Actors
This knighted actor from Mirfield is beloved for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor
Who is Sir Patrick Stewart?
This Sheffield-born athlete became the golden girl of the 2012 London Olympics after winning the Heptathlon.
jess ennis
The author of the All Creatures Great and Small book series, his real name was Alf Wight, but he wrote under this famous pseudonym.
Who is James Herriot?
This clockmaker from Foulby solved the greatest scientific challenge of his era by inventing the marine chronometer, allowing sailors to determine longitude at sea.
Who is John Harrison?
This infamous plotter from York is remembered every November 5th for his role in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Who is Guy Fawkes?
From York, this Dame has been a mainstay of British stage and screen for decades, perhaps best known globally for playing M in the James Bond series.
Who is Dame Judi Dench?
This Leeds-born boxer was the first British woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal, achieving the feat in 2012.
Who is Nicola Adams?
Born in Mytholmroyd, this former Poet Laureate was known for his stark and powerful poems about nature, often inspired by the local landscape.
Who is Ted Hughes?
This Leeds-born engineer is known as the "father of civil engineering" for his pioneering work, most famously building the third Eddystone Lighthouse.
Who is John Smeaton?
Born in Hull, this MP was a leader of the parliamentary campaign to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire.
Who is William Wilberforce?
This Sheffield-born actress made history as the first woman to officially play the iconic lead role in the TV series Doctor Who.
Who is Jodie Whittaker?
The manager who led Leeds United through their most successful period in the 1960s and 70s, known as the "Revie Plan".
Who is Don Revie?
This Leeds-born playwright and author is celebrated for works like The History Boys and the monologue series Talking Heads.
Who is Alan Bennett?
Born in Barnsley, this prolific inventor created the hydraulic press and the "unpickable" Bramah lock, significantly advancing the Industrial Revolution.
Who is Joseph Bramah?
The last king from the House of York, his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 marked the end of the Wars of the Roses.
Who is Richard III?
Hailing from Scarborough, this knighted actor won an Oscar for his stunning portrayal of the title role in the 1982 film Gandhi.
Who is Sir Ben Kingsley?
This flamboyant featherweight boxer from Sheffield, known as 'The Prince', was famous for his acrobatic ring entrances and knockout power in the 1990s.
Who is Naseem Hamed?
This Sheffield-born comedian and writer first found fame as part of the Monty Python troupe before becoming a beloved travel writer and documentary presenter.
Who is Michael Palin?
This Bradford-born physicist and Nobel laureate was a pioneer of X-ray crystallography, a technique crucial for discovering the structure of DNA.
Who is Sir William Henry Bragg?
The last king of the independent Viking Kingdom of Jorvik (York), his expulsion and death in 954 is often seen as the end of the Viking age in England.
Who is Eric Bloodaxe?
This Barnsley-born actor, who worked as a coal miner before finding fame, is known for his distinctive voice and roles in Kes and The Full Monty.
Who is Brian Glover?
These two brothers from Bramhope are triathlon legends, winning a haul of Olympic medals for Great Britain between them in the 2012 and 2016 games.
Who are the Brownlee brothers (Alistair and Jonny)?
This Leeds-born novelist became one of the world's wealthiest authors after her 1979 debut novel, A Woman of Substance, became a global phenomenon.
Who is Barbara Taylor Bradford?
Inspired by seeing light reflect in a cat's eyes on a dark road, this Halifax man invented the reflective road stud known as the "Cat's Eye".
Who is Percy Shaw?
As Governor of Hull, this man's refusal to allow King Charles I to enter the city in 1642 was a pivotal act of defiance that helped trigger the English Civil War.
Who is Sir John Hotham?