[Alan McDougall (OP)]

I think Jesus was/is much more influential than Muhammud, Muhammud was influenced by Jesus not the reverse

There are many other lists, but they all differ , some placing Newton ahead of Jesus. the only cosistent thing about them is Muhammad , bless his soul is always first.

What does the forum think?

Perhaps we can make our own list and compare it with others




Muhammad
Jesus
Francis Bacon
Socrates
Isaac Newton
Leonardo da Vinci
Nicolaus Copernicus
Albert Einstein
Moses
Louis Pasteur
Nikola Tesla
Martin Luther

Abraham Lincoln
Euclid
Gregor Mendel
Alexander Graham Bell !
Simon Bolivar
Orville and Wilbur Wright
Archimedes

FROM HERE DOWN THE WATERS GET MUDDY

Alan

[Karen W.]

JFK

[Karen W.]

Ghandi

[Don_1]

Now there’s a poser. The list would include scientists, astronomers, religious leaders, politicians and perhaps artists. It is possible that some of those who would be included may not have actually existed, but rather have been fictitious characters invented to suit or fulfil a particular purpose.
Moses, for example, did he really exist or is he a fictional character from a book written by a number of scholars to try to point mankind in the direction of harmony.
I would hazard a guess that the earliest influential person would perhaps be the Biblical character ‘Eve (if the Bible is to be believed). In giving the forbidden fruit to Adam, she made us all capable of sin (or so the Bible would have us believe). Incidentally, the apple is not the forbidden fruit, no name is given to the forbidden fruit. Perhaps Eve herself was the forbidden fruit???
As for the latest, perhaps Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela, Prof. Steven Hawking or George WWW. Bush.com???
Remember, the most influential people need not be an influence for the better.

As for my top of the list, I have to eliminate Eve on the grounds that the whole episode is fiction, the person & the event must surely be seen as a fairy tail. I think it has to be Narmer (3100 BC), the first Pharaoh of the first dynasty of Egypt. Credited with the unification of Upper & Lower Egypt, although only a handful of people have probably heard of him, he should be credited with laying the foundation of modern civilisation. Although we may not realise it, his influence touches all of us.

Second on my list (it has to follow from the first) would be Scorpion I (3200/3300 BC) a protodynastic king of Upper Egypt and the earliest documented person.  He gets my 2nd place for being the first person worthy of documentation. Although the name of Tiu (who would have predated him, and possibly be the first ever recorded person) is mentioned on the Palermo Stone, nothing is known about him. Perhaps he should be joint 2nd for being the first person thought worthy of recording.

My 3rd (or should it be 4th place) is perhaps a little odd for an atheist. I pick Moses. Whether he existed in reality or purely in fiction is irrelevant. If he did exist, he did not speak to ‘God’ in a burning bush on Mount Sinai. Strange isn’t it how even today, when someone encounters ‘God’ or ‘aliens’, they are always alone??? But I believe he may have existed and was a very intellectual man, with knowledge of volcanic activity and it’s consequences. His influence on us, the 10 commandments.

Others, perhaps a little more obvious would include (in no particular order);
Darwin, Newton, Copernicus, the Wright Bros., da Vinci, Galileo, Julius Caesar, Henry VIII, John Lenon, JFK, Churchill, Lincoln, Baird and can I also slip in....
The Marx Bros.

[RD]

I pick Moses ... His influence on us, the 10 commandments.

 []

[Don_1]

I love that, perhaps I should add Mel Brooks to my list.

[that mad man]

Any of the long line of Popes as they have been very influential and helped shape history.

Hitler and Ben Gurion as one helped the other to form Israel.
Oppenheimer for doing what he did before others cold get the chance.
Ted Hoff for the invention of the microprocessor.

[Karen W.]

ELVIS PRESLEY.. JOHN WAYNE,

[Karen W.]

Clark Gable

[Karen W.]

Florence Nightingale

[Karen W.]

Rosalind Franklin

[Karen W.]

Roosevelt,
Queen Elizebeth..Take your pick..
Princess Dianah

[Karen W.]

The marx Bros.. were great!

Elenor Roosevelt
Hillary clinton

[Karen W.]

The Dalai Lama

[RD]

Thomas Midgley had a large influence on the atmosphere,
he invented CFCs and added lead to gasoline ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgeley

So it could be said that he broke the sky, (ozone hole).

[Alan McDougall (OP)]

Guys

Your suggestions are really interesting and I will compile a list from them later.

I started the thread deliberately with a most unsatisfactory ranking list. To avoid preconceptions

Thanks for the nice reponse

Alan

[neilep]

I think any author of respected history books/articles must be influential if they are not unbiased !

[Alan McDougall (OP)]

My first few

1) Jesus Christ

2) Isaac Newton

3) Albert Einstein

4) Richard Feynman

5) Gutenberg (print)

5) Winston Churchill

?

?

?

And so on........................?

Regards

Alan

[paul.fr]

Guys

Your suggestions are really interesting and I will compile a list from them later.

But only five people responded, so what kind of list can you produce from that? Out of those five how many gave an actual reason as to why this person was influential? All you have is a list of names, in no particular order, this topic could just as easily be called "please list names of fictional and nonfictional people".

Look at those names, a large percentage are of made up people, made up from a book that has no resemblance to the original!

[rosalind dna]

Rosalind Franklin

Karen I'll second your choice of Rosalind Franklin of course

Nelson Mandela
Charles Darwin
Gilbert White
Marie and Pierre Curie
The Pankhursts and my gt uncle Hugh Franklin, who were all
suffragettes.