EXPLORER

John Wesley Powell

1834 - 1902

Photo of John Wesley Powell

Icon of person John Wesley Powell

John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He is famous for his 1869 geographic expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, including the first official U.S. government-sponsored passage through the Grand Canyon. Powell was appointed by US President James A. Garfield to serve as the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey (1881–1894) and proposed, for development of the arid West, policies that were prescient for his accurate evaluation of conditions. Two years prior to his service as director of the U.S. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of John Wesley Powell has received more than 790,398 page views. His biography is available in 33 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 32 in 2019). John Wesley Powell is the 356th most popular explorer (down from 342nd in 2019), the 5,658th most popular biography from United States (up from 5,718th in 2019) and the 27th most popular American Explorer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 790k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 49.60

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 33

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.62

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.50

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, John Wesley Powell ranks 356 out of 498Before him are Domingo Martínez de Irala, Pascual de Andagoya, Juan Fernández, Florence Baker, Irina Solovyova, and Miguel Corte-Real. After him are Samuel Baker, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón, Georgy Sedov, Stepan Krasheninnikov, George Bass, and György Almásy.

Most Popular Explorers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1834, John Wesley Powell ranks 65Before him are Carl Lange, Hermann Usener, Todor Burmov, Joachim III of Constantinople, Julius Reubke, and Lyuben Karavelov. After him are Herman Snellen, Adrien René Franchet, Petter Adolf Karsten, Hermann Wilhelm Vogel, Edmond Laguerre, and Felix Dahn. Among people deceased in 1902, John Wesley Powell ranks 60Before him are Karl Wilhelm von Kupffer, Hervé Faye, Mark Antokolsky, Bret Harte, Aisha Taymur, and Antanas Baranauskas. After him are Salomon Jadassohn, Princess Marie of Nassau, Dmitry Sipyagin, Gleb Uspensky, Clémence Royer, and John Houlding.

Others Born in 1834

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Others Deceased in 1902

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In United States

Among people born in United States, John Wesley Powell ranks 5,658 out of 20,380Before him are Milton Berle (1908), Rube Goldberg (1883), Big Bill Broonzy (1903), Joe Lando (1961), M. C. Gainey (1948), and Phil McGraw (1950). After him are Desmond Child (1953), Mark Pellegrino (1965), Irving Cummings (1888), Michael Eisner (1942), Kurt Fuller (1953), and Ray Barretto (1929).

Among EXPLORERS In United States

Among explorers born in United States, John Wesley Powell ranks 27Before him are Chris McCandless (1968), Roy Chapman Andrews (1884), Nathaniel Palmer (1799), William Clark (1770), Louise Arner Boyd (1887), and John C. Frémont (1813). After him are George Kennan (1845), Benjamin Morrell (1795), Frederick Russell Burnham (1861), John Colter (1774), Matthew Henson (1866), and Isaac Israel Hayes (1832).