Who was the most influential person in the whole human history?

[SpArK]

Vint Cerf/ Bob Kahn

1,966,514,816 followers.

 

[Water Car Engineer]

guy also posted "Ashoka" as "most influential person in all human history"

Not the must influential person, but is in the top 50.. And is one of the most influencal kings of all time. And the second most important figure in Buddhism.

 

[AUz]

Not the must influential person, but is in the top 50.. And is one of the most influencal kings of all time. And the second most important figure in Buddhism.

I didn't know that...

 

[President Camacho]

Steve Jobs gets it, no questions asked!

Reason - iPod !!!

 

[Red Dwarf]

For me i don't have a single figure to point out. The people the makes me inspired are the ones that i see in my real life. I don't know how can i make a person my role model without ever knowing anything about him personally......

Also I want to how many of the posters here actually got influenced by their favorite influential person.

 

[Water Car Engineer]

[/B]
I didn't know that...

Because of him we know where Buddha was born. Where Siddhartha achieved enlightened and developed into the Buddha, etc, because of the pillar he erected in his empire..

He is also the first major emperor to convert to Buddhism and patrolize it.

He spread the religion all the way to Greece and Central Asia, which would later spread to Eastern Asia. He spread it to South India and Sri Lanka which would spread Buddhism later to South East Asia..

He was like Constantine the Great in some ways. He was the first major emperor to convert to Christianity and spread it all over Europe. Same for Ashoka with Buddhism in India and later beyond.

Also in his rule. Brahmi scrit was developed. Which is the ancestor of many modern scripts used in India, South East Asia, Tibet, and some languages in eastern Asia,,

 

[desiman]

In terms of influence in the world, no one comes even close to Jesus Christ, while muslims will argue otherwise, the coming of Christ changed the world and shaped it to become what it is today. While the muslim world is largely divided, the Christian world has managed to rule to globe for well over 400 years now.

 

[Water Car Engineer]

In terms of influence in the world, no one comes even close to Jesus Christ, while muslims will argue otherwise, the coming of Christ changed the world and shaped it to become what it is today. While the muslim world is largely divided, the Christian world has managed to rule to globe for well over 400 years now.

Muhammad is a contender. If not ahead of Jesus Christ..

Here is the book "The 100"..

The 100 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

100 most influential people in human history.

1 Muhammad Islam Prophet of Islam; conqueror of Arabia; Hart recognized that ranking Muhammad first might be controversial, but felt that, from a secular historian's perspective, this was the correct choice because Muhammad is the only man to have been both a founder of a major world religion and a major military/political leader.

2 Isaac Newton Anglican (rejected Trinitarianism, i.e.,
Athanasianism; believed in the Arianism
of the Primitive Church) physicist; theory of universal gravitation; laws of motion
3 Jesus Christ * Judaism; Christianity founder of Christianity
4 Buddha Hinduism; Buddhism founder of Buddhism
5 Confucius Confucianism founder of Confucianism
6 St. Paul Judaism; Christianity proselytizer of Christianity
7 Ts'ai Lun Chinese traditional religion inventor of paper
8 Johann Gutenberg Catholic developed movable type; printed Bibles
9 Christopher Columbus Catholic explorer; led Europe to Americas
10 Albert Einstein Jewish physicist; relativity; Einsteinian physics
11 Louis Pasteur Catholic scientist; pasteurization
12 Galileo Galilei Catholic astronomer; accurately described heliocentric solar system
13 Aristotle Platonism / Greek philosophy influential Greek philosopher
14 Euclid Platonism / Greek philosophy mathematician; Euclidian geometry
15 Moses Judaism major prophet of Judaism
16 Charles Darwin Anglican (nominal); Unitarian biologist; described Darwinian evolution, which had theological impact on many religions
17 Shih Huang Ti Chinese traditional religion Chinese emperor
18 Augustus Caesar Roman state paganism ruler
19 Nicolaus Copernicus Catholic (priest) astronomer; taught heliocentricity
20 Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Catholic father of modern chemistry; philosopher; economist
21 Constantine the Great Roman state paganism; Christianity Roman emperor who completely legalized Christianity, leading to its status as state religion. Convened the First Council of Nicaea that produced the Nicene Creed, which rejected Arianism (one of two major strains of Christian thought) and established Athanasianism (Trinitarianism, the other strain) as "official doctrine."
22 James Watt Presbyterian (lapsed) developed steam engine
23 Michael Faraday Sandemanian physicist; chemist; discovery of magneto-electricity
24 James Clerk Maxwell Presbyterian; Anglican; Baptist physicist; electromagnetic spectrum
25 Martin Luther Catholic; Lutheran founder of Protestantism and Lutheranism
26 George Washington Episcopalian first president of United States
27 Karl Marx Jewish; Lutheran;
Atheist; Marxism/Communism founder of Marxism, Marxist Communism
28 Orville and Wilbur Wright United Brethren inventors of airplane
29 Genghis Khan Mongolian shamanism Mongol conqueror
30 Adam Smith Liberal Protestant economist; philosopher; expositor of capitalism; author: The Theory of Moral Sentiments
31 Edward de Vere
a.k.a. William Shakespeare Catholic; Anglican literature; also wrote 6 volumes about philosophy and religion
32 John Dalton Quaker chemist; physicist; atomic theory; law of partial pressures (Dalton's law)
33 Alexander the Great Greek state paganism conqueror
34 Napoleon Bonaparte Catholic (nominal) French conqueror
35 Thomas Edison Congregationalist; agnostic inventor of light bulb, phonograph, etc.
36 Antony van Leeuwenhoek Dutch Reformed microscopes; studied microscopic life
37 William T.G. Morton ?? pioneer in anesthesiology
38 Guglielmo Marconi Catholic and Anglican inventor of radio
39 Adolf Hitler Nazism; born/raised in, but rejected Catholicism conqueror; led Axis Powers in WWII
40 Plato Platonism / Greek philosophy founder of Platonism
41 Oliver Cromwell Puritan (Protestant) British political and military leader
42 Alexander Graham Bell Unitarian/Universalist inventor of telephone *
43 Alexander Fleming Catholic penicillin; advances in bacteriology, immunology and chemotherapy
44 John Locke raised Puritan (Anglican);
Liberal Christian philosopher and liberal theologian
45 Ludwig van Beethoven Catholic composer
46 Werner Heisenberg Lutheran a founder of quantum mechanics; discovered principle of uncertainty; head of Nazi Germany's nuclear program
47 Louis Daguerre ?? an inventor/pioneer of photography
48 Simon Bolivar Catholic (nominal); Atheist National hero of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia
49 Rene Descartes Catholic Rationalist philosopher and mathematician
50 Michelangelo Catholic painter; sculptor; architect
51 Pope Urban II Catholic called for First Crusade
52 'Umar ibn al-Khattab Islam Second Caliph; expanded Muslim empire
53 Asoka Buddhism king of India who converted to and spread Buddhism
54 St. Augustine Greek state paganism; Manicheanism; Catholic Early Christian theologian
55 William Harvey Anglican (nominal) described the circulation of blood; wrote Essays on the Generation of Animals, the basis for modern embryology
56 Ernest Rutherford ?? physicist; pioneer of subatomic physics
57 John Calvin Protestant; Calvinism Protestant reformer; founder of Calvinism
58 Gregor Mendel Catholic (Augustinian monk) Mendelian genetics
59 Max Planck Protestant physicist; thermodynamics
60 Joseph Lister Quaker principal discoverer of antiseptics which greatly reduced surgical mortality
61 Nikolaus August Otto ?? built first four-stroke internal combustion engine
62 Francisco Pizarro Catholic Spanish conqueror in South America; defeated Incas
63 Hernando Cortes Catholic conquered Mexico for Spain; through war and introduction of new diseases he largely destroyed Aztec civilization
64 Thomas Jefferson Episcopalian; Deist 3rd president of United States
65 Queen Isabella I Catholic Spanish ruler
66 Joseph Stalin Russian Orthodox; Atheist; Marxism revolutionary and ruler of USSR
67 Julius Caesar Roman state paganism Roman emperor
68 William the Conqueror Catholic laid foundation of modern England
69 Sigmund Freud Jewish; atheist; Freudian psychology/psychoanalysis founded Freudian school of psychology/psychoanalysis (i.e., the "religion of Freudianism")
70 Edward Jenner Anglican discoverer of the vaccination for smallpox
71 Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen ?? discovered X-rays
72 Johann Sebastian Bach Lutheran; Catholic composer
73 Lao Tzu Taoism founder of Taoism
74 Voltaire raised in Jansenism;
later Deist writer and philosopher; wrote Candide
75 Johannes Kepler Lutheran astronomer; planetary motions
76 Enrico Fermi Catholic initiated the atomic age; father of atom bomb
77 Leonhard Euler Calvinist physicist; mathematician; differential and integral calculus and algebra
78 Jean-Jacques Rousseau born Protestant;
converted as a teen to Catholic;
later Deist French deistic philosopher and author
79 Nicoli Machiavelli Catholic wrote The Prince (influential political treatise)
80 Thomas Malthus Anglican (cleric) economist; wrote Essay on the Principle of Population
81 John F. Kennedy Catholic U.S. President who led first successful effort by humans to travel to another "planet"
82 Gregory Pincus Jewish endocrinologist; developed birth-control pill
83 Mani Manicheanism founder of Manicheanism, once a world religion which rivaled Christianity in strength
84 Lenin Russian Orthodox;
Atheist; Marxism/Communism Russian ruler
85 Sui Wen Ti Chinese traditional religion unified China
86 Vasco da Gama Catholic navigator; discovered route from Europe to India around Cape Hood
87 Cyrus the Great Zoroastrianism founder of Persian empire
88 Peter the Great Russian Orthodox forged Russia into a great European nation
89 Mao Zedong Atheist; Communism; Maoism founder of Maoism, Chinese form of Communism
90 Francis Bacon Anglican philosopher; delineated inductive scientific method
91 Henry Ford Protestant developed automobile; achievement in manufacturing and assembly
92 Mencius Confucianism philosopher; founder of a school of Confucianism
93 Zoroaster Zoroastrianism founder of Zoroastrianism
94 Queen Elizabeth I Anglican British monarch; restored Church of England to power after Queen Mary
95 Mikhail Gorbachev Russian Orthodox Russian premier who helped end Communism in USSR
96 Menes Egyptian paganism unified Upper and Lower Egypt
97 Charlemagne Catholic Holy Roman Empire created with his baptism in 800 AD
98 Homer Greek paganism epic poet
99 Justinian I Catholic Roman emperor; reconquered Mediterranean empire; accelerated Catholic-Monophysite schism
100 Mahavira Hinduism; Jainism founder of Jainism

 

[AUz]

In terms of influence in the world, no one comes even close to Jesus Christ, while muslims will argue otherwise, the coming of Christ changed the world and shaped it to become what it is today.

The bold part can be said for Muhammad and with much,much more authority.Almost ALL influential figures (Hitler,Karl Marx,Mao etc etc) have 'shaped the world to become what it is today'.By the way,why you wrote "Muslims" will argue otherwise? Do you see any "religious" bias in my post where I gave my reasons for choosing Muhammad over Jesus? If so then point in out please..By the way,I don't know about Muslims but many "secular" and even "Christian" historians/writers 'argue otherwise'... Liquid just gave you the example of Michael H. Hart .....

While the muslim world is largely divided, the Christian world has managed to rule to globe for well over 400 years now.

What does this have to do with "influence of Jesus" West become dominant only AFTER they 'threw out' Christianity from their society and became "secular" -without God. You are saying it as if West is dominant because "they are influenced by Jesus"

 

[zarbeqari]

WHAT IS DUROOD SHAREEF AND THE IMPORTANCE OF DUROOD SHAREEF

Divine blessings on Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is the highest and the most meritorious act in our Deen. This “Divine Blessings” is called Durood Shareef.

When Almighty Allah sends Durood and Salaams upon Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), He is actually blessing him. When the Malaa’ikah and the Muslims send Durood and Salaams to Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), they are actually showing Almighty Allah their respect for the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).Muslims hope that, through the blessings of the Durood and Salaams, Almighty Allah will forgive them of their sins and increase their status in this world and in the Aakirah. The Malaa’ikah hope that Almighty Allah will increase their status.

Durood is a sure means of Allah Ta’ala granting blessings, peace, prosperity and favours of great magnitude on one who recites Durood Shareef on the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). The reciter of Durood Shareef receives all the benefits in this world and utmost gain in the next world with addition to the love of the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).The invocation of Blessings on the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is styled in Arabic as “Salawat”, in Persian as “Durood”, and in Urdu as “Salawat-o-Salaam”.

The regular recitation of Durood Shareef on Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) lifts up our hearts on to a plane of comprehension where we gaze in our new found peace and moral armour.

The reciter of Durood Shareef will, after some time, come to realise by himself that it is the spontaneous outpouring of his heart before the Great Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) of Islam, whose love and attachment is needed to get all the present day problems solved and obtain mercy in the next world.

The more Durood Shareef we recite, the greater the gain and benefit will be achieved in both the worlds. Sayyiduna Shaikh-e-Akbar Mo’inuddin ibn Arabi (radi Allahu anhu) has stated that, “Those who claim to love and revere the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) should increase their recital of the Durood Shareef in patience and perseverance until, through the mercy of Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), they have the opportunity of witnessing his blessed countenance”.

The special and exclusive aspect of this prayer is that Durood Shareef is immediately accepted by Allah Ta’ala. No one can doubt its acceptance, as Durood Shareef is being recited by Allah Ta’ala too. Not only this, but He has revealed this secret in the Holy Quran by saying:

“Have I not exalted thy name.” Muslims are a very fortunate people. Allah Ta’ala chose for them the name of Islam as a religion, declared to be comprehensive and final for mankind. The person chose to deliver this message in this specific form and extra-ordinary style of love and hope was the most beloved of Allah Ta’ala and became the Light of Divinity to be shed upon the entire universe. This Light devastated all the domains of darkness and depression. By reciting Durood Shareef (Salawat) we invite Light and drive away all darkness from our inner soul. Our mind becomes soft and love saturated. If there is softness in everything, it tends beauty to it. People become ugly owing to lack of this essential beauty of the inner part of the mind. This ugliness cannot be glossed over by any amount of cosmetics. It is the Durood Shareef on the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) which works wonders.
In the same manner, the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) taught us Durood Shareef to attain salvation, perfect peace and maximum gain in this world as well as the next. The soul is the soil where the faith of Allah is to be implanted firmly and faithfully which requires continuous recitation of Durood Shareef to thrive and flourish.

We have been told by Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) that Durood Shareef is itself Light and when Light enters the soul every aspiration is achieved and every goal is won. Nothing remains thereafter to worry about.

Human spirit today is depressed everywhere and mankind has come to the edge of destruction, decay and devastation. Everyone is engulfed in untold miseries and tragedies of a very great magnitude. Troubles and tortures, pain, poverty, hunger, ill-health, frustrations and accidents have broken the back of a human being. All this can evaporate with the recitation of Durood Shareef on the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) who has clearly proclaimed that Durood Shareef is the panacea of all ills and that if any one comes across a calamity he should recite Durood Shareef in the maximum number. Allah Ta’ala has promised that if anyone recites Durood only once, He showers ten blessings on the reciter immediately.

It is narrated that once Sayyiduna Musa (alaihis salaam) walked a very long distance in the desert during summer at noon. He fainted due to thirst and hunger. After a while, when he regained his consciousness, Allah Ta’ala sent Sayyiduna Jibrael (alaihis salaam) to go and inquire from Sayyiduna Musa (alaihis salaam) if he was thirsty or not. Sayyiduna Musa (alaihis salaam) replied that he was thirsty. Allah Ta’ala told him that the thirst on the Day of Judgement will be a million times more than what Sayyiduna Moosa (alaihis salaam) experienced. Sayyiduna Musa (alaihis salaam) was told that if he wished to get rid of that thirst on the hottest Day of Judgement, he would have to do one thing. When Sayyiduna Musa (alaihis salaam) enquired as to what should be done, Allah Ta’ala told him that he should recite Durood Shareef in abundance on His last Prophet, Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). Sayyiduna Musa (alaihis salaam) thanked Allah Ta’ala and immediately began reciting Durood Shareef on the Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).

From the above fact it is quite clear that Allah Ta’ala has given orders even to his Ambiya to recite Salawat on the last and final Prophet of Islam, and that Durood Shareef is not only panacea and a solution to the ills of this world but in the next too.

In another story, it is narrated that when Sayyiduna Adam (alaihis salaam) saw Bibi Hawa (radi Allahu anha) he wanted to be close to her, but Allah Ta’ala sent Sayyiduna Jibrael (alaihis salaam) to stop him. Allah Ta’ala told him that if he wanted to take Bibi Hawa (radi Allahu anha) as his wife, he should first pay Mahr (dowry). On his inquiry as to what the Mahr was, Allah Ta’ala told Sayyiduna Jibrael (alaihis salaam) to inform him that the best way of paying the dowry is for him to recite Durood Shareef 3 times on His last Prophet, Sayyiduna Muhammad (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). Sayyiduna Adam (alaihis salaam) did so, Bibi Hawa (radi Allahu anha) was granted to him as his legal and legitimate wife.

The highest blessings which Islam has conferred on man is the concept of Tauheed or Unity of Allah in its purest form. This has been furnished to mankind through Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), the last of the Prophets. It is a cardinal duty of every Muslim man and woman, young and old to entertain the highest respect, regard, love and esteem for the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) and his family. It should be clear that obedience to Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is always to be charged with intense love and highest regard for him, for it is through love and esteem that truth can be comprehended and communion with the Creator can be vouch-safed. In fact, love is the motive force, reverence dissolves and implicit obedience to the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) which is the natural outcome. It is therefore incumbent on those who love him, to pray to Allah Ta’ala and His Angels in wishing for him peace according to the Divine Command. This will reshape the life which is otherwise infested with turmoil. The reciter will get countless and matchless benefits in both the Worlds and can claim to be the lover of Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).As Muslims we should recite Durood Shareef in the Arabic language. Islam seeks to create a unified outlook and it is in the Arabic language alone which welds all Muslims into one great brotherhood. Besides, Arabic is the language of Heaven, it is the language of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), it is the language of the Angels and it is the language of Sayyiduna Abu-Bakr, Sayyiduna Umar, Sayyiduna Uthman and Sayyiduna Ali (radi Allahu anhuma).The daily recitation of Durood Shareef has a tremendous effect on the human head, heart, mind and person. It purifies thoughts and intensifies actions. It makes passages for perfect peace and personal satisfaction.

 

[Mech]

Give reasons for your choice too..

Jesus Christ because,

Died on the cross for the sins of mankind.

Healed the sick and gave hope to the broken hearted.

Showed the world that there is indeed a light at the end of our tunnels.

Taught us violence is never the means to achieve anything.



Plus, thousands of other reasons. I felt these to be most important.

 

[DesiGuy]

'In terms of sheer numbers, it's the British King-Emperor George VI, who ruled over 532 million subjects in 1939, in an empire that spanned a quater of the globe.

However as a percentage of the world's total population, it's Xerxes the Great. As King of Persia from 486bc-465bc he ruled over a staggering 44% of the worlds population.

Alternatively, there is also US president Harry Truman, who in 1945 controlled 35% of the world's GDP."

 

[Wounded-Monk]

My vote for Alexander Fleming for discovery of Penicillin...

I dont think anything has so much an impact on mankind throughout the 5000/- yrs of documented human history.....

 

[A1Kaid]

The first evolved man, the first man to use reason instead of picking up a stone or stick.

 

[CardSharp]

The first evolved man, the first man to use reason instead of picking up a stone or stick.

There isn't a first evolved man because evolution is a gradual process that is still going. BUT there is a genetic Adam, who all men are directly descended from 60,000 years ago.

Y-chromosomal Adam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia