INVENTOR

Les Paul

1915 - 2009

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Icon of person Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Les Paul has received more than 3,258,652 page views. His biography is available in 58 different languages on Wikipedia. Les Paul is the 72nd most popular inventor (down from 68th in 2019), the 754th most popular biography from United States (down from 720th in 2019) and the 20th most popular American Inventor.

Les Paul is most famous for inventing the solid-body electric guitar.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.3M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 64.36

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 58

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.26

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.72

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Les Paul ranks 72 out of 426. Before him are Étienne Lenoir, John Deere, Jacques Piccard, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Oleg Antonov, and Josephine Cochrane. After him are George Eastman, Claude Chappe, Charles K. Kao, Kōnosuke Matsushita, Jacques de Vaucanson, and Alois Senefelder.

Most Popular Inventors in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1915, Les Paul ranks 27. Before him are Aung San, Sviatoslav Richter, Fred Hoyle, Saul Bellow, Curd Jürgens, and Charles H. Townes. After him are Robert Hofstadter, Clifford Shull, Norman Foster Ramsey Jr., Aziz Nesin, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Thomas Huckle Weller. Among people deceased in 2009, Les Paul ranks 18. Before him are Maurice Jarre, David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, Abdurrahman Wahid, Mercedes Sosa, and Karl Malden. After him are Raúl Alfonsín, Robert McNamara, Milorad Pavić, Ted Kennedy, Vivian Maier, and Vitaly Ginzburg.

Others Born in 1915

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Others Deceased in 2009

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Les Paul ranks 754 out of 20,380. Before him are Robert Altman (1925), Ali MacGraw (1939), David Fincher (1962), Edward Mills Purcell (1912), Richard Dean Anderson (1950), and Paul Morphy (1837). After him are H. H. Holmes (1861), Steven Weinberg (1933), John Huston (1906), Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867), Randy Quaid (1950), and Tommy Hilfiger (1951).

Others born in United States

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Among INVENTORS In United States

Among inventors born in United States, Les Paul ranks 20. Before him are Douglas Engelbart (1925), Charles Goodyear (1800), Isaac Singer (1811), John Browning (1855), John Deere (1804), and Josephine Cochrane (1839). After him are George Eastman (1854), Ray Tomlinson (1941), Elisha Otis (1811), Leo Fender (1909), Robert Noyce (1927), and Jacque Fresco (1916).

American born Inventors

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