The 26 most important historical figures

Very often the successes achieved in humanity are spoken of as a collective feat, of teamwork. It is considered that without this group component many events and historical inventions would not have been possible individually.

However, and from my point of view, this is still a half truth. There are hundreds of illustrious and famous people who have decisively influenced the world, whether with their ideas, inventions, actions or discoveries.

The most important historical figures

Below you can find a list of the most important historical figures and influential, mentioning and highlighting their most relevant characteristics and successes.

1. Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

This famous English naturalist was the one who postulated that all species of living beings have evolved over time from a common ancestor through a process called "selection natural". His theory of evolution forms the basis of modern evolutionary synthesis and it constitutes a logical explanation that unifies the observations on the diversity of life and that is the basis of the science of Biology.

• Related article: "The theory of biological evolution"

2. Aristotle (384 a. C. - 322 a. C.)

He is considered by the academic world as the first scientist and researcher of all time, whose 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.

• Related article: "The 90 best famous phrases of Aristotle"

3. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

Ambition, will, bravery, intelligence, pride, cruelty, greatness... are names that could perfectly describe this character in the story. Despised by some, magnified by others, exalted, vilified, contradictory spirits that can be read and heard about him. With his military intelligence was able to conquer Eastern and Western Europe reaching up to North Africa.

4. Julius Caesar (100 BC. C. - 44 a. C.)

Political and military leader of the great Roman Empire, leading to be the first living Roman leader whose face appeared on a coin On circulation. Apart from his political and military career, this historical figure stood out as a speaker and writer on topics such as the Roman republican religion, astronomy or Latin.

5. Plato (427 a. C. - 347 a. C.)

Along with Socrates and Aristotle, he is considered one of the most influential philosophical in the thought of modern Europe. Unlike Socrates, Plato wrote and preserved all of his works, introducing a new style novel for the time: dialogue. The opposition of different points of view and the psychological characterization of the interlocutors, was an alternative tool to poetic or oracular expression.

• You may be interested: "Plato's Impressive Contributions to Psychology"

6. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

"The mind is like a parachute, it only works if we have it open." German physicist he 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.

• It may interest you: "125 Albert Einstein quotes about science and life"

7. George Washington (1723-1799)

He was the first president of the United States between the years 1789 and 1797, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Continental Army in the American War of Independence from England (1775-1783) and one of the authors of the American Constitution. In the US he is considered the Father of the Nation.

8. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

English poet, playwright and actor, recognized as the most important writer in the English language and one of the most illustrious authors of universal literature. His reputation did not achieve worldwide success until well into the 19th century. Already in the 20th century, all of his works were adapted on many occasions and in all kinds of settings: 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, upon landing on Guanahani Island, currently 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 describes the law of universal gravitation and established the foundations of classical mechanics by the laws that bear his name.

11. Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)

This controversial historical figure was a neurologist doctor, considered the founder of psychoanalysis, as well as various theories that have persisted especially in the Social Sciences and in the world of the arts. Despite his controversial psychological theories, having sex as his central theme, Freud is considered one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, despite his addiction to cocaine that led to his death in 1939.

• You may be interested: "Sigmund Freud: life and work of the famous psychoanalyst"

12. Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)

He was a French chemist whose discoveries had an enormous impact on the various fields of natural sciences. Honor is due to him for the “pasteurization” technique. What's more, categorically rejected the theory of spontaneous generation and developed the germ theory of infectious diseases.

• Related article: "The 30 best phrases of Louis Pasteur"

13. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Composer and pianist of Austrian origin, master of Classicism, is considered as one of the most influential characters in the world of music of all times. His music has been used in movies, series, theater and even video games. Mozart's work encompasses all musical genres that include around 700 works.

14. Martin Luther King (1929-1968)

He was an American pastor of the Baptist church who did crucial work in the United States. leading the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans and that, in addition, he participated as an activist against general poverty and the Vietnam War. He is one of the leaders in the fight against racism in the United States.

• Related article: "The 70 best famous quotes of Martin Luther King"

15. Muhammad Ali (1942 - 2016)

He is surely the most famous character of the twentieth century, as magazines such as The Times or The Esquire have sentenced him 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 being the spokesperson against universal racial segregation and refusing to go to the Vietnam War, which led to his entry into prison.

16. Pythagoras (569 a. C. - 475 a. C.)

Greek philosopher and mathematician, is considered the father of pure mathematics. He contributed significantly to the advancement and development of Hellenic mathematics, geometry, and arithmetic, derived mainly from numerical relations, applied to the theory of weights and measures, music or astronomy.

17. Genghis Khan (1162-1227)

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongol armies led by Genghis Khan, staged one of the most important military expansions in history. In little more than twenty years, they conquered much of northern China, then occupied by the King Xi Xia and the Yurchen empire, and destroyed the Muslim empire in Juarezm, located in Central Asia.

18. Karl Marx (1818 - 1883)

Socialist thinker and revolutionary activist of German origin. Rarely has the work of a philosopher had such vast and tangible historical consequences as those of Karl Marx: from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, almost half of humanity lived in countries maintained by political governments that declared themselves heirs to their thought.

19. Lenin (1870 - 1924)

Known as Lenin, his original name is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. Influenced directly by Marxism, he was a political theorist, 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 rise to the Soviet Union.

20. Jesus of Nazareth (1 - 33)

Also known as Jesus, Christ or Jesus Christ, he is the central figure of Christianity and one of the most influential characters in Western culture. He is probably the most studied theological entity in the entire history of mankind. The religious movement that he started was transformed into Christianity, which currently has more than 2.1 billion parishioners.

21. Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

Passing through a low-key, low-profile soldier in the German Army during World War I, his frustration and anger led Adolf Hitler to rule Germany from 1933 to 1945 causing World War II, 17 million dead and being the main responsible for the Jewish Holocaust. He remains the most enigmatic historical figure of the 20th and 21st centuries.

22. Muhammad (570 - 632)

He was the prophet and founder of the last monotheistic religion: Islam. Muhammad or also known as Muhammad, is called the "seal of the prophets" for being considered the latest in a long chain of messengers sent by God to convey and update his message. It is estimated that currently some 1,200 million followers practice Islam.

23. Michelangelo (1475-1564)

He was a 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 the main characteristic of him was the perfectionism.

24. Bill Gates (1955)

American computer scientist and businessman, he is the founder of the Microsoft computer company. The fortune of this precocious programmer who at age 31 was already a billionaire, comes from the success of its overwhelming operating system, MS-DOS (1981) that would evolve into the ubiquitous Windows system. Interestingly, Gates would never finish his studies.

25. Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943)

Inventor, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer and physicist of Serbian origin living in the United States. He is regarded as the most illustrious promoter of the birth of commercial electricity. He is also famous for his many groundbreaking achievements in the field of electromagnetism, developed in the early 19th and early 20th centuries. Currently, one of the best electric car manufacturers is named after him (Tesla Motors).

26. Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931)

Perhaps it is the most paradoxical case of all the historical figures mentioned. Thomas Edison, famous for being the creator of more than a thousand inventions such as the light bulb, the incandescent lamp, the phenograph or the movie projector, he was only able to attend school for a period of three months.