#1Famous people · Ottawa
Leaders stand out among the 14 famous people born in Ottawa
At the top of the list is the American mathematician John G. Thompson, covered in 41 languages. Steven Hawley, the American astronaut, comes second, with Gary Hart third. Half or more of the towns in Kansas have no one on record, but this one has 11 for every 10,000 residents. Only 26 of the 297 towns in Kansas with anyone on record list more.
Born here
14
notable people
Best known
John G. Thompson
in 41 Wikipedia languages
First
1863
Frank Sigel Dietrich
Youngest
1977
Michael Dean Shelton
Most common field
Politics & Law
7 people
What stands out about Ottawa’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Ottawa is known for
Set against the usual town, leaders come out 2.4 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Ottawa
Two of the three are scientists and doctors.
#1
#2
#3Through the years
When Ottawa’s famous people were born
The 1930s top the chart, with 2 births in the decade.
Politics & LawScience & MedicineFilm, TV & StageBusinessSportsWriting & Arts
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Ottawa
Of the other 11, 6 are leaders.
Paul H. Helms
1889–1957American baking industry executive and sports philanthropist
BusinessWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
The town’s pick
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From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Ottawa and whose English Wikipedia article agrees, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. People known mainly for crimes, and adult performers, aren’t listed. “The usual town” = everyone born in the towns gathered so far.
Photo credits (7)
- John G. Thompson: Renate Schmid, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, Wikimedia Commons
- Steven Hawley: NASA, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gary Hart: U.S. Congress, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jerry Voorhis: Jerry_Voorhis_(portrait).jpg: *Jerry Voorhis 002.jpg: Harris & Ewing derivative work: Jappalang derivative work: DrRon, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Merritt C. Mechem: State of New Mexico, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Michael Dean Shelton: Levi Israel, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Frank Sigel Dietrich: Lewis Publishing Co., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons