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Hart’s Most Influential People in History  – Top 500 List (125)

Most influential persons in history, according to Michael H. Hart, ranked by influence.

  1.   Muhammed ibn ABDULLAH, PROPHET of ALLAH  (Mecca 25/3/570 – 8/6/632 Medina)

 2.   Isaac (Sir) NEWTON  (Lincolnshire. 25/12/1642 – 20/3/1727 London)

3.    Yehoshua ben YOSEF the SAVIOUR  (Bethlehem? 6? BC – 3/4/33

9.    Christopher COLUMBUS  (1451 – 1506) ;  aka Cristovao (Cristoforo Cristobal Christophoro) COLOMBO; 1st Almirante das INDIAS.

11.    Louis PASTEUR  (1822 – 1895) ;  (important Scientist, chemist and biologist; discovered stereochemistry, germ theory; eponym of Pasteurization.

16.    Charles Robert DARWIN  (Shrops. 12/2/1809 – 19/4/1882 Kent)  Scientist, developed Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection; (winner of the Royal Society’s Copley Medal)

18.    Gaius Octavius Augustus (1st EMPEROR) of ROME  (13/9/63 BC – 19/8/14) ;  aka Caesar Augustus; eponym of month August; (considered one of the Wealthiest autocrats ever).

21.   Constantine `the Great’ of ROME  (268? – 337) ;  aka Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus; EMPEROR of ROMAN EMPIRE; Saint; eponym of CONSTANTINOPLE, etc.)

24.   James (Sir) Clerk MAXWELL  (13/6/1831 – 5/11/1879) ;  (CLERK-MAXWELL); (brilliant Mathematician and Physicist, noted for his equations of electromagnetism.

26.    George Augustine WASHINGTON  (Virg. 22/2/1732 – 14/12/1799 Virg.) ;  President of the United States #1 (Indep, Feder : 1789-1797); Key Founding Father of the U.S.A.

28.    Orville WRIGHT  (Dayton, Ohio 1871 – 1948 Dayton) ;  (Along with brother Wilbur, Invented the airplane and became first aviator.

    Wilbur Wright (1867 – 1912))

30.    Adam SMITH  (1723 – 1790) famous writer, Economist; wrote Wealth of Nations ); Philosopher)

31.    Edward de VERE (17th Earl) of OXFORD  (Hedingham Castle 12/4/1550 – 24/6/1604 Hackney, Midx.) ;  (VEER); aka Lord Bulbeck (Bolebec), Sanford and Badlesmere.

 31.    William `the Bard’ SHAKESPEARE  (Stratford 1564 – 1616 Stratford) ;  greatest Author in history; (Michael Hart shows, instead, Edward de Vere, q.v., as the great writer).

33.    Alexander III `the Great’ (King) of MACEDONIA  (356? BC – 3/7/323 BC) ;  TEMENID; greatest CONQUEROR in history; founder (PHARAOH) of the 32nd Dynasty of EGYPT.

41.   Oliver CROMWELL (Lord PROTECTOR of ENGLAND)  (Huntingdon 25/4/1599 – 3/9/1658 London)

44.   John `the Philosopher’ LOCKE  (Somerset 29/8/1632 – 27/10/1704) ;  (very influential thinker; wrote An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and much more.

56.   Ernest (Sir) RUTHERFORD  (New Zealand 1871 – 1937 Cambridge, England) ;  1st (and last) Baron RUTHERFORD of NELSON; Scientist, made key discoveries about atomic structure; Nobel Prize Laureate.

64.    Thomas JEFFERSON  (Virg. 13/3/1743 – 4/7/1826 Monticello, Virg.) Governor of Virginia; President of the United States #3 (Dem-Rep : 1801-1809); 1st U.S. Secretary of State.

65.    Isabella (I; Queen) de CASTILE  (1451 – 1504) `the Catholic’; financed the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus; initiated the Spanish Inquisition.

67.    Gaius JULIUS Caesar (Dictator) of ROME  (100 BC – 15/3/44 BC) ;  eponym of CAESAR (Czar, Kaiser), eponym of month July.

68.    William the CONQUEROR (Duke) of NORMANDY  (1027 – 9/9/1087) ;  aka William the Bastard; affirmed as heir to England by Edward III.

81.   John FitzGerald KENNEDY  (Mass. 29/5/1917 – 22/11/1963 Dallas, Texas) U.S. Senator; President of the United States.

87.   Cyrus II `the Great’ (1st Shah) of PERSIA  (600? BC – 529 BC) ;  founding EMPEROR of the Persian Empire; `astonishing empire builder’; Lawgiver.

88.   Pjotr I Alexeiovich ROMANOV (CZAR) of RUSSIA  (1682 – 1725) ;  aka Peter `the Great’; (patron of Gottfried Leibniz).

90.   Francis (Sir) BACON  (London 1561 – 1627) lawyer, essayist, Philosopher, Scientist, Mathematician; M.P., Solicitor General, Attorney General.

94.   Elizabeth I TUDOR (Queen) of ENGLAND  (Greenwich 7/9/1533 – 24/3/1603 Surrey) aka Good Queen Bess; `the Virgin Queen’; eponym of VIRGINIA.

97.   Charlemagne (King) of the FRANKS  (2/4/742 (or 748?) – 28/1/814 Prussia) ;  aka Charles le Grand (`the Great’); aka Karl der Grosse; aka Carolus Magnus (Carlomagno); King of the LOMBARDS.

129. Cleopatra VII (Queen) of EGYPT  (69 BC – 30 BC) subject of Shakespeare play.

137. Nero Claudius CAESAR Augustus GERMANICUS (EMPEROR) of ROME  (Anzio, Italy 37 – 68 nr. Rome)

152. Solomon ben DAVID (2nd King) of ISRAEL & JUDAH  (? – 930 BC) aka Jedidiah, Salomo

160. Tutankhamen (12th PHARAOH) of EGYPT (18th Dynasty)  (1343? BC – 1325? BC) son of Akhenaten – Amenhotep IV – (died 1335 BC)

168. Attila the HUN (59th King of the HUNS)  (? – 453?) founder of the 2nd Hunnish Empire

183. Mary MAGDALENE  (Bethany? 3 – 63 France?) aka Miriam of BETHANY

190. Louis XIV (King) of FRANCE  (1638 – 1715) `the Sun King’

191. Anne BOLEYN  (1507 – 19/5/1536 Tower Green) Marchioness of Pembroke

224. James (Jr.) MADISON  (Virg. 16/3/1751 – 28/6/1836 Virg.) 5th U.S. Secretary of State; President of the United States

235. Abraham LINCOLN  (Kentucky 12/2/1809 – 15/4/1865 Washington, D.C.) President of the United States

251. John Davison ROCKEFELLER  (Richford, New York 1839 – 1937) Founded Standard Oil Company

285. Helen Adams KELLER  (1880 – 1968) first deaf-blind person to earn a baccalaureate

341. Bill GATES  (Seattle 28/10/1955) ; (Inventor, founded Microsoft

352. Winston Leonard Spencer CHURCHILL  (30/11/1874 – 24/1/1965) Prime Minister of U.K

357. Elvis Aaron PRESLEY  (Tupelo, Miss. 1935 – 1977 Memphis, Tenn.) most famous singer of his era.

360. Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT  (Hyde Park, N.Y. 30/1/1882 – 12/4/1945 Warm Springs, GA) Governor of New York; President of the United States.

368. Benjamin FRANKLIN  (Boston, Mass. 1706 – 1790 Philadelphia) ;  (famous Inventor; Governor of Pennsylvania.

393. Eleanor ROOSEVELT  (New York 11/10/1884 – 7/11/1962 New York) ;  First Lady (ROOSEVELT) of the United States.

409. Horatio (Fleet Admiral) NELSON  (Norfolk 29/9/1758 – 21/10/1805 at sea)

414. Alfred `the Great’ (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND  (849 – 26/10/899) King of WESSEX and England.

415. Arthur (K.G.) WELLESLEY  (1769 – 1852) ;  1st Marquess & 1st Duke of WELLINGTON; Prime Minister of U.K

418. Victoria of HANOVER (Queen) of ENGLAND  (London 1819 – 1901 Isle of Wight)

423. Owain `Glyndwr’ ap GRUFFYDD  (1353? – 1415?) led Wales in alliance with York against Lancaster

435. Boadicea (Queen) of ICENIANS  (22? – 62?) 1st Christian queen of Albion.

437. Thomas (Sir; Saint) MORE  (London 1478 – 1535 Tower Hill, London.

440. Henry VIII TUDOR  (London 1491 – 1547 London) ;  Duke of York; K.G.

449. William (Sir; the PATRIOT) WALLACE  (1273 – 24/8/1305 Tyburn Tree, London)

450. Francis (Sir) DRAKE (the NAVIGATOR)  (1540? – 28/1/1596 anchored nr. Portobelo, Panama) 

451. Arthur (High-King) of BRITAIN  (Cornwall? 25/12/479 – 16/2/538 Camlann)

472. Henry V PLANTAGENET (King) of ENGLAND  (1387 – 31/8/1422 France)

474. Robert (I; `the Good’; the) BRUCE  (1274 – 1329)

481. Geoffrey CHAUCER  (1342? – 1400 London) famous poet, wrote Canterbury Tales.

488. Bernard Law (Field Marshall) MONTGOMERY  (1887 – 1976) 1st Viscount MONTGOMERY of ALAMEIN; K.G.

490. Henry II (King) of ENGLAND  (Le Mans, France 5/3/1133 – 6/7/1189 Chinon, France)

493. Walter (Sir) RALEIGH  (Devon 1552? – 29/10/1618 London) famous EXPLORER

494. Edward I (King) of ENGLAND  (1239 – 6/7/1307) grandson of Henry II (King) of England

The Patricians, A Genealogical Study – Ebook Editions US$5.95

Author at Harrod’s Deli – London

Steven Wood Collins (1952 – ) Antiquarian, Genealogist, Novelist

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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