most influential people in history

The 35 Most Influential People of All Time

Over the years, humanity has grown and become what we are now, but it was not like this from the start of humankind.

Many people have influenced the World to change and become civilized & established peace and rules between us.

There have been many significant people in history; we still remember them and read about them in books.

Today, We will present you with the list of the 35 most influential people in the history of humanity.

The 35 Most Influential People of All Time

35. Napolean Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte, who is more favored by his first name Napolean was a  French military and political leader.

Bonaparte is well known in history for his unmatched leadership skills that helped him rise to fame in the French revolution and other revolutionary wars.

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He was also the de facto leader of the French Republic and later became France’s emperor and led France through various Napoleonic Wars.

34. Aristotle

Next up is another important person in history and someone who we probably all know.

He was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece.

He was a student of Plato, who will later be mentioned in the article later on.

Aristotle learned from Plato and became Lyceum’s founder, a philosophical school.

33. Henry Ford

We can assume that everyone has heard of the Ford car, right? Therefore, if you have heard of it, you must have figured out who this person is.

Henry Ford was a business magnate, industrialist, and founder of the Ford Motor Company, which is still popular despite being a decade old.

Henry Ford
Henry Ford posing for a camera

Back in the day, automobiles were not something that any average person could afford, and he manufactured them so that even an average person could afford them.

We should be thankful to this man for his invention that has helped us to be able to afford the automobile without spending our life savings.

32. Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a professor of theology, author, priest, and composer famous for being the seminal figure in the Reformation.

He is one of the first persons who translated the bible into the german language so more people could have access to it.

Luther was a wise man and a great believer in god, but at that time, he did not like the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching and rebelled against them and rejected their teachings.

31. Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin, or should I say the father of evolution. We have all learned about Darwin in our science books, where we read about his theory of evolution.

He was an English naturalist, biologist, and geologist who is widely popular and still remembered for his theory of evolution.

Darwin came up with one of the essential theories of his time: all species have descended from common ancestors.

He is also the pioneer of the theory of “Survival of the fittest.”

30. William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor who was arguably the best writer in the history of humankind.

He has written countless masterpieces throughout his lifetime.

He is regarded as the father of modern English literature for his immeasurable contribution to English literature.

Some of his most famous dramas are Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, etc.

29. Nelson Mandela

Another one of the most influential people in history who paved the path of freedom for black people was Nelson Mandela.

He was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, philanthropist, and political leader who later became the president of South Africa in the late 1990s.

Despite doing nothing wrong, Mandela was sent to prison for his rebellion.

Even though he was in prison, he had already paved the path to freedom.

And during his time in prison, he wrote a book titled “Long Walk to Freedom,” which is one of his best books.

28. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an influential composer in the Classical period. He is still remembered for his contribution to music.

Mozart was a child prodigy who was already composing music by the age of five; by that time, he was also competent at playing the keyboard and the violin.

He had composed over 600 pieces of music. They are still preserved to date. Many of Mozart’s compositions were used as the base of some genres we listen to now.

Some of his most famous compositions are The Marriage of Figaro, Symphony No. 41, Requiem, etc.

27. Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill is famous by his short name Winston Churchill. He is one of the most influential people in history.

Winston was a British statesman who later became the prime minister of Britain.

He served as the British prime minister during the second world war, and the brits widely praised him for his wartime leadership.

Asides from his political abilities, he was also a prolific writer and historian and had won the noble prize in both sectors.

26. Pythagoras

We have all studied math in our schools. So I am sure you have heard the term Pythagoras theorem while doing some problems in maths. The theorem is named after the man who invented it, Pythagoras.

He was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism.

Pythagoras is one of the most influential people in the history of humanity because, even before us, he had influenced great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle.

Aside from the Pythagoras theorem, he invented the Pythagorean tuning, the five regular solids, the Theory of Proportions, and the Earth’s sphericity.

25. Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha is one of the most influential people in the history of the world and the founder of the Buddhism religion.

Buddha was born and raised in Nepal and was a prince, but he left the castle early to find peace.

Buddha
Portrait of Buddha

In search of peace, he went from place to place, and after a long time, he was enlightened. That is why he is widely considered the Enlightened One.

After his enlightenment, he found the path to release clinging and craving and escape the cycle of birth and rebirth.

24. Moses

Moshe Rabbenu is a Jewish prophet and a significant figure in Christianity and Islam.

He is the leader of the Israelites and the lawgiver of the Torah.

It is mentioned that Moses was born to help Israelites and others.

Possibly, he existed, but he is mainly considered a legendary figure.

23. Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ, aka Jesus of Nazareth, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader.

He is the founder and the god of the largest religion in the world, Christianity.

Jesus was arrested by Jewish authorities and was turned over to the Roman government.

Then he was crucified by the orders of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Prefect of that time.

According to his followers, he returned from the dead after his execution—the community formed around him after his resurrection was known as the early Church.

22. Muhammad

Muhammad was an Arab religious, political, and social leader widely known as the world religion founder, Islam.

It is believed that Muhammad was the prophet who was sent to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Jesus, Abraham, Moses,  and other prophets.

He is regarded as the final prophet of God in all of Islam, and he united Arabia into a single Muslim nation with the help of the Quran.

21. George Washington

George Washington was an American political leader, military general, and statesman who was also the Founding Father of the United States.

He also served as the first President of the United States.

During his early years, he led the patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and established the constitutions of the United States.

Washington is also commonly regarded as the father of the nation for his leadership abilities and contribution to uniting America.

20. Plato

Plato was an Athenian philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He is also one of the most influential people in history.

Moreover, he is considered one of the most influential people in the history of humanity due to his contribution to philosophies and other things.

Plato was a student of the renowned Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle.

He is also regarded as the founder of Western religion and spirituality. He is also the central figure of the Neoplatonism of philosophers.

19. Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and renowned poet born in the Republic of Florence.

He is known for his comprehensive influence on Western art. However, he had a versatile artistic ability that rivaled greats like Leonardo Da Vinci.

Many scholars have described Michelangelo as the greatest artist of his era, and some even regard him as the greatest artist in the history of humankind.

18. Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is also one of the United States’ founding fathers, alongside George Washington. Besides that, he was also a writer, philosopher, and scientist.

Franklin is widely known for the American Enlightenment, where he devised many theories that helped us discover many things about electricity.

He was a great physicist and invented various things that we still use today. Some of Franklin’smost influentialt inventions are the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove.

17. Archimedes

Archimedes, also known as Archimedes of Syracuse, was a Greek Mathematician, Physicist, and great Astronomer.

He is one of the prominent scientists in classical antiquity.

Moreover, he is also considered themost outstandingt scientist in the history of humankind.

Archimedes was a successful mathematician and devised many theories, including an accurate approximation of pi, the area of a circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere, the area of an ellipse, etc.

16. Ludwig Van Beethoven

Ludwin Van Beethoven, known by his name Beethoven was a german composer and pianist.

He is also considered one of the greatest composers of all time, along with greats like Mozart.

Moreover, Beethoven’s work is stillfamousr today and has paved the way for many composers of our age.

Beethoven’sfamousr compositions are Piano Sonata No. 23, Turkish March, Symphony No. 8, etc.

15. Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan is one of the most famous rulers and is still remembered in history books for his battles.

He was the Emperor and founder of the first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.

Genghis khan
Portrait Genghis khan

Genghis Khan conquered many dynasties across the world, and his conquest had destruction on an unprecedented scale. He would change the landscapes and reform the territories completely.

14. Wright Brothers

In today’s world, airplanes are necessary for everyone.

For that, we should be thankful for the Wright Brothers, the inventors of airplanes.

Orville and Wilbur Wright together invented the first-ever airplane in history.

They named their airplane Wright Flyer which was the first controlled flight. It traveled 6 kilometers from south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

13. Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer and an anti-colonial nationalist who protested against the British colonizing India.

Similarly, he was the pioneer of the nonviolent resistance, which later led to India’s independence.

With this achievement, Gandhi inspired many leaders worldwide and brought civil rights and freedom worldwide.

He was titled Mahatma, which means Great Soul, for his accomplishments and was given this title in South Africa.

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12. Marco Polo

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant, writer, and traveler who loved to go around the world and explore new lands.

Polo is considered one of the greatest travelers, and all his travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo.

Further, in this book, he presented the Eastern world’s mysterious culture and inner workings to the westerners.

This book had information about the Mongol Empire and the Chinese dynasty over the eastern lands.

11. Galileo Galilei

Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei, who goes by the name of Galileo Galilei in the books of history, was an Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer.

He was also a Polymath. He is the father of Observational Astronomy, Modern Physics, Scientific Method, and Modern Science.

Galileo was the first person to describe the properties of pendulums and hydrostatic balances. Later in his life, he invented the thermoscope and various other military compasses.

10. Socrates

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who was also one of the founders of western philosophy.

He is also the first moral philosopher in the western thought process.

He did not write any books during his lifetime. But he is widely known through the books written by other philosophers.

Plato and Xenophon also spread Socrates’s name as his student.

Similarly, Socrates contributed to the fields of ethics and epistemology.

One of his most famous quotes is, “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

9. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the first-ever American civil rights movement leader.

Luther led the movements with nonviolence and civil disobedience, which eventually led to the success of those movements.

He is one of the first to stand up for Black people in America.

He protested against the government for blacks’ right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and otherfundamentalc civil rights.

8. Julius Cesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a general and statesman of Rome. He played a crucial role in the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

Cesar, alongside Crassus and Pompey, formed the First Triumvirate, which ruled over Roman politics for a certain period.

Eventually, Cesar rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the roman empire after his contribution to the Gallic Wars.

Later on, he took over Rome after his victory in Caesar’s civil war.

7. Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is probably one of themost famousr scientists that even little kids know. He is also one of the most influential people in history.

He is one of the most influential people in history due to his massive contribution and knowledge.

Einstein was a theoretical physicist who was one of the greatest physicists of all time.

Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein’s portrait

He is famous for devising the theory of relativity and contributing to advancing the ideal of quantum mechanics.

His theory of  E = mc2 is considered one of the mostessentialt and well-known equations in history. He also won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.

6. Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer and statesman. He also served as the 16th President of the United States of America.

Lincoln led America through the Civil War and helped them cope with the moral, cultural, constitutional, and political crises.

During his presidency, he managed to preserve the union between the states and diminished slavery in America while modernizing the US economy.

5. Alexander The Great

Alexander the Great, also known as the Alexander III of Macedon, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.

The Great is one of the most influential people in history.

He became a king at the early age of 20 and carried his kingship for an extended period.

Throughout his rule, he started a military campaign throughout Western Asia and Northeastern Africa.

Wherever he went, he conquered, and just in 10 years of his rule, he had extended his empire from Greece to northwestern India.

In his lifetime, Alexander never faced defeat and died without losing a single battle.

Due to this achievement, he is regarded as one of the best military commanders.

4. Isaac Newton

The man mentioned in our science books many times and one of the most influential people in history is Isaac Newton.

He was an English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He is one of the greatest mathematicians.

Newton is one of the central figures in the scientific revolution. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is the base of classical mechanics.

He is famous for formulating the laws of motion and gravity. He also devised the theory of calculus.

3. Marie Curie

Marie Salomea Skłodowska Curie was a Polish and naturalized French physicist and chemist and one of the first people to research radioactivity.

Later in her life, she became the first-ever female to win the Nobel prize and the only female to win two Nobel prizes.

Besides that, she was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.

She is the one who discovered the elements polonium and radium and then isolated the radioactive isotopes.

2. Leonardo Da Vinci

We have all seen the beautiful portrait of Monalisa. Leonardo Da Vinci painted it.

Leonardo was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance and an astounding painter.

Besides that, he was also an Engineer, Theorist, Sculptor, and Architect.

Despite being multitalented, he is widelyfamousr for being a painter.

Leonardo is one of the greatest artists in history.

And is one of the founders of the High Renaissance.

1. Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-American, inventor, electrical engineer, and mechanical engineer, is number one on the list of most influential people in history.

He contributed to the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

Nikola studied engineering and physics for a long time but did not have a degree, but he had many practical experiences as he tested things out.

Nikola_tesla
Nikola Tesla posing for a camera

Throughout his lifetime, Tesla invented essential things that we still use.

He is the inventor of the Tesla coil, Induction motor, Remote control, etc., and many more.

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