Top 100 most influential persons in history 1992 version

Muhammad (570 – 632 AD) Prophet of Islam. Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) – British mathematician and scientist. Jesus of Nazareth (c.5BC – 30 AD) Spiritual teacher and central figure of Christianity. Buddha (c 563 – 483 BC) Spiritual Teacher and founder of Buddhism. Confucius (551 – 479 BC) – Chinese philosopher. St. Paul (5 – AD 67) – Christian missionary and one of the main writers of the New Testament. Ts’ai Lun (AD 50 – 121) Inventor of paper. Johann Gutenberg (1395 – 1468) – Inventor of the printing press. Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) – Italian explorer landed in America. Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German/ US scientist discovered Theory of Relativity. Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) French biologist. Developed a cure for rabies and other infectious diseases. Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) Italian scientist – confirmed the heliocentric view of the universe. Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) – Greek philosopher and polymath Euclid (325 BC - 265 BC) - Greek Mathematician Moses (c 1391 – 1271 BC) A key figure of Jewish / Christian history gave 10 Commandments of Old Testament Charles Darwin (1809 -– 1882) –Scientist who proposed and popularised theory of evolution. Shih Huang Ti (259 – 210 BC) – King of the state of Qin who conquered and united different regions of China in 221 BC. Augustus Caesar (63 BC-AD 14) – First Emperor of Rome Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who believed Sun was the centre of the Universe – rather than earth. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743 – 1794) French chemist and biologist who had a leading impact on the chemical revolution. Constantine the Great (272 AD – 337) Roman Emperor who accepted Christian religion. James Watt (1736 – 1819) Scottish engineer. Watt improved the Newcome steam engine creating an efficient steam engine Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) – English scientist who contributed in fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) Scottish physicist. Maxwell made a significant contribution to understanding electromagnetism Martin Luther (Not Martin Luther King. Jr) (1483-1546) Sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church – starting the Protestant Reformation. George Washington (1732 – 1799) – Leader of US forces during American Revolution and 1st President of US. Karl Marx (1818 -– 1883) – German Communist philosopher. Orville and Wilbur Wright Orville(Wright Brothers) (1871 – 1948) – Wilbur (1867 – 1912) – Created and flew the first aeroplane. Genghis Kahn (1162 – 1227) – Military and political leader of the Mongols. Adam Smith (1723-1790) Scottish social philosopher and pioneer of classical economics. William Shakespeare (1564- 1616) English poet and playwright. John Dalton (1766 – 1844) English chemist and physicist. Made contributions to atomic theory. Alexander the Great (356 -– 323 BC) – King of Macedonia and military leader. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 –- 1821) – French military and political leader. Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931) – Inventor and businessman helped introduce electricity and electric light bulbs. Antony van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) Dutch chemist – founder of microbiology. William T.G. Morton (1819 – 1868) American dentist who pioneered the use of anaesthetic. Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1937) Italian engineer who helped develop radio transmission. Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) – Dictator of Nazi Germany. Plato (424 –- 348 BC) – Greek philosopher. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) – Leader of Parliamentarians in English civil war. Alexander Graham Bell (1847 – 1922) – Scottish inventor of the telephone. Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) Scottish biologist who discovered penicillin. John Locke (1632-1704) English political philosopher. Locke promoted a theory of liberal democracy and a social contract. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) German composer of the classical and romantic period. Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) German theoretical physicist – one of the pioneers of Quantum mechanics Louis Daguerre (1787–1851) French artist and photographer, who is credited with the invention of the camera. Simon Bolivar (1783 – 1830) – Liberator of Latin American countries Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) French philosopher and mathematician. “I think, therefore I am.” Michelangelo (1475 – 1564) Renaissance sculptor, painter and architect Pope Urban II (1042 – 29 July 1099) Influential Pope who ordered the first Crusade to the Holy Land and set up the Papal Court Umar ibn al-Khattab (584 CE – 644 CE) Powerful Muslim Caliphate and senior companion of Muhammad. An influential figure in Sunni Islam. Asoka (c. 260 – 232 BC) Powerful Indian King who established large empire by conquest before converting to Buddhism and pursuing a peaceful approach St. Augustine (354 – 430) Influential Christian saint and writer, who shaped much of Western Christian thought. William Harvey (1578 – 3 June 1657) English physician who made contributions to understanding how blood circulated in the body. Ernest Rutherford (1871 – 1937) NZ born British physicist who made discoveries in atomic physics. His work on splitting the atom was influential for the development of atomic science. John Calvin (1509 – 27 May 1564) Christian theologian who developed a strict brand of Protestant Christianity which stressed the doctrine of predestination. Gregor Mendel (1822 – 1884) Czech/Austrian scientist and friar – who founded modern science of genetics. Max Planck (1858 – 1947) German theoretical physicist who developed a theory of Quantum physics and discovered energy quanta. Joseph Lister (1827 – 1912) British surgeon who pioneered the use of sterilisation and antiseptic surgery. Nikolaus August Otto (1832 – 1891) German engineer who developed compressed charge internal combustion engine to run on petrol Francisco Pizarro (1471 – 1541) Spanish Conquistador who claimed Inca lands for Spain. Hernando Cortes (1485 – 1547) Spanish Conquistador who conquered the Aztec lands of modern-day Mexico. Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) 3rd President of US. Principle author of the US Declaration of Independence. Queen Isabella I (1451 – 1504) Queen of Castille, who helped create a powerful and unified state of Spain whose influence spread to the Americas. Joseph Stalin (1878 – 1953) Absolute ruler of the Soviet Union from 1924 to his death. Led the Soviet Union in WWII. Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC) Roman ruler who oversaw the demise of the Roman Republic to be replaced with a Roman Emperor. Militarily strengthened the power of Rome. William the Conqueror (1028 – 1087) First Norman King of England Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) An Austrian neurologist who founded psychoanalysis, which involved the investigation of the subconscious, dreams and human mind. Edward Jenner (1749 – 1823) Developed the world’s first vaccine (the smallpox vaccine). Known as the father of immunology. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845 – 1923) German physicist who discovered electromagnetic waves or X-rays. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) Composer and organist who created some of the world’s most beautiful music. Lao Tzu (6th Century BC – ) Author of Tao Te Ching and founder of Taoism Voltaire (1694 – 1778). A key figure of European Enlightenment. His satirical writings played a role in the French Revolution. Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) German mathematician and astronomer who created laws of planetary motion. Enrico Fermi (1901 – 1954) Italian-American physicist who created the first nuclear reactor Leonhard Euler (1707 – 1783) Swiss mathematician who made prolific discoveries in calculus and graph theory. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) – French philosopher, author of Social Contract Nicoli Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) Italian diplomat and Renaissance writer considered the father of political science. Thomas Malthus (1766 – 1834) English scholar who raised concern over growing population. John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963) 38th President of the US. Served at the height of the Cold War and helped defuse Cuban Missile Crisis. Gregory Pincus (1903 – 1967) American biologist who created the oral contraceptive pill. Mani (216 – ) Iranian founder of Manichaeism, a gnostic religion which for a time was a rival to Christianity. Lenin (1870 – 1924) Leader of the Russian Revolution and new Communist regime from 1917 to 1924. Sui Wen Ti (541 – 604) Founder of China’s Sui Dynasty and reunifying China in 589 Vasco da Gama (1460s –1524) Portuguese explorer, first European to reach India and establish a route for imperialism. Cyrus the Great (600 – 530 BC) Founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire. Relatively enlightened ruler. Peter the Great (1721 – 1725) Russian Emperor who expanded the Tsarist Empire to make Russia European power. Mao Zedong (1893 – 1976) Leader of the Communist Revolution and dictator of China from 1949-1974. Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626) Creator of the scientific method and key figure in Scientific Revolution of the Enlightenment. Henry Ford (1863 – 1947) Owner of Ford Motor Company. Revolutionised mass-production techniques Mencius (385–303BC) Chinese philosopher one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism. Zoroaster (c. 1200 BC) Iranian prophet who founded the religion of Zoroastrianism. Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603) Queen of England from 1558 to her death in 1603. Cemented England as a Protestant country, defeated Spanish Armada. Mikhail Gorbachev (1931 – ) Leader of Soviet Communist Party who pursued reform – perestroika and glasnost to open Eastern Europe to democracy. Menes c. 3000 BC Egyptian pharaoh who united Upper and Lower Egypt to found the First Dynasty. Charlemagne (742 – 814) United Europe to form the Carolingian Empire. First western Emperor since the fall of Rome. Homer Greek poet who wrote Iliad and Odyssey Justinian I (482 – 565) Emperor of Eastern Roman Empire Mahavira (6th century BC) Principal figure of Jainism.