EXPLORER

William Clark

1770 - 1838

Photo of William Clark

Icon of person William Clark

William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri. Along with Meriwether Lewis, Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean, the first major effort to explore and map much of what is now the Western United States and to assert American claims to the Pacific Northwest. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William Clark has received more than 1,607,613 page views. His biography is available in 31 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 30 in 2019). William Clark is the 323rd most popular explorer (down from 262nd in 2019), the 4,788th most popular biography from United States (down from 3,878th in 2019) and the 24th most popular American Explorer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.6M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 50.98

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 31

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.19

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.50

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, William Clark ranks 323 out of 498. Before him are Nathaniel Palmer, Hermann Wissmann, Helge Ingstad, Dmitry Laptev, Thorvald Asvaldsson, and Pedro Tafur. After him are Bento de Góis, Martim Afonso de Sousa, Alexander Dalrymple, Grímur Kamban, Louise Arner Boyd, and Friedrich Welwitsch.

Most Popular Explorers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1770, William Clark ranks 37. Before him are Étienne Pivert de Senancour, Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-Fargeau, Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor, Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy, Georges Mouton, and Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau. After him are William Huskisson, Albrecht Berblinger, Zaman Shah Durrani, Thomas Phillips, William Nicol, and James Hogg. Among people deceased in 1838, William Clark ranks 26. Before him are Joseph Lancaster, Frédéric Cuvier, Charles Percier, Kaspar Maria von Sternberg, Ferenc Kölcsey, and Georges Mouton. After him are Maximilian von Montgelas, Jędrzej Śniadecki, Piet Retief, Osceola, Friedrich Accum, and Ignaz von Rudhart.

Others Born in 1770

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1838

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United States

Among people born in United States, William Clark ranks 4,788 out of 20,380. Before him are Huey P. Newton (1942), Jon Hamm (1971), James A. Michener (1907), Craig Mello (1960), Og Mandino (1923), and Lauren German (1978). After him are Gil Amelio (1943), Dom DeLuise (1933), Jim Varney (1949), Albert Brooks (1947), Henry Selick (1952), and Vanessa del Rio (1952).

Others born in United States

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among EXPLORERS In United States

Among explorers born in United States, William Clark ranks 24. Before him are Charles Francis Hall (1821), Meriwether Lewis (1774), Edward S. Curtis (1868), Chris McCandless (1968), Roy Chapman Andrews (1884), and Nathaniel Palmer (1799). After him are Louise Arner Boyd (1887), John C. Frémont (1813), John Wesley Powell (1834), George Kennan (1845), Benjamin Morrell (1795), and Frederick Russell Burnham (1861).

American born Explorers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous