Most Influential Person. . .

Just before the dawn of the new "millenium" (it was actually 2000), A&E Biography ran a several part show called "The 100 Most Influential People of the Millenium," or something like that. They determined that Johann Gutenberg was the most influential person of the last millenium, with William Shakespeare in a close second (after that all I remember is that Bill Gates was 91, though).Anyway, while searching for this list on the internet, I discovered a similar list by LIFE Magazine (Page not found - LIFE). However, LIFE believes Thomas Edison is deserving of the honor. What really amazed me, though, is that Johann Gutenberg is NOT even on LIFE's list. Also, they have Genghiz Khan's grandson, Kublai, on the list and not Genghiz, and Mary Shelley is in the top twenty.So I've decided to open it up for debate (if anyone cares). Just who is the most influential person of the last millenium? Or better yet--who is the most influential person EVER?I'll hold off on my choices until someone else replies.

My top five would be:Newton
Gutenberg
Shakespeare
Marx
Galilei

Oh, I had forgotten about Thomas Paine. He should be up near the top. I don't think Clemens was influential enough to be considered top four, though.[This message has been edited by phil, 02-14-2004]

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Well, we don't have any real evidence that Jesus ever existed. This is in contrast to Mohammed.

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One website I visited had Mohammed as the most religiously influential person ever (as in, the person who has had the most influence on religion/agnosticism/atheism/humanism, etc). It claims he was more influential because, unlike Jesus, he was a political leader as well as a religious leader. Newton was second, and Jesus was third.

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Thomas Jefferson? Okay, maybe not in the top 10, but he did pen the American Constitution, which has affected every American since then.

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Jefferson had nothing to do with the Constitution. He penned the Declaration of Independence, but it was James Madison who was responsible for most of the writing of the Constitution. Jefferson was an ambassador in Europe somewhere at the time, as was John Adams.

Mohammed in the last thousand years?