Over thousands of years, billions of people have walked this Earth, but only a handful of individuals managed to change the entire course of civilization with their ideas, discoveries or beliefs. Who do you think left the most important mark on what our modern world looks like today? Cast your vote!
Cast your vote - the ranking shifts live based on the votes.
Isaac Newton
Founder of classical mechanics, the laws of gravity and mathematical calculus. His scientific principles laid the foundation for the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.
Johannes Gutenberg
Invented printing with movable metal type around 1440. Without him, knowledge would have remained reserved for the elite, and the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution would have been unthinkable.
The legend around Johannes Gutenberg is mostly myth made up decades later.
We are still living in the world that Johannes Gutenberg built. Truly legendary figure.
Jesus of Nazareth
His life and teachings formed the basis of Christianity, a religion that has profoundly shaped Western ethics, art, philosophy and law for more than two millennia.
Log in to post a comment.
Albert Einstein
Reshaped our understanding of space, time, gravity and energy with his theories of relativity (E=mc²). His insights made modern technologies like GPS and nuclear energy possible.
Legendary mind.
Aristotle
The Greek universal thinker whose logic, ethics, biology and political theories dominated scientific thinking in Europe and the Arab world for more than two thousand years.
Log in to post a comment.
Alexander the Great
Conquered one of the largest empires of antiquity within twelve years, spreading Greek culture, language and science across the Middle East and Asia.
Log in to post a comment.
Charles Darwin
His theory of evolution by natural selection changed forever how humans look at themselves and the origin of all life on Earth.
Log in to post a comment.
Galileo Galilei
The 'father of modern science', who proved with his telescope that the Earth revolves around the sun and pioneered the experimental scientific method.
Log in to post a comment.
Julius Caesar
His seizure of power transformed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire, whose legal system, language and infrastructure still form the foundation of Europe.
Log in to post a comment.
Thomas Edison
With more than a thousand patents, including the practical light bulb, the phonograph and the motion picture camera, he laid the foundation for modern electrified and media-driven life.
Log in to post a comment.
Missing an item in this list?
Log in or create a free account to add an item yourself.
Log in / create account
The man formulated calculus during a quarantine lockdown away from Cambridge in 1665, mapped out classical mechanics, and laid down the principles that eventually got humanity to the moon.
Log in to post a comment.