Most influential person history.

[Schadenfroh]

anand?

 

[coldfirenj]

People overlook too frequently Peter the Great's significence in history. He played a huge role in westernizing Russian and the surrounding area.

 

[Titan]

WHO: Me!

WHY: TBD...

 

[jyates]

William Shatner KHAN!!!!!!

 

[GreatBarracuda]

How can you hope to find out "The Most Influential Person in History" and then exclude one of the most important aspects of human life: religion?

 

[Mermaidman]

Are cats eligible? I wanna say that white cat.

Don't forget AL Gore. No Gore--no ATOT.

 

[cquark]

Originally posted by: Isshinryu

Originally posted by: loki8481
Guttenberg.

yay for easily mass-produced literature.

Yay for China in 11th Century CE.

This thread is about historical influence, and China's early, primitive printing press didn't have much of an impact on China's history, much less on the world's, whereas Gutenberg's press quickly helped lead to the Protestant Reformation and later helped create the Scientific Revolution.

 

[RgrPark]

Abraham Lincoln...

Yeah someone else would have come along to free the slaves, but think for a minute...

if a time traveller picked him off and brought Lincoln back to the 21st century and showed him all the gangsta rap and the thug culture, would he have gone back and pursued the same course of action?

 

[cquark]

Originally posted by: rbloedow

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: rbloedow
Hitler - he has influenced history more than any other mentioned.

It remains to be seen. He only died about 60 years ago so his history is really short compared to others. Also, how did Hitler influence history more than, say, Alexander the Great or Napoleon?

I'd say that helping to kick off the largest known world war is pretty significant. Through our involvement and his defeat, he helped to solidify the US as the largest SUPERPOWER earth has ever seen - another big one in my book.

However, Hitler's existence is contingent on those earlier figures. Without Napoleon to end the Holy Roman Empire and merge many of the tiny principalities into larger ones, there probably wouldn't have been a Germany in the 20th century. However, the Napoloenic Wars left two large German-speaking powers: Austria and Prussia. Without Bismarck's brilliant diplomatic maneuivers, it's unlikely that Prussia would have united most of the small German speaking states into a single kingdom, so again the existence of Germany, much less Hitler, is contingent on an earlier figure.

 

[thomsbrain]

don't forget that marx also invented the field of sociology.

although i think there's other who have still been more influential.

 

[FoBoT]

holy crapper , what a shock!

WW ? he was very damaging to the US republic, his use of "democracy" to describe a republic was a disgrace

woodrow wilson was one of the worst US presidents

i vote for Elmer Fudd

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: oniq

Originally posted by: MAME
jesus christ

he was a real man who was 100% ordinary and now a bunch of morons made him in to a fairytale.

How would he have been influential if he hadn't been made into a fairytale?

....he wouldn't


that's my point

I'm glad no one has taken your flame bait, this is actually a pretty good thread minus your posts.

My vote goes to Johannes Gutenberg, although what he did was inevitable and would have happened whether he did it or not (which can't be said for the great military and political leaders people have listed). Without the ability for everyone to be educated, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are today technologically.

 

[b0mbrman]

I think you have to clarify...Some of the things Alexander the Great or Julius Caeser did really influenced the world for centuries but have little effect on the things I do today...

Someone like a Hitler may have totally changed the world I live in today, but he's only changed about 60 years out of the thousands that civilization has been around--very tiny fraction...

 

[yukichigai]

I'd have to go with one of the great philosophers. Probably Plato as The Republic spawned the idea of democracy, which you can argue is the most widely used form of government today.

In the future I see it being... I can't remember his name, but Penn and Teller did a segment on him in their show. (Penn and Teller: Bullsh*t!) He genetically engineered a species of rice containing, among other things, Beta Kerotine along with a variety of other essential vitamins and minerals. Because of him there are children and families in third world countries who can get good nutrition.

 

[Isshinryu]

Originally posted by: cquark

Originally posted by: Isshinryu

Originally posted by: loki8481
Guttenberg.

yay for easily mass-produced literature.

Yay for China in 11th Century CE.

This thread is about historical influence, and China's early, primitive printing press didn't have much of an impact on China's history, much less on the world's, whereas Gutenberg's press quickly helped lead to the Protestant Reformation and later helped create the Scientific Revolution.

Gutenberg's press was an improvement on the original Chinese moveable type set. Without it, Gutenberg may not have ever created the printing press.

 

[Isshinryu]

Originally posted by: ThePresence
Alexander the Great.

Phillip III. Alexander never would have expanded like he did if his father hadn't started the campaign.

 

I'm changing my vote - Ryan Seacrest.

 

[JupiterJones]

Nicolo Machiavelli

The Prince has influenced most world leaders for the past few hundred years, plus is applicable to almost any personal endeaver for any leader. He has, therefore, influenced everyone these leaders have influenced (think pyramid).

Johannes Gutenberg (for second choice).

the Gutenberg press made the Protestant Reformation and The Enlightenment possible, which means he has influenced all of Western Civilization.

Jup