#1Famous people · Acton
From 1745 to 1990, Acton was the birthplace of 13 famous people
Drew Houston, the American Internet entrepreneur, is the most widely known, written about in 17 languages. Second and third on the list are Taylor Jenkins Reid and Alice Haskins. The largest group, 5, was born in the early republic. The list comes to 5.4 for every 10,000 residents, about the same as the typical town in Massachusetts, at 4.5.
Born here
13
notable people
Best known
Drew Houston
in 17 Wikipedia languages
First
1745
Isaac Davis
Youngest
1990
Steve Hathaway
Most common field
Sports
3 people
Also called it home
1
notable residents
The best known
Born in Acton
First, Drew Houston (17 languages), then Taylor Jenkins Reid (14) and Alice Haskins (10).
#1TR#2
Writing & Arts
Taylor Jenkins Reid
born 1983American essayist and novelist
14 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
AH#3
Through the years
When Acton’s famous people were born
The 1980s top the chart, with 2 births in the decade.
SportsBusinessWriting & ArtsNotableScience & MedicineFaithMilitaryPolitics & Law
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Acton is known for
Share of Acton’s famous people in each field.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Acton
A further 10 follow, born between 1745 and 1990.
James Brown
1800–1855American publisher and co-founder of Little, Brown and Company
BusinessWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
A chosen home
Also called Acton home
Born elsewhere, Tami Gouveia lived here.
The town’s pick
Town Square →Who’s the most famous person from Acton?
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Your pick
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Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The neighbour with the most names is Concord, at 57.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Acton 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 (11)
- Drew Houston: Original:Financial Times photos, Cropped:Puramyun31, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Greenough Thayer Shedd: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Frederick Heyliger: US Army, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Durant: Wm. B. Ingersall, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Isaac Davis: Daniel Chester French, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Brown: Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Tami Gouveia: Tamigoouveiamassachusetts, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry David Thoreau: B. D. Maxham, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Aaron Stanford: Thibault, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Albert Davis Taylor: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Kevin Kapstad: Calle Eklund/V-wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons