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ASTRONAUT

William E. Thornton

1929 - 2021

Photo of William E. Thornton

Icon of person William E. Thornton

William Edgar Thornton (April 14, 1929 – January 11, 2021) was an American NASA astronaut. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from University of North Carolina and a doctorate in medicine, also from UNC. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William E. Thornton has received more than 75,855 page views. His biography is available in 22 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 18 in 2019). William E. Thornton is the 151st most popular astronaut (up from 244th in 2019), the 6,296th most popular biography from United States (up from 8,988th in 2019) and the 57th most popular American Astronaut.

Memorability Metrics

  • 76k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 47.04

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 22

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.88

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.60

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of William E. Thorntons by language


Among ASTRONAUTS

Among astronauts, William E. Thornton ranks 151 out of 524Before him are Michael R. Clifford, Roberta Bondar, Vitaly Sevastyanov, David M. Brown, Pavel Vinogradov, and Valentina Ponomaryova. After him are Chiaki Mukai, Elliot See, Charles Bassett, Story Musgrave, Owen Garriott, and Yury Malyshev.

Most Popular Astronauts in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1929, William E. Thornton ranks 335Before him are Marcel Amont, Marilyn French, André Darrigade, Milan Panić, Thomas Remengesau Sr., and Abderrahmane Mahjoub. After him are Mikhail Simonov, George Moscone, Birgitta Trotzig, Ernesto Grillo, Germain Derycke, and Zbigniew Messner. Among people deceased in 2021, William E. Thornton ranks 442Before him are Murray Walker, Keri Hulme, Christa Stubnick, Joseph Benz, Cara Williams, and Monte Hellman. After him are Ryszard Szurkowski, Dani Shmulevich-Rom, Markie Post, Ivo Trumbić, Jean-François Stévenin, and John Richardson.

Others Born in 1929

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Others Deceased in 2021

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In United States

Among people born in United States, William E. Thornton ranks 6,296 out of 18,182Before him are Sarah Childress Polk (1803), Richard Bong (1920), Randy Brecker (1945), William Cullen Bryant (1794), Judd Nelson (1959), and Paul H. O'Neill (1935). After him are Gary Gygax (1938), John Podesta (1949), Christopher Judge (1964), Jorge Garcia (1973), Lucius Shepard (1943), and James B. Conant (1893).

Among ASTRONAUTS In United States

Among astronauts born in United States, William E. Thornton ranks 57Before him are William Shepherd (1949), Peggy Whitson (1960), Vance D. Brand (1931), Ronald McNair (1950), Michael R. Clifford (1952), and David M. Brown (1956). After him are Elliot See (1927), Charles Bassett (1931), Story Musgrave (1935), Owen Garriott (1930), Edward Gibson (1936), and Paul J. Weitz (1932).