Who do YOU think is the greatest historical figure of all time?

Who do you think is the greatest historical figure of all time? And why?
I think this could be fun.

I'll give you mine- Leonardo da Vinci
I believe he was the universal man. He was a scientist, inventor, painter, engineer, and the list goes on.
I wonder what the world would be like today if he were alive today, and we could apply his genius to the worlds' problems.

Jesus Christ. His name, more than any other, has changed the world.

I am not a christian, mind you. Just speaking my opinion.

Issac Newton.

Invented calculus, pretty big feat if you ask me.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Hmm.. The "greatest" .. And we would have to look into each persons respected place in history. We cannot take the likes of Alexander the Great, and compare him to George Washington, or Napoleon to Ivan the Terrible!

And even if you cut it down to categories.. greatest women for example.. Queen Elizabeth I, Ellenor Roosevelt.. for their time, they each did something to combat the odds that make them great. Harriet Tubman while poor as dirt and all the odds against her, may have been more successful then Queen Elizabeth, or Joan De Arc? But then again, Joan was not freeing slaves, and Elizabeth was not poor..

So perhaps the question can remain, and we can choose our favorite icon.. of which I have none, there are to many men and women in history I idolize, to many I still can read of their tales and remain in awe at their accomplishments and what little I have done to the world.

It is my personal opinion, that great people are made, not born, that each of these people climbed a difficult ladder, against the odds, against the norms of their times and made accomplishments that changed the face of the world for ever.

Be it Leonardo's paintings but a learning disability that inhibited his inventions from being formalized, Napoleons organization ability (we still use street addresses) yet famous arrogance, or Cesar's sheer luck for being a terrible gambler, or Hannibal's amazing war skills, just to loose it all through a lack of political understanding..

It shows that these men and women, where normal people.

But who do we idolize now? Britney? Bush? Clinton? What will people think when they look back 200 years from now? We had the romantic Paul Revere, Washington, Franklin, Patton, Eisenhower, JFK, Roosevelt..

I think they will look back and see a cultural dark age.

I don't know where I am going with this anymore,

My point is I do not select one figure from history as my favorite, but instead reflect on the fact that one person could obtain such fame to begin with.

Nice post. Your response is the kind I was hoping for. It is a very simple question on the surface, but the answers can be quite complex. Originally, I thought of putting categories out, such as scientist, religious figure, etc, but in the end, I left it open end, because I think that's where we'll get some great responses. I really enjoy listening to other people, because that is the only way that we learn. Michelangelo said it best "I am still learning. Thanks.

In recorded history? I vote Pythagoras, his concepts unifying geometry, mathematics, music and the divine, would influence the entire Mediterranean circa 600BC, and thence the world. And he was the first prominent (pseudo)vegetarian in western civilisation. In fact vegos in western society were called Pythagoreans up until the 1800s.

Yes, and in fact, many of the "Healthy Living" diets and advocates today take many of their tenets from Pythagoras. The other interesting thing about Pythagoras, and in fact, of many of the great historical figures, is that they spent much of their lifetimes outside of their native country.

reply to post by pluckynoonez

Thanks. Another vote for a mathematician. Interesting trend developing here.

reply to post by Shar_Chi


Then why not go for someone like Archimedes?

I suppose that a good measure of what the "greatest" is would be impact on the world.

I wish I knew who:
1.) discovered fire
2.) invented the wheel

He/She/They would probably have gotten my vote.

Adam and Eve......


Or there counterparts.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by Shar_Chi

 

Then why not go for someone like Archimedes?
I suppose that a good measure of what the "greatest" is would be impact on the world.

Pythagoras ideas 'speak' to me more, personally.

Top 3

1. Jesus Christ - redeemed mankind
2. Father Abraham - father of the Jewish race and the Arab race
3. Jimi Hendrix - played a mean stratocaster

Ohhh, good thread. I'm curious to see who people pick.

Mine are:

1) George Washington
2) Norman Borlaug (still living)

greatest historical figure has to be JC. hands down.

Mo' and Geez figure highly as salespeople... Hilter or 43' for this guy. Hilter for what he was (thoroughly a rotter), and 43' for what he isn't (human leadership material).

Vic

I don't know what his name was, but the guy that invented toilet paper, gets my vote.

Without his invention, we would be crabby, and never get anything done.

Great thread, Da Vinci, Jesus, Newton, good suggestions.
Some more candidates;

King Arthur.
en.wikipedia.org...

Augustus Caesar.
en.wikipedia.org...

Robert Oppenheimer.
en.wikipedia.org...

Copernicus
en.wikipedia.org...

Albert Einstein
en.wikipedia.org...

Though without doubt this man given different circumstances could have been the greatest scientist ever and thus greatly changed or influenced society;
en.wikipedia.org...

Overall, despite being a confirmed agnostic, and if it could be proven without doubt that the man existed, it would have to be Jesus, his message of love, peace and tolerance still resonates through the ages and continues to influence the vast majority of mankind in some shape or form.

Or maybe the guy who invented Beer!

Is it any question? John Lennon, of course.

This guy could have single handedly changed the world, had he not been struck down so early. The influence he had over the world, even still felt today, is second to none. His beliefs and approaches were revolutionary, as he was so widely accepted on the pop culture grid. And most of us may not want to admit that something so simple would be important, but it is.

In the short time that we had him, I feel John has left his mark in a way that very few have.

(Obviously I'm overlooking a few of the big wigs, but I thought I'd throw a new name out there.)