PILOT

Francis Gary Powers

1929 - 1977

Photo of Francis Gary Powers

Icon of person Francis Gary Powers

Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident. He later worked as a helicopter pilot for KNBC in Los Angeles and died in a 1977 helicopter crash. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Francis Gary Powers has received more than 4,729,470 page views. His biography is available in 37 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 36 in 2019). Francis Gary Powers is the 9th most popular pilot, the 640th most popular biography from United States (up from 717th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular American Pilot.

Francis Gary Powers was a U.S. pilot who was captured by the Soviet Union after his U-2 spy plane was shot down in 1960.

Memorability Metrics

  • 4.7M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 73.19

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 37

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.09

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.23

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Francis Gary Powers by language


Among PILOTS

Among pilots, Francis Gary Powers ranks 9 out of 48. Before him are Sabiha Gökçen, Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, Hanna Reitsch, Roland Garros, Ernst Udet, and Adolf Galland. After him are Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, Chesley Sullenberger, Ivan Kozhedub, Hermann Graf, Marina Raskova, and Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi.

Most Popular Pilots in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1929, Francis Gary Powers ranks 35. Before him are Hafizullah Amin, George Steiner, Djalma Santos, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Stirling Moss, and Graham Hill. After him are Murray Gell-Mann, Babrak Karmal, John Cassavetes, Bill Evans, James Last, and Rudolf Mössbauer. Among people deceased in 1977, Francis Gary Powers ranks 20. Before him are Makarios III, Kurt Schuschnigg, Anaïs Nin, Howard Hawks, Ernst Bloch, and Bing Crosby. After him are Joan Crawford, Alexander Luria, Clarice Lispector, Ali Shariati, Peter Finch, and Andreas Baader.

Others Born in 1929

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Others Deceased in 1977

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Francis Gary Powers ranks 640 out of 15,968. Before him are Alan Arkin (1934), Donna Summer (1948), Frances Farmer (1913), Buddy Holly (1936), Ali MacGraw (1939), and Roy Orbison (1936). After him are Charles Taze Russell (1852), Benjamin Thompson (1753), Robert Mitchum (1917), Samuel Barber (1910), Patricia Highsmith (1921), and Matt Damon (1970).

Others born in United States

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Among PILOTS In United States

Among pilots born in United States, Francis Gary Powers ranks 3. Before him are Charles Lindbergh (1902) and Amelia Earhart (1897). After him are Chesley Sullenberger (1951), Joseph Kittinger (1928), Chuck Yeager (1923), Claire Lee Chennault (1890), Bessie Coleman (1892), Jacqueline Cochran (1906), and Cornelia Fort (1919).

American born Pilots

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