The 26 most important historical figures
Researchers, artists, military men... all of them have left a mark on our history.
Very often we talk about the successes achieved in humanity as a collective feat of teamwork. It is considered that without this group component many historical events and inventions would not have been possible individually.
However, and from my point of view, this is a half-truth. There are hundreds of illustrious and famous people who have had a decisive influence on the world, either with their ideas, inventions, actions or discoveries.
The most important historical figures
Below you can find a list of the most important a list of the most important and influential historical and influential historical figures, mentioning and highlighting their most relevant characteristics and successes.
Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)
This famous English naturalist was the one who postulated that all species of living things have evolved over time from a common ancestor through a process called "natural selection". His theory of evolution forms the basis of the modern evolutionary synthesis and is a logical and constitutes a logical explanation that unifies the observations on the diversity of life and is the basis of the science of biology.
2. Aristotle (384 B.C. - 322 B.C.)
He is considered by the academic world as the first scientist and researcher of all timeswhose influence has endured for two thousand years. He was a scholar, a sage, an eminence in different fields of science and humanities: politician, philosopher, logician and scientist in Ancient Greece. He is recognized as the first founder of logic and biology, and his works have been used as the basis of scientific development for centuries.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
Ambition, will, bravery, intelligence, arrogance, cruelty, greatness... are appellatives that could perfectly describe this character of history. Belittled by some, exalted by others, exalted, vilified, contradictory moods that can be read and heard about him. With his military intelligence he was able to conquer Eastern and Western Europe, reaching as far as North Africa. reaching as far as North Africa.
4. Julius Caesar (100 B.C. - 44 B.C.)
Political and military leader of the great Roman Empire, making him the first living Roman leader whose the first living Roman leader whose face appeared on a circulating coin. in circulation. Apart from his political and military career, this historical figure stood out as an orator and writer on subjects such as the Roman Republican religion, astronomy or Latin.
5. Plato (427 B.C. - 347 B.C.)
Along with Socrates and Aristotle, he is considered to be one of the one of the most influential philosophers in the thought of modern Europe.. Unlike Socrates, Plato wrote and preserved all his works, introducing a new style novel for the time: the dialogue. The contrast of different points of view and the psychological characterization of the interlocutors, was an alternative tool to the poetic or oracular expression.
6. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955).
"The mind is like a parachute, it is only useful if we have it open". German physicist is considered the most important and popular scientist of the 20th century.. In 1905, while still an unknown young researcher, he published his theory of spatial relativity. Ten years later, he would present the theory of general relativity, which completely reformulated the concept of gravity.
7. George Washington (1723 - 1799)
He was the first president of the United States between 1789 and 1797, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Continental Army in the American War of Independence against England (1775-1783) and one of the authors of the American Constitution. In the United States he is considered the Father of the Fatherland.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
English poet, playwright and actor, recognized as the most important writer of the English language. the most important writer of the English language and one of the most illustrious authors of universal literature. His reputation did not reach worldwide success until well into the 19th century. Already in the 20th century, all his works were adapted on many occasions and in all kinds of scenarios: cinema, books and theater.
9. Christopher Columbus (1436 - 1506)
His greatest achievement and success was the discovery of America by the West, on October 12, 1492 on October 12, 1492, when he landed on Guanahani Island, now known as the Bahamas. Prior to this, he was a navigator, cartographer, admiral, viceroy and Governor General of the West Indies in the service of the Crown of Castile.
10. Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727)
English mathematician, philosopher, alchemist, theologian and physicist. Author of "the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Matemática", more commonly known as Principia, where he describes the law of universal gravitation. describes the law of universal gravitation and established the basis of classical mechanics by means of the laws that bear his name.
11. Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)
This controversial historical figure was a medical neurologist, considered the founder of psychoanalysisas well as of several theories that have endured especially in the Social Sciences and in the world of the arts. Despite his controversial psychological theories, with sex as the central theme, Freud is considered one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, despite his cocaine addiction that led to his death in 1939.
12. Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)
He was a French chemist whose discoveries had an enormous impact on the various fields of natural sciences. To him we owe honor to the technique of "pasteurization". He also he categorically rejected the theory of spontaneous generation and developed the germ theory of infectious diseases.
13. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Austrian-born composer and pianist, master of Classicism, is considered one of the most influential figures in the world of music. one of the most influential figures in the world of music of all times. of all times. His music has been used in films, series, theater and even video games. Mozart's oeuvre spans all musical genres and includes around 700 works.
14. Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968)
He was an American pastor of the Baptist church who developed a crucial work in the United States at the head of the Civil Rights Movement. at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement for African-Americans. and who also participated as an activist against general poverty and the Vietnam War. He is one of the referents of the fight against racism in the United States.
15. Muhammad Ali (1942 - 2016)
He is probably the most famous character of the twentieth century, as magazines such as The Times and The Esquire have stated on numerous occasions. He changed the rules of the game in the world of boxing by breaking ties with the mafia that controlled the business to impose his fight not only inside the ring, but outside it by being the spokesman against universal racial segregation and refusing to go to the Vietnam War, which led to his imprisonment.
16. Pythagoras (569 B.C. - 475 B.C.)
Greek philosopher and mathematician, is considered the father of pure mathematics. considered the father of pure mathematics. He contributed significantly to the advancement and development of Hellenic mathematics, geometry and arithmetic, mainly derived from numerical relationships, applied to the theory of weights and measures, music and astronomy.
17. Genghis Khan (1162 - 1227)
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongol armies led by Genghis Khan, starred in one of the most important military expansions in history.. In little more than twenty years, they conquered much of northern China, then occupied by King Xi Xia and the Yurchen Empire, and destroyed the Muslim empire in Juarezm, located in Central Asia.
18. Karl Marx (1818 - 1883)
German-born socialist thinker and revolutionary activist.. Rarely has the work of a philosopher had such vast and tangible historical consequences as those of Karl Marx: since the Russian Revolution of 1917 and until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, almost half of humanity lived in countries maintained by political governments that declared themselves heirs of his thought.
19. Lenin (1870 - 1924)
Known as Lenin, his original name is Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov. Influenced directly by Marxism, he was a political theorist, revolutionary and communist of Russian origin, revolutionary and communist of Russian origin.. Being part of the most radical nucleus of the socialist movement, he became the main leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which gave birth to the Soviet Union.
20. Jesus of Nazareth (1 - 33)
Also known as Jesus, Christ or Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and one of the most influential figures in Western culture. He is probably the most studied theological entity in the history of mankind. The religious movement he started became Christianity, which currently has more than 2.1 billion followers.
21. Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
Passing for a low-profile private in the German army during World War I, his frustration and anger led Adolf Hitler to rule Germany from 1933 to 1945, triggering World War IIHe was responsible for 17 million dead and was primarily responsible for the Jewish Holocaust. He is still the most enigmatic historical figure of the 20th and 21st centuries.
22. Mohammed (570 - 632)
He was the prophet and founder of the last monotheistic religion: Islam. Muhammad, also known as Muhammad, is called the "seal of the prophets" for being considered the last of a long chain of messengers sent by God to transmit and update his message. It is estimated that there are currently an estimated 1.2 billion followers practice Islam today..
23. Michelangelo (1475 - 1564)
He was an architect, sculptor and painter. Italian architect, sculptor and painter of the Renaissance style.. He is considered one of the greatest artists in history since he triumphed in each and every one of the arts in which he dedicated his time and work, since his main characteristic was perfectionism.
Bill Gates (1955)
American computer scientist and businessman, he is the founder of the computer company Microsoft. The fortune of this precocious programmer, who at the age of 31 was already a multimillionaire, came from the success of his overwhelmingly successful operating system, MS-DOS (1981), which evolved (1981), which evolved into the ubiquitous Windows system. Curiously, Gates never managed to finish his studies.
Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943)
Inventor, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer and physicist of Serbian origin who settled in the United States. He is considered to be the most illustrious promoter of the birth of commercial electricity.. He is also famous for his numerous revolutionary achievements in the field of electromagnetism, developed in the early 19th and early 20th centuries. Currently, one of the best manufacturers of electric cars bears his name (Tesla Motors).
Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931)
Perhaps the most paradoxical of all the historical figures mentioned above. Thomas Edison, illustrious for being the creator of more than a thousand inventions such as the light bulb, the incandescent lamp, the phenograph or the film projector, was only able to attend school for a period of three months..
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)