Who are the 5 most underrated historical figures and why?

Answer 1

I think Saints are. The people who have helped the poor and done kind acts are the most ignored,

Answer 2

I say William Tyndale. Never heard of him? I'm not surprised.

who is he? He is also known as "The Father of the English Bible"
He was an English Reformer contemporary with Martin Luther. He was one of probably no more than 4 people in Europe at the time who had the language expertise to do what he tried to do: Tranlate the BIble into English from the original Hebrew and Greek, rather than the corrupted Latin Vulgate. He translated the entire new testament, and part of the Old Testament. His work was cut short and left incomplete because he was strangled and burnt at the stake for his beliefs and actions. (at the time it was illegal to have any "holy" writing or prayers in English, people were being burnt at the stake for teaching their children the Lord's prayer or the 10 commandments in their mother tongue)

Why he is so importatnt?
The King James Version of the Bible has been the best selling book in history. While Tyndale had been dead almost 100 years when the King James Version was published, the translaters borrowed HEAVILY from his translation. And no wonder, for his work was practically perfect. 80-90% or more of the King James Version is word for word Tyndale's translation.

In trying to come up with a translation that was beautiful and true to the meaning /intent of the original Greek and Hebrew authors, Tyndalle coined such phrases as

let there be light
the powers that be
my brother's keeper
the salt of the earth
a law unto themselves
filthy lucre
it came to pass
gave up the ghost

and many others. His impact on the development of the English language during it's height of glory is said to be secondary only to Wiliam Shakespeare (Who, some say was heavily influenced by Tyndale's style).

So I think he is a pretty important person, who is very much overlooked.

Here's a nice wikipedia article about him, from where I got the list of some phrases he coined

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale

Answer 3

king henry VII - began divorce in england
henry clay - spent his life making compromises to resolve issues in america
the beatles - created a rock revolution and changed the music scene forever
bill gates - created a lot of technology that we find vital today and is working to eliminate malaria
susan b. anthony - began creating a focus on womens' rights in the 1800s

Answer 4

The inventors of the chariot, concrete, the horse collar, the longbow, and the plow.