When William Sydney Porter had his first book, Cabbages and Kings (1904), published he had only six more years to live. But, with his identity hidden beneath the legendary pen name O. Henry, the fame of his short stories was already firmly...

Octave Crémazie (1827-1879) was a Canadian poet who was closely linked to the emergence of French-Canadian literature. Known as Octave, Claude-Joseph-Olivier Crémazie was born on Nov. 8, 1827, and educated in Quebec. He becam...

The Mexican diplomat, playwright, and essayist, Octavio Paz (1914-1998) was internationally regarded as one of the principal poets of the twentieth century. His work was formally recognized in 1990 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in li...

The French painter and graphic artist Odilon Redon (1840-1916) was a leading symbolist and a forerunner of surrealism. Odilon Redon was born on April 20, 1840, in Bordeaux. His father was a rich French colonist in the southern United State...

Howard Washington Odum (1884-1954) was a sociologist, educator, and academic administrator. He was the preeminent sociologist of the American South during the second quarter of the 20th century. Howard W. Odum was born May 24, 1884, on a s...

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) was arguably one of the most commercially successful English-language poets of the twentieth century. Nash's verse skewered the pretensions of the modern middle class existence and gave voice to the inner seethings o...

Okomfo Anokye (active late 17th century) was an Ashanti fetish priest, statesman, and lawgiver. A cofounder of the Ashanti Kingdom in West Africa, he helped establish its constitution, laws, and customs. The original name of Okomfo Anokye ...

Toshimichi Okubo (1830-1878) was one of the leaders of the Meiji restoration in Japan and perhaps the dominant figure in the new government in its early years. He played a key role in the consolidation of the government. Toshimichi Okubo w...

One of the master painters of Japan's Edo period, Maruyama Okyo (1733--1795) was the most influential painter and teacher of the 18th century in Kyoto. Although trained in the conservative Kano School of painting, Okyo combined styles from...

Olaf II Haroldsson (ca. 990-1030), also called St. Olaf, was king of Norway from 1015 to 1028. The first king of the whole of Norway, he organized its final conversion and its integration into Christian Europe. Olaf was a son of Harold Gra...

The Norwegian-American writer Ole Edvart Rölvaag (1876-1931) was a powerful, realistic chronicler of the lives of Norwegian immigrants on the farms of the midwestern United States. His work is grimly pessimistic. Ole Edvart Rölva...

The English statesman and general Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) won decisive battles in the English civil war. He then established himself and his army as the ruling force in England and later took the title Lord Protector of Great Britain a...

Oliver Evans (1755-1819) was one of America's first and most important inventors. He made major contributions to the technology of flour milling and steam engines. Oliver Evans was born near Newport, Del. He was apprenticed to a wagon make...

Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819) was the American naval officer in command during the Sept. 10, 1813, victory on Lake Erie, one of the great American naval triumphs of the War of 1812. Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingston, R.I., o...

The American agriculturalist Oliver Hudson Kelley (1826-1913) founded the Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry and was devoted to improving conditions for farmers. Oliver Hudson Kelley was born and educated in Boston. He went west to Illinoi...

Oliver Stone's harrowing movies about life in an era bereft of morals have earned both lofty praise and stern condemnation. Stone (born 1946) is a pioneer writer-director of films that show the direct human consequences of national policy,...

As a jurist and a legal writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935), contributed mightily to the debate in the early 20th century concerning the role of law in a rapidly changing America. The U.S. government is based on a document writt...

The American inventor and manufacturer James Oliver (1823-1908) is noted for the invention of a cast-iron implement known as the Oliver chilled plow. James Oliver was born in Liddesdale, Roxburghshire, Scotland, on Aug. 28, 1823. The famil...

French author and activist Marie Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) achieved modest success as a playwright in the 18th century, but she became best known for her political writing and support of the French Revolution. Considered a feminist pion...

U.S. General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley (1893-1981) was one of the outstanding Allied combat commanders in World War II. Omar Bradley was born in Clark, Missouri, on February 12, 1893. After his father's death he moved with his mother...

Omar Torrijos (1929-1981) was not only Panama's most famous leader in that country's history but also one of Latin America's best-known figures of the 20th century. He achieved this distinction for one reason--Torrijos, a military man in a...

Singapore's fifth president, Ong Teng Cheong (born 1936) took office in 1993. It was the climax of Ong's 21-year career as a member of Parliament (MP), cabinet minister, party chairman, and trade union chief. Ong Teng Cheong was born in Si...

Orestes Augustus Brownson (1803-1876) was an American clergyman, transcendentalist, and social activist. He passed through the whole range of American religion, from nebulous Unitarianism to firmly disciplined Catholicism. Orestes A. Brown...

The enormous production of the Franco-Flemish composer Roland de Lassus (1532-1594), over 1,200 works in all categories, and their extraordinarily high quality, make him one of the greatest masters of Renaissance music. Roland de Lassus, a...

Simon Ortiz (born 1941) became one the most respected and widely read Native American poets. His work is characterized by a strong storytelling voice that recalls traditional Native American storytelling. "When I see native people, it assu...