100 Important People in History

Admiral Lord Nelson (1726-1799) commanded the British fleet to victory in the Battle of the First of June during the French Revolutionary Wars, and provided an example of tactical excellence for his successors. He also defeated the French and Spaniards by commanding the Channel fleet and serving as first lord of the Admiralty.

Mata Hari (1876-1917) was a Dutch courtesan and apparent spy during World War I. She began exotic dancing in Paris in 1905 and had numerous lovers, including military officers. She seemed to be spying for Germany since 1916, and was arrested by the French and executed in 1917.

As sultan of Egypt and Syria, Saladin (1138-1198) succeeded in uniting Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and Palestine, founding the Ayyubid dynasty. His pious and virtuous ruling inspired Muslims to fight courteously in the conquest against the Crusades. He achieved a victorious outcome and additionally captured Jerusalem.

Cochise (died 1874) was the Chiricahua Apache chief who led the resistance to white incursions into the American Southwest. When fighting broke out between the Apache and the U.S. Army in 1861, he and his followers eluded capture for 10 years. However, ultimately, the Apache was made to move into reservations.

British poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) wrote many brilliant and various plays and poems, making him William Shakespere’s most important contemporary in English drama. His most famous play is The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus, which uses the style of a morality play to present temptation, fall, and damnation.

Greek tragic dramatist Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.) is considered the father of Greek tragic drama because of his innovation in adding a second actor to the performance and enabling the later development of dialogue and dramatic action. He wrote over 80 plays, preceding both Greek tragedians Sophocles and Euripides.

English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was one of the leading poets of the Victorian age, as well as a spokesman for the educated English middle class. His poetry often dealt with the hardships that occur when traditions are questioned by science and modern progress. His most famous work is The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, and designer Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is the world’s most famous Surrealist artist. His paintings show a dream-like world where normal objects, painted realistically, are contorted and deformed in unnatural ways. He also made Surrealistic films and later designed stage sets, jewelry, interiors, and book illustrations.

U.S. writers Will Durant (1885-1981) and Ariel Durant wrote the 11-volume The Story of Civilization after Will’s success with his Story of Philosophy. They won a Pulitzer Prize for Rousseau and Revolution, one volume of their lengthy book. Ariel was not listed as coauthor, though involved in the writing of every volume, until the seventh.

English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) made many discoveries involving the laws of motion, orbital dynamics, the tidal theory, and the theory of universal gravitation, regarded as the most significant work of modern science. He also worked on the fundamentals of calculus and laid the foundations of physical optics.

In Greek religion, Prometheus was one of the Titans and a god of fire who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. To punish him, Zeus had him chained to a mountain and had an eagle devour his liver, which regenerated every night so he could suffer his fate repeatedly.

Thor, the son of Odin, is a deity from Norse mythology. He was benevolent toward humans but the enemy of a race of giants, and he carried a powerful hammer named Mjollnir. He was destined to kill and be killed by the world serpent Jormungand during the Ragnarok.

Beowulf is the Scandinavian hero of the epic poem Beowulf who gains fame by killing the monster Grendel and Grendel’s mother. He also slays a dragon as an old king but soon dies after, honored and lamented. The poem belongs to Germanic heroic tradition but also shows definite Christian influence.