John Smith
From Free net encyclopedia
John Smith is often regarded as the most common personal name in the United Kingdom, as well as in most other English-speaking countries. John has often been the most common first name in these countries and Smith is the most common surname in both the UK and the United States (though John has now fallen far down the list of most popular names for newly born boys in both countries). It is the archetypal pseudonym, placeholder name or metasyntatic name in those countries, and is used similarly to John Doe in the U.S. In Britain, Joe Bloggs is used similarly.
There are a number of famous people called John Smith:
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Politicians
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United Kingdom
- John Smith (English statesman), commissioner of the English Treasury, 1694–1695
- John Smith (UK politician) (1938–1994), leader of the British Labour Party
- John Smith (Welsh politician) (born 1951), Welsh politician and Labour Party Member of Parliament
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United States
- John Smith (Ohio Senator) (1735–1824)
- John Smith (Virginia), U.S. Representative, 1801–1814
- John Smith (New York), U.S. Senator, 1804–1813
- John Smith (Vermont), U.S. Representative from Vermont, 1839–1841
- John Smith (Detroit mayor) 1924–1928
- John Smith (Illinois), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
- John Ambler Smith (1847-1892), U.S. Representative from Ohio
- John Armstrong Smith, U.S. Representative from Ohio
- John Butler Smith (former Governor of New Hampshire) (1838–1914)
- John Cotton Smith (former Governor of Connecticut) (1765–1845)
- John Hyatt Smith (1824-1886), U.S. Representative from New York
- John Joseph Smith (1904-1980), US Representative from Connecticut
- John Lyman Smith, a member of the Utah territorial legislature, and son John Smith (1781-1854), one of the Mormon Presiding Patriarchs
- John M. C. Smith (1853-1923), US Representative from Michigan
- John Quincy Smith (1824-1901), U.S. Representative from Ohio, 1873–1875
- John Speed Smith (1792-1854), U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1822–1823
- John T. Smith (Pennsylvania), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 1843–1844
- John Valentine Smith (1824–1895), New Zealand politician
- John Walter Smith (1845–1925), former Governor of Maryland
- Jonathan Bayard Smith (1742-1812), Continental Congress Delegate from Pennsylvania
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Other countries
- John Smith (Gibraltar), Acting Governor in 1809
- John Smith (Canadian politician), member of the Parliament of Ontario, 1867–1871
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Cultural figures
- John Smith (actor) (died 1995), American actor
- John Smith (filmmaker) (born 1952), London-based avant-garde filmmaker
- John Smith (BBC) (born 1957), Director of Finance, Property and Business Affairs of the BBC, 2004-
- John Smith (comics), British comics writer
- John Smith (poet), British poet, co-writer with Michael Garrick of jazz–choral works
- John Christopher Smith, 18th century composer
- John Francis Smith (1868–1941), American painter and art teacher
- John Orrin Smith (19th century), woodcutter
- John Stafford Smith (1750–1836), composer of the tune for "The Star-Spangled Banner"
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Academic figures
- John Smith (mathematician) (18th century), mathematician at the University of Oxford, 1766–1797
- John Smith (dentist) (1825–1910), founder of the Edinburgh school of dentistry
- John Cyril Smith (1922–2003), leading authority on English Criminal Law
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Journalists
- John Mayfors Smith (born 1946 - ), Editor of Community Newspapers in S.W. Durham, UK.
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Sports figures
- John Smith (football) (born 1949), former placekicker with the New England Patriots
- John Smith (boxer), a boxer who lost an eight round decision to future world champion Maurice Hope in 1973
- John Smith (wrestler) (born 1965), head coach of the Oklahoma State wrestling program
- John L. Smith, head coach of the Michigan State football program
- John T. Smith, an American professional wrestler.
- John Smith (footballer) (1949-1988), West Ham & Tottenham Left half and Inside Left.
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Religious figures
- John C. Smith (Chaplain-General) International Chaplains Association
- John Smith or John Smyth (1570–1612), Baptist minister
- John Smith (missionary) (1790–1824), English missionary in the West Indies
- John Smith (1781-1854), an uncle of Joseph Smith, Jr. and eventual Presiding Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
- John Smith (1832-1911), a nephew of Joseph Smith, Jr. and another eventual Presiding Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
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Miscellaneous figures
- John Smith of Jamestown (1580–1631), English colonial soldier
- John Smith, Blue (c.1615–1643), pioneer of Queen's County, New York
- John Smith (naval officer), U.S. Navy, 1807–1811
- John Smith (VC) (born c. 1814), recipient of the Victoria Cross
- John Smith (police officer), Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, 1991–1995
- John F. Smith, Jr. (born 1939), former Chairman and CEO of General Motors
- John Gordon Smith, one of the founders (1824) of Glenlivet, the first distillery in Scotland
- John Smith (brewer) (died 1879), founder of the Tadcaster brewery in North Yorkshire
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Fictional characters
- A character in a comic strip named "John Smith" about a man who becomes obsessed with googling his own name and becoming the top result.
- John Smith is the protagonist in Stephen King's novel The Dead Zone.
- The Doctor in Doctor Who sometimes gave his name as "Dr John Smith" in stories set in contemporary or near-future Britain.
- Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, portrayed by George Peppard is the main character in the series The A-Team.
- Faber John, which can be translated to John Smith, is the name of the founder of 'Time City, a fictional place in a Diana Wynne Jones novel.
- John and Jane Smith are the names given to the characters of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
- The DC Comics superhero Red Tornado has sometimes gone by the alias John Smith.
- John Smith is the name of the identity-torn protagonist (an "Indian" adopted and named by two white parents) in Sherman Alexie's 1995 novel, "Indian Killier."
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See also
- John Smyth
- Edward John Smith (1850–1912), captain of the RMS Titanic
- John Maynard Smith (1920–2004), a geneticist, whose complete surname is Maynard Smith, not Smith.
- A song by the Punk-band Nofx is called "The Death of John Smith".
- John Smit (born 1978), South African rugby player and current captain of the country's national team, the Springboks.