What a life!

In 2009 The Times recorded the passing of 1,221 people who made their lives matter. Their stories from the obscure Eddie Logan, the shoe shiner who worked at Santa Anita for 74 years, to mega-star Michael Jackson can all be found here.

To put these remarkable portraits at your fingertips follow the links below. Those who achieved in more than one field are listed under each topic.

Activists, innovators, inventors, reformers and social catalysts

The first, the last, the oldest, the most, adventurers, heroes and tragic victims

Actors and actresses, producers, directors, moguls and showmen

Singers, instrumentalists and writers, executives and managers

Authors, artists, journalists, photographers, poets, broadcasters, publishers and agents

Philanthropists, image-makers, restaurateurs, spouses and children of the famous, criminals and the scandalous,

Technocrats, politicians, warriors (including California's war dead), police, spies and world leaders

Entrepreneurs, industrialists and financiers

Doctors, lawyers, architects and scholars

Evangelists, clergy, theologians, lay leaders and musicians

Biologists, physicists, mathematicians and space engineers

Athletes, coaches and owners