EXPLORER

John Wesley Powell

1834 - 1902

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John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He is famous for his 1869 geographic expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, including the first official U.S. government-sponsored passage through the Grand Canyon. Powell was appointed by US President James A. Garfield to serve as the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey (1881–1894) and proposed, for development of the arid West, policies that were prescient for his accurate evaluation of conditions. Two years prior to his service as director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Major Powell had become the first director of the Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution where he supported linguistic and sociological research and publications. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. John Wesley Powell is the 372nd most popular explorer (down from 356th in 2019), the 6,261st most popular biography from United States (down from 5,657th in 2019) and the 26th most popular American Explorer.

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, John Wesley Powell ranks 372 out of 498Before him are Eudoxus of Cyzicus, John Biscoe, Stepan Krasheninnikov, Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie, Alexandre de Serpa Pinto, and Miguel Corte-Real. After him are George Bass, John Moresby, Olav Bjaaland, Henri Duveyrier, Samuel Baker, and Fernão de Loronha.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1834, John Wesley Powell ranks 73Before him are Franz Steindachner, Hermann Usener, Étienne Laspeyres, Valtazar Bogišić, Friedrich Tietjen, and Edmond Laguerre. After him are Lyuben Karavelov, Miguel Grau Seminario, Georg Hermann Quincke, Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, Felix Dahn, and Wilhelm Sulpiz Kurz. Among people deceased in 1902, John Wesley Powell ranks 58Before him are Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Salomon Jadassohn, Andrejs Pumpurs, Bret Harte, Gleb Uspensky, and Saigō Jūdō. After him are Lőrinc Schlauch, Clémence Royer, Ludwig von Brenner, Almon Brown Strowger, Infanta María Cristina of Spain, and Jimmy Ross.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, John Wesley Powell ranks 6,262 out of 20,380Before him are Robert Ettinger (1918), John Ostrom (1928), Marc Wright (1890), Phil Anselmo (1968), Richard Burgi (1958), and Tom Noonan (1951). After him are Elizabeth Jane Gardner (1837), Floyd Gottfredson (1905), Chuck Connors (1921), James Juvenal (1874), Christine Jorgensen (1926), and Frederick Lorz (1884).

Among EXPLORERS In United States

Among explorers born in United States, John Wesley Powell ranks 26Before him are Jim Bridger (1804), Roy Chapman Andrews (1884), John C. Frémont (1813), Meriwether Lewis (1774), Elisha Kent Kane (1820), and Edward S. Curtis (1868). After him are Nathaniel Palmer (1799), George Kennan (1845), Charles Francis Hall (1821), Isaac Israel Hayes (1832), Frederick Russell Burnham (1861), and Matthew Henson (1866).