In the 18th century Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe ) and Samuel Richardson were pioneers of the modern novel.

For his contributions he shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics along with David Lee and Robert C. Richardson.

In the 1940s, together with Olivier and John Burrell, Richardson was the co director of the Old Vic company.

The William S. Richardson School of Law and the John A. Burns School of Medicine are the only law and medical schools in Hawai'i, respectively.

Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920 December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

In 1836, the type specimen of was described by naturalist John Richardson from a tributary of the lower Columbia River, identified as the Katpootl , which was perhaps the Lewis River as there was a Multnomah village of similar name at the confluence.