Favorite Historical Figures

Louis XIV

Sep. 5, 1638 - Sep. 1, 1715

Louis XIV, or The Sun King, of France, represented and embodied what it meant to be an Absolute Monarch. No other king (or queen) matched his insatiable desire for the elegant and sophisticated.


Louis XIV is important to history because he will represent and lead to the French Revolution thus reminding us that the power lies within the hands of the people and not entirely in the hands of a singular ruler.

Catherine the Great

May 2, 1729 - Nov. 17, 1796

Catherine the Great embodies what it means to be a strong and pragmatic ruler. She remains Russia's longest serving female ruler.

Under Catherine's rule, culture in Russia was revitalized, Russia becomes a great power within Europe, and Enlightenment Ideals will be embraced by the Russian people. Propelling Russia forward to be a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Jan. 30, 1882 - April 12, 1945

Franklin Roosevelt makes the list due to being the only president to be elected for 4 consecutive terms and the only president to ever serve more than 2 terms.

FDR is heralded as a president of the "forgotten man", meaning he remembered the citizens that often feel overlooked by their government officials. Combine this with leading America out of the Great Depression and he secures a spot here on this list.

Karl Marx

May 5, 1818 - March 14, 1883

Not many historical figures have the lasting impacts throughout the entire world as Karl Marx. Marx, the founding father of Communism, has long inspired many individuals and nations with political ideology of equity.

Marx inspires individuals such as Vladimir Lenin & Joseph Stalin. Both Lenin & Stalin are incredibly influential in understanding the world's political history, therefore reinforcing the importance of Marx as his reputation & teachings live on even into the contemporary.

Herodotus

c. 848 BCE - c. 425 BCE

No list of important historical figures would be complete without Herodotus. Herodotus is the father of history as he is the first record of what we consider a historian.

Herodotus provided us with a systematic investigation of historical events within the Greco-Roman time period, one of the most interesting time periods in history when it comes to understanding the inspirations behind many of the world's governmental systems.

Muhammad

c. 848 BCE - c. 425 BCE

Being the founder of a religion that almost a quarter of the entire world's population follows warrants a spot on this list.

Muhammad is the founding prophet of Islam and his contributions to religion will lead to a political domino effect resulting in geographical & territorial changes as well as leading to the creation of political systems.

*Depictions of Muhammad (or any prophets) is prohibited in Islam as it is worshipping idols

Johannes Gutenberg

c. 1400 - Feb 3, 1468

The man responsible for the creation of the printing press will solidify his position on this list.

Without Gutenberg's contributions to the world of literacy, who knows how long it would have taken to spread the accessibility of books to the common population.

Initially, the printing press was primarily used for the Bible, but the potential of the machine led to much more.

Have a recommendation of someone who should be on this list?

Write a 1 page persuasive essay about why that historical figure should be here. If your persuasive essay is good you will receive extra credit AND be able to add that historical figure to this page.