25 Greatest Individuals In History

August 7, 2003
9:05 AM CST

John Hawkins has crapped out on this week’s “Greatest Hits” list—he’d requested suggestions for the greatest historical figures, ever, but most people thought that would be too hard, having fallen asleep during History classes in junior high school, probably.

This is no problem for me, other than keeping it to twenty, so I’ve upped it to twenty-five. My only criteria for judging inclusion on this list is the person’s effect on world history—so there might be a couple of people who will make your hackles rise, but their effect on world history was profound nevertheless. Also, it’s going to be largely Eurocentric, because the Western Hemisphere has been the driving force behind civilization, and a pox on anyone who says otherwise.

In more or less chronological order:

1. Hammurabi—his code of laws predated the Ten Commandments by 300 years.
2. Alexander The Great—conquered most of the known world, with a small army.
3. Socrates—gave us the Socratic Method, ‘nuff said.
4. Euclid and Archimedes—mathematics without these men is unthinkable.
5. Jesus Christ—most influential philosopher in history.
6. Charlemagne—defeated the ungodly hordes, often.
7. Henry II of England—created the modern State.
8. Genghis Khan—like Alexander.
9. Bi Sheng (and later Johann Gutenberg)—invented movable type.
10. The (unknown) inventor of gunpowder.
11. Leonardo da Vinci—the ultimate Renaissance man.
12. William Shakespeare—greatest literary figure ever.
13. Isaac Newton—defined the laws of physics.
14. J.S. Bach—perfected harmony in music.
15. Napoleon Bonaparte—great military commander, created the Napoleonic Code of law.
16. John Locke—the philosopher of freedom.
17. George Washington—built a nation, was offered the crown, and refused it.
18. Adam Smith—codified the economic principles which still apply today.
19. Isambard Brunel—greatest engineer ever.
20. Nickolaus Otto—invented the internal combustion engine.
21. Guglielmi Marconi—invented the radio.
22. Nikola Tesla—invented alternating current.
23. Albert Einstein—created the theory of relativity.
24. John Bardeen, William B. Shockley, and Walter Brattain—invented the transistor.
25. Tim Berners-Lee—invented the World Wide Web.

Comment: There are an awful lot of “creators” on the list—whether in philosophy or the sciences, all their inventions were fundamental in changing the world, forever.

Of course, the problem was “who to leave out”—John Harrison (the inventor of longitude), Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Aristotle, Julius Caesar, and so on. But as I think of it, the three main areas of human invention are the arts, the sciences and philosophy. And I think I’ve captured the seminal figures in each area. Military operations are an area of achievement, and with Alexander, Genghis, Charlemagne and Napoleon, I think I’ve got them pretty well covered, although there is an argument for including Suleiman. And yeah, I cheated a bit by putting two men in one position (eg. Euclid and Archimedes), but it’s my list, my rules.

I have a soft spot for inventors in the field of human communication, hence printing, radio, the WWW, and so on. Perhaps I erred in omitting Samuel Morse (telegraph), but sheesh, I only had 25 places to work with.

Ditto James Watt for steam engines.

Have at it.

Oh, and one last thing, for the feminists: sorry, but compared to the achievements and contributions of the above…