Most Influential Persons in History

Who made the biggest impact on earth

  • Muhammad Founder of Islam

    Votes: 6 30.0%
  • Jesus Founder of Christianity

    Votes: 14 70.0%

  • Total voters
    20
  • Poll closed .

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So here you can bring your top 5  about the  persons Who made a biggest impact on this world who has lived or whos living. It can be anyone not just a military commander.

1 - Tie Muhammad and Jesus

2 - Genghis Khan

3 - Alexander

4 - Newton

5 - Napoleon

Feel free to make your own list
 
:roll: haven't that been done before?!

:arrow: http://physics.hallym.ac.kr/~physics/course/a2u/evolution/img/toptenlistweb.pdf

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Fritz Haber.  Allowed a major green revolution and also allowed 2 world wars to happen.  A lot of the science probably could've been developed without him, but I suppose he symbolizes the amazing things you can do with captured nitrogen.

Einstein.  Though I heard again a lot of his credentials came from what people figured out before him.

Whomever wrote the bible.  Must be the jk rowling of his day.

So many others.  Tempted to add a few female celebrities but hey, lets keep the topic serious for now.

Oh, don't forget, PETER SELLERS!!!!
 
Amontadillo said:
Skot the Sanguine said:
Alexander really had no influence in the long run...his work all collapsed after his death (more or less).
...

really?
Absolutely. That's why, you see, he's been referred to as "the Great" for 2,000 years because of the lack of influence he had on the world. Of course no general has ever said that they're a general in the style of Alexander and of course the campaigns of Alexander weren't taught across the known world for 2,000 years as part of an education.

I'm going to suggest Solon, for writing up what was potentially the first political constitution. In poetic verse. Top marks there.
 
Skot the Sanguine said:
Hitler should definitely be on that list.  Alexander really had no influence in the long run...his work all collapsed after his death (more or less).

You have no idea how influential the spread of Hellenism was to the development of the major monotheisms that are incredibly important in civilizations to this day. The first couple weeks of my Mid-East History class have been covering this.
 
I do think Hitler is a major contributor.  At least he shaped the contemporary world we live in today and was pretty much the man of the 20th century.  Still, how much can you attribute to him and not the great German Wehrmacht?

Wonder if we can do a man of the century listing?  I'm not clear on some of those.  I mean, who would be man of 6th Century?
 
Tiberius Decimus Maximus said:
Skot the Sanguine said:
Hitler should definitely be on that list.  Alexander really had no influence in the long run...his work all collapsed after his death (more or less).

You have no idea how influential the spread of Hellenism was to the development of the major monotheisms that are incredibly important in civilizations to this day. The first couple weeks of my Mid-East History class have been covering this.

I do, I just don't attribute it to him.  Personally I attribute that to the successor states, like the Ptolemies and Seleucids.

By the way, the Persians like Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus the Great had more of an influence on the development of monotheistic religions, specifically Judaism.  There is ample evidence that before their imposed exile Judaism was actually polytheistic.
 
Jesus. You don't have to even believe in him to realize that there's few other people in history whose alleged birthdays are enough to warrant public holidays in many countries, and whose words and actions still deeply affect politics, both directly and indirectly. Muhammad comes close though. I don't understand why people scoff at the idea of him being the most influential person.
 
Vermillion_Hawk said:
Jesus. You don't have to even believe in him to realize that there's few other people in history whose alleged birthdays are enough to warrant public holidays in many countries, and whose words and actions still deeply affect politics, both directly and indirectly. Muhammad comes close though. I don't understand why people scoff at the idea of him being the most influential person.
I actually agree, I can understand why someone may have initially groaned at their mention and perhaps even the OP's reasons for listing them, but as VH said; they have undoubtedly done their part in shaping the religious and political landscapes of the world.

Edit; although the ninja by Amontadillo brings up an interesting point as well, I still believe that Jesus and Mohammed win out.
 
Amontadillo said:
My teacher put in a good argument for Genghis Khan. After all, he pretty much set the stage for Europe and Asia post 1200's, ending the Islamic Golden Age, cutting short the Sung's technological innovations, leading the the formation of the A****aka (I think?) shogunate in Japan, inspiring Timur to do the Muslim conquest of India, reestablishing the silk road, and bringing the Black death to Europe. Lots of impact for one guy.

That sort of shows one of the flaws in the exercise, though. Genghis Khan was far more influential on history than anyone from the 20th Century--he'd have to be because he lived so far in the past. Hell, some random guy living in the Kurgan Culture of the Caucasus in the 31st Century BCE was probably more important by sheer chance than anyone born after him.

Obviously what I'm doing is a reductio ad absurdum, but it's still apparent on a smaller scale: who was more influential, Hitler or Napoleon? Well, Napoleon. There have been two centuries of history influenced by Napoleon, and only about 70 years by Hitler. A more interesting question would be, "Who was the most influential person in history 10, 50, 100, etc... years after their period of action?"

I suppose that's why the question is Most Influential Persons and not Who Will Be the Most Influential Person. One can be quantified, the other is indeed a pointless exercise.
 
That guy Nobel.  They say a lot of infrastructure across the globe wouldn't be possible without dynamite for leveling mountains, tunnels, quarrying, mining and all.  Alfred I think his name was.  So unfortunate, he blew up his brother.

Still, a generic accomplishment.  I'm sure someone else would've figured it out.  The world won't stop going on if someone went back in time and shot him.


Maybe the uniqueness of some people's contribution would be significant?  Kill a King and anybody else could replace him.  Wonder if people could travel back in time and reshape the world with one kill.
 
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