40 Historical People that Everyone Should Know

Sorry, but edison did definitely not discover the lightbulb, by any definition. His workers did, he just patented it.

whether or not this is true, the take-away here for me is... you believe that Alexander the Great conquered most of the known world and defeated the Persian Empire by himself? Wow. No wonder he was called Great. Also, you think that Mao Tse Tung killed 30 million people directly, in person, perhaps bare handed? His social calendar must have been even busier than Wilt Chamberlain's.

The first electric light was made in 1800 by Humphrey Davy, an English scientist. He experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. When he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed, producing light. This is called an electric arc. Much later, in 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) devised a practical, long-lasting electric light. He found that a carbon paper filament worked well, but burned up quickly. In 1878, he demonstrated his new electric lamps in Newcastle, England. The inventor Thomas Alva Edison and his employees (in the USA) experimented with thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting.

^ right. Thus inventing the common, modern, practical lightbulb.

I'd call it "Improving" rather than 'Inventing.'

The common, modern, practical lightbulb did not exist before Edison and his employees invented one. But I know what you're trying to say.

The clue doesn't say 'Inventor of the first common, modern, practical lightbulb'. We'd all be happy if it did, I think.

It was one hell of a belly flop. You should have seen it.

Nikola Tesla

Yuri Gagarin - The first man in space and Chamberlain was also the british PM for the first couple of years of WWII, and not Stalin? Castro? Abraham (the old testament and the leader of the monotheism religion before Jesus and Mohammed was born) ? ...

Hannibal was born in Carthage which is now located in Tunisia (Africa).

Cause you cant discover something that already exists

Huh? Sure you can! You do know what discovered means right?

because it's not fact

Who do you think it was then? It is true that Darwin formulated the theory and published it in On the Origins of Species.

I think he's denying that evolution is fact. Which is not an argument I'm inclined to get into.

Evolution was not an established scientific fact when Darwin first hypothesized that natural selection was the mechanism behind speciation. Now, many years later, it definitely is.

And also on gravity, which the 'Evolution vs God' argument can't apply to

Inverted commas? How about quotation marks?

I think possibly it is because "discovery" is not exactly the right word to use, and nor is "evolution". Darwin thought of the way evolution would happen (natural selection): he was not the first to think of evolution itself. He did play a role in getting evolution generally accepted and he did find evidence for evolution, but he didn't "discover" it by many definitions of discovery.

Darwin didnt discover evolution. Evolution was already known before Darwin. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was the first I think. Darwin proofed that evolution exist and "discoverd" how it works.

Because that's his first name, all you need is Mao.

Finished in .5 seconds and im 2.5 years old...

Finished in .1 seconds and I'm 1.

Darwin received a joint credit for the theory of evolution along with Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace should be an acceptable answer for this question.

He actually plagiarized the work of Ibn Khaldun, an Arab scholar who developed the theory of evolution 500 years prior.

The clue is perhaps a little ambiguous...

No, I understood it perfectly. I suppose it is something Americans don't know very well. I don't suppose they learn about the English Civil Wars...

If only you had access to the Internet you could probably find out.

She's an American who became deaf and blind while very young. She was the subject of the play and movie, "The Miracle Worker" which tells how her teacher, Annie Sullivan, taught her to communicate. She eventually became the first deaf and blind person to graduate from college, and she became an author and political activist in the early 1900s.

Darwin did not discover evolution, what he discovered was "evolution through natural selection". Before Darwin, there were other scientists who were working on evolution, like Lamarck.

The ideas regarding natural selection and evolution were surfacing throughout science during that time. However, the theories were not well supported. Darwin and Wallace were the first to present direct and observable evidence.

Edison borrowed, stole, or bought patents from a lot of other inventors - Joseph Swan invented a light bulb several months before Edison (it just didn't catch on because it was less efficient)

Not when apparently everyone should know all forty

lol

Since Macedonia was one of the many states within the Greek world at the time, and its capital (and Alexander's birthplace) was inside the current frontiers of Greece, I don't understand why you feel the distinction necessary.

Alexander was born in the ancient kingdom of Macedonia and was Macedonian (not to be confused with the modern-day nation-state the Republic of Macedonia, or the modern-day ethnicity or nationality); he shared a culture and language with the ancient Greeks (not to be confused with contemporary Greeks); his birthplace Pella is currently within the borders of the modern-day nation-state of Greece, which of course did not exist at the time. It's correct to say that he was both Greek and Macedonian, in the classical sense of each word. It's inaccurate to say that either Greeks, Macedonians, or Greek Macedonians today share an ethnicity or a nation with Alexander. The ancient Greeks and the kingdom of Macedonia are long gone.

Keller, Earhart and Thatcher are definitely not someone that everyone should know about. The effect of their deeds and popularity is mostly limited to their respective countries. I'd say that the rest are reasonably famous historical figures, although as usual, the choice is very skewed (Cook but not Magellan or Vasco da Gama. Dickens, Austen or Twain but not Dante, Moliere or Ghoethe. Elisabeth I but not Louis XIV or Catherine the Great). It's very telling that out of those 40 historical people, only 19 did not have English as their language. The World is bigger than that. four writers in English, four US Presidents, two UK Prime Ministers,... . I'd say that Dante, Moliere, or Ghoethe would have made for a more diverse setup. It would also have been nice to include figures such as here are four presidents from the UK and two prime ministers of the UK.

It doesn't say anywhere that these are the only 40 people you should know.

Keller was an important person in history because of what she contributed to the millions of people with ailments. Personally, I think helping millions of blind and deaf people is a decent thing to do, and might deserve a bit of recognition.

But Adolf Hitler wan't German

That's not the point. It means he was the leader of Germany, not that he was German. But even at that, he still was German. He was born in Austria, yes, but in case you did not know, people can become citizens of other countries. Which he did.

and German can also be an ethnicity.

and ethnicity and naturalization aside, it doesn't matter, because the clue could just as easily be read to mean "leader of Germany" as "leader who was German."

^exactly. It's such a common source of errors that people just assume that these fabricated divisions like nationality, race, or contemporary nation states existed forever and go back for all time. They certainly did not.

But I mean, you should know who led the Germans through WWII. That's the whole point of the quiz...

He was born in Austria. But you can become a citizen of another country, and Austria is german, so it doesn't really matter.

Ever heard of Anschluss?

And some of them are appalling dictators. Nice balance

So what? Can't handle opposing viewpoints, snowflake?

mandela*

The only reason I know Laozi is because of an Epic Rap Battles of History

Haha

I don't think the list is claiming completeness - Its '40 people everyone should know' NOT 'The ONLY 40 people everyone should know'

I think they're all dead.

I study at Johannes Gutenberg University :)

*theory of evolution

Missed one. That was Laozi

Not quite right, at the time nobody was aware of Gravity as such. That is why it would not be possible to 'Explain it'. It was Newton that realised what drew one body to another, and why the planets and sun etc. behave the way they do. He also called this force 'Gravity'. So the question 'Who discovered Gravity?' is correct.

The Earth has been around for 4.5 billion years but history is pretty much the accomplishments of a few American and British men in the last 300 years. We're really living right at the start of history relatively speaking.

However, humans weren't civilised if you like until about 10000 years ago and no 'history' really begins until the Roman time, just before and after 0 A.D.

There's no such date. What you call 0 A.D. is actually 1 B.C.

You mean American and British men who took credit for the work of others.

Would you accept Triceratops?

who are the 9% who didnt get george washington and the 12% who didnt get hitler?

In your defense, had she used a computer she would have probably done the same.

Surprised to see no Harriet Tubman

Are you asking why February is the shortest month, or why the shortest month was chosen for Black history month? For the first question, you can blame the Romans. For the second, it's because a black historian named Carter G. Woodson picked a week in February to be "Negro History Week," (he picked that week to be near the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass) and it was later expanded to the whole month.

I got 31 first try. I missed 3 I SHOULD HAVE GOT! Great quiz though

That is why the quotation marks are there, bud.

I'm pretty sure all the people already living here knew about it as well.

My knowledge of tao te ching is pretty laozi

I got Laozi but missed Martin Luther King Jr. ???????

Everyone learns about Rosa Parks at school in New Zealand. My kids know who she is.

So wouldn't Abel Tasman be on there instead of James Cook

The lamest quiz ever! Hitler is there, but Nelson Mandela is not. Terrible! (just to mention ONE example)

Mandela was a typical freedom fighter of the era. If South Africa didn't have white people then Mandela's cause would have been lost in history books as one of several African conflicts.

jmellor13: Mao, Gavrillo Princip (started WWI leading to WWII), Lenin, Stalin, FDR and his work with the depression, Truman for dropping the bombs... Hitler had an impact be it's debatable to say he had the biggest impact

Pedantry I know but Soviet is a bit dodgy as demonym for USSR; first Soviet leader made me think of the Petrograd Soviet first. Perhaps Bolshevik or USSR leader might be better.

I mostly agree with this list but not having Aristotle, Plato and Stalin on this list is a mistake. I have to disagree with having Hannibal and Nelson on this list. Great generals but Hannibal didn't conquer Rome and Nelson, well why?? He is a footnote in history if you are not from the UK. Aristotle and Plato's influence on our modern ideas of politics and science can still be seen. Stalin rapidly transformed an agrarian county into a industrial world superpower. Omitting them is foolish.

Yes. As the greatest leader in history, Stalin should definitely be on the list.

Greatest by what metric? If we're going by how many people he killed then he is 2nd to Mao.

This quiz is not entitled "the only 40 people everyone should know" or even "the 40 most relevent people in history." You look foolish.

Everyone needs to quit being so disrespectful to the people on this list. Just because someone wasn't as great of an influence to you, doesn't mean they weren't to someone else.

Surely you can't mean that is true of everyone on the list?

Shouldn't Jefferson Davis be added as an option for Civil War President?

please accept shakespear

Shakespear is not correct though.

That's right, we should spell "Shakspeare" the same way that Shakspere himself spelled it: "Shaksper."

I have 27 General Knowledge quizzes in jetpunk and none of them get the comments like this and many others. Maybe my questions are too factual and not as controversial and contentious as these.

I saw his corpse in Moscow. He looked great for having been married to Yoko Ono.

That was harder than i thought

Someone tell me why I should be expected to know who Helen Keller is. The others I can just about see why they're on the list, but not her

Well, for starters, she helped raise awareness for millions of people with natural ailments. So, unless you have something against the blind and deaf, I personally think helping millions of people around the world would be a decent thing to do, wouldn't it?

Given the title, I concur completely with the number of athletes that appear on this quiz.

i only guessed Leonerdo da Vinci... But Cool Quiz!

I made a quiz similar to this. If you enjoyed this quiz, please check mine out.

Darn, forgot about Lenin. I just did a WWII quiz and all I could think about was Stalin.

Not everyonez should know but americans... USA is not center of the world. Rosa Parks isnt very know outside.

Only one-fourth of the people named here are Americans. Who are the ten people you would replace them with on your own quiz? (Which you are quite welcome to make.)

Basically 50% England and english people, historical people nobody should know.

You're right. Nobody should know the name of the man who started WW2 and committed a genocide of Jews. No one should know the first leader of the most powerful nation in the world. Not a single human should know the "father" of the soon to be most populous nation in the world. Discoverer of huge scientific theory? Nah.

40/40 with 4:30 remaining, and I'm a 3-year-old from Lesotho.

Eh, Keller wasn't really an influential person in history at all. I mean, it's not like she changed the world for the millions of blind and deaf people, who already struggle as it is.

Summed it up pretty well. Another Brit who learnt about her at school and has heard mentionof her periodically on tv, though I still couldn't remember her name in the time limit.

According to Wikipedia, a movie was made about her in Bollywood, and there are streets named after her in Zurich, Getafe, Spain, Lod, Israel, and Caen, France. Apparently some outside of the US have heard of her. She did help revolutionize the world for deaf and blind people. She graduated from Radcliffe, (now part of Harvard University), which isn't easy for sighted, hearing people. I also think Anne Sullivan deserves some credit for Keller's accomplishments, too. Both were inspirational women, and I'm glad to see Keller on this list.

Absolutely. I read her biography (and Anne Sullivan's) as a child in New Zealand.

Can Nikola Tesla be an acceptable answer for inventor of the lightbulb?

Wow, no Nelson Mandela? Also, Koreans invented the movable metal type hundreds of years before Gutenberg...

Some countries fell into the Great Depression because they depended to heavily on our economy's success. When FDR brought relief to the U.S., he brought a little relief to other countries as well. Also, U.S. citizens are this site's number one demographic, so it is highly probable that the author of this quiz is a U.S. resident.

Fair guess, but fairly short odds; it is a US site after all.

What's a Greek? Do you believe that there was a Greek nation state in existence at the time of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia? Speaking of checking your facts...

Then you're agreeing with me.

Only 88% got Jesus

no

60 years later and Claudette would have been given her own MTV reality TV show. She was ahead of her time in more ways than one.

Why Colvin but not Bayard Rustin?

I am pretty sure Buddha is a lot more important than some people here.

I mean, considering I'm twelve and haven't learnt most of these in school yet, I'm pretty proud of the 16 I got

I thought Odeysseus wrote the iiliad

Yea exactly and especially some who lived in paleolithic times.

I'm not religious, but I'm marginally concerned about Jesus being called "Christian Messiah" while Muhammad is called "Founder of Islam". My suggestion is to change Jesus' description to "Founder of Christianity", because that is a title that is literally true, while it cannot be proven that Jesus was actually a messiah, let alone THE messiah.

It used to say "founder of Christianity," which is actually less accurate. Jesus, if he was a real person, did not found Christianity. Jesus was Jewish. So were his followers. According to Christian tradition, Jesus and his followers believed him to be the messiah. To Christians- he is the messiah. Therefore it's accurate to say he's the Christian messiah. He's definitely not the founder of Christianity. The man most directly responsible for founding the religion of Christianity, as distinct and separate from Judaism, is probably Paul.

A similar argument could be made for Muhammad, and it would probably be more accurate to call Muhammad the "last Muslim prophet" rather than the founder of Islam; even putting aside whether he was or was not a legitimate prophet, and the fact that Islamic tradition holds he had more to do with founding a religion than Jesus did. The Quran supposedly came straight from Muhammad's mouth. Jesus did not write the Bible.

yeah yeah yeah... Muslims say the same thing when they argue that Adam was the first Muslim, you know? Now, back to reality...

Look up the definition for messiah. It doesn't even necessarily have to have any supernatural or religious overtones.

Looked it up. Says "Not a very naughty boy"

If you wanted to add more women, you could have added famous and significant women like Maria Curie, Eva Peron, Florence Nightingale, Catherine the Great, Cleopatra, Dolores Ibarruri... Helen Keller, Jane Austen and Amelia Earhart, with all due respect, absolutely don't belong in this list. Not to mention Rosa Parks, nobody outside US knows who she is, or should even care.

What an absolutely ridiculous final comment

I am outside the USA and I know who Rosa Parks is. There is nothing wrong with learning the history of a country other than your own, particularly such an influential country as the USA.

"absolutely don't belong on this list"? I think the Quizmaster did a good job.

One I didn't know altogether—Oliver Cromwell—and one I could only come up with the first name for—Horatio Nelson. But other than that, I guess I know my important historical figures!

Why is it when someone goes to the trouble of making a little quiz for jetpunkers many people try and pick fault or choose alternatives for the quiz. Make your own quizzes and then we can all pick holes in yours.

Interesting that you have incontrovertible proof of this, going back a few years where records are shady and claims are exaggerated. "Supposedly" is not denying it, so don't be so offended; it's merely implying that it isn't proven and some uncertainty exists. I don't think merely stating this as fact using capital letters will change many minds

No, they aren't. Race is a social construct. None of these people are "White." And none of them are white, either.

Very american-centered

Helen Keller was a prolific author, and speaker in over 40 countries, advocating for people with disabilities, and also women's rights.

Can you accept 'Zedong' instead of having to type his full name?

I have always felt that although what Rosa Parks did was brave and nobel, never was really that important. The civil rights movement would have happened without her, and a man like MLK was really who pushe the movement. Did her act affect the movement? Absolutley, but there have been thousands of people who have had a bigger affect on the world.

You missed that one? Really?

Don't include Jesus in something HISTORICAL!!!!!

Hold up, quiz is called historical people that everyone should know, therefore my concern is why isn't Cyrus The Great on the list? Wrote the first human bill of rights, which is incorporated in the Constitution of the USA. He freed the Jews and his name is mentioned in the Bible, Torah and the Quran.