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Asteroid Namesake

LISTS

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
Buzz Aldrin
Astronaut
20-Jan-1930   Second man on the Moon
Roald Amundsen
Explorer
16-Jul-1872 18-Jun-1928 First to reach South Pole
Anaximander
Philosopher
c. 609 BC c. 546 BC First to develop a cosmology
Aristarchus of Samos
Astronomer
c. 310 BC c. 230 BC First heliocentrist
Aristotle
Philosopher
384 BC 322 BC Politics
Lance Armstrong
Sports Figure
18-Sep-1971   7-time Tour De France winner
Louis Armstrong
Jazz Musician
4-Aug-1901 6-Jul-1971 Jazz trumpeter
Neil Armstrong
Astronaut
5-Aug-1930   First man on the Moon
Svante Arrhenius
Chemist
19-Feb-1859 2-Oct-1927 Explored electrolytic conductivity
Atahualpa
Royalty
c. 1502 29-Aug-1533 Incan king ransomed, killed by Pizarro
Walter Baade
Astronomer
24-Mar-1893 25-Jun-1960 German-American observational astronomer
Harold D. Babcock
Astronomer
24-Jan-1882 8-Apr-1968 Solar radiation
Horace W. Babcock
Astronomer
13-Sep-1912 29-Aug-2003 Adaptive optics and the Babcock Model
Ingmar Bergman
Film Director
14-Jul-1918 30-Jul-2007 Scenes from a Marriage
Ludwig Biermann
Astronomer
13-Mar-1907 12-Jan-1986 Solar winds
Hiram Bingham
Politician
19-Nov-1875 6-Jun-1956 US Senator, discovered Machu Picchu
Adriaan Blaauw
Astronomer
12-Apr-1914   Evolving galaxies
Bart Jan Bok
Astronomer
28-Apr-1906 5-Aug-1983 Bok globules
Alec Boksenberg
Astronomer
18-Mar-1936   Image Photon Counting System
John G. Bolton
Astronomer
5-Jun-1922 6-Jul-1993 First Director of Parkes Observatory
Ira S. Bowen
Astronomer
21-Dec-1898 6-Feb-1973 Debunked nebulium
Tycho Brahe
Astronomer
14-Dec-1546 24-Oct-1601 Copper-nosed Danish astronomer
Dirk Brouwer
Astronomer
1-Sep-1902 31-Jan-1966 Celestial mechanics
Ernest W. Brown
Astronomer
29-Nov-1866 22-Jul-1938 Tables of the Motion of the Moon
Catherine Wolfe Bruce
Philanthropist
22-Jan-1816 13-Mar-1900 Underwriter of astronomy
E. Margaret Burbidge
Astronomer
12-Aug-1919   Synthesis of the elements in stars
Geoffrey Burbidge
Astronomer
24-Sep-1925   Quasi-steady state cosmology
James Cagney
Actor
17-Jul-1899 30-Mar-1986 New York tough guy
William W. Campbell
Astronomer
11-Apr-1862 14-Jun-1938 Stellar Motions
Johnny Carson
Talk Show Host
23-Oct-1925 23-Jan-2005 Longtime host of Tonight Show
Graham Chapman
Comic
8-Jan-1941 4-Oct-1989 Monty Python's King Arthur
Carl Charlier
Astronomer
1-Apr-1862 5-Nov-1934 Motion and the Distribution of the Stars
Eric Clapton
Musician
30-Mar-1945   Slowhand
Arthur C. Clarke
Novelist
16-Dec-1917 19-Mar-2008 2001: A Space Odyssey
Claudius
Royalty
1-Aug-10 BC 13-Oct-54 AD Roman Emperor, 41-54 AD
John Cleese
Comic
27-Oct-1939   Monty Python
Cleopatra
Royalty
69 BC 30-Aug-30 BC Queen of Egypt
Michael Collins
Astronaut
31-Oct-1930   Apollo 11 command module pilot
Sean Connery
Actor
25-Aug-1930   James Bond
Jacques Cousteau
Scientist
11-Jun-1910 25-Jun-1997 Oceanographer, environmentalist
Thomas George Cowling
Mathematician
17-Jun-1906 16-Jun-1990 Cowling model
Walter Cronkite
Journalist
4-Nov-1916   America's most trusted newscaster
Marie Curie
Chemist
7-Nov-1867 4-Jul-1934 Early nuclear chemist
Pierre Curie
Physicist
15-May-1859 19-Apr-1906 Early investigator of radiation
Louis Daguerre
Inventor
18-Nov-1787 10-Jul-1851 Invented Daguerreotype photography
Dante
Poet
1265 14-Sep-1321 La Divina Commedia
Paul Davies
Physicist
22-Apr-1946   The Mind of God
Willem de Sitter
Astronomer
6-May-1872 19-Nov-1934 Expanding space
Henri Alexandre Deslandres
Astronomer
24-Jul-1853 15-Jan-1948 Spectroheliograph
Christian Doppler
Physicist
29-Nov-1803 17-Mar-1853 Discovered the Doppler Effect
Kirk Douglas
Actor
9-Dec-1916   Spartacus
Frank W. Dyson
Astronomer
8-Jan-1868 25-May-1939 Six pips on the BBC
Arthur Eddington
Astronomer
28-Dec-1882 22-Nov-1944 Eddington luminosity
Albert Einstein
Physicist
14-Mar-1879 18-Apr-1955 Theory of relativity
Johann Franz Encke
Astronomer
23-Sep-1791 26-Aug-1865 Investigated comets and asteroids
Enya
Musician
17-May-1961   Orinoco Flow
Euclid
Mathematician
c. 365 BC c. 275 BC The Elements
Leonhard Euler
Mathematician
15-Apr-1707 18-Sep-1783 The Elements of Euclid
Michael Faraday
Physicist
22-Sep-1791 25-Aug-1867 Discovered electrical induction
Enrico Fermi
Physicist
29-Sep-1901 29-Nov-1954 First controlled nuclear chain reaction
Richard Feynman
Physicist
11-May-1918 15-Feb-1988 Surely he's joking
Leonardo Fibonacci
Mathematician
c. 1175 1250 Liber Abacis
Larry Fine
Actor
5-Oct-1902 24-Jan-1975 Larry on The Three Stooges
Alexander Fleming
Scientist
6-Aug-1881 11-Mar-1955 Discovered penicillin
Jodie Foster
Actor
19-Nov-1962   Taxi Driver
Léon Foucault
Physicist
19-Sep-1819 11-Feb-1868 Measured the speed of light
Alfred Fowler
Astronomer
22-Mar-1868 24-Jun-1940 Celestial spectroscopy
Benjamin Franklin
Diplomat
17-Jan-1706 17-Apr-1790 American founding father
Sigmund Freud
Psychiatrist
6-May-1856 23-Sep-1939 Die Traumdeutung
Yuri Gagarin
Astronaut
9-Mar-1934 27-Mar-1968 First person to orbit earth
Jerry Garcia
Musician
1-Aug-1942 9-Aug-1995 Grateful Dead
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Military
4-Jul-1807 2-Jun-1882 Privateer, Italian hero
Lou Gehrig
Baseball
19-Jun-1903 2-Jun-1941 Played 2,130 consecutive games
George Gershwin
Songwriter
26-Sep-1898 11-Jul-1937 Rhapsody In Blue
Riccardo Giacconi
Scientist
6-Oct-1931   Discovered cosmic X-ray sources
Terry Gilliam
Film Director
22-Nov-1940   Monty Python alumnus, Brazil
Maxim Gorky
Playwright
28-Mar-1868 17-Jun-1936 The Lower Depths
Stephen Jay Gould
Biologist
10-Sep-1941 20-May-2002 Evolutionary biologist and paleontologist
Cary Grant
Actor
18-Jan-1904 29-Nov-1986 North by Northwest
Jesse L. Greenstein
Astronomer
15-Oct-1909 21-Oct-2002 Co-Discoverer of quasars
George Ellery Hale
Astronomer
29-Jun-1868 21-Feb-1938 Palomar Observatory founder, astronomer
George Harrison
Musician
25-Feb-1943 29-Nov-2001 Beatle
Martin Harwit
Astronomer
9-Mar-1931   Helium-cooled rockets and infrared spectroscopy
Stephen Hawking
Physicist
8-Jan-1942   Wheelchair-bound physicist
Chushiro Hayashi
Astronomer
25-Jul-1920   Big Bang astrophysicist
Otto Heckmann
Astronomer
23-Jun-1901 13-May-1983 Investigated cosmic expansion
Werner Heisenberg
Physicist
5-Dec-1901 1-Feb-1976 Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Audrey Hepburn
Actor
4-May-1929 20-Jan-1993 My Fair Lady
George Herbig
Astronomer
2-Jan-1920   Herbig-Haro objects
Herodotus
Historian
c. 484 BC c, 425 BC The Histories
Caroline Herschel
Astronomer
16-Mar-1750 9-Jan-1848 Astronomer, sister of William
John Herschel
Astronomer
7-Mar-1792 11-May-1871 Discovered many moons of Saturn
Ejnar Hertzsprung
Astronomer
8-Oct-1873 21-Oct-1967 Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
Thor Heyerdahl
Explorer
6-Oct-1914 18-Apr-2002 Kon-Tiki
Miguel Hidalgo
Religion
8-May-1753 30-Jul-1811 Father of Mexican independence
George W. Hill
Astronomer
3-Mar-1838 16-Apr-1914 A New Theorie of Jupiter and Saturn
Edmund Hillary
Explorer
20-Jul-1919 11-Jan-2008 First to summit Mt. Everest
Hipparchus
Astronomer
c. 190 BC c. 120 BC Cataloguer of stars, trigonometrist
Alfred Hitchcock
Film Director
13-Aug-1899 29-Apr-1980 Master of Suspense
Thomas Hobbes
Philosopher
5-Apr-1588 4-Dec-1679 Leviathan
Buddy Holly
Musician
7-Sep-1936 3-Feb-1959 Buddy Holly and The Crickets
Gerardus 't Hooft
Physicist
5-Jul-1946   Quantum physicist
Curly Howard
Actor
22-Oct-1903 18-Jan-1952 Highest pitched Stooge
Moe Howard
Actor
19-Jun-1897 4-May-1975 Boss Stooge
Shemp Howard
Actor
4-Mar-1895 22-Nov-1955 Stooge
Fred Hoyle
Astronomer
24-Jun-1915 20-Aug-2001 Steady-state universe
William Huggins
Astronomer
7-Feb-1824 12-May-1910 Spectrographic astronomy pioneer
David Hume
Philosopher
7-May-1711 25-Aug-1776 Empiricist nonpareil
Christiaan Huygens
Physicist
14-Apr-1629 8-Jul-1695 Wave theory of light
Eric Idle
Comic
29-Mar-1943   Monty Python
Karl Jaspers
Philosopher
23-Feb-1883 26-Feb-1969 Existential thinker
Harold Spencer Jones
Astronomer
29-Mar-1890 3-Nov-1960 10th Royal Astronomer of England
Terry Jones
Comic
1-Feb-1942   Monty Python
Jacobus C. Kapteyn
Astronomer
19-Jan-1851 18-Jan-1922 Star streaming
Danny Kaye
Actor
18-Jan-1913 3-Mar-1987 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
James E. Keeler
Astronomer
10-Sep-1857 12-Aug-1900 Composition of Saturn's rings
Grace Kelly
Royalty
12-Nov-1929 14-Sep-1982 American-born Princess of Monaco
Johannes Kepler
Astronomer
27-Dec-1571 15-Nov-1630 Laws of Planetary Motion
Vladimir Komarov
Astronaut
16-Mar-1927 24-Apr-1967 Pilot of Soyuz 1 plunged to his death
Robert P. Kraft
Astronomer
16-Jun-1927   Lick Observatory
Stanley Kubrick
Film Director
26-Jul-1928 7-Mar-1999 2001: A Space Odyssey
Pierre-Simon Laplace
Mathematician
23-Mar-1749 5-Mar-1827 Traité du Mécanique Céleste
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier
Chemist
26-Aug-1743 8-May-1794 Father of modern chemistry
David Lean
Film Director
25-Mar-1908 16-Apr-1991 Lawrence of Arabia
Henrietta Swan Leavitt
Astronomer
4-Jul-1868 12-Dec-1921 Cepheid variable
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
Scientist
24-Oct-1632 26-Aug-1723 Master of the Microscope
John Lennon
Musician
9-Oct-1940 8-Dec-1980 Beatle
Tea Leoni
Actor
25-Feb-1966   Nora Wilde on The Naked Truth
Armin O. Leuschner
Astronomer
16-Jan-1868 22-Apr-1953 Astronomer at Berkeley
Jerry Lewis
Comic
16-Mar-1926   Cinderfella
James Lick
Business
25-Aug-1796 1-Oct-1876 Lick Observatory
Bertil Lindblad
Astronomer
26-Nov-1895 25-Jun-1965 Spiral structure of the galaxy
Astrid Lindgren
Author
14-Nov-1907 28-Jan-2002 Pippi Longstocking
Yang Liwei
Astronaut
21-Jun-1965   First manned Chinese spaceflight
John Locke
Philosopher
29-Aug-1632 28-Oct-1704 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Frank J. Low
Astronomer
23-Nov-1933   Infrared astronomy
Martin Luther
Religion
10-Nov-1483 18-Feb-1546 Created Protestant movement
Willem J. Luyten
Astronomer
7-Mar-1899 21-Nov-1994 Stellar mortician
Donald Lynden-Bell
Astronomer
5-Apr-1935   Astrophysicist at Cambridge
Bernard Lyot
Astronomer
27-Feb-1897 2-Apr-1952 Sandstorms on Mars
Ernst Mach
Physicist
18-Feb-1838 19-Feb-1916 Optical and sensory perceptualist
Ferdinand Magellan
Explorer
1480 27-Apr-1521 Circumnavigated the globe
Christa McAuliffe
Astronaut
2-Sep-1948 28-Jan-1986 First teacher in space
Paul McCartney
Musician
18-Jun-1942   Beatle
William D. McElroy
Biologist
22-Jan-1917 17-Feb-1999 Bioluminescence
Gregor Mendel
Scientist
22-Jul-1822 6-Jan-1884 Discovered the laws of inheritance
Gerard Mercator
Cartographer
5-Mar-1512 2-Dec-1594 The Mercator Projection
Paul W. Merrill
Astronomer
15-Aug-1887 19-Jul-1961 S-process of nucleosynthesis
E. Arthur Milne
Mathematician
14-Feb-1896 21-Sep-1950 Kinematic relativity
Hermann Minkowski
Mathematician
22-Jun-1864 12-Jan-1909 Minkowski space
Rudolph Minkowski
Astronomer
28-May-1895 4-Jan-1976 Galaxies in collision
Marcel Minnaert
Astronomer
12-Feb-1893 26-Oct-1970 Solar spectrophotometry
Charlotte E. Moore
Astronomer
24-Sep-1898 3-Mar-1990 Technetium in the Sun
Patrick Moore
TV Personality
4-Mar-1923   BBC's The Sky At Night
William W. Morgan
Astronomer
3-Jan-1906 21-Jun-1994 Spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy
Fridtjof Nansen
Explorer
10-Oct-1861 13-May-1930 Explorer, Nobel Prize recipient
Isaac Newton
Physicist
4-Jan-1643 31-Mar-1727 Father of modern physics
Nichelle Nichols
Actor
28-Dec-1932   Lt. Uhura on Star Trek
Seth Barnes Nicholson
Astronomer
12-Nov-1891 2-Jul-1963 Four satellites of Jupiter
Friedrich Nietzsche
Philosopher
15-Oct-1844 25-Aug-1900 God is dead
Leonard Nimoy
Actor
26-Mar-1931   Commander Spock on Star Trek
Alfred Nobel
Inventor
21-Oct-1833 10-Dec-1896 Dynamite inventor, established Nobel Prize
Tenzing Norgay
Explorer
15-May-1914 9-May-1986 With Edmund Hilllary on Everest
Daniel O'Connell
Politician
6-Aug-1775 15-May-1847 Irish hero, called The Liberator
Sean O'Keefe
Administrator
27-Jan-1956   NASA Administrator, 2001-05
Wilhelm Olbers
Astronomer
11-Oct-1758 2-Mar-1840 Studied asteroids, comets
Jan Hendrik Oort
Astronomer
28-Apr-1900 5-Nov-1992 Theory of the origin of comets
Ernst J. Öpik
Astronomer
23-Oct-1893 10-Sep-1985 Andromeda Nebula
Donald E. Osterbrock
Astronomer
13-Jul-1924 11-Jan-2007 Director of Lick Observatory, 1973-81
Jesse Owens
Track and Field
12-Sep-1913 31-Mar-1980 Four track and field medals in 1936 Olympics
Bohdan Paczynski
Astronomer
8-Feb-1940 19-Apr-2007 Gravitational microlensing
Michael Palin
Comic
5-May-1943   Monty Python
Eugene Parker
Astronomer
10-Jun-1927   Solar winds
P. James E. Peebles
Astronomer
25-Apr-1935   Galaxy formation
Pelé
Soccer
23-Oct-1940   Brazil's greatest soccer player
John S. Plaskett
Astronomer
17-Nov-1865 17-Oct-1941 Plaskett's star
Plato
Philosopher
c. 427 BC c. 347 BC The Republic
Pocahontas
Royalty
c. 1595 21-Mar-1617 Native American princess
Elvis Presley
Singer
8-Jan-1935 16-Aug-1977 Rock and roll icon
Pythagoras
Mathematician
c. 580 BC c. 500 BC Pythagorean Theorem
James Randi
Magician
7-Aug-1928   The Amazing Randi
John Rawls
Philosopher
21-Feb-1921 24-Nov-2002 A Theory of Justice
Martin Rees
Astronomer
23-Jun-1942   President of the Royal Society
Augusto Righi
Physicist
27-Aug-1850 8-Jun-1920 Electromagnetic waves
Gene Roddenberry
Screenwriter
19-Aug-1921 24-Oct-1991 Creator of Star Trek
Fred Rogers
TV Personality
20-Mar-1928 27-Feb-2003 Mister Rogers
Henry Norris Russell
Astronomer
25-Oct-1877 18-Feb-1957 Giant stars and dwarfs
Meg Ryan
Actor
19-Nov-1961   Sleepless In Seattle
Carl Sagan
Astronomer
9-Nov-1934 20-Dec-1996 Popular astronomer, host of Cosmos
Andrei Sakharov
Physicist
21-May-1921 14-Dec-1989 Developed the Soviet hydrogen bomb
Edwin E. Salpeter
Astronomer
3-Dec-1924   Quantitative electron microscopic autoradiography
Allan R. Sandage
Astronomer
18-Jun-1926   Quasars and Hubble-Sandage variable stars
Carlos Santana
Musician
20-Jul-1947   House is dark, pots are cold
Wallace Sargent
Astronomer
15-Feb-1935   Astrophysicist at CalTech
Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli
Astronomer
14-Mar-1835 4-Jul-1910 Discovered canals on Mars
Frank Schlesinger
Astronomer
11-May-1871 10-Jul-1943 Stellar parallaxes
Maarten Schmidt
Astronomer
28-Dec-1929   Co-Discoverer of quasars
Arthur Schopenhauer
Philosopher
22-Feb-1788 21-Sep-1860 Philosopher of Pessimism
Erwin Schrödinger
Physicist
12-Aug-1887 4-Jan-1961 Schrödinger's wave equation
Karl Schwarzschild
Astronomer
9-Oct-1873 11-May-1916 Black holes, Schwarzschild radius
Martin Schwarzschild
Astronomer
31-May-1912 10-Apr-1997 Structure and Evolution of the Stars
Frederick Hanley Seares
Astronomer
17-May-1873 20-Jul-1964 Astronomer at Mt. Wilson Observatory
William Shatner
Actor
22-Mar-1931   Captain Kirk on Star Trek
Iosif S. Shklovskii
Astronomer
1-Jul-1916 3-Mar-1985 Synchrotron radiation of the Crab Nebula
Frans Eemil Sillanpää
Author
16-Sep-1888 3-Jun-1964 The Loveliness and Wretchedness of Human Life
Frank Sinatra
Singer
12-Dec-1915 14-May-1998 It's Frank's world, we just live in it
V. M. Slipher
Astronomer
11-Nov-1875 8-Nov-1969 Interstellar dust
Louis Slotin
Physicist
1-Dec-1910 30-May-1946 Died tickling the dragon's tail
Socrates
Philosopher
469 BC 399 BC Developer of the Socratic Method
Lyman Spitzer, Jr.
Astronomer
26-Jun-1914 31-Mar-1997 Father of space telescopes
Bruce Springsteen
Musician
23-Sep-1949   The Boss
Ringo Starr
Musician
7-Jul-1940   Beatle
Joel Stebbins
Astronomer
30-Jul-1878 16-Mar-1966 Photoelectric photometry
Bengt Strömgren
Astronomer
21-Jan-1908 4-Jul-1987 Hydrogen stars
Otto Struve
Astronomer
12-Aug-1897 6-Apr-1963 Hydrogen in the interstellar medium
Chiune Sugihara
Diplomat
1-Jan-1900 31-Jul-1986 Helped Jews escape Lithuania
Rashid Sunyaev
Astronomer
1-Mar-1943   Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect
Ambrose Swasey
Business
19-Dec-1846 15-Jun-1937 Warner and Swasey Company and Observatory
Tacitus
Historian
56 AD c. 120 AD Historiae, Annals
George Takei
Actor
20-Apr-1937   Sulu on original Star Trek
Clyde W. Tombaugh
Astronomer
4-Feb-1906 17-Jan-1997 Discovered Pluto
Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
Scientist
17-Sep-1857 19-Sep-1935 Astronautics and rocket dynamics pioneer
Herbert Hall Turner
Astronomer
13-Aug-1861 20-Aug-1930 Stellar positions
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Astronomer
5-Oct-1958   Astrophysicist
Harold C. Urey
Chemist
29-Apr-1893 5-Jan-1981 Discovered Deuterium
Vangelis
Musician
29-Mar-1943   New Age instrumentalist
Martinus J.G. Veltman
Physicist
27-Jun-1931   Quantum physicist
Fred Whipple
Astronomer
5-Nov-1906 30-Aug-2004 Comet Guy
Otto Wichterle
Chemist
27-Oct-1913 18-Aug-1998 Invented soft contact lenses
Brian Wilson
Musician
20-Jun-1942   Troubled Beach Boy
Xerxes the Great
Royalty
519 BC 465 BC King of Persia, attempted to invade Greece
Frank Zappa
Composer
21-Dec-1940 4-Dec-1993 Joe's Garage
Georgi Zhukov
Military
1-Dec-1896 18-Jun-1974 Soviet commander during WWII


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