Arthur Evans
He unearthed the lost palace of Knossos and revealed the sophisticated Minoan civilization, reshaping our understanding of ancient Europe.
1851–1941 (age 90)·British archaeologist and scholar·Birthday: July 8
Biography
Arthur Evans was a man driven by curiosity and a taste for the epic. While serving as the keeper of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, he became fascinated by mysterious seal stones from Crete. In 1900, he began excavating a site at Knossos, where he didn't just find artifacts—he uncovered an entire civilization. Evans revealed the sprawling, multi-story Palace of Knossos, complete with vivid frescoes and complex architecture. He named this culture 'Minoan' after the mythical King Minos, and his work, though later criticized for its heavy-handed reconstructions, fundamentally established the Bronze Age Aegean world as a major cradle of European culture, predating and influencing classical Greece.
#1 When Arthur Was Born
The biggest hits of 1851
Arthur's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1851Born
1856Started school
1864Became a teenager
President: Abraham Lincoln
1867Could drive
President: Andrew Johnson
1869Could vote
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1872Turned 21
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1881Turned 30
President: Chester A. Arthur
1891Turned 40
President: Benjamin Harrison
1901Turned 50
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Turned 60
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1921Turned 70
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1931Turned 80
The Empire State Building opens as the world's tallest
Gas: $0.17/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Minnie the Moocher" — Cab CallowayBest Picture: Cimarron
1941Died at 90
Pearl Harbor attack brings the US into WWII
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,060Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Chattanooga Choo Choo" — Glenn MillerBest Picture: How Green Was My Valley
Key Achievements
- Led the excavation and reconstruction of the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos on Crete.
- Identified and named the Minoan civilization, the first advanced society in Europe.
- Published the multi-volume work 'The Palace of Minos,' which defined early Aegean archaeology for decades.
- Served as Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, greatly expanding its collections.
Did You Know?
He purchased the land at Knossos with his own private fortune.
Evans was a staunch supporter of Cretan independence from the Ottoman Empire.
He was knighted in 1911 for his contributions to archaeology.
His father, John Evans, was also a famed archaeologist and numismatist.
“To be, in a word, the first to reveal the existence of a native European civilization.”
