Biography | Genealogy

Librarians' Internet Index--Biography, Genealogy

Academy of Achievement
Achievements of extraordinary individuals who have shaped the twentieth century.  Includes individuals in the areas of arts, business, public service, science and exploration, and sports.

Ancestry® Library Edition:  Subscription Database
Available in the library.  See our Electronic Resources page for details.

African American Registry Homepage
Profiles accomplishments of African Americans throughout our nation’s history.  Hosted by Media Business Solutions, the site lets users search for historical events on a particular day, month, category, or keyword.  It also offers “This Date in History”, covering different facets of the African American story.

Biographical Dictionary
Includes over 28,000 biographies of notable men and women from ancient times to current.  The dictionary is searchable by names, dates, positions held, professions, literary and artistic works, achievements, and other keywords.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index: Subscription Database
Available in the library or remotely for people with a valid Pasadena Public Library card.  See our Electronic Resources page for details.

Biography.com
Search or browse 25,000 biographies of notable personalities from antiquity to the present.  The profiles range from one paragraph to several. Searchable only by person’s name.  Entries include dates, career information, and alternative spellings/versions of the name.  Material comes from the Cambridge Encyclopedia Database, the Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, as well as the A&E family that includes the Biography and History Channels and Biography magazine

Distinguished Women of Past and Present
Includes women educators, scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders, artists, entertainers, aviators, broadcasters and more.

Famous Birthdays
A listing of birthdays of the famous and not so famous. The database can be accessed by name, date or year.  There is also some specialized categories such as Sports Birthdays, Today’s Famous Birthdays, etc.

4000 Years of Women in Science
Includes women astronomers, physicists, mathematicians, chemists natural philosophers, inventors, writers and more.

Historic Figures
Brief biographies about more than 300 “movers and shakers” of history.  From the BBC.

Hollywood Ten
Beginning in 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) conducted hearings that attempted to gather information on communist activities in Hollywood.  This site has short biographies of the “Hollywood Ten”, the first individuals who refused to testify, thereby earning a place on the blacklist.  Being blacklisted meant that for many years they were unable to work in Hollywood under their real names. 

Infoplease.com--Biography
Part of the Infoplease.com website, this boasts over 30,000 biographies of historical and contemporary figures.  Search by name or category.

The Political Graveyard
This site boasts the Internet's most comprehensive source for American political biography, listing 120,948 politicians, living and dead.

Who2?: Find Famous People Fast
“Classic authors, movie stars, famous frauds, kings and queens, mythical gods, cartoon dogs – anyone famous is fair game for Who2.”  Each entry includes birth and death dates, birthplace, what the person is famous for and four links to good web sites.  Who2 Loops includes dozens of eclectic lists of people who share something in common.

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American Family Immigration Center
Search immigration records from Ellis Island including passenger records, immigration records by person’s last and first name, and/or learn about the immigrant experience, a rich and moving story of American immigration.

Behind the Name
The etymology and history of first names.

California Genealogy
Lists each county’s formation date, parent county, and county seat.

Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites
Information and how to’s for genealogy research from getting started to searching specifics such as Census records, land records, ethnic groups, military records, ships and passenger lists.

DistantCousin
An online searchable archive of various states’ select city directories, newspaper obituaries, military records, census records, ship lists, school yearbooks and more. 

Find-A-Grave

GenUKI
Genealogical information specific to Great Britain and Ireland.

Nom de Guerre – Pseudonyms and Aliases
An alphabetical list of names, including authors, actors, athletes, musicians, and the more unusual and unique names.

Obituary Link Page
Index of published obituaries

Rootsweb.com
Includes regional databases as well as Social Security Death Index, U.S. Town/County Database, WorldConnect Project (family trees), and more.

California Death Index
Includes records from 1940 through 1997

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