The 57 most important historical figures

History is full of people who marked a before and after in the future of humanity. Today the world is what it is thanks to its thoughts, ideas or actions, with a significance that often escapes our knowledge.

To pay tribute to them, below we present a list of the 57 most important historical figures whose ideas transcended time.

Of course our selection is incomplete, since we could easily choose hundreds of heroes, writers, philosophers and scientists for each country. We hope that, even so, it is a good starting point to get closer to their stories and concerns. Prepared?

The important characters in the story

Before we start, we must first warn you something: Our list does not revolve around illustrious figures for their ethics, but for the consequences that their ideas or actions have generated.. While many of them changed the landscape for the better, others did nothing but sow darkness.

Also note that the selection is not listed by importance; Its position on the list is due to pure chance. Each of them is accompanied by her date of birth and death.

In some cases, we include the date that is traditionally associated with these stages; since these are characters who lived centuries ago, a reliable record is not always available. With this in mind, let’s get started!

1. Jesus of Nazareth (4 BC – 30-33 AD)

Jesus was followed by many and persecuted by the religious order of his time. He gave his life on the cross for the redemption and salvation of humanity.

Main figure of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish preacher who lived around the 1st century AD. c. Today its schism brings together more than 2.4 billion believers, with almost 1.4 billion of them Catholic. His thought has been the center of attention of theologians for two millennia. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea and, according to tradition, was a descendant of King David.

2. Muhammad (570 – 632)

He unified Arabia under a monotheistic religion and is credited with writing the Koran.

For the Islamic religion, Muhammad is the last of the prophets (who was preceded by Jesus, Moses and Abraham, among others). According to the tradition, The prophet founded Islam after a revelation by the archangel Gabriel in the cave of Hira. Today there are more than 1.8 billion Muslims around the world.

3. Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506)

He “discovered” America and promoted European exploration and colonialism on the American continent.

The navigator and cartographer in the service of the Crown of Castile was the person in charge of directing the exploration that would result in the discovery of America. The Modern Age, and along with it globalization, began on October 12, 1492, when they landed on Guanahani Island (current Bahamas). He made a total of four trips before dying on May 20, 1506.

4. Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC)

During his reign the transformation of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire began.

Gaius Julius Caesar was one of the most important politicians and soldiers of ancient Rome.. His control of the Republic was surrounded by controversy and betrayal.

One of his greatest achievements was the Gallic War, which would extend Roman territory to parts of what are now France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. A plot hatched by some senators put an end to his life.

5. Alexander the Great (56 BC – 323 BC)

He consolidated one of the largest empires of antiquity and spread Greek culture and ideas in the regions he conquered.

Also known as Alexander the Great, he was the king of Macedonia until his death. Aristotle took charge of his education, and his reign is considered by historians to be the beginning of the Hellenistic Period. Among many others, his actions were an inspiration for other important figures in history such as Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte.

6. Plato (427 BC – 347 BC)

Greek philosopher, founder of the Academy and author of one of the most influential theories of philosophy: the theory of forms.

Plato is one of the most important famous people in the history of philosophy. A disciple of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, his ideas on politics, ethics, citizenship, laws and psychology, among others, helped consolidate the thinking of Western civilization. He founded the Academy in 387 BC. C., considered the first university in the West.

7. Lao Tzu (5th century BC)

He is recognized for his work “Tao Te Ching” and his focus on harmony and simplicity.

Despite the unknowns surrounding his life, Lao Tzu is one of the important historical figures of the East. It is believed that he lived between the 6th and 5th century BC. C. and the authorship of the Tao Te Ching, the most important work of Taoism. Taoist philosophy is practiced in China, Japan and South Korea, and has millions of followers around the world.

8. Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

He was a Renaissance artist recognized for works such as “The Mona Lisa”, “The Last Supper”, “The Vitruvian Man”.

The Florentine polymath Leonardo da Vinci is the main figure of the Renaissance and one of the most prominent famous people in the world of art. His contributions to science, art, music and medicine are unquestionable..

He is a universal icon thanks to paintings like The Mona Lisa either The Last Supper. Also, for designing, centuries in advance, sketches of what today are submarines, helicopters and automobiles.

9. Johannes Gutenberg (1400 – 1468)

He is the creator of the modern printing press, an invention that allowed the dissemination of knowledge.

The inventor of the modern movable type printing press could not be missing from this list of important historical figures. His invention not only allowed the dissemination of culture, but is considered the beginning of propaganda. This coincided with the Lutheran schism, so it was a support lever to proclaim Protestant ideas.

10. Miguel de Cervantes (1547 – 1616)

Spanish writer, author of “Don Quixote”, the first modern novel and a classic of world literature.

Miguel de Cervantes is the most important author of Spanish and universal literature. His main work, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quijote of La Mancha (1605-1615), is the first modern novel and the second most edited and translated book in the world., only after the Bible. Cervantes participated in the battle of Lepanto and was imprisoned in Algiers for five years.

11. Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

He changed our understanding of gravity, space and time with his theory of relativity.

Perhaps the most famous physicist of all time. Albert Einstein is one of the fathers of quantum mechanics through his work on special relativity and general relativity.

Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics, but not for these works, but for his publications on the photoelectric effect. His equation, E=mc²without a doubt it is the best known in all of history.

12. Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945)

He led Nazi Germany and caused one of the greatest genocides in all of history: the Holocaust.

The leader of Nazi Germany is the most important historical figure of the 20th century. His ideas are summarized in his book Mein Kampf (1925), partially written during his stay in prison after a failed coup in 1923. Hitler committed suicide along with Eva Braun in 1945 in the Chancellery bunker when the victory of the Allies was imminent.

13. Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)

He changed the way we understand the development of life on Earth through his theory of evolution by natural selection.

The author of The origin of species (1859) laid the foundations of what is known today as the theory of evolution. Today, his ideas, such as natural selection, are widely accepted by science.

The observations that led him to postulate his theory were made after the voyage of the Beagle, a circumnavigation of almost five years in which he was able to cover a large part of the globe.

14. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)

He provided a political and economic theory that influenced revolutionary movements against capitalist oppression.

Karl Marx’s thought has completely shaped political, philosophical and economic history after his death. Marxism, modern communism and scientific socialism emerge from his ideas expressed in the Communist Party Manifesto (1848) and Capital (1867), to mention a few works. Marx focused on the idea that societies advance thanks to the dialectic of class struggle.

15. Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727)

He formulated the laws of classical mechanics and the law of universal gravitation. He is known as the father of modern physics.

Considered by many the most important scientist of all time, Isaac Newton is the father of the law of universal gravitation and classical physics. His contributions in calculus, astronomy and optics made him a reference in his time. He also wrote some treatises on alchemy and theology. He died at the age of 84 due to renal colic.

16. Genghis Khan (1162 – 1227)

He created the Mongol empire, one of the largest in history.

Genghis Khan was one of the most ambitious military leaders in history. In just a couple of years he managed to extend the Mongol Empire thousands of kilometers, thus consolidating, at least in territorial terms, one of the largest empires in history.

17. Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948)

Leader of the Indian independence movement. He promoted nonviolent resistance.

Gandhi managed to stamp a signature among the important figures in history due to his thinking and the establishment of non-violent protests. One of the most important events in his life was the Salt March, which would lead to the independence of India from the British Empire. An integrationist fanatic murdered him at the age of 78.

18. Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895)

He discovered the rabies vaccine and created the pasteurization technique.

Pasteur is not only responsible for the pasteurization process, but His studies have contributed widely to the creation of vaccines, antibiotics and sterilization processes..

His research marked a before and after in the natural sciences, especially in chemistry and bacteriology. He died in September 1895 in France, at the age of 72.

19. Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642)

He developed the scientific method and made important discoveries, such as the four largest moons of Jupiter and the laws of motion of bodies and inertia.

The famous astronomer is one of the founding fathers of the scientific revolution of the Renaissance. He made improvements to the telescope, with which he was able to carry out different experimental work.

Contrary to popular belief, he was not executed by the Inquisition, but rather sentenced to confinement in his home. Although there are doubts about its attribution, the phrase “And yet it…