The Most Important People in History

[Alexander III]

"I can't buy that. While these things are recent in archaeological terms, the changes they made to the world were such that whatever history we create from now on, it will have been shaped by those immense changes in the past.

Just think about the generation of dead from WWII for starters. Millions upon millions of our best and brightest young men were thrown into the war mincer, and then more millions were deprived of their life by being casualties of war before it had even really begun.

The difference those people and their potential children not being on the planet is incalculable. We can't for sure how those events of the 18th and 20th century will shape the world, but we must acknowledge that they have/will."

I agree but The first war was of greater importance. It was the first time that europe truly saw the horrors of modern warfare (by the second world war, people were far less shocked by modern warfare.) The first world war is truly what brought europe into the 20th century, or rather european thought into the 20th century. And also, the failure at Versailles and all the loose strings left after the great war, lead directly to Russian Communism, Hitler's huge popularity and the second world war.

[deguonis]

Hi,

I've found this list by chance long time ago prior to joining this forum:

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. By Michael H. Hart

http://www.howard.k12.md.us/glenwood...tenlistweb.pdf

[mortalterror]

Religion: Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Lao-Tzu, Zarathustra, Luther
Philosophy: Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Descartes,
Science: Newton, Darwin, Galileo, Copernicus, Archimedes, Euclid, Harvey, Faraday, Pasteur
Economics: Adam Smith
Writing: Homer, Vyasa, Valmiki, Firdawsi, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare
Conquest: Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Tamerlane, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Qin Shi Huang, Shaka Zulu

Also whoever invented fire, the wheel, agriculture, pottery, writing, domesticated animals, indoor plumbing, and the city.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Hi,

I've found this list by chance long time ago prior to joining this forum:

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. By Michael H. Hart

http://www.howard.k12.md.us/glenwood...tenlistweb.pdf

No. 31 on that list???

Edward de Vere (William Shakespeare)
1550-1604
Playwright and poet
Wrote at least 36 plays (including Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, and Othello

[Lokasenna]

No. 31 on that list???

Yes, that rather costs it some credibility with me as well!

[stlukesguild]

Yes, that rather costs it some credibility with me as well!

Yes... but it will certainly raise it in the esteem of our friend, Robert (Musicology)... although I'm not sure if he has it that de Vere was Shakespeare... or if rather Queen Elizabeth and Elvis wrote the whole of the plays with the aid of Goethe (who was actually Oscar Wilde) the Jesuits and the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles.

[mortalterror]

That's a really nice list, with the exception of that bit about Edward de Vere. You know, Edward de Vere actually published some of his own poems, and they don't look anything like Shakespeare's. I remember thinking that they seemed like the product of a very intelligent but untalented man.

[Ubercritter]

Economics: Adam Smith
.

I would add to this list:

Marx: no economics can claim legitimacy without first coming to terms with Marxism.

Keynes: because he was a major player in the shifting of economic power during world war II.

Friedman: undoubtedly one of the most controversial economists of the 20th century.

[Delta40]

Jeremy Bentham

[Vonny]

I think the most important person in history is the one who has the smile that makes you feel absolutely crazy!

[IceM]

The thread says people, so I'll throw some names out there.

For the foundation of American government, I think James Madison deserves at least an honorary mention. Although formed in compromise, he basically penned the constitution.

Agreed with Bhudda*, Christ, and Alexander the Great.

This one will probably get shot down, but in my books, LBJ deserves a huge mention. The Civil Rights legislation (albeit influenced by MLK and Malcolm X more than LBJ's own intentions) is instrumental to contemporary and future rights of minorities. To me, a Southerner ending segregation is a big deal.

[Alexander III]

The thread says people, so I'll throw some names out there.

For the foundation of American government, I think James Madison deserves at least an honorary mention. Although formed in compromise, he basically penned the constitution.

Agreed with Bhudda*, Christ, and Alexander the Great.

This one will probably get shot down, but in my books, LBJ deserves a huge mention. The Civil Rights legislation (albeit influenced by MLK and Malcolm X more than LBJ's own intentions) is instrumental to contemporary and future rights of minorities. To me, a Southerner ending segregation is a big deal.

The problem with most of these is that they are distinctly American, america has been around for 200 years, and it has only been a powerful nation for 100 years. In terms of human written history, America is a wink.

[Buh4Bee]

If you aren't American that viewpoint is very clear, but to many Americans that idea is shocking. Strange as it may be.

[Propter W.]

If you aren't American that viewpoint is very clear, but to many Americans that idea is shocking. Strange as it may be.

Ain't that the truth.

[David Lurie]

who are the most important and influential figures in human history?

If I get it right you are talking about important and influential figures a posteriori, we are not talking about figures who were important and influential only in their own time even when their power and influence was very deep, but where we draw the line? and what kind of value has chance in all of this? Saint Paul - the real founder of Christianity - and Mohamed are hard to beat but what role has played chance in making their legacy everlasting?
Probably chance is a necessary attribute of every historical figure whose importance and influence has expanded well beyond his/her life span, but wouldn't it be fair to recognize the greatness of the figures who were revolutionaries in their own time? Figures whose will was a decisive factor in making them important and influential? looking at it this way I'd say Mohamed is much greater than Saint Paul (basically a by-product of the roman empire).
Anyway, though chance has played its obvious role for them too I'm unable to imagine the course of the world in the last 500 years without the actions performed by Luther and Columbus.