20 influential people who changed the world as we know it

20 influential people who changed the world as we know it

Each century has seen some of the most potent people born to influence others. They are experts in their craft, ensuring their identity is ingrained in people's hearts worldwide. Being the people's favourite is challenging, and getting them to listen to you takes even more effort and determination. Learn more about some of the most influential people who changed the world due to their impacts.

people who changed the world
Malala Yousafzai, Albert Einstein, Cesar Chavez, and Mandela are some of the most influential people who changed the world. Photo: Araya Doheny, VCG Wilson, Sion Touhig (modified by author)
Source: Getty Images

What person changed the world the most? Throughout history, there have been many influential persons whose tales of triumph over adversity or distinctive thoughts had enduring global and historical impacts. Being influenced by others may help you to grow and realise what you are capable of.

Influential people who changed the world

Who are the 5 men who changed the world? Some of them include Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, and Nelson Mandela. Learn more about them below and several others, including great women such as Helen Keller below.

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1. Albert Einstein

people that changed the world
Continuing his renewed renovations of modern science, Professor Albert Einstein left the vessel when it docked in New York for a four-day stay.
Source: Getty Images

Albert Einstein was a theoretical scientist born in Germany and is regarded as one of the most significant and influential physicists ever. He is most known for creating the hypothesis of relativity, but he also contributed substantially to the idea of quantum mechanics.

2. Abraham Lincoln

people who changed the world
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865) was the sixteenth president of the United States of America. Photo: Stock Montage
Source: Getty Images

Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman, politician, and famous lawyer who was the sixteenth president of the USA from 1861 to 1865. Lincoln guided the Union via the American Civil War to maintain the country as a constitutional union, and he was successful in eradicating slavery, strengthening the federal government, and modernising the American economy.

3. Martin Luther King, Jr.

people who changed the world
Close-up of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. shown in this photo, head shoulders, alone.
Source: Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist clergyman and activist who was a crucial figure in the American human rights campaign from 1955 until his death on 4 April 1968. He improved civil rights for individuals of colour in America through pacification and peaceful demonstrations.

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4. Nelson Mandela

people who changed the world
Former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa speaks to visitors in his residence in Houghton, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: Per-Anders Pettersson
Source: Getty Images

Who are the people who changed the world in modern times? Nelson Mandela was the inaugural South African president from 1994 until 1999. He was the nation's first black president and one of the first elected in a completely democratic election. His administration was committed to eradicating apartheid's legacy through racial healing.

5. Benjamin Franklin

people who changed the world
Portrait of American politician, scientist, and philosopher Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence 1770s. Photo: Stock Montage
Source: Getty Images

Benjamin Franklin was a scientist, writer, statesman, inventor, printer, diplomat, publisher, and political philosopher from the United States. Franklin was a notable scholar of his time, one of the USA's Founding Fathers, a designer and signatory of the Declaration of Independence, and the nation's inaugural Postmaster General.

6. Isaac Newton

people who changed the world
English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727). Photo: Stock Montage
Source: Getty Images

Which people changed the world for the better? Isaac Newton was an English physicist, alchemist, astronomer, theologian, mathematician, and writer known as the father of natural philosophy during his lifetime. He played a pivotal role in advancing science and the subsequent Enlightenment.

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7. Galileo Galilei

people who changed the world
Italian physicist, mathematician and astronomer Galileo (Galilei) (1564 - 1642). Photo: Stock Montage
Source: Getty Images

Galileo Galilei researched gravity and free fall, speed and velocity, inertia, the theory of relativity, projectile motion, and applied science and technology, characterising the qualities of pendulums and "hydrostatic balances." He developed the thermoscope, several military compasses, and the telescope, which he employed for scientific investigations of celestial objects.

8. Nikola Tesla

people who changed the world
Serbian-American Inventor, Engineer and Futurist, head and shoulders Portrait, Napoleon Sarony, Bain News Service, 1890. Photo: Universal History Archive
Source: Getty Images

Nikola Tesla was one of the people who made a difference in the world. He was a Serbian-American electrical engineer, futurist inventor, and mechanical engineer best recognised for his contributions to the invention of the contemporary alternating current (AC) energy delivery system.

9. Christopher Columbus

people who changed the world
Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Columbus (born about 1446, died 1506), 1519. Artist Sebastiano del Piombo. Photo: Heritage Art
Source: Getty Images

Christopher Columbus was a Genoese adventurer and navigator who performed four expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean supported by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, paving the way for broad European discovery and colonising the Americas. His missions were the first Europeans to contact Central and South America and the Caribbean,

10. Paul the Apostle

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people who changed the world
Saint Paul, c. 1490/1500. Creator: Master FVB. Photo: Heritage Art
Source: Getty Images

Paul the Apostle was one of the most important people in history. He was a Christian missionary who spread Jesus' teachings throughout the first century. From the mid-40s through the mid-50s AD, he established various Christian groups in Asia Minor and Europe. He is often recognised as one of the most influential personalities of the Apostolic Age.

11. Wright brothers

people who changed the world
Orville Wright (1871-1948) and his brother Wilbur (1867-1912). Photo: Apic
Source: Getty Images

The Wright brothers were the United States aviation pioneers who invented, built, and flew the world's first commercially viable motor-powered aeroplane. With the Wright Flyer, they achieved the first controllable, uninterrupted flight of a fueled, heavier-than-air aircraft. The two siblings were the first to develop aeroplane controls, enabling fixed-wing-fueled flight.

12. Rosa Parks

people who changed the world
Civil rights leader Rosa Parks waits for the Congressional Gold Medal in Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building, Washington, DC. Photo: William Philpott
Source: Getty Images

Rosa Parks was an American human rights activist particularly remembered for her critical involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott. The American Conference recognised her as "the maternal figure of the freedom movement" and "the first female president of civil rights." Parks joined the NAACP in 1943 and participated in major civil rights initiatives.

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13. George Washington

people who changed the world
Here, an engraved portrait after a 1792 painting by John Trumbull depicts Washington viewing the enemy at the Battle of Trenton, NJ, Dec. 1776. Photo: Stock Montage
Source: Getty Images

George Washington was the United States' first president from 1789 until 1797. He was selected by the Continental Congress as leader of the Continental Army and operated as the head of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, establishing and signing the Constitution of the USA and the American Confederate government.

14. William Shakespeare

people who changed the world
English playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Photo: Stock Montage
Source: Getty Images

William Shakespeare was a poet, playwright, and established actor from England. He is acknowledged as the most significant author in the English dialect and the globe's great dramatist. His works have been successfully translated into various languages and have received more productions than any other dramatist.

15. Ludwig van Beethoven

people who changed the world
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) composed the 'Missa Solemnis', February-April 1820. Oil painting by August Klober. Photo: Universal History Archive
Source: Getty Images

Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the historical figures that changed the world. He was a writer and pianist from Germany. Beethoven is still regarded as one of the most acclaimed composers in Western music history. His compositions are often played in the traditional musical canon, spanning the changeover from the ancient to the Romantic eras.

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16. Helen Keller

people who changed the world
Headshot portrait of American educator and activist for the disabled Helen Keller (1880 - 1968), wearing a pearl necklace and a dress with a semi-square cut neckline. Photo: Hulton Archive
Source: Getty Images

Helen Keller is one of the most famous deaf people. She was an American novelist, campaigner for disability rights, lecturer, and political activist. Keller lost her hearing and vision following a medical condition when she was nineteen months old. She was the inaugural deafblind to acquire a Bachelor of Arts degree in America.

17. Cesar Chavez

people who changed the world
Cesar Chavez, American Farm Workers Union.
Source: Getty Images

He is one of the Hispanic people who changed the world. Cesar Chavez was a labour leader and human rights campaigner from the United States. He created the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with Dolores Huerta, which eventually combined with the Agricultural Workers Organising Committee (AWOC) to form the United Farm Workers (UFW).

18. Malala Yousafzai

people who changed the world
Malala Yousafzai attends the special "Polite Society" screening presented by Focus Features and Universal Pictures at The Curzon Mayfair in London, England. Photo: Stuart C. Wilson
Source: Getty Images

Malala Yousafzai is among the young people who changed the world. She is a Pakistani education campaigner who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. She is well-known for her civil rights activism, particularly for promoting the education of women and kids in her homeland Swat, wherein the Pakistani Taliban had previously prohibited girls from joining the school.

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19. Charles Darwin

people who changed the world
Charles Darwin, British naturalist, 1878. Darwin started his career on board the HMS 'Beagle' and spent six years surveying the South American seas. Photo: The Print Collector
Source: Getty Images

Charles Darwin was a geologist, naturalist, and biologist from England best recognised for his works on evolutionary biology. His theory that all living things evolved from an ancestral lineage is now widely recognised and regarded as a fundamental principle in science.

20. Henry Ford

people who changed the world
American automobile manufacturer and organiser and president of the Ford Motor Company. Photo: Stock Montage
Source: Getty Images

Henry Ford was an entrepreneur and manufacturer from the United States. He was the creator of the assembly line technique of massive manufacturing and the father of the Ford Motor Company. He invented the first car that middle-class Americans could purchase, and his transformation of the automobile from a costly luxury to an affordable mode of transportation had a tremendous effect on the landscape of the twentieth century.

Influential individuals impact how others acquire information, how they utilise the available resources, how they interact, and how they dress. And above are some of the most influential people who changed the world.

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Influential people who changed the world as we know it
Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

Yen.com.gh recently published a list of the most popular black YouTubers. YouTube has evolved into a platform for various content providers, with black YouTubers achieving significant progress in multiple genres.

YouTube has evolved into a platform where great video creators of different ethnicities entertain audiences with unique endeavours. Famous black YouTubers are building a name for themselves on the forum, providing various entertaining videos you will surely enjoy.

Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Tatiana Thiga avatar

Tatiana Thiga (Lifestyle writer) Tatiana Thiga is a content creator who joined Yen in 2022. She is an English literature graduate from Kenyatta University. She has amassed sufficient knowledge working on a variety of topics, including biographies, fashion and lifestyles, guides, and more. In 2023, Tatiana finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. You can reach her at tatianathiga@gmail.com