100 Most Influential Historical Figures

According to an article in Time in December of 2013, who were the top 100 most influential figures? Note: I do not necessarily agree with this list.
Quiz by metternich1815
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Last updated: March 18, 2014
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First submittedMarch 18, 2014
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On most answers the first and last name are required. With monarchs with a number (for example Peter III), you must put the number after the person's first name and include the term " of (country here)" (do not write their last name). So, if Peter III was king of England, you would write Peter III of England. Note that not all monarchs have an associated number. The list is taken from Time, the descriptions from Business Insider.
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Hint
Answer
1
Central figure of Christianity
Jesus
2
Emperor of France, involved in the Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon Bonaparte
3
Prophet and founder of Islam
Muhammed
4
English playwright, wrote "Hamlet"
William Shakespeare
5
16th U.S. President, involved in the American Civil War
Abraham Lincoln
6
1st U.S. President, involved in the American Revolution
George Washington
7
Fuehrer of Nazi Germany, involved in World War II
Adolf Hitler
8
Greek philosopher and polymath
Aristotle
9
Greek (technically Macedonian) conqueror of the Known World
Alexander the Great
10
3rd U.S. President, co-wrote the Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson
11
King of England, had six wives
Henry VIII of England
12
Scientist, created (more accurately proposed) the theory of evolution
Charles Darwin
13
Queen of England, known as the "Virgin Queen"
Elizabeth I of England
14
Philosopher, wrote the "Communist Manifesto"
Karl Marx
15
Roman general and statesman, said Et tu Brute?"
Julius Caesar
16
Queen of Britain, Victorian era
Queen Victoria
17
Protestant Reformation, wrote the "95 Theses"
Martin Luther
18
Premier of the USSR, involved in World War II
Joseph Stalin
19
Theoretical physicist, creator (more accurately proposer or discoverer) of the Theory of Relativity
Albert Einstein
20
Explorer, discoverer of the New World
Christopher Columbus
21
Scientist, creator (again more accurately proposer or discoverer of) the Theory of Gravity
Isaac Newton
22
First Holy Roman Emperor, considered the "Father of Europe"
Charlemagne
23
26th U.S President, Progressive Movement
Theodore Roosevelt
24
Austrian composer, wrote "Don Giovanni"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
25
Greek philosopher, wrote "The Republic"
Plato
26
King of France, known as the Sun King
Louis XIV of France
27
German composer, wrote "Ode to Joy"
Ludwig Von Beethoven
28
18th U.S. President, general in the American Civil War
Ulysses S. Grant
29
Italian artist and polymath, painted the "Mona Lisa"
Leonardo Da Vinci
30
First emperor of Rome, Pax Romana
Augustus Caesar
31
Swedish biologist, father of Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus
32
40th U.S. President, Conservative Revolution
Ronald Reagan
33
English novelist, wrote "David Copperfield"
Charles Dickens
34
Christian apostle and missionary
Paul the Apostle
35
Founding father, scientist, captured lightning
Benjamin Franklin
36
43rd U.S. President during the Iraq War (Include middle initial)
George W. Bush
37
Prime Minister of Great Britian, involved in World War II
Winston Churchill
38
Founder of the Mongol Empire
Genghis Khan
39
King of England, involved in the English Civil War
Charles I of England
40
Inventor of the lightbulb and phonograph
Thomas Edison
41
King of England, responsible for the KJV Bible
James I of England
42
German philosopher, "God is Dead"
Friedrich Nietzsche
43
32nd U.S. President, responsible for the New Deal
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
44
Creator of psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud
45
U.S. Founding Father, National Bank
Alexander Hamilton
46
Indian nationalist leader, instrumental in non-violence
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
47
28th U.S. President, involved in World War I
Woodrow Wilson
48
Classical composer, wrote the "Well Tempered Clavier"
Johann Sebastian Bach
49
Italian physicist and astronomer
Galileo Galilei
50
Lord Protector of England, involved in the English Civil War
Oliver Cromwell
51
4th U.S. President, involved in War of 1812
James Madison
52
Central figure of Buddhism
Guatama Buddha
53
American author, wrote "Huckleberry Finn"
Mark Twain
54
American author, wrote "The Raven"
Edgar Allen Poe
55
American religious leader, founded Mormonism
Joseph Smith
56
Economist, wrote "On the Wealth of Nations"
Adam Smith
57
Biblical King of Israel, founded Jerusalem
King David
58
King of England, involved in the American Revolution
George III of England
59
German philosopher, wrote "Critique of Pure Reason"
Immanuel Kant
60
Explorer and discoverer of Hawaii and Australia
James Cook
61
Founding Father and 2nd U.S. President
John Adams
62
German composer, wrote "Der Ring Des Nibelungen"
Richard Wagner
63
Russian composer, wrote the "1812 Overture"
Pyotr Ilyrich Tchaikovsky
64
French Enlightenment philosopher, wrote "Candide"
Voltaire
65
Early Christian leader
Saint Peter
66
7th U.S. president, also known as "Old Hickory"
Andrew Jackson
67
Emperor of Rome, allowed toleration of Christianity
Constantine the Great
68
Greek philosopher and teacher, sentenced to death by hemlock
Socrates
69
The "king of rock and roll"
Elvis Presley
70
King of England, Norman Conquest
William the Conqueror
71
35th president, Cuban Missile Crisis
John F. Kennedy
72
Early Christian theologian, wrote "The City of God"
Augustine of Hippo
73
Post-impressionist painter, painted "Starry Night"
Vincent Van Gogh
74
Astronomer, theorized a heliocentric cosmology
Nicolaus Copernicus
75
Soviet revolutionary and Premier of the USSR
Vladimir Lenin
76
Confederate General during the American Civil War (type first name, middle initial, and last name)
Robert E. Lee
77
Irish author and poet, wrote "The Picture of Dorian Grey"
Oscar Wilde
78
King of England, post-Cromwell
Charles II of England
79
Roman statesman and orator, wrote "On the Republic"
Cicero
80
Philosopher, wrote "On the Social Contract"
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
81
English scientist, created the Scientific Method
Francis Bacon
82
37th U.S. President, involved in Watergate
Richard Nixon
83
King of France, executed in the French Revolution
Louis XVI of France
84
Holy Roman Emperor during the Counter-Reformation
Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire
85
Mythical 6th century King of Britain
King Arthur
86
Italian sculptor and Renaissance man, sculpted "David"
Michelangelo
87
King of Spain, organized the Spanish Armada
Phillip II of Spain
88
German writer and polymath, wrote "Faust"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
89
Early Caliph and a central figure of Sufism
Ali
90
Italian theologian, "Summa Theologia"
Thomas Aquinas
91
20th Century Polish Pope, Solidarity
Pope John Paul II
92
French philosopher, coined the term "I think, therefore I am" (cogito ergo sum)
Rene Descartes
93
Inventor, discovered alternating current
Nikola Tesla
94
33rd U.S. President, ordered the dropping of the Atomic bombs
Harry S Truman
95
French military leader and Saint
Joan of Arc
96
Italian poet, wrote the "Divine Comedy"
Dante Alighieri
97
1st Chancellor and unifier of modern Germany
Otto von Bismarck
98
22nd and 24th U.S. President
Grover Cleveland
99
French Protestant thelogian, founded Calvinism
John Calvin
100
English Enlightenment philosopher, theorized "tabla rasa"
John Locke
+4
Level 78
Mar 18, 2014
Ludwig van Beethoven (not von). Why don't you accept "Arthur" instead of "King Arthur", "Victoria" instead of "Queen Victoria" and "John Paul II" instead of "Pope John Paul II?" Their titles are given in the clues.
+2
Level 35
Mar 18, 2014
A great quiz, but if I can suggest a few tweaks... Isaac Newton (not Issac) ... Ludwig van (not von) Beethoven ... Answers "Queen Victoria" and "William The Conqueror" should be "Victoria of the United Kingdom" and "William I of England" to be consistent with the format given in description ... consider not requiring "Pope" in front of John Paul II, since it's specified in the question
+1
Level 85
Mar 18, 2014
Why is "Saint" required for Peter but not for Paul? Why is "Pope" required for John Paul II? Voltaire wrote "Candide", not "Candidate". There are many transliterations of the name of the founder of Islam, and "Muhammed" is (according to Wikipedia) not the primary one.
+2
Level 4
Mar 18, 2014
First, I would like to thank everyone for taking my quiz and making these recommendations. I will incorporate the suggested changes, they are all excellent points. I tried my best to anticipate the answers people would try, but I did not think of everything. On the "Candidate" (versus "Candide) topic, my source of the descriptions was Business Insider and several of their descriptions were historically inaccurate, I tried to correct all such instances. I must have missed that one. Thank you for pointing it out. I will change that appropriately.
+2
Level 78
Mar 30, 2014
What a ridiculous quiz! I had to type everything three times (or more) when I knew that I had the answer right, but I had to have it the perfect way the quizmaster wanted! Come on, give us a break. It's supposed to be fun!
+3
Level 72
Mar 31, 2014
I agree with the author that I do not agree with this list. It seems to be very heavy on United States presidents (Time being an American publication), which whilst I am sure were important to American history, not all had as much as an effect on worldwide events. Names which spring to mind like Marconi or Gutenburg have been dropped off the list - I'm pretty sure the printing press has had far more influence than anything Ronald Reagan ever did!
+2
Level 43
Apr 30, 2014
I agree about the American bias — really, is Grover Cleveland more significant than, say, Simon Bolivar, or Mao Zedong, or even William Tyndall? But Time is an American publication, so that's hardly the fault of the quizmaker. What CAN be fixed, however, is the fact that the naming is inconsistent. So Dante gets to be known by one name, but not Shakespeare? Why does Victoria get just one name, but for the other monarchs I have to write out their full titles? If you didn't insist on Tchaikovsky's full name, I would have gotten it right, because you spelled his patronymic name wrong — Ilyich, not Ilyrich. I suggest allowing the simplest version of the name, though of course you should keep the distinction between the two Smiths (but not without noting in the hint that they need the full name). And accept the spelling of Mohammad.
+1
Level 43
Apr 30, 2014
the two Smiths and the two Roosevelts, I mean.
+1
Level 42
Feb 25, 2023
I agree completely!!!!
+1
Level 43
Apr 30, 2014
Also, it's Edgar Allan Poe (not Allen), the correct name of the Buddha is Gautama Buddha or Siddartha Gautama (not Guatama), and by your description the king who authorized the KJV Bible should be "James VI of Scotland and I of England" and the one who fought with the American colonies should be "George III of the United Kingdom". But then "John Paul" works fine without having to add "II" after it? Is there any consistency to this quiz? It's a great concept, but your execution is lacking.
+3
Level 48
Nov 13, 2014
Really a pain to enter first names and titles of mononymous people like Mozart, Hitler and Descartes. Last names should be accepted for these kinds of historical figures.
+1
Level 67
Jan 5, 2015
Awful quiz. First, you have to type things that shouldn't be typed (Henry VIII of England, for example), but the biggest problem are the errors: it is Muhammad and not Muhammed (!!!!), Philip II of Spain not Phillip and so on... All in all: lousy!
+1
Level 43
Jun 27, 2015
Tried so many variations of Muhammad *sigh*
+1
Level 55
Sep 3, 2015
I take a lot of these tests and in almost all of them it's perfectly okay to write Jefferson for Thomas Jefferson, Newton for Isaac Newton, etc. You also don't seem to have any set precedent for requiring full names, sometimes you need them and sometimes you don't. Finally, while I can go along with needing the roman numeral that accompanies a monarchs title, I think requiring "of England" or whatever is overkill.
+1
Level 43
Jan 3, 2016
I found it harder writing their names down than the actual quiz itself. Thinking about how some of their names are worded was the biggest time consumer.
+2
Level 72
Sep 29, 2016
Terrible Quiz, waste of time to write all those first names
+2
Level 61
Nov 25, 2016
Grover Cleveland?????? Even in the US he isn't much remembered.
+1
Level 74
Jun 23, 2017
It's Carolus Linnaeus.
+1
Level 17
Mar 13, 2018
This is a good example of why some things should be done correctly the first time. This quiz needs a LOT of work.
+1
Level 72
Sep 22, 2018
I tried to type Thomas Alva Edison and it didn't work. Didn't even think to leave Alva out, as we were required to type in full names.
+2
Level 36
Mar 26, 2021
Stupid quiz, wont accept Henry VIII or Elizabeth I
+1
Level 30
Jul 15, 2021
It's not necessarily correct to say "more accurately discovered" on the creators of theories questions. As a matter of fact, it is not yet certain that these theories are correct, by definition. Even the theory of gravity may not be an accurate representation of what causes objects to be drawn to each other, and the less certain theories are even less able to be considered "discovered" rather than created. Consider the theory of evolution, which is plagued by demonstrable counter-evidence, as Darwin himself acknowledged.
+1
Level 42
Feb 25, 2023
you ruined completely the quiz adding names (in some cases totally not justified as Stalin and Lenin: these were not surnames but battlenames, so it is a nonsense write vladimir lenin or joseph stalin, correct should be lenin or vladimir ilich uljanov and stalin or joseph djugashvili). It's also horrible that i have to write Pyotr Ilyrich Tchaikovsky instead of tchaikovsky or chajkowsky or chaikowskij and so on: if you want to do a serious quiz you have to put every possible transcription of the surname. I want to underline that the patronimic isn't IlYRich but Ilich or Ilych. I even didn't know the exact transcription. The same for Goethe, he is known simply as Wolfgang Goethe and not JOHANN Wolfgang VON Goethe. Copernicus for not english speaking people is most known as Kopernik, his real name. Joan of Arc is known, also in english speaking countries, as Joanne d'Arc. It's a pity: this could be a good quiz, but at the end it shows only your closed minded way of thinking.