The most influential people of the Millenium.

Here is my list of the 30 most influential People of the Millenium:

30. Michalengelo
29. Thomas Edison
28 Nicolo Machiavelli
27. James Watt
26. Louis Pasteur
25. Genghis Khan
24. Elizabeth I
23. Adolf Hitler
22. Ferdinand Magellan
21. Skakespeare
20. Queen Isabella of Spain
19. Louis XIV
18 Leonardo Da Vinci
17 Vasco Da Gama
16. Henry Ford
15. Napoleon Bonaparte
14. John Stuart Mills
13. Marco Polo
12. Columbus
11. Albert Einstein
10. John Locke
09. Adam Smith
08. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
07. Freud
06. Charles Darwin
05. Martin Luther
04. Copernicus
03. Galileo
02. Newton
01. Gutenberg

I think that intellectuals probably did the most to change the world over the last 1,000 years. That is precisely why the top ten is dominated by them.

Edited by Winterhaze13

no muslim? even Avicenna?

Funny the role you out there atribute to portuguese navigators. In portuguese historiography they would never be on a Top 30 of the Millenium.

Isn't the whole list slightly Euro-centric, with the odd American thrown in? Has the rest of the world really not produced any influential person that could make it in the top 30, apart from good old Genghis Khan ? What about Gandhi, Mao, Ayatollah Khomeini........?

Originally posted by Winterhaze13 Originally posted by Frederick Roger Funny the role you out there atribute to portuguese navigators. In portuguese historiography they would never be on a Top 30 of the Millenium. Well, Vasco Da Gama found the sea-route to India and Magellan was the First to circlenavigate the globe, which I feel is very important to the development of world History.

Actually, Vasco da Gama didn't "find" anything. He had orders to find a guide that would lead them to India sailing as close as possible to Africa's coast. The hard part had already been done by Bartolomeu Dias, which was going beyond Cape Good Hope. Vasco da Gama has some importance as an "executor" of royal command and a good administrator of the early asian posessions.

As for Magalh�es (that's portuguese for Magellan; I prefer it this way), that's a bit more complicated. He did navigate the whole extension of the world. But he did that on two journeys, one under a portuguese flag, in the portuguese area of influence (remember the Treaty of Tordesilhas), the other under Spanish flag, on Spanish area. Now, and this is still very cloudy and probably not true, that second journey was supposed to stop right after they had left the Philipines, and before entering the Portuguese zone. But the crown of Spain wanted the journey to continue through that zone. For Magalh�es that would be a treason against the King of Portugal, and a refusal would make him lose his honour in Spain. So it is said that he left instructions to Sebastian Delcano to finish the journey the way Spain wanted it, and decided to charge alone against some cannibals in the Philipines. As we all know, he never came back.

Of course none of this is very known outside Portugal, that's probably why you give them so much importance.  

I'd have put

1. Alexander Fleming

2. John Logi Baird

3. Charles Babbage & Konrad Zuse

And have put these on the list too,

Tim Berners-Lee

Isaac Newton

 

 

"Gutenberg did more for humanity than most of these other people. His invention allowed for knowledge to be available to the common man. The world would vastly be more primitive should he had not done this. "

Gutenberg really didn't invent the printing press.The Chinese already had something similiar,Gutenberg just introduced it to Medieval Europe,and modified it.

You mostly put the most important people for the last 500 years of Europe. But for the world, this list is non-sense...

What about others like Mehmet II, Suleyman the Magnificient, Alparslan, Mimar Sinan, Farabi, and others that I didnt mention here???

Originally posted by Paul I'd have put 1. Alexander Fleming 2. John Logi Baird 3. Charles Babbage & Konrad Zuse And have put these on the list too, Tim Berners-Lee Isaac Newton

Yes television, computers and the internet have to be in there. But where would they all be now without the transistor?

William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain ought to be in there somewhere (or just Bell Laboratories).

 

Originally posted by gcle2003 Why are Hitler and Louis XIV in there? What influence have they had on history since their day? Or on the world today?

Well, Hitler is influential because of fascism. I can't see how Louis XIV can be left off a list like this, he provided the prototype of absolute governments until their decline in 1918. These governments still exist today in some form, and ruled Europe for 300 years. Therefore, Louis is deserving.