Great works and feats must be done by working as a team, one person cannot beat the crowd. However, in my opinion there will always be leaders who lead the change, people who step aside followed by the crowd and try to achieve very ambitious goals.
There are hundreds of illustrious historical figures and celebrities who have influenced the world in important ways, whether with their ideas, actions, inventions or discoveries. Unfortunately, others have influenced the evil of humanity.
I am going to make a list of the most famous and important people, and I will mention their most relevant aspects. I’m sure one is missing, so I invite you to leave comments in the comments that escape me.
The most important characters in history
We must take this list with a step back, imagine the influence that these people each had in their time and the repercussions of these on the future. List made by the American essayist Michael H. Hart in 1978, He created this list taking into account a lot of parameters, list which may not please everyone which is quite normal, but still gives us a idea of what it could be.
Charles Darwin
He was an English naturalist who postulated that all species of living things evolved over time from a common ancestor through a process called natural selection. His theory forms the basis of modern evolutionary synthesis and constitutes a logical explanation that unifies observations on the diversity of life.
Aristotle
He was a polymer: philosopher, logician and scientist of ancient Greece whose ideas exerted a huge influence on the intellectual history of the West for over 2,000 years. He wrote about 200 treatises on logic, metaphysics, philosophy of science, ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, rhetoric, physics, astronomy and biology. He is recognized as the founder of logic and biology.
He formulated the theory of spontaneous generation, the principle of non-contradiction, the notions of category, substance, act, power and the first immobile mover.
Marie Curie
She was a Polish physics, mathematics and chemistry, nationalized French. A pioneer in the field of radioactivity, she was, among other things, the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes in different specialties, physics and chemistry, and the first woman to be a professor at the University of Paris.
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Marie Curie
Napoleon I Bonaparte
He was a French military ruler, republican general during the Revolution and the Directory, French emperor from 1804 to 1815.
For 10 years he gained control of almost all of Western and Central Europe through a series of conquests and alliances. Napoleon is considered one of the greatest military geniuses in history. Established the Napoleonic code. He is judged as the key figure who marked the beginning of the 19th century and the subsequent evolution of contemporary Europe.
Julio César
He was a military and political leader of the late Republican era. Julian calendar established. He was the first living Roman leader whose face appeared on a coin in circulation. In addition to his political and military career, César has distinguished himself as a speaker and writer. He wrote at least one treatise on astronomy, another on the Roman republican religion and a study on Latin.
Plato
He was a Greek philosopher follower of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. In 387 he founded the Academy, an institution that would continue his march for more than nine hundred years. He has written on the most diverse topics, such as political philosophy, ethics, psychology, philosophical anthropology, epistemology, gnoseology, metaphysics, cosmogony, cosmology, the philosophy of language and the philosophy of education. His influence as an author and systematist has been incalculable throughout the history of philosophy.
Cleopatra (about 69 BC – 30 BC)
Cleopatra, the famous pharaoh’s woman was an icon in old age. Its imposing beauty caused figures such as Julius Caesar or Marcus Antony to fall at their feet, causing coups and divisions within the Roman Empire. Her pride could and did die by killing herself after knowing she was going to be turned into a slave.
William Shakespeare
He was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is considered the most important writer of the English language and one of the most famous of universal literature. He was a poet and playwright already revered in his day, but his reputation did not reach its current high levels until the nineteenth century. In the 20th century, his works were adapted and rediscovered on many occasions by all kinds of artistic, intellectual and dramatic movements.
10 Things You Didn’t Know About William Shakespeare
Albert Einstein
He was a German physicist, nationalized after Swiss and American. He is considered the best known and most popular scientist of the 20th century. In 1905, when he was an unknown young physicist, employed in the patent office in Bern, he published his special theory of relativity. In 1915 he presented the theory of general relativity, in which he completely reformulated the concept of gravity.
George Washington
He was the first President of the United States between 1789 and 1797 and Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary Continental Army in the United States War of Independence (1775-1783). In the United States he is considered the father of the nation.
Christopher Columbus
He was a navigator, cartographer, admiral, viceroy and governor general of the West Indies in the service of the Crown of Castile. He is famous for making the discovery of America on October 12, 1492, when he arrived on the island of Guanahani, now in the Bahamas.
Isaac Newton
He was an English physicist, philosopher, theologian, inventor, alchemist and mathematician. He is the author of the Philosophiæ naturalis principia mathematica, better known as Principia, where he describes the law of universal gravitation and establishes the foundations of classical mechanics through the laws that bear his name.
Sigmund Freud
He was an Austrian neurologist of Jewish origin, the father of psychoanalysis and one of the greatest intellectual figures of the 20th century. Despite the hostility that his revolutionary theories and hypotheses had to face, Freud would end up becoming one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Many limit their contribution to the field of thought and culture in general, there is a wide debate as to whether or not psychoanalysis belongs to the field of science.
Louis Pasteur
He was a French chemist whose discoveries were of great importance in various fields of the natural sciences. The technique known as pasteurization is due to him. He definitively refuted the theory of spontaneous generation and developed the germ theory of infectious diseases.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
He was an Austrian composer and pianist, master of classicism, considered one of the most influential and important musicians in history. Mozart’s work covers all musical genres and includes more than six hundred creations, mostly recognized as masterpieces of symphonic, concert, chamber, piano, opera and choral music, reaching universal popularity and diffusion.
Archimedes
He was a Greek physicist, engineer, inventor, astronomer and mathematician. He is considered one of the most important scientists of classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are his foundations in hydrostatics, statics and the explanation of the lever principle.
Galileo Galilei
He was an Italian astronomer, philosopher, engineer, mathematician and physicist, closely linked to the scientific revolution.
His achievements include improved telescope, a large variety of astronomical observations, the first law of motion, and decisive support for Copernicanism. He was considered the “father of modern astronomy“, the “father of modern physics” and the “father of science”
Jesus of Nazareth
Also known as Jesus, Christ or Jesus Christ, he is the central figure of Christianity and one of the most influential figures in Western culture. He is probably the most studied religious figure in the history of mankind. The religious movement that began was transformed into a new religion, Christianity, which currently has more than 2,100 million Christians.
Muhammad
He was the founding prophet of Islam. Muhammad is considered “the seal of the prophets” for being the last in a long chain of messengers sent by God to update his message. There are currently an estimated 1157 million followers of Islam.
Buddha Gautama
He was a sage in whose teachings Buddhism was founded. Due to some very common misinterpretations, it should be pointed out that Gautama Buddha is not a god. Traditional biographies on Sidarta Gautama generally include numerous miracles, prophecies, and supernatural events. Buddhism has around 500 million practitioners.
Alexander the Great
He was the king of Macedonia from 336 BC. C. until his death. In his 13-year reign, he completely changed the political and cultural structure of the area to conquer the Achaemenid empire and begin a period of extraordinary cultural exchange, in which the Greeks expanded into the Mediterranean and proximal environments.
Michelangelo
He was an architect, sculptor and painter of the Italian Renaissance, considered one of the greatest artists in history both for his sculptures and for his paintings and architectural works. He has triumphed in all the arts in which he worked, characterized by his perfectionism.
Mahatma Gandhi
He was an Indian Hindu lawyer, thinker and politician. Once he achieved independence, Gandhi sought to reform Indian society, starting with the integration of the lower castes and developing the rural areas.
Nelson Mandela
He was an anti-apartheid activist, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. His government has dedicated itself to dismantling the social and political structure inherited from apartheid through the fight against institutionalized racism, poverty and social inequality and the promotion of social reconciliation.
Abraham Lincoln
He was a United States politician, sixteenth president of the United States and formerly from the Republican party. During his time, he helped preserve the United States by defeating the secessionist Confederate states in the American Civil War.
Introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery by issuing its Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865.
Martin Luther King
He was an American pastor of the Baptist church and has developed a crucial role in the United States at the forefront of the civil rights movement for African Americans and has also participated as an activist in numerous protests against the Vietnam War and poverty in general.
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great of Russia continued the legacy of Peter the Great and the course towards the Europeanization of the country. His government has stood out for major reforms, as well as its support for science and art. Catalina maintained personal correspondence with prominent figures of the time and was a highly enlightened woman who triumphed in ruling a country that was not hers. He had to face the rebellion of Yemelián Pugachov and the Turks. The Russian empire expanded during his tenure reaching as far as Crimea. He introduced vaccination and created Lomonosov State University, which remains the most important in the country to this day.
Thomas Alva Edison
He was an entrepreneur and a prolific American inventor who patented more than a thousand inventions. It has helped to give the United States and Europe the technological profiles of the contemporary world: the electrical industries, a vital telephone system, the phonograph, films, etc.
Nikola Tesla
He was an inventor, mechanical engineer, electrical and physical engineer of Serbian origin. It is considered the most important promoter of the birth of commercial electricity. He is best known for his many revolutionary inventions in the field of electromagnetism, developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Johannes Gutenberg
He was a German goldsmith, inventor of the modern mobile printing press
Pythagoras
He was a Greek philosopher and mathematician considered the first pure mathematician. He contributed significantly to the advancement of Hellenic mathematics, geometry and arithmetic, particularly derived numerical ratios, and applied for example to the theory of weights and measures, musical theory or astronomy.
Hypatia
Hypatia alongside Theon of Alexandria, her father and mentor. Image belonging to the film Ágora (2009). Hypatia (Alexandria, 355 or 370-March 415 or 4161) was a Greek Neoplatonic philosopher and teacher, native of Egypt, who excelled in mathematics and astronomy, member and head of the early 5th century Alexandrian school.
Victoria I of England (1819 – 1901)
Queen Victoria I of England gave rise to what is known as the “Victorian” era. It led the country during its industrial boom, becoming the world’s leading power. Its policies were conservative and consolidated the middle class, as well as the triumph of colonial expansion.
Maria Antonieta (1755 – 1793)
Marie Antoinette is one of the causes of hatred of the French people in the French Revolution due to her waste of public money. Her meticulousness and refined hobbies would arouse the anger of Paris. Her end was death by guillotine.
Frida Kahlo
Famous Mexican painter. Framed by surrealist painting, Frida has dedicated most of her works to self-portraits. In addition, her political activity was also news in the artist, being a famous communist.
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc was a soldier at the head of the French royal army, under the command of King Charles VII, who expelled the English. His end was tragic and he died at the stake condemned for heresy because of his wisdom. In 1920, Pope Benedict XV granted him the title of saint.
Ludwig van Beethoven
He was a German composer, conductor and pianist. He is one of the most important composers in the history of music and his legacy had a decisive influence on later music. His musical legacy covers, chronologically, from the classical period to the beginnings of musical romanticism.
Genghis Khan
He was a Mongolian warrior and conqueror who united the nomadic tribes of this ethnic group in North Asia, founding the First Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history. Under his leadership the Great Khan, the Mongols began a wave of conquests that extended its rule to a vast territory, from Eastern Europe to the Pacific, and from Siberia to Mesopotamia, India and Indochina.
Karl Marx
He was a German communist philosopher, intellectual and militant of Jewish origin. In his vast and influential work, he ventured into the fields of philosophy, history, political science, sociology and economics. Together with Friedrich Engels, he is the father of scientific socialism, modern communism, Marxism and historical materialism.
Wright Brothers
They are named together and known around the world for being pioneers in aviation history.
Isabella I of Castile
Together with her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, they were known as the Catholic Monarchs. Under his mandate the reconquest was completed and the order was ordered to Columbus to leave Spain for the new continent, among other things.
Confucius
He was a famous Chinese thinker whose doctrine is called Confucianism. His ideas were based on a spiritual legacy that the law school, and more precisely Confucius himself, had compiled and systematized in a sublime way.
Nicolaus Copernicus
He was a Renaissance astronomer who formulated the heliocentric theory of the Solar System, first conceived by Aristarchus of Samos.
Bill Gates
He is an American businessman, computer scientist and philanthropist, co-founder of the Microsoft software company with Paul Allen.
Henry Ford
He was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and the father of modern production lines used for mass production.
Lenin
He was a Russian politician, revolutionary, political theorist and communist. Head of the Bolshevik sector of the Social Democratic Labor Party of Russia, he became the main leader of the October Revolution of 1917.
Mao Zedong
He was the leader of the Communist Party of China (CCP) and the People’s Republic of China. Under his leadership, the Communist Party took power in mainland China in 1949, when the new People’s Republic was proclaimed after the victory in the civil war against the forces of the Republic of China.
Adolf Hitler
He brought the German National Socialist Labor Party or the Nazi Party to power and led a totalitarian regime during the period known as the Third Reich or Nazi Germany. He led Germany during World War II, which he initiated with the main purpose of fulfilling his expansionist plans in Europe. Under Hitler’s leadership, German forces and their allies occupied much of Europe and North Africa in 1941. Hitler was the cause of the deaths of seventeen million people, including six million Jews and between half and one and a half million Gypsies, in what was later called the “Holocaust”.
Margaret Tatcher
Margaret Thatcher is a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Known as “the iron lady” for her toughness, determination and steadfastness when it comes to running the country. He advocated the privatization of state-owned enterprises, educational media and social welfare to frame a conservative ideology called “Thatcherism”.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe is probably one of the most famous along with Cleopatra. Noma Jean Mortenson was one of the greatest actresses to go through Hollywood with famous titles like Skirted and Crazy. His relationship with the two Kennedy brothers and his physique has caused his fame to be haunted by more than one.
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart is nothing more and none other than the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She became a figure representing the rights and struggle of women in the society of that time. Her disappearance during the act of traveling around the world in 1937 made her definitively a legend.
Diana of Wales
Diana of Wales was the wife of Charles of England. She was popularly known as the “People’s Princess” for her solidarity with the needy. Her death, after suffering a car accident, was very severe. To this day it continues to be the subject of several conspiracy theories.
Ana Frank
She is the author of the well-known diary of Anne Frank, which she wrote while taking refuge in Amsterdam from the Nazis.
Indira Gandhi
Like her father, Indira was a famous Prime Minister of India, in power on two occasions. Her death came in 1984 after she was killed.
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks’ action not to give her seat to a man on a bus led to a fire that would have led to protests for the civil rights of African Americans in the United States.
Eva Perón
Eva Perón was a versatile woman who came to work as an actress, model and announcer to finally marry Perón, president of Argentina. It was because of this link that a crusade for the rights of workers and women began.
