People
Historical Figures and Influential People in History
Explore rulers, generals, thinkers, scientists and reformers who shaped world history. Search for a specific person, or browse by era, region, country and A–Z.
Historical Figures Beginning with C
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12 results
Calvin Coolidge
1872–1933Industrial AgeAmericasUnited States
He believed the business of America was business, presided over the boom years of the 1920s, and quietly stepped aside before the crash came.
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Charlemagne
742–814Medieval PeriodEuropeFrance
He could barely read but built an empire that stretched across western Europe — and the coronation that defined his legacy was apparently a surprise even to him.
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Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
1764–1845Industrial AgeEuropeUnited Kingdom
He spent decades pressing for political reform, then as prime minister forced through the 1832 Reform Act and helped redraw the rules of British public life.
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Charles III
1948–?Modern HistoryEuropeUnited Kingdom
He waited longer to become king than almost anyone in British history — and arrived on the throne with decades of opinions about the world already fully formed.
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Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
1730–1782Early Modern EraEuropeUnited Kingdom
He twice became prime minister during a turbulent imperial crisis, pushing for reconciliation with American colonies while trying to restrain royal influence over British politics.
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Chester A. Arthur
1829–1886Industrial AgeAmericasUnited States
He reached the presidency through machine politics and promptly turned against the machine, championing the civil service reform that dismantled the very system that made him.
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Christopher Columbus
1451–1506Medieval PeriodEuropeItaly
He sailed west to reach the east, miscalculated the size of the earth, and stumbled onto a continent — then spent the rest of his life denying it was there.
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Clement Attlee
1883–1967Industrial AgeEuropeUnited Kingdom
He quietly reshaped Britain after war, building a welfare state and national health system that changed everyday life more deeply than many louder leaders ever managed.
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Cleopatra VII
-69–-30Classical WorldMiddle EastEgypt
She was the last of a dynasty three centuries old, and she came closer than anyone expected to saving it — allying with Rome's two most powerful men in succession.
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Cnut the Great
995–1035Medieval PeriodOtherDenmark
He conquered England as an outsider, became its most effective king, and according to legend placed his throne at the water's edge to show his lords that even kings can't stop the tide.
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Confucius
-551–-479Ancient CivilisationsEast AsiaChina
He spent most of his life as a failed official, wandering from court to court offering advice nobody took — and his ideas shaped East Asian civilisation for millennia.
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Constantine the Great
272–337Classical WorldEuropeItaly
He converted to Christianity on the eve of battle, won the battle, and spent the rest of his reign trying to work out what that meant for an empire built on other gods.
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