olympic athlete and as a golfer. Mildred Didrikson, known throughout her life a...

Babar the Conqueror (1483-1530) was a descendant of Tamerlane and Genghis Khan, who founded the Mughal (Mogul) dynasty of India and, although a devout Muslim, bequeathed a legacy of toleration for non-Muslims that characterized the Empire ...

Isaac Backus (1724-1806), an American Baptist leader, was a major figure in New England church history and was instrumental in the eventual securing of the separation of church and state for the new United States. Isaac Backus was born of ...

George Frederick Baer (1842-1914) worked closely with legendary financier J. P. Morgan during American industry's most expansionary era. He headed the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Co., which carried coal from Morgan-owned coal mines in...

Po Chü-i (772-846) was a Chinese poet best known for his ballads and satirical poems. He held the view that good poetry should be readily understood by the common people and exemplified it in poems noted for simple diction, natural st...

Sara Josephine Baker (1873-1945) was a physician working toward improving the public health care and reducing infant mortality rates substantially in New York City. Sara Josephine Baker was a pioneer in the field of public health and an ac...

Baldwin I (ca. 1058-1118), a Norman known earlier as Baldwin of Boulogne and a chief lay leader of the First Crusade, reigned as king of Jerusalem from 1100 to 1118. Son of the Norman Count of Boulogne, Baldwin joined the First Crusade wit...

Baltasar Jerónimo Gracián y Morales (1601-1658), Spanish humorist, satirist, baroque stylist, and philosophical novelist, is classed with the greatest prose masters of Spain's Golden Age. Born into a religious family in Calat...

Balthus (born 1908) was a French painter and stage designer who worked within the Western tradition of figure painting. He is best known for his paintings of everyday life invested with a sense of mystery, symbolism, and eroticism. Balthus...

The notable successes of Sir Banastre Tarleton (1754-1833), English cavalry officer during the American Revolution, earned him the sobriquet "Bloody Tarleton." Banastre Tarleton was the son of a wealthy Liverpool merchant, a sometime mayor...

Andrew Barton Paterson (1864-1941) was an Australian folk poet popularly known as "Banjo" Paterson from his pen name, "The Banjo." His swinging rhythms captured the atmosphere of the land, life, and humor of Australia's people. The son of ...

In 1989, Barbara Clementine Harris (born 1930) became the first woman bishop in the Worldwide Anglican Communion. Prior to this appointment, Harris was a noted social activist, and her views on social issues continue to inform her actions ...

Attorney Barbara Charline Jordan (1936-1996), who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976, was a prominent member of the House Judiciary Committee when it held President Richard M. Nixon's impeachment hearings. Barbar...

Geneticist Barbara McClintock (1902-1992) received the Nobel Prize in Physiology for her discovery that genes could move from place to place on a chromosome. Barbara McClintock was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 16, 1902. She had t...

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989) was best known for her works on 20th-century wars although she also wrote on 14th-century France. Barbara Tuchman was born in New York City on January 30, 1912, th...

Barber B. Conable, Jr. (born 1922), headed the most important lending institution committed to financing economic projects in developing countries, the World Bank, from 1986 to 1991. His tenure was noted for a complete overhaul of the bank...

For over 40 years, award-winning American performer Barbra Streisand (born 1942) has been performing and singing on the stage, television and in motion pictures, as well as recording popular music. Barbra Joan Streisand was born on April 2...

The American painter Barnett Newman (1905-1970) was a central figure among color-field abstractionists between 1950 and 1970. Barnett Newman was born in New York City on Jan. 29, 1905. Between 1922 and 1926 he studied with Duncan Smith, Jo...

Jose Maria da Silva Paranhos, Barão do Rio Branco (1845-1912), was a Brazilian political leader whose success in defining Brazil's frontiers during the early years of the republic added extensive territory to the Brazilian patrimony...

Baron Georges Eugène Haussmann (1809-1891), as French prefect of the Seine, carried out under Napoleon III a huge urban renewal program for the city of Paris. During the administration of Baron Haussmann, 71 miles of new roads, 400 ...

Barron Hilton (born 1927), son of the founder of Hilton Hotels, became head of the company in 1966. Disparaged by some as the lucky son of Conrad Hilton, he led the company into the gaming industry and was one of the first in the hotel ind...