Most Significant People in History

[Thunderbird]

Here are two lists:

1) Who s Biggest The 100 Most Significant Figures in History TIME.com

1 Jesus
2 Napoleon
3 Muhammad
4 William Shakespeare
5 Abraham Lincoln
6 George Washington
7 Adolf Hitler
8 Aristotle
9 Alexander the Great
10 Thomas Jefferson
...

Looks like a flawed list. For example number 69 is Elvis Presley! And much too Eurocentric - why no Chinese or Indian emperors? Why no Confucius? Also missing are Pasteur and Gutenberg.

2) Religion of History s 100 Most Influential People

1 Muhammad
2 Isaac Newton
3 Jesus Christ
4 Buddha
5 Confucius
6 St. Paul
7 Ts'ai Lun
8 Johann Gutenberg
9 Christopher Columbus
10 Albert Einstein
...

This list, authored by Jewish white separatist Michael Hart, also looks flawed. For example Hart places St. Paul much too high.

Did St. Paul Invent Christianity?
Paul Did Not 'Invent' Christianity

For Most Significant People in History I would choose:

1 Newton
2 Columbus
3 Gutenberg

The cynic in me puts these men over Jesus, because mankind is not generally motivated by love and forgiveness.

Who do you choose?

 

[Dan Daly]

I choose my father. If not for him, I would not be here...those other fellers can't say the same.

 

[shart_attack]

I'm just thrilled to see that David, King of Israel, made the list at #57.

He most certainly belongs on that list.

Nice to see that Time magazine acknowledged that.

My favorite paragraph from the article:

Time magazine's "100 most significant figures in world history", Dec. 10, 2013—To fairly compare contemporary figures like Britney Spears against the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, we adjusted for the fact that today’s stars will fade from living memory over the next several generations. Intuitively it is clear that Britney Spears’ mindshare will decline substantially over the next 100 years, as people who grew up hearing her are replaced by new generations. But Aristotle’s reputation will be much more stable because this transition occurred long ago. The reputation he has now is presumably destined to endure. By analyzing traces left in millions of scanned books, we can measure just how fast this decay occurs, and correct for it.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Most significant is whoever invented the electric toothbrush. How we got along without that is mind boggling.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Looks like a flawed list. For example number 69 is Elvis Presley! And much too Eurocentric - why no Chinese or Indian emperors? Why no Confucius? Also missing are Pasteur and Gutenberg.


For Most Significant People in History I would choose:

1 Newton
2 Columbus
3 Gutenberg

You were saying something about Eurocentric?

 

[Thunderbird]

You were saying something about Eurocentric?

My top 3 are Europeans, but if my list were longer I'd choose people like

Emperor Wu

Chandragupta Maurya

Zoroaster

 

[shart_attack]

Yeah, Zoroaster definitely belongs on there, too.

 

[jwoodie]

Most Significant, like (Barbara Walters') Most Fascinating, is a nebulous term usually employed to enhance one's own significance.

 

[Thunderbird]

Most Significant, like (Barbara Walters') Most Fascinating, is a nebulous term usually employed to enhance one's own significance.

If I was making a list of sickening phonies Barbara Walters would be near the top.

 

[Bill Angel]

The writer Oscar Wilde comes in at #77 while Harry S. Truman, the President who made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, ranks #94. What significant momentous decision did Oscar Wilde ever make to merit even making the list?
Portrait of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde - "With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?"

 

[Thunderbird]

Two lists of the most influential people of the millennium:

1) The 100 Most Influential People of the Millenium 100-1 flashcards Quizlet

1.Johann Gutenberg
2.Isaac Newton
3.Martin Luther
4.Charles Darwin
5.William Shakespeare
6.Christopher Columbus
7.Karl Marx
8.Albert Einstein
9.Nicolaus Copernicus
10.Galileo Galilei
...

2) Life Magazine s The 100 People Who Made the Millennium

1.Thomas Edison
2.Christopher Columbus
3.Martin Luther
4.Galileo Galilei
5.Leonardo da Vinci
6.Isaac Newton
7.Ferdinand Magellan
8.Louis Pasteur
9.Charles Darwin
10.Thomas Jefferson
...

 

[Manonthestreet]

 

[Sunni Man]

The writer Oscar Wilde comes in at #77 while Harry S. Truman, the President who made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, ranks #94. What significant momentous decision did Oscar Wilde ever make to merit even making the list?

Oscar Wilde was a flaming queer.

Which in todays PC society makes him major historical figure. .......

 

[whitehall]

The idiots in the dying Time corporation have to define the word "significant" before we play the stupid pop-culture game.

 

[konradv]

Here are a couple that haven't been mentioned.

Gaius Marius- Reformed the Roman army and made possible the Empire and Western Civilization as we know it.

Genghis Khan- United disparate Mongolian tribes and began conquests that led to the largest land empire in human history.

 

[Saigon]

I don't see how any list can exclude Hitler, and I'd probably also include Marx and Mao in a Top 20, as well.

I don't really see the likes of Jefferson as having had as global an influence as those guys. Jefferson had influence on one country - Marx and Hitler on the entire world.

 

[I.P.Freely]

Most significant American, Ronald McDonald

 

[Thunderbird]

I don't see how any list can exclude Hitler, and I'd probably also include Marx and Mao in a Top 20, as well.

I don't really see the likes of Jefferson as having had as global an influence as those guys. Jefferson had influence on one country - Marx and Hitler on the entire world.

Marx and Mao were influential: The Black Book of Communism

However, Jefferson has influenced more than one country.

 

[Thunderbird]

Michael Hart (mentioned in the OP) also places Constantine much too high.

quote: Constantine didn’t cause the triumph of Christianity. He rode off it.

link: A Double Take on Early Christianity An Interview with Rodney Stark

 

[Delta4Embassy]

My mommy and my daddy, without whom I wouldn't exist. Pretty significant to me.