Curated category
Founders of religions
- JesusVirtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically. This consensus stands firm despite the challenge posed by the Gospels…
- MosesThe name Moses appears in the Book of Exodus with a folk etymology explaining its meaning. Pharaoh's daughter named him saying she drew him out of the water.
- AkbarOn the 15th of October 1542, Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar drew his first breath inside the Rajput Fortress of Amarkot. His parents had fled westward after…
- Henry VIIIHenry VIII was born on the 28th of June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Kent. He entered the world as the third child and second son of King…
- John CalvinOn the 10th of July 1509, a boy named Jehan Cauvin was born in the town of Noyon within the province of Picardy. His father Gérard Cauvin worked as a…
- AkhenatenThe future Akhenaten was born Amenhotep, a younger son of pharaoh Amenhotep III and his principal wife Tiye. He had an elder brother named Thutmose who…
- John WesleyOn the 9th of February 1709, a fire broke out in the rectory at Epworth. John Wesley was five years old when flames consumed the roof and threatened to…
- Thomas CranmerThomas Cranmer entered the world on the 2nd of July 1489 at Aslockton in Nottinghamshire, England. He was a younger son of Thomas Cranmer and his wife Agnes…
- Maximilien RobespierreMaximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was baptised on the 6th of May 1758 in the city of Arras, located in Artois.
- MuhammadMuhammad was born in the city of Mecca around 570 CE, into the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. His father Abdullah died before Muhammad was born, and…
- The BuddhaSiddhartha Gautama lived in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains during the 6th or 5th century BCE. Scholars remain divided on his exact birth and death dates…
- Martin LutherOn the 10th of November 1483, a boy named Martin Luther was born in Eisleben. His father Hans worked copper mines and served on the local council.
- MahaviraScholars have debated the exact year of Mahavira's birth for over a century. Traditional Jain accounts place his birth in 599 BCE and his death in either 527…
- ConfuciusConfucius was born on the 28th of September 551 BCE in the town of Zou. This location sits within modern Qufu, Shandong province.
- OrpheusA two-word fragment from the 6th-century BC lyric poet Ibycus offers the earliest literary reference to Orpheus. The words translate simply as 'Orpheus…
- John KnoxJohn Knox was born sometime between 1505 and 1515 in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lothian. His father William Knox worked as a merchant while…
- LaoziModern scholars in the mid-twentieth century reached a consensus that the historicity of Laozi is doubtful. They view the Dào Dé Jīng as a compilation of…
- Adi ShankaraReliable information on Adi Shankara's actual life is scant, and the historical influence of his works on Hindu intellectual thought has been questioned.