20th Anniversary of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
September 19, 2024
To celebrate the ODNB turning 20, we’re sharing thirty influential lives from the British Isles spanning nearly two millennia.
Each article represents a significant anniversary of a person or event which is being celebrated in 2024. Use our gallery wall to trace British events and milestones through time, from the construction of Hadrians wall 1900 years ago in 124AD to the birth of Mary Warnock, one of Britain’s most significant twentieth-century philosophers, 100 years ago in 1924.
Search over 60,000 lives on ODNB now or keep scrolling to discover the free-to-access biographies included in our anniversary spotlight.
Platorius Nepos, Aulus (fl. 119–c. 125), Roman governor of Britain who oversaw the building of Hadrian’s wall c. 124AD |
Brigit [St Brigit,Brigid] (439/452–524/526), patron saint of Kildare 2024 marks the 1500th anniversary of her death |
Æthelstan [Athelstan] (893/4–939), king of England who succeeded his father [Edward the Elder] as king of Mercia in 924, and later his brother as king of Wessex to become first king of England in 927 |
Alexander I (d. 1124), king of Scots 2024 marks the 900th anniversary of his death |
Early English Franciscans (act.1224–1272), reference Group article on the first friars to arrive in England 2024 marks the 800th anniversary of the friars landing at Dover in September 1224. |
Linacre, Thomas (c. 1460–1524), humanist scholar and physician 2024 marks the 500th anniversary of his death |
Inglis [married name Kello], Esther (1570/71–1624), calligrapher 2024 marks the 400th anniversary of her death |
Rich [née Boyle], Mary, countess of Warwick (1624–1678), noblewoman 2024 marks the 400th anniversary of her birth |
Fox, George (1624–1691), a founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 2024 marks the 400th anniversary of his birth |
Watts, Isaac (1674–1748), Independent minister and writer 2024 marks the 350th anniversary of his birth |
Smeaton, John (1724–1792), civil engineer 2024 marks the 300th anniversary of his birth |
Stubbs, George (1724–1806), painter, engraver, and anatomist 2024 marks the 300th anniversary of his birth |
Hood, Samuel, first Viscount Hood (1724–1816), naval officer 2024 marks the 300th anniversary of his birth |
Southey, Robert (1774–1843), poet and reviewer 2024 marks the 250th anniversary of his birth |
Thicknesse [née Ford], Ann (1737–1824), writer and musician 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of her death |
Elias, John (1774–1841), Welsh Calvinistic Methodist minister 2024 marks the 250th anniversary of his birth |
Smith, George Murray (1824–1901), publisher, businessman, and founder of the Dictionary of National Biography 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth |
Talbot [née Browne], Fanny (1824–1917), philanthropist 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of her birth |
Thomson, William, Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), mathematician and physicist 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth |
Lutyens [née Bulwer-Lytton], Lady Emily (1874–1964), theosophist 2024 marks the 150th anniversary of her birth |
Holst, Gustav Theodore (1874–1934), composer and teacher of music 2024 marks the 150th anniversary of his birth |
Conrad, Joseph [formerly Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski] (1857–1924), master mariner and author 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his death |
Mallory, George Herbert Leigh (1886–1924), mountaineer 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his death |
Nesbit [married name Bland], Edith (1858–1924), writer 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of her death |
Matthew, (Henry) Colin Gray (1941–1999), historian and founding editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography In 2024, the print publication's successor, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography celebrates its 20th anniversary |
Berry, James Radglan [also known as James Raglan Berry] (1924–2017), poet 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth |
Black, Sir James Whyte (1924–2010), pharmacologist 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth |
Milburn, John Edward Thompson [Jackie] (1924–1988), footballer 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth |
Stirling, Sir James Frazer (1924–1992), architect 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth |
Warnock [née Wilson], (Helen) Mary, Baroness Warnock (1924–2019), philosopher, headmistress, and public servant 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of her birth |