Famous People in History

Tap to Read ➤ Omkar Phatak

This story has a list of some of the most famous people in history, who stood out due to their monumental contributions to human knowledge and culture. If it wasn't for them, our present would have been quite different from what it is today.

Some individuals rise in stature and change the course of history through their extraordinary efforts. These are people who followed their heart and believed in their own genius.

In this story, I present a list of such famous people from the annals of history, who changed the world, challenged established thought, broke the shackles of conformity and dared to be themselves. If you are looking for inspiration, it can be found in the biographies of these great men and women who have influenced generations with their thinking.

Famous People Who Changed the World

Here is a list of some of the most famous personalities who broke all rules of conformity and created new paradigms of thought. They have been listed together, according to their fields of contribution.

Great Leaders of Men

Alexander the Great July 356 BC - June 323 BC Military Commander, King of Macedonia Pharaoh of Egypt, King of Persia, King of Asia Genghis Khan 1162 AD - 1227 AD Supreme Khan of the Mongols Founder and Emperor of the Mongol Empire Julius Caesar 100 BC - 44 BC Dictator of the Roman Republic

Saladin 1138 AD - 1193 AD Sultan of Syria and Egypt Catherine the Great 1729 AD - 1796 AD Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias, Empress consort of All the Russias Cleopatra 69 BC - 30 BC Queen of Egypt Qin Shi Huang 260 BC - 210 BC King of Qin, Emperor of China

Attila the Hun 406 AD - 453 AD Ruler of the Hunnic Empire Elizabeth I 1533 AD - 1603 AD Queen of England and Ireland Queen Victoria 1819 AD - 1901 AD Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Peter I of Russia 1672 AD - 1725 AD Emperor of All Russia, Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of All Russia

Horatio Nelson 1758 AD - 1805 AD Vice Admiral of the White, Royal British Navy Oliver Cromwell 1599 AD - 1658 AD English Political and Military Leader Mahatma Gandhi 1869 - 1948 Father of India Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Napoleon Bonaparte 1769 - 1821 French Military and Political Leader Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882 - 1945 32nd President of the United States Abraham Lincoln 1809 - 1865 16th President of the United States Indira Gandhi 1917 - 1984 Prime Minister of India

Ho Chi Minh 1890 - 1969 1st President of Vietnam John F. Kennedy 1917 - 1963 35th President of the United States Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013 President of South Africa Queen Elizabeth II Born 21 April, 1926 Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth

Theodore Roosevelt 1858 - 1919 26th President of the United States Vladimir Lenin 1870 - 1924 Premier of the Soviet Union Benjamin Franklin 1706 - 1790 A Founding Father of the United States Ariel Sharon 1928 - 2014 11th Prime Minister of Israel

Henri La Fontaine 1854 - 1943 President of the International Peace Bureau, Nobel Laureate Jacques Chirac Born: November 29, 1932 22nd President of France Thomas Jefferson 1743 - 1826 3rd President of the United States Aung San Suu Kyi Born: June 19, 1945 Burmese Politician

Fidel Castro Born: August 13, 1926 President of Cuba Kofi Annan Born: April 8, 1938 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations Henry Kissinger Born: May 27, 1923 56th United States Secretary of State Yasser Arafat 1929 - 2004 President of the Palestinian National Authority

George Washington 1732 - 1799 1st U.S. President Angela Merkel Born: July 17, 1954 Chancellor of Germany

Religious Figures

Bahá'u'lláh 1817 - 1892 Founder of the Bahá'í Faith Jesus Christ 7-2 BC - 30-33 AD Central figure of Christianity Buddha 563 BC to 483 BC - 483 BC or 411 BC and 400 BC Sage, Founder of Buddhism

Krishna Hindu Deity, Incarnation of Vishnu Moses Prophet, Religious Leader Prophet Muhammad 570 AD - 632 AD Islamic Prophet Confucius 551 BC - 479 BC Chinese Philosopher Martin Luther 1483-1546 German Monk

St. John the Baptist 1st Century BC - 31 - 36 AD Religious Figure Mother Teresa 1910-1997 Christian Missionary Saint Paul 5 AD - 67 AD Apostle Ramkrishna Paramhansa 1836 - 1886 Hindu Mystic

Sri Aurobindo 1872 - 1950 Indian Yogi, Poet St. Francis of Assisi 1181/1182 - 1226 Italian Catholic Friar and Preacher Swami Vivekananda 1863 - 1902 Indian Hindu Monk John Calvin 1509 - 1564 French Theologian and Pastor

Ayatollah Khomeini 1902 - 1989 Iranian Religious Leader and Politician Desmond Tutu Born: October 7, 1931 South African Retired Anglican Bishop and Social Rights Activist Zoroaster Founder of Zoroastrianism 14th Dalai Lama Born: July 6, 1935 Tibetan Buddhist High Monk

Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929 - 1968 American Pastor, Activist Lao-tzu 604 BC - 531 BC Chinese Poet and Philosopher

Mathematicians, Scientists, and Inventors

Nicolaus Copernicus 1473 - 1543 Polish Astronomer and Mathematician Galileo Galilei 1564 - 1642 Italian Physicist, Mathematician, Engineer, Astronomer Pythagoras 570 BC - 495 BC Greek Mathematician, Philosopher

Euclid Greek Mathematician Leonardo Da Vinci 1452 - 1519 Italian Polymath Joseph Louis Lagrange 1736 - 1813 Italian Astronomer and Mathematician Leonhard Euler 1707 - 1783 Swiss Physicist and Mathematician

Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955 German Theoretical Physicist Richard Feynman 1918 - 1988 American Theoretical Physicist Niels Bohr 1885 - 1962 Danish Physicist Paul Dirac 1902 - 1984 English Theoretical Physicist

Alexander Graham Bell 1847 - 1922 Scottish Inventor of the Telephone Heinrich Hertz 1857 - 1894 German Physicist Satyendranath Bose 1894 - 1974 Indian Physicist Thomas Edison 1847 - 1931 American Investor

Archimedes 287 BC - 212 BC Ancient Greek Astronomer, Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan 1887 - 1920 Indian Autodidact, Mathematician Tim Berners-Lee Born: June 8, 1955 Inventor of the World Wide Web Sir Isaac Newton 1642 - 1727 English Physicist and Mathematician

Stefan Banach 1892 - 1945 Polish Mathematician Aryabhata 476 AD - 550 AD Indian Mathematician and Astronomer John von Neumann 1903 - 1957 Hungarian-American Polymath Pierre de Fermat 1601/1607 - 1665 French Lawyer, Mathematician

James Clerk Maxwell 1831- 1879 Scottish Theoretical Physicist Carl F. Gauss 1777 - 1855 German Mathematician Joseph Fourier 1768 - 1830 French Physicist and Mathematician Henri Poincaré 1854 - 1912 French Theoretical Physicist, Mathematician

David Hilbert 1862 - 1943 German Mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace 1749 - 1827 French Astronomer and Mathematician John Bardeen 1908 - 1991 American Physicist Henri Becquerel 1852 - 1908 French Physicist

James Chadwick 1891 - 1974 English Physicist Hendrik Casimir 1909 - 2000 Dutch Physicist Enrico Fermi 1901 - 1954 Italian Physicist Robert Boyle 1627 - 1691 Irish Physicist, Chemist

Abdus Salam 1926 - 1996 Theoretical Physicist Stephen Hawking Born: January 8, 1942 Theoretical Physicist Jack Kilby 1923 - 2005 American Electrical Engineer Orville Wright 1871 - 1948 Aviation Pioneer

Writers, Poets, and Philosophers

Ernest Hemingway 1899 - 1961 American Author, Journalist Hans Christian Andersen 1805 - 1875 Danish Author Dante Alighieri 1265 - 1321 Italian Poet

Jalaluddin Rumi 1207 - 1273 Persian Sufi Mystic, Poet Samuel Beckett 1906 - 1989 Irish Playwright, Novelist, Poet, Theater Director Anton Chekhov 1860 - 1904 Russian Author, Playwright, Physician Ray Bradbury 1920 - 2012 American Fiction Writer

Leo Tolstoy 1828 - 1910 Novelist, Playwright, Essayist Fyodor Dostoyevsky 1821- 1881 Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer Isaac Asimov 1920 - 1992 American Science Fiction Writer H.G.Wells 1866 - 1946 English Science Fiction Novelist

Arthur C. Clarke 1917 - 2008 British Science Fiction Writer Cormac McCarthy Born: July 20, 1933 American Novelist, Playwright, Screenwriter Pearl Buck 1892 - 1973 American Novelist Jeffrey Archer Born: April 15, 1940 English Novelist

George Byron 1788 - 1824 English Poet Oscar Wilde 1854 - 1900 Irish Poet and Writer Albert Camus 1913 - 1960 French Author, Journalist, Philosopher, Nobel Laureate Truman Capote (Truman Streckfus Persons) 1924 - 1984 American Playwright, Screenwriter, Author

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) 1832 - 1898 English Writer, Mathematician Joseph Conrad 1857 - 1924 Polish Author Harper Lee Born: April 28, 1926 American Novelist T. S. Eliot 1888 - 1965 English/American Literary and Social Critic, Playwright, Essayist

J.R.R.Tolkien 1892 - 1973 English Writer, Poet Salman Rushdie Born: June 19, 1947 Indian British Novelist, Essayist V.S. Naipaul Born: August 17, 1932 British Writer, Novelist Paulo Coelho Born: August 24, 1947 Brazilian Novelist and Lyricist

Sidney Sheldon 1917 - 2007 American Screenwriter, Novelist J. K. Rowling Born July 31, 1965 British Novelist W. B. Yeats 1865 - 1939 Irish Poet Alfred Tennyson 1809 - 1892 Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland

Robert Frost 1874 - 1963 American Poet Rabindranath Tagore 1861 - 1941 Indian Poet, Writer, Playwright, Painter, Polymath Kahlil Gibran 1883 - 1931 Lebanese Poet, Writer, Artist Mario Puzo 1920 - 1999 Italian American Novelist, Screenwriter

Sant Tukaram 1577 - 1650 Spiritual Poet, Saint Saint Dnyaneshwar 1275 - 1296 Indian Poet, Writer, Philosopher, Yogi Munshi Premchand 1880 - 1936 Indian Novelist Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) 1835 - 1910 American Humorist and Writer

P. G. Wodehouse 1881 - 1975 English Humorist, Novelist, Journalist Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 - 1882 American Poet, Lecturer, Essayist Henry David Thoreau 1817 - 1862 American Author, Poet, Philosopher, Polymath Rudyard Kipling 1865 - 1936 English Poet, Writer, Novelist

Arthur Conan Doyle 1859 - 1930 Scottish Writer, Physician Virginia Woolf 1882 - 1941 English Writer Victor Hugo 1802 - 1885 French Novelist, Dramatist William Shakespeare 1564 - 1616 English Playwright, Poet, Actor

William Somerset Maugham 1874 - 1965 British Novelist, Playwright Walt Whitman 1819 - 1892 American Essayist, Poet, Journalist Sylvia Plath 1932 - 1963 American Poet, Novelist, Writer Pablo Neruda (Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto) 1904 - 1973 Chilean Poet

Emily Dickinson 1830 - 1886 American Poet John Keats 1795 - 1821 English Poet Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 - 1894 Scottish Novelist, Poet, Essayist, Travel Writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 - 1882 American Poet

Karl Marx 1818 - 1883 German Philosopher, Economist, Revolutionary Socialist, Journalist Friedrich Engels 1820 - 1895 German Author, Philosopher, Social Scientist George Bernard Shaw 1856 - 1950 Irish Playwright Friedrich Nietzsche 1844 - 1900 German Philosopher, Writer, Cultural Critic, Poet, Composer

Immanuel Kant 1724 - 1804 German Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre 1905 - 1980 French Playwright, Philosopher, Literary Critic, Novelist David Hume 1711 - 1776 Scottish Historian, Philosopher, Economist Karl Popper 1902 - 1994 Austrian-British Philosopher, Economist

Adam Smith 1723 - 1790 Scottish Philosopher and Political Economist Francis Bacon 1561 - 1626 English Philosopher, Scientist, Statesman Socrates 470/469 BC - 399 BC Greek Philosopher Bertrand Russell 1872 - 1970 British Philosopher, Mathematician

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 1770 - 1831 German Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712 - 1778 German Philosopher, Composer, Writer Chānakya 370 BC - 283 BC Indian Philosopher, Teacher, Royal Advisor W. H. Auden 1907 - 1973 Anglo-American Poet

Purushottam Lakshman Deshpande 1919 - 2000 Indian Humorist, Writer, Orator, Philanthropist

Explorers and Adventurers

Sir Edmund Hillary 1919 - 2008 New Zealand Mountaineer, Explorer, and Philanthropist Tenzing Norgay 1914 - 1986 Nepalese Sherpa Mountaineer George Mallory 1886 - 1924 English Mountaineer Marco Polo 1254 - 1324 Italian Merchant Traveler

David Livingstone 1813 - 1873 Scottish Medical Missionary, Pioneering Explorer of Africa Ferdinand Magellan 1480 - 1521 Portuguese Explorer Amerigo Vespucci 1454 - 1512 Italian explorer, Navigator, Cartographer, Financier

Christopher Columbus 1450/1451 - 1506 Italian Navigator, Explorer, Colonizer Roald Amundsen 1872 - 1928 Norwegian Polar Explorer Frederick Cook 1865 - 1940 American Explorer, Physician, Ethnographer

Captain James Cook 1728 - 1779 British Navigator, Explorer, Cartographer Neil Armstrong 1930 - 2012 American Astronaut, First Lunar Explorer Yuri Gagarin 1934 - 1968 Soviet Cosmonaut and Pilot Charles Augustus Lindbergh 1902 - 1974 American Explorer, Aviator, Author, Inventor

Amelia Earhart 1897 - 1937 (Disappeared) American Aviation Pioneer, Author Wiley Post 1898 - 1935 American Aviator

Famous Actors, Actresses, and Directors

Elizabeth Taylor 1932 - 2011 British-American Actress Sir Sidney Poitier Born: February 20, 1927 Bahamian-American Actor, Film Director Clark Gable 1901 - 1960 American Film Actor

Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson) 1926 - 1962 American, Actress, Model, Singer Marlon Brando 1924 - 2004 American Film and Stage Actor Sean Connery Born: August 25, 1930 Scottish Actor and Producer

Harrison Ford Born: July 13, 1942 American Film Actor, Producer Humphrey Bogart 1899 - 1957 American Actor Ingrid Bergman 1915 - 1982 Swedish Actress Alfred Hitchcock 1899 - 1980 English Film Director and Producer

Al Pacino Born: April 25, 1940 American Film and Stage Actor Robert De Niro Born: August 17, 1943 American Actor, Director, Producer Tom Hanks Born: July 9, 1956 American Actor, Writer, Producer, and Director Steven Spielberg Born: December 18, 1946 American film Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Francis Ford Coppola Born: April 7, 1939 American film director, Screenwriter, Producer Robert Zemeckis Born: May 14, 1952 Lithuanian-American Film Director, Producer, Screenwriter Christopher Nolan Born July 30, 1970 British-American Film Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Angelina Jolie Born: June 4, 1975 American Actress, Screenwriter, Film Director Cameron Diaz Born: August 30, 1972 American Actress, Model Meryl Streep June 22, 1949 American Actress Morgan Freeman Born: June 1, 1937 American Actor, Film Director

Jim Carrey Born: January 17, 1962 Canadian American Actor, Comedian Rachel Weisz Born: March 7, 1970 English Film, Theater Actress Kate Winslet Born: October 5, 1975 English Actress, Singer Will Smith Born: September 25, 1968 American Actor, Producer, Rapper

Kevin Costner Born: January 18, 1955 American Actor, Musician, Singer Russell Crowe Born: April 7, 1964 New Zealand Actor, Musician, Producer Leonardo Di Caprio Born: November 11, 1974 American Actor, Producer Jude Law (David Jude Heyworth Law) Born: December 29, 1972 English Actor, Director, Producer

Robert John Downey, Jr. Born: April 4, 1965 American Actor Charlie Chaplin 1889 - 1977 English Actor, Comedian, Filmmaker Paul Newman 1925 - 2008 American Actor, Director Dustin Hoffman Born August 8, 1937 American Actor

Richard Burton 1925 - 1984 Welsh Actor Denzel Washington Born: December 28, 1954 American Actor, Producer, Director Sean Penn Born: August 17, 1960 American actor, Screenwriter, Director Kevin Spacey July 26, 1959 American Actor, Screenwriter, Director

Michael Douglas Born: September 25, 1944 American Actor and Producer Tom Cruise Born: July 3, 1962 American Actor and Producer Sir Ben Kingsley Born: December 31, 1943 English Actor

Industrialists and Entrepreneurs

Bill Gates Born: October 28, 1955 American Inventor, Programmer, Microsoft Founder Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011 American Entrepreneur, Inventor, Apple Inc. Founder, Philanthropist Warren Buffett Born: August 30, 1930 American Investor, Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Philanthropist

Carlos Slim Helú Born: January 28, 1940 Mexican Businessman, Investor Henry Ford 1863 - 1947 Ford Motor Company Founder, American Industrialist John D. Rockefeller 1839 - 1937 Standard Oil Company Co-founder, Philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie 1835 - 1919 Scottish-American Industrialist Howard Hughes 1905 - 1976 Aviator, Filmmaker, American Businessman George Eastman 1854 - 1932 American Innovator, Entrepreneur, Eastman Kodak Company Founder Larry Page Born: March 26, 1973 Google Co-founder

Sergey Brin Born: August 21, 1973 Google Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg Born: May 14, 1984 Facebook Co-founder, Computer Programmer Richard Branson Born: July 18, 1950 Virgin Group Founder, Investor J. R. D. Tata 1904 - 1993 Indian Aviator, Business Tycoon

Famous Athletes and Sportsmen

Michael Jordan Born: February 17, 1963 American Professional Basketball Player Wayne Gretzky Born: January 26, 1961 Canadian Ice hockey, Head Coach Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay, Jr.) Born: January 17, 1942 American Boxer, Heavyweight Champion

Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) Born: October 23, 1940 Brazilian Footballer Joe Montana Born: June 11, 1956 American Football Player Larry Bird Born: December 7, 1956 American Basketball Player Usain Bolt Born: August 21, 1986 Jamaican Sprinter

Babe Ruth 1895 - 1948 American Baseball Player Michael Phelps Born: June 30, 1985 American Swimmer Bo Jackson Born: November 30, 1962 American Baseball and Football Player Alexander Karelin Born: September 19, 1967 Russian Greco-Roman Wrestler

Steffi Graf Born: June 14, 1969 German Tennis Player Björn Borg Born: June 6, 1956 Swedish Tennis Player Michael Schumacher Born: January 3, 1969 German Formula 1 Driver Paula Radcliffe Born: December 17, 1973 English Long-distance Runner

Roger Federer Born: August 8, 1981 Swiss Tennis Player David Beckham Born: May 2, 1975 English Footballer Carolina Klüft Born: February 2, 1983 Swedish Track and Field Athlete Carl Lewis Born: July 1, 1961 American Track and Field Athlete

Bruce Lee 1940 - 1973 Father of Mixed Martial Arts Jim Thorpe 1888 - 1953 American Athlete Magic Johnson Born: August 14, 1959 American Basketball Player Tom Brady Born: August 3, 1977 American Football Quarterback

Jesse Owens 1913 - 1980 American Track and Field Athlete Lou Gehrig 1903 - 1941 American Baseball First Baseman Hank Aaron Born: February 5, 1934 American Baseball Player Chris Evert Born: December 21, 1954 American Tennis Player

Yelena Isinbayeva Born: June 3, 1982 Russian Pole Vaulter Maria Sharapova Born: April 19, 1987 Russian Tennis Player Boris Becker Born: November 22, 1967 German Tennis Player Tiger Woods Born: December 30, 1975 American Golfer

Lionel Messi Born: June 24, 1987 Argentine Footballer Oliver Kahn Born: June 15, 1969 German Football Goalkeeper Jackie Robinson 1919 - 1972 American Baseball Player

Famous Singers, Composers, and Musicians

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685 - 1750 German Composer and Musician Mick Jagger Born: July 26, 1943 English Musician, Singer, Songwriter Xian Xinghai 1905 - 1945 Chinese Composer

Bob Marley 1945 - 1981 Jamaican Reggae Singer-songwriter, Guitarist Madonna Louise Ciccone Born: August 16, 1958 American Singer, Songwriter Caetano Veloso Born: August 7, 1942 Brazilian Composer, Singer, Guitarist Fela Kuti 1938 - 1997 Nigerian Musician, Multi-instrumentalist, Composer

Miles Davis 1926 - 1991 American Jazz Musician, Trumpeter, Composer Billie Holiday 1915 - 1959 American Jazz Singer, Songwriter Robert Johnson 1911 - 1938 American Blues Singer, Musician Bob Dylan Born: May 24, 1941 American Musician, Singer, Songwriter

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756 - 1791 Austrian Classical Music Composer Elvis Presley 1935 - 1977 American singer, Musician, Actor Louis Armstrong 1901 - 1971 American Jazz Trumpeter, Singer Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009 American Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Dancer

John Lennon 1940 - 1980 English Musician, Singer, Songwriter Paul McCartney Born: June 18, 1942 English Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Composer George Harrison 1943 - 2001 English Musician, Singer, Songwriter Ringo Starr Born: July 7, 1940 English Musician, Singer, Songwriter

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770 - 1827 German Composer, Pianist Kurt Cobain 1967 - 1994 American Musician, Guitarist, Songwriter Elton John March 25, 1947 English Singer, Songwriter, Composer, Pianist, Record Producer Jimi Hendrix 1942 - 1970 American Electric Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter

Aretha Franklin Born: March 25, 1942 American Singer, Musician Axl Rose Born: February 6, 1962 American Singer, Songwriter, Musician Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 American Singer, Actress, Producer Stevie Wonder Born: May 13, 1950 American Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer

Robert Plant Born: 20 August, 1948 English Musician, Singer, Songwriter Marvin Gaye 1939 - 1984 American Singer, Songwriter, Musician Bono Born: May 10, 1960 Irish Singer, Songwriter, Musician James Brown 1933 - 2006 American Recording Artist, Musician

This is a representative list of famous people in ancient and recent history. It is simply not possible to list each and every one of the famous personalities as it's endless. All these people symbolize the phenomenal power of the human will and creativity.