In Britain there was a long running TV show in which viewers would get to vote for the 'Greatest Briton in history. Each episode a candiate would be argued for by a well known contempory person. It was a great series and attracted more votes than pop idol. That is surprising for an intellectual show. Se some of significant Britons mentioned below.
I am interested in what an American top ten would look like - whats yours?
So here are some of the key Britons:
(a) Winston Churchill (he was votest Greatest by the public)
(b) William Shakespear
(c) Kingdom Brunel (Britain was the first country in the world to have an industrial revolution and he was the greatest industrial entrepeneur)
(d) Isaac Newton
(e) Charles Darwin
(f) Horatio Nelson - defeated Napoleon at Trafalgar and so stopped him conquering Britain as he had the rest of Europe.
(g) John Lennon
(i) Alan Turing (inventor of the computer)
(j) Alexander Fleming (discovered penicillin)
2006-08-02 17:48:31 · 9 answers · asked by David i 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Just my opinion, of course...... but I think the following list is a good one:
1. Abraham Lincoln (he held the Union together, and presided over a period in American history when we went from being referred to as THESE United States of America to THE United States of America - a very profound difference. He is also to be admired for his brilliant speeches and folksy quotations)
2. George Washington (a military genius who can also be creditied with guiding the US through its first tests of constitutional government)
3. Martin Luther King, Jr ( he brought eloquence, compassion, and Christian insight to the turbulent Civil Rights Movement)
4. Thomas Edison (his amazing mind and inventions moved the entire world into the modern age)
5. Bill Gates (entreprenuerial genius who revolutionized the PC through his Windows program and helped create the "global village." He should also be admired for his generous philanthropy)
6. Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain, he is the quintessential American author and humorist, and should be honored for practically inventing the modern novel as we know it)
7. Clara Barton (dedicated nurse who persevered against great odds to organize the American Red Cross)
8. Irving Berlin (although he was born in Russia, he was raised in America from the age of 5 and should be acknowledged for composing some of the most poignant music of the 20th century)
9. Stepehn Hawkings (he is a brilliant phsicist whose contributions to theory and thinking in the area of cosmology is unparalleled)
10. Ansel Adams (reknowned photographer whose black and white images are stirring on many levels)
I tried to make my list as comprehensive as possible, in regard to excellence and representation of many different means of expressing it. But, after careful consideration, I guess it is quite an excerciise in futility trying to choose only 10 great Americans whose contributions truly made a difference.
Thanks for the opportunity, though.
2006-08-02 19:41:21 · answer #1 · answered by Katie My Katie 3 · 11⤊ 2⤋
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
Harriet Tubman
Emma Goldman
John Dewey
Louis Armstrong
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Ben Franklin
Frederick Douglass
2006-08-03 03:00:54 · answer #2 · answered by Johnny Tezca 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Eli Whitney
Henry Ford
George Washington Carver
Booker T. Washington
Franklin Roosevelt
Albert Einstein
Martin Luther King and family
Bill Gates
These are my top ten, but not in order of rank.
Honorable Mention:
The Founding Fathers
Crispus Attucks
Abraham Lincoln
Woodrow Wilson
Theodore Roosevelt
Patton, Ike, and MacArthur
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George Bush Sr.
( No I will never include george Bush the son in this list. He let Al Queda get away along with Bin Laden.)
2006-08-03 02:02:52 · answer #3 · answered by sir_john_65 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. George Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. Franklin Roosevelt
5. Thomas Edison
6. Alexander Graham Bell
7. Ben Franklin
8. Bill Gates
9. Henry Ford
10. Mark Twain
11. Earnest Hemingway
12. Dwight Eisenhower
13. Sinclair Lewis
2006-08-03 01:00:17 · answer #4 · answered by MTSU history student 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason for my choices should be obvious. These are in no particular order:
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Carnegie
Thomas Edison
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ayn Rand
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Benjamin Franklin
John Rockerfeller
Just as a thought, I consider our Founding Fathers the greatest generation of men in our history. There have been nobody else, with the possible exception of the WWII men and women, who come closer to epitomizing our country's spirit and fortitude.
2006-08-03 02:57:16 · answer #5 · answered by Modest intellect 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since the English omitted monarchs, I will omit Presidents:
Not everyone will agree, but they would be good to debate
Joseph Smith, Jr.
Benjamin Franklin
Martin Luther King, Jr.
George Gershwin
Sequoia
Jackie Robinson
Thomas Edison
Jonas Salk
Neil Armstrong
Harriet Beecher Stowe
2006-08-03 02:41:33 · answer #6 · answered by Woody 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably...(no particular order)
General Lee(Robert E. Lee)
General Grant(Ullysseus S. Grant)
President Lincoln
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
JFK(John F. Kennedy)
Harriet Tubman
Jimmy Doolittle(led the first air attack on Japan in the forties)
James Dean
Martin Luther King Jr.
2006-08-03 02:12:56 · answer #7 · answered by Loved By Someone Above 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Jonas Salk re: the polio vaccine
The Wright brothers
William Faulkner
Tennessee Williams
Henry Ford
The Suffragettes for winning votes for women
Eli Whitney (his cotton gin made slavery unnecessary)
2006-08-03 01:25:22 · answer #8 · answered by jom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In no particular order (I don't have that kind of patience)
Thomas Edison
Henry Ford
George Washington (as much for what he didn't do as for what he did)
Martin Luther King
Lee Strassberg
John Singer Sargent
Bill Gates
Lenny Bruce
Louis Armstrong
Muhammed Ali
2006-08-03 01:02:43 · answer #9 · answered by dg 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋