Historic figures: B
- Charles Babbage (1791 - 1871) - Victorian pioneer of computer science
- Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) - Renaissance philosopher, statesman, scientist
- Roger Bacon (c.1214-c.1292) - medieval philosopher, scientist
- John Logie Baird (1888 - 1946) - inventor of television
- Robert Bakewell (1725 - 1795) - 18th century poineer of stockbreeding
- Stanley Baldwin (1867 - 1947) - 20th century Conservative prime minister
- Sir Joseph Banks (1743 - 1820) - 18th century naturalist and explorer
- Joseph Bazalgette (1819 - 1891) - Victorian engineer, architect of London's sewers
- Thomas Becket (c.1120 - 1170) - medieval archbishop of Canterbury, murdered
- The Venerable Bede (673 AD - 735 AD) - Anglo-Saxon theologian, historian
- Mrs Beeton (1836 - 1865) - Victorian author on household management
- Aphra Behn (1640 - 1689) - first female professional writer, 17th century
- Alexander Graham Bell (1847 - 1922) - Victorian inventor of the telephone
- Tony Benn (1925 - 2014) - Labour MP and out-spoken socialist
- Tim Berners Lee (1955 - ) - 20th century inventor of the World Wide Web
- Annie Besant (1847 - 1933) - 19th-20th century social reformer
- Aneurin Bevan (1897 - 1960) - post-war architect of the National Health Service
- William Beveridge (1879 - 1963) - post-war pioneer of the Welfare State
- Ernest Bevin (1881 - 1951) - post-war Labour foreign secretary
- Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) - first chancellor of united Germany, 19th century
- Edward, the Black Prince (1330 - 1376) - medieval English military hero
- Tony Blair (1953 - ) - Labour prime minister
- William Blake (1757 - 1827) - 18th century poet, artist
- Anne Boleyn (c.1504 - c.1536) - second wife of Henry VIII, executed
- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821) - 18th-19th century emperor of France, general
- Boudicca (died c.AD 60) - queen of the Iceni, rebelled against Rome
- Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691) - 17th century pioneer of chemistry
- Willy Brandt (1913-1992) - post-war German chancellor, Nobel prize winner
- The Brontë Sisters (1818-1855) - 19th century authors
- Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915) - World War One soldier, poet
- Robert the Bruce (1274 - 1329) - medieval king of Scotland, national hero
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859) - pioneering Victorian engineer
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) - 18th century politician, political philosopher
- Sir Richard Burton (1821 - 1890) - Victorian explorer, writer
- George Bush (1924 - ) - late 20th century US president
- George W Bush (1946- ) - US president
- Josephine Butler (1828 - 1906) - 19th century social reformer
- Richard Austen Butler (1902 - 1982) - post-war architect of the Education Act
- Lord Byron (1788-1824) - 19th century Romantic poet