Most Influential People in History

The sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from c. 1792 to c. 1750 BCE

Third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt

Founder of the Achaemenid Empire

A king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon

Emperor of Magadha from c. 268 BCE until their death and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynasty

Founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China

Roman general and statesman

Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BCE and the last active Hellenistic pharaoh

Founder of the Roman Empire who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BCE until his death in 14 CE

King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800

Founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire

Ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign

Turco-Mongol conqueror, first ruler of the Timurid dynasty, and the founder of the Timurid Empire, which ruled over modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia

Patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War

Ottoman sultan from 1520 till 1566

Third Mughal emperor who reigned from 1556 to 1605

Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603

Reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796

Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797

French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of military campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815

Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia to independence from the Spanish Empire

16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865

Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule

Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953

Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945

Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) and led the country from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976

South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who was the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999

Chinese eunuch, admiral, and diplomat from the early Ming dynasty who is often regarded as the greatest admiral in Chinese history

Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas

Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman

Portuguese explorer best known for planning and leading the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies

British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779

Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect

Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance.

Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman

Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period active as a painter and printmaker

Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art

Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France

Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages

Semi-legendary Chinese philosopher and author of the Tao Te Ching, one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the Zhuangzi

Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BCE, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy

Ancient Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, perhaps the first Western moral philosopher, and a major inspiration on his student Plato, who largely founded the tradition of Western philosophy

Ancient Greek philosopher of Classical Athens who is most commonly considered the foundational thinker of the Western philosophical tradition

Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath

Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire

Italian Dominican friar and priest, the foremost Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition.

Arab ulama (scholar), historian, philosopher, and sociologist

Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance

French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science

English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism"

Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment

Königsberg-born German philosopher; considered one of the central thinkers of the Enlightenment

English writer and philosopher best known for her advocacy of women's rights

German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist

German philosopher; they began their career as a classical philologist

Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in the psyche, through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it

Ancient Greek poet who is widely credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature

Ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period

Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and even in the whole of Chinese poetry

Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period

Sufi mystic, poet, and founder of the Islamic tariqa (brotherhood) known as the Mevlevi Order

Italian poet, writer, and philosopher

Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists

English playwright, poet, and actor

French Enlightenment writer, philosophe (philosopher), satirist, and historian

Russian writer; wrote a semi-autobiographical trilogy and about their experiences in the Crimean war

Bengali polymath (specifically a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter) of the Bengal Renaissance period

German composer and musician of the late Baroque period

Prolific and influential composer of the Classical period

German composer and pianist

American jazz and blues trumpeter and vocalist

English musician and activist who was the founder, co-lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist of an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960

English musician who was the bassist and keyboardist of, as well as co-lead vocalist for an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960

English musician and actor who was the drummer for an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960

English musician who was the lead guitarist of an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960

American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist

English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film

American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur

Greek physician and philosopher of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine

Preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world

Chinese polymath, scientist, and statesman of the Song dynasty (China from 960 to 1279)

German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press

Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center

Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath

English polymath who was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, author, and inventor

Swedish biologist and physician who formalized binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms

French nobleman and chemist who was central to the 18th-century chemical revolution and who had a large influence on both the history of chemistry and the history of biology

English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism

English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology

English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing

French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization

Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism, and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon

Russian chemist known for formulating the periodic law and creating a version of the periodic table of elements

American inventor and businessman

Serbian-American engineer, futurist, and inventor

Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity

German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity

Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily

Ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician

Mathematician active during the Islamic Golden Age, who produced Arabic-language works in mathematics, astronomy, and geography

Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer

German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist who contributed to many fields in mathematics and science

German mathematician who made many important contributions to abstract algebra

Logician, mathematician, and philosopher

English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist

Wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism

First-century Jewish preacher and religious leader in the Roman province of Judaea

Arab religious, military, and political leader and the founder of Islam

Fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from 656 CE until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam

Indian Vedic scholar, philosopher and acharya (teacher) of Advaita Vedanta

German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar

American industrialist and business magnate