One of the most widely discussed and renowned twentieth-century authors, D. H. Lawrence remains intriguing and problematic in terms of his biography, his writings, and his prophetic role. In his relatively short life, he was a prolific aut...

David Wark Griffith (1875-1948), American filmmaker, was a pioneer director-producer who invented much of the basic technical grammar of modern cinema. On Jan. 22, 1875, D.W. Griffith was born at Crestwood, Oldham County, Ky., the descenda...

The Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) served as the secretary general of the United Nations from 1953 until his death. Dag Hammarskjöld played a leading role in expanding the operations of the United Nations (UN), mos...

Daisaku Ikeda (born 1928), a Japanese Buddhist writer and religious leader, was the third president of the rapidly growing Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organization whose goal was to promote Nichiren Sho-shu, "True" Nichiren Buddhism, world...

Daisy Mae Bates (1861-1951) was a social worker among the Australian aborigines. One of the first Europeans to win their confidence, she compiled a unique collection of material about them. Daisy Bates was born Daisy O'Dwyer Hunt at Ballyc...

The Dalai Lama (Lhamo Thondup; born 1935), the 14th in a line of Buddhist spiritual and temporal leaders of Tibet, fled to India during the revolt against Chinese control in 1959 and from exile promoted Tibetan religious and cultural tradi...

Daley Thompson (born 1958) was one of the best decathlon athletes in history. He began competing in the decathlon in 1975 and won every event he entered from 1978 until 1988. Thompson won gold medals at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. Dal...

Chief Dan George (1899-1981), a member of the Coast Salish nation, gained fame as an actor relatively late in life. He is best remembered for his role as the Cheyenne elder, Old Lodge Skins, in the 1970 film Little Big Man alongside a youn...

J. Danforth Quayle (born 1947) became the second-youngest member of Congress in history when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1976. He was the first person from the "baby boom" generation to win a spot on a n...

Daniel Barenboim (born 1942) was an Israeli pianist and conductor. After receiving an international musical education, he established himself as one of the most highly regarded young conductors and performers in the world. Daniel Barenboim...

The Swiss mathematician and physicist Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) is best known for his work on hydrodynamics, but he also did pioneering work on the kinetic theory of gases. Daniel Bernoulli was born on Jan. 29, 1700, in Gröningen, ...

An American frontiersman and explorer, Daniel Boone (1734-1820) was the greatest woodsman in United States history. Hero of much farfetched fiction, Boone survived both legend making and debunking to emerge a genuine hero. For all the myth...

Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr. (1920-1978) was the first African American man to become a four star general in the history of the U.S. military. Daniel "Chappie" James was born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1920, the last of 17 children. His fath...

Daniel Cohn-Bendit (born 1946) only occupied center stage in French politics for a few weeks in 1968. Still, more than anyone else, Cohn-Bendit came to personify the new left that swept Western Europe and North America in the late 1960s an...

A teacher and civil servant, Daniel Cosío Villegas (1898-1976) was best known for his broadranging studies of Mexican history. He came to be known for his lucidity and intellectual capacity in economics, history, and political scien...

Daniel Defoe's modern literary reputation is based almost entirely on the series of prose narratives that he wrote from 1719 to 1724. In April of 1719 Robinson Crusoe was published; with the success of that work, he went on to write a sequ...

Daniel Ellsberg (born 1931) was a defense analyst for the Rand Corporation, a U.S. government official, and then became an anti-war activist during the Vietnam era; it was Ellsberg who leaked a top-secret Defense Department study that came...

Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931), African American surgical pioneer and innovator, founded the first black voluntary hospital in the United States. Daniel Hale Williams was born on Jan. 18, 1856, in Hollidaysburg, Pa. He attended school th...

Daniel Keith Ludwig (1897-1992) was an entrepreneur who amassed his fortune in shipping, building a fleet of tankers for government use during World War II and later a fleet of super tankers. Other endeavors included oil refining, saltwate...

Daniel Mendoza (1764-1836) is considered to be the originator of modern boxing and was the most celebrated Jewish athlete of his time. He became the sixteenth heavyweight boxing champion of England. Mendoza was born in the west London neig...

The Irish statesman Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) created modern Irish nationalism and served as the most successful champion of democracy in the Europe of his day. Daniel O'Connell was born on Aug. 6, 1775, at Cahirciveen, County Kerry, a ...

Daniel Patrick Moynihan (born 1927), United States senator from New York, was a politician and scholar whose career marked him as one of America's most influential public figures in the second half of the 20th century. Daniel Patrick Moyni...

Daniel Sickles(1819-1914) led a colorful and controversial life. He was a primary figure in the creation of New York's Central Park. Sickles may have been one of the first persons to use the insanity defense when charged with murder. He pl...

The Venetian patriot Daniele Manin (1804-1857) labored for the liberation of Venice from Austria and made an important contribution to the unification of Italy. Daniele Manin was born on May 13, 1804, the son of a converted Jew who adopted...

Danilo Kis is the most important writer to emerge in Serbia and Yugoslavia since the 1960s. After Ivo Andric and Milos Crnjanski, Kis can be regarded as the most important Serbian writer of the twentieth century within the modernist and po...