English mathematician, physicist and astronomer; early member of the Royal Society.

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Early Royal Society member who successfully predicted the return of the comet now called Halley’s Comet.

His work on steam power helped drive the progress of the Industrial Revolution.

Engineer who built tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships, including the Great Western Railway.

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Father and son who pioneered the railway engine, driving a major expansion of the railways in the Victorian period.

Led the scientists at Manchester and then Cambridge University who were the first to "split the atom"; took part in the Manhattan Project.

Discovered penicillin in 1928 while researching influenza; won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945.

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Scottish scientist who developed radar, proposing that enemy aircraft could be detected by radio waves.

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British mathematician who invented the theoretical Turing machine in the 1930s, influential in the development of computer science.

British Royal Air Force engineer officer who developed the jet engine in Britain in the 1930s.

Inventor of the World Wide Web. Information was successfully transferred via the web for the first time on 25 December 1990.

Enlightenment thinker who developed ideas about economics which are still referred to today.

Enlightenment philosopher whose ideas about human nature continue to influence philosophers today.

First person to be called Prime Minister, serving from 1721 to 1742, after George I (who spoke poor English) relied heavily on ministers.

Commanded the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), where Britain defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets; he was killed in the battle.

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Known as the Iron Duke; defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and later became Prime Minister.

Became Prime Minister in May 1940 at a time of national crisis and refused to surrender to the Nazis.

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Labour Prime Minister from 1945 to 1951; his government nationalised major industries and created the National Health Service.

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British economist and social reformer, best known for the 1942 Beveridge Report (Social Insurance and Allied Services), commissioned by the wartime government.

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Conservative politician who, as Education Minister (1941–45), oversaw the Education Act 1944.

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First woman Prime Minister of the UK (1979–1990) and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the 20th century.

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Playwright and actor from Stratford-upon-Avon; most famous plays include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

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Wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of poems about pilgrims travelling to Canterbury telling each other stories.

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Scottish poet known as "The Bard"; wrote in Scots and English, best known for the song Auld Lang Syne.

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Architect who designed the new St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire of London (1666), helping develop a British version of Europe’s ornate architectural styles.

Portrait painter who often painted people in country or garden scenery.

Influential landscape painter in a modern style, considered the artist who raised the profile of landscape painting.

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Landscape painter most famous for his works of Dedham Vale on the Suffolk–Essex border.

English novelist whose books, including Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, concern marriage and family relationships.

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Wrote famous novels including Oliver Twist and Great Expectations.

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Scottish doctor and writer best known for his Sherlock Holmes stories, one of the first fictional detectives.

Wrote the Harry Potter series of children’s books, which enjoyed huge international success.

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Poet inspired by Protestant religious views; wrote Paradise Lost.

Poet inspired by nature.

Wrote poems inspired by Scotland and the traditional stories and songs of the Scottish borders; also wrote novels, many set in Scotland.

A leading poet of the 19th century, author of "She Walks in Beauty".

Welsh poet and writer known for the radio play Under Milk Wood and the poem Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.

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Born in Wales to Norwegian parents; served in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War before becoming a celebrated children’s author.

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German-born composer who became a British citizen in 1727; wrote Water Music for George I and Music for the Royal Fireworks for George II.

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Composer whose work includes The Planets, a suite themed around the planets of the solar system.

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Born in Worcester; best known for the Pomp and Circumstance Marches.

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Best known for operas including Peter Grimes and Billy Budd.

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Author of The Mousetrap, a murder-mystery play running in London’s West End since 1952: the longest initial run of any show in history.

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Queen of the Iceni who led a tribal revolt against the Romans in eastern England.

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Evangelical Christian and MP who played an important part in changing the law to end Britain’s involvement in the slave trade.

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Trained as a nurse and, in 1854, worked in military hospitals in Turkey treating soldiers in the Crimean War, reducing the mortality rate.

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Founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903, whose members were the first to be called "suffragettes".

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Won an Olympic gold medal in the pentathlon at the 1972 Munich Olympics, competing for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, setting a world record score.

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