HISTORIAN

James H. Billington

1929 - 2018

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James Hadley Billington (June 1, 1929 – November 20, 2018) was an American academic and author who taught history at Harvard and Princeton before serving for 42 years as CEO of four federal cultural institutions. He served as the 13th Librarian of Congress after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, and his appointment was approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate. He retired as Librarian on September 30, 2015. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 17 in 2024). James H. Billington is the 539th most popular historian (down from 529th in 2024), the 12,806th most popular biography from United States (down from 11,072nd in 2019) and the 50th most popular American Historian.

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Among HISTORIANS

Among historians, James H. Billington ranks 539 out of 561. Before him are Andrei Lankov, Edward Augustus Freeman, Anthony Grafton, Ellen Meiksins Wood, Iain Pears, and Bernard Bailyn. After him are Frank Dikötter, Jonathan Riley-Smith, Elaine Pagels, Gerhard Weinberg, Christopher Clark, and Gábor Kósa.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1929, James H. Billington ranks 531. Before him are Nirmala Deshpande, Tom Foley, Jerry Adler, Pete George, Peter Sculthorpe, and Buck Owens. After him are Art Taylor, Suraiya, T. P. McKenna, Ronnie Allen, Alfredo Lim, and Creed Taylor. Among people deceased in 2018, James H. Billington ranks 545. Before him are Ken Flach, Olivia Cole, Fazlullah, Sigi Schmid, Walter Bahr, and João W. Nery. After him are Simon Shelton, Aloyzas Kveinys, Graciano Rocchigiani, Peter Masterson, Boris Kokorev, and Tetsuro Miura.

Others Born in 1929

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In United States

Among people born in United States, James H. Billington ranks 12,810 out of 20,380. Before him are Joe Paterno (1926), Nan Martin (1927), Charles L. Veach (1944), Tim Commerford (1968), Jeremy Zucker (1996), and Carole Baskin (1961). After him are Malcolm-Jamal Warner (1970), Jimmy Webb (1946), Steven López (1978), Leo Goodwin (1883), Natalie Zea (1975), and Studs Terkel (1912).

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Among HISTORIANS In United States

Among historians born in United States, James H. Billington ranks 50. Before him are Carroll Quigley (1910), Richard Hofstadter (1916), Francis Parkman (1823), Anthony Grafton (1950), Ellen Meiksins Wood (1942), and Bernard Bailyn (1922). After him are Elaine Pagels (1943), Allan Lichtman (1947), Stephen Kotkin (1959), Richard Foltz (1961), Victor Davis Hanson (1953), and Susan Stryker (null).

American born Historians

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