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 R
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11 results
Ramsay MacDonald
1866–1937Industrial AgeEuropeUnited Kingdom
He rose from illegitimate birth in rural poverty to lead Britain’s first Labour government, only to split his party and govern with former opponents during crisis.
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Richard I
1157–1199Medieval PeriodEuropeUnited Kingdom
He spent less than six months of his ten-year reign actually in England — and is still celebrated as one of its greatest medieval kings.
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Richard II
1367–1400Medieval PeriodEuropeUnited Kingdom
He crushed the Peasants' Revolt at fifteen and spent the next twenty years becoming exactly the kind of king that invited deposition.
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Richard Nixon
1913–1994Modern HistoryAmericasUnited States
He opened China, ended the draft, founded the EPA — and then recorded himself discussing how to cover up a break-in and handed his enemies the evidence they needed.
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Rishi Sunak
1980–?Modern HistoryEuropeUnited Kingdom
He became Britain's first British-Asian prime minister at a moment of profound political instability — and governed long enough to test whether that instability could be managed.
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Robert E. Lee
1807–1870Industrial AgeAmericasUnited States
He turned down command of the Union army, chose Virginia instead, and spent four years fighting brilliantly for a cause whose central purpose was the preservation of slavery.
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Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
1830–1903Industrial AgeEuropeUnited Kingdom
He distrusted democracy yet led Britain repeatedly as prime minister, steering imperial policy with cold realism while quietly shaping the balance of power across Europe.
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Rollo
860–930Medieval PeriodEuropeFrance
He led a Viking raid into northern France, was offered land to stop raiding, and became the founder of Normandy — and the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror.
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Ronald Reagan
1911–2004Modern HistoryAmericasUnited States
He was a B-movie actor who became the most consequential American president of the late twentieth century — and the argument about how he managed it has never stopped.
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Rosa Luxemburg
1871–1919Industrial AgeOtherPoland
She argued with everyone on the left — Lenin, Kautsky, Bernstein — and was murdered by the government's own paramilitaries at the moment her revolution seemed closest to succeeding.
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Rutherford B Hayes
1822–1893Industrial AgeAmericasUnited States
He won the most disputed presidential election in American history by a single electoral vote, withdrew federal troops from the South, and effectively ended Reconstruction.
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