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INVENTOR

Les Paul

1915 - 2009

Photo of Les Paul

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 2,890,180 page views. His biography is available in 58 different languages on Wikipedia. Les Paul is the 68th most popular inventor (down from 61st in 2019), the 720th most popular biography from United States (down from 583rd in 2019) and the 18th most popular American Inventor.

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

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 64.24

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 58

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.35

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.67

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Les Pauls by language


Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Les Paul ranks 68 out of 354. Before him are John Browning, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Jimmy Wales, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Josephine Cochrane, and Étienne Lenoir. After him are George Eastman, Jacques de Vaucanson, Oleg Antonov, Jacques Piccard, Thomas Savery, and Richard Arkwright.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1915, Les Paul ranks 25. Before him are Paul Tibbets, Aung San, Sviatoslav Richter, Saul Bellow, Fred Hoyle, and Hu Yaobang. After him are Curd Jürgens, Charles H. Townes, Robert Hofstadter, Norman Foster Ramsey Jr., Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Shoichi Yokoi. Among people deceased in 2009, Les Paul ranks 16. Before him are Maurice Jarre, Millvina Dean, Farrah Fawcett, Mercedes Sosa, Ted Kennedy, and Omar Bongo. After him are Robert McNamara, Vivian Maier, Karl Malden, Maurice Druon, Ralf Dahrendorf, and Jean Dausset.

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 720 out of 18,182. Before him are Wes Craven (1939), John Goodman (1952), William Saroyan (1908), Billy Graham (1918), Maya Angelou (1928), and Asaph Hall (1829). After him are Floyd Mayweather Jr. (1977), Omar Bradley (1893), Robert McNamara (1916), Dolly Parton (1946), Leon Cooper (1930), and Roy Scheider (1932).

Others born in United States

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Among INVENTORS In United States

Among inventors born in United States, Les Paul ranks 18. Before him are Isaac Singer (1811), John Deere (1804), Douglas Engelbart (1925), John Browning (1855), Jimmy Wales (1966), and Josephine Cochrane (1839). After him are George Eastman (1854), Ray Tomlinson (1941), Elisha Otis (1811), Leo Fender (1909), Bob Kahn (1938), and Robert Noyce (1927).

American born Inventors

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