Biography.com - 25,000 of the greatest lives, past and present. Based on the A&E television program.

In the First Person - provided by Alexander Street, this database contains more than 2,500 collections of oral history from around the world. Links to primary documents.

Infoplease: Biography.com - emphasis on, though not limited to, contemporary persons. Links to several sources.

POTUS - Presidents of the United States. Good information with links to Grolier, White House (official biographies) Miller Center of Public Affairs, etc.

The Time 100 - biographies of Time's list of most influential persons of the 20th century. Brief, but interesting. Only related a small portion of a person's life.