The following list of influential figures from world history comes from Michael H. Hart's book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. In the book, Hart provides brief biographies of each of the individuals, as well as reasons for their ranking.
Adherents.com takes no position regarding the validity of Hart's rankings. Certainly ranking the relative historical influence of individuals is a subjective process. We welcome and will by happy to post comments from readers suggesting alternative rankings or names of influential individuals who should be included in the "Top 100."
This list of names and their ranks are solely the work of Michael H. Hart. The columns "Religious Affiliation" and "Influence" are the work of Adherents.com. We will readily modify notes if there are any inaccuracies.
Note that many influential philosophies (such as Marxist Communism or Confucianism) are not always classified as organized "religions" in the traditional sense, but are classified as such by sociologists because they are a primary motivational worldview for individuals, cultures or subcultures. Also, many founders never considered themselves adherents of philosophies or religions which later bore their name (e.g., Martin Luther and Lutheranism).
In the table below, where there are two religions listed, the first one is the religion the person was born into. The second was the religion or philosophy the person later joined or founded. Comments in the "Influence" column are in bold when the influence is mainly in the realm of religion and philosophy.
Rank Name Religion
1 Mohammad Islam
2 Isaac Newton Anglican (rejected Trinitarianism, i.e.,
Athanasianism; believed in the Arianism
of the Primitive Church)
3 Jesus Christ *
Judaism; Christianity
4 Buddha Hinduism; Buddhism
5 Confucius Confucianism
6 St. Paul Judaism; Christianity
7 Ts'ai Lun Chinese traditional religion
8 Johann Gutenberg Catholic
9 Christopher Columbus Catholic
10 Albert Einstein Jewish
11 Louis Pasteur Catholic
12 Galileo Galilei Catholic
13 Aristotle Platonism / Greek philosophy
14 Euclid Platonism / Greek philosophy
15 Moses Judaism
16 Charles Darwin Anglican (nominal); Unitarian
17 Shih Huang Ti Chinese traditional religion
18 Augustus Caesar Roman state paganism
19 Nicolaus Copernicus Catholic (priest)
20 Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Catholic
21 Constantine the Great Roman state paganism; Christianity
22 James Watt Presbyterian (lapsed)
23 Michael Faraday Sandemanian
24 James Clerk Maxwell Presbyterian; Anglican; Baptist
25 Martin Luther Catholic; Lutheran
26 George Washington Episcopalian
27 Karl Marx Jewish; Lutheran;
Atheist; Marxism/Communism
28 Orville and Wilbur Wright United Brethren
29 Genghis Khan Mongolian shamanism
30 Adam Smith Liberal Protestant
31 Edward de Vere
a.k.a. William Shakespeare Catholic; Anglican
32 John Dalton Quaker
33 Alexander the Great Greek state paganism
34 Napoleon Bonaparte Catholic (nominal)
35 Thomas Edison Congregationalist; agnostic
36 Antony van Leeuwenhoek Dutch Reformed
37 William T.G. Morton ??
38 Guglielmo Marconi Catholic and Anglican
39 Adolf Hitler Nazism; born/raised in, but rejected Catholicism
40 Plato Platonism / Greek philosophy
41 Oliver Cromwell Puritan (Protestant)
42 Alexander Graham Bell Unitarian/Universalist
43 Alexander Fleming Catholic
44 John Locke raised Puritan (Anglican);
Liberal Christian
45 Ludwig van Beethoven Catholic
46 Werner Heisenberg Lutheran
47 Louis Daguerre ??
48 Simon Bolivar Catholic (nominal); Atheist
49 Rene Descartes Catholic
50 Michelangelo Catholic
51 Pope Urban II Catholic
52 'Umar ibn al-Khattab Islam
53 Asoka Buddhism
54 St. Augustine Greek state paganism; Manicheanism; Catholic
55 William Harvey Anglican (nominal)
56 Ernest Rutherford ??
57 John Calvin Protestant; Calvinism
58 Gregor Mendel Catholic (Augustinian monk)
59 Max Planck Protestant
60 Joseph Lister Quaker
61 Nikolaus August Otto ??
62 Francisco Pizarro Catholic
63 Hernando Cortes Catholic
64 Thomas Jefferson Episcopalian; Deist
65 Queen Isabella I Catholic
66 Joseph Stalin Russian Orthodox; Atheist; Marxism
67 Julius Caesar Roman state paganism
68 William the Conqueror Catholic
69 Sigmund Freud Jewish; atheist; Freudian psychology/psychoanalysis
70 Edward Jenner Anglican
71 Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen ??
72 Johann Sebastian Bach Lutheran; Catholic
73 Lao Tzu Taoism
74 Voltaire raised in Jansenism;
later Deist
75 Johannes Kepler Lutheran
76 Enrico Fermi Catholic
77 Leonhard Euler Calvinist
78 Jean-Jacques Rousseau born Protestant;
converted as a teen to Catholic;
later Deist
79 Nicoli Machiavelli Catholic
80 Thomas Malthus Anglican (cleric)
81 John F. Kennedy Catholic
82 Gregory Pincus Jewish
83 Mani Manicheanism
84 Lenin Russian Orthodox;
Atheist; Marxism/Communism
85 Sui Wen Ti Chinese traditional religion
86 Vasco da Gama Catholic
87 Cyrus the Great Zoroastrianism
88 Peter the Great Russian Orthodox
89 Mao Zedong Atheist; Communism; Maoism
90 Francis Bacon Anglican
91 Henry Ford Protestant
92 Mencius Confucianism
93 Zoroaster Zoroastrianism
94 Queen Elizabeth I Anglican
95 Mikhail Gorbachev Russian Orthodox
96 Menes Egyptian paganism
97 Charlemagne Catholic
98 Homer Greek paganism
99 Justinian I Catholic
100 Mahavira Hinduism; Jainism [/COLOR]
Source of list of names: Hart, Michael H. The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, Revised and Updated for the Nineties. New York: Carol Publishing Group/Citadel Press; first published in 1978, reprinted with minor revisions (reflected above) in 1992.
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Adherents.com takes no position regarding the validity of Hart's rankings. Certainly ranking the relative historical influence of individuals is a subjective process. We welcome and will by happy to post comments from readers suggesting alternative rankings or names of influential individuals who should be included in the "Top 100."
This list of names and their ranks are solely the work of Michael H. Hart. The columns "Religious Affiliation" and "Influence" are the work of Adherents.com. We will readily modify notes if there are any inaccuracies.
Note that many influential philosophies (such as Marxist Communism or Confucianism) are not always classified as organized "religions" in the traditional sense, but are classified as such by sociologists because they are a primary motivational worldview for individuals, cultures or subcultures. Also, many founders never considered themselves adherents of philosophies or religions which later bore their name (e.g., Martin Luther and Lutheranism).
In the table below, where there are two religions listed, the first one is the religion the person was born into. The second was the religion or philosophy the person later joined or founded. Comments in the "Influence" column are in bold when the influence is mainly in the realm of religion and philosophy.
Rank Name Religion
1 Mohammad Islam
2 Isaac Newton Anglican (rejected Trinitarianism, i.e.,
Athanasianism; believed in the Arianism
of the Primitive Church)
3 Jesus Christ *
Judaism; Christianity
4 Buddha Hinduism; Buddhism
5 Confucius Confucianism
6 St. Paul Judaism; Christianity
7 Ts'ai Lun Chinese traditional religion
8 Johann Gutenberg Catholic
9 Christopher Columbus Catholic
10 Albert Einstein Jewish
11 Louis Pasteur Catholic
12 Galileo Galilei Catholic
13 Aristotle Platonism / Greek philosophy
14 Euclid Platonism / Greek philosophy
15 Moses Judaism
16 Charles Darwin Anglican (nominal); Unitarian
17 Shih Huang Ti Chinese traditional religion
18 Augustus Caesar Roman state paganism
19 Nicolaus Copernicus Catholic (priest)
20 Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Catholic
21 Constantine the Great Roman state paganism; Christianity
22 James Watt Presbyterian (lapsed)
23 Michael Faraday Sandemanian
24 James Clerk Maxwell Presbyterian; Anglican; Baptist
25 Martin Luther Catholic; Lutheran
26 George Washington Episcopalian
27 Karl Marx Jewish; Lutheran;
Atheist; Marxism/Communism
28 Orville and Wilbur Wright United Brethren
29 Genghis Khan Mongolian shamanism
30 Adam Smith Liberal Protestant
31 Edward de Vere
a.k.a. William Shakespeare Catholic; Anglican
32 John Dalton Quaker
33 Alexander the Great Greek state paganism
34 Napoleon Bonaparte Catholic (nominal)
35 Thomas Edison Congregationalist; agnostic
36 Antony van Leeuwenhoek Dutch Reformed
37 William T.G. Morton ??
38 Guglielmo Marconi Catholic and Anglican
39 Adolf Hitler Nazism; born/raised in, but rejected Catholicism
40 Plato Platonism / Greek philosophy
41 Oliver Cromwell Puritan (Protestant)
42 Alexander Graham Bell Unitarian/Universalist
43 Alexander Fleming Catholic
44 John Locke raised Puritan (Anglican);
Liberal Christian
45 Ludwig van Beethoven Catholic
46 Werner Heisenberg Lutheran
47 Louis Daguerre ??
48 Simon Bolivar Catholic (nominal); Atheist
49 Rene Descartes Catholic
50 Michelangelo Catholic
51 Pope Urban II Catholic
52 'Umar ibn al-Khattab Islam
53 Asoka Buddhism
54 St. Augustine Greek state paganism; Manicheanism; Catholic
55 William Harvey Anglican (nominal)
56 Ernest Rutherford ??
57 John Calvin Protestant; Calvinism
58 Gregor Mendel Catholic (Augustinian monk)
59 Max Planck Protestant
60 Joseph Lister Quaker
61 Nikolaus August Otto ??
62 Francisco Pizarro Catholic
63 Hernando Cortes Catholic
64 Thomas Jefferson Episcopalian; Deist
65 Queen Isabella I Catholic
66 Joseph Stalin Russian Orthodox; Atheist; Marxism
67 Julius Caesar Roman state paganism
68 William the Conqueror Catholic
69 Sigmund Freud Jewish; atheist; Freudian psychology/psychoanalysis
70 Edward Jenner Anglican
71 Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen ??
72 Johann Sebastian Bach Lutheran; Catholic
73 Lao Tzu Taoism
74 Voltaire raised in Jansenism;
later Deist
75 Johannes Kepler Lutheran
76 Enrico Fermi Catholic
77 Leonhard Euler Calvinist
78 Jean-Jacques Rousseau born Protestant;
converted as a teen to Catholic;
later Deist
79 Nicoli Machiavelli Catholic
80 Thomas Malthus Anglican (cleric)
81 John F. Kennedy Catholic
82 Gregory Pincus Jewish
83 Mani Manicheanism
84 Lenin Russian Orthodox;
Atheist; Marxism/Communism
85 Sui Wen Ti Chinese traditional religion
86 Vasco da Gama Catholic
87 Cyrus the Great Zoroastrianism
88 Peter the Great Russian Orthodox
89 Mao Zedong Atheist; Communism; Maoism
90 Francis Bacon Anglican
91 Henry Ford Protestant
92 Mencius Confucianism
93 Zoroaster Zoroastrianism
94 Queen Elizabeth I Anglican
95 Mikhail Gorbachev Russian Orthodox
96 Menes Egyptian paganism
97 Charlemagne Catholic
98 Homer Greek paganism
99 Justinian I Catholic
100 Mahavira Hinduism; Jainism [/COLOR]
Source of list of names: Hart, Michael H. The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, Revised and Updated for the Nineties. New York: Carol Publishing Group/Citadel Press; first published in 1978, reprinted with minor revisions (reflected above) in 1992.
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