a Dutch doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) in 1895 and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1924 for it

a Russian and Soviet physicist and mathematician. He is best known for his pioneering theory that the universe was expanding

a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European modernist movement.

a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism,

an English novelist, irony writer and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire.

King of Prussia until his death in 1786. His significant accomplishments include the First Partition of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment.