Among the most famous people on the planet are scientists, talented directors, historical figures, politicians and unsurpassed actors. They are known in many countries. There are disputes about the name of the most famous person in the world.

The most famous scientists

A significant contribution to science is made by scientists and outstanding scientists. In every field of science there are a number of especially honored, well-known scientists. For example, speaking of psychology, one cannot help but recall Sigmund Freud, who was the first to bring together in practice such concepts as treatment and research. In psychological terms, he was able to explain human behavior for the first time. It was from his principles and conclusions that a comprehensive observational theory of personality was born.

Another famous psychologist is Carl Jung. While studying at the university, he specialized in psychiatry. His psychology has many followers not only among physicians, but also among philosophers.

The American physicist who first created the atomic bomb is Robert Oppenheimer. Creating it, he did not imagine that he would soon witness a considerable number of victims caused by it in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. He is considered not only the "father of the atomic bomb", but also the discoverer of black holes in our universe.

An outstanding design engineer, whose dream was to conquer space, Sergey Korolev, was the first on Earth to launch satellites, spaceships, and scientific stations into planetary orbit. A significant biologist, thanks to whom the world learned about penicillin, is Alexander Fleming. He also owns the discovery of lysocysm (or antibacterial enzyme). His discoveries are among the most important made by scientists in the twentieth century.

Andrei Kolmogorov is recognized as the most prominent mathematician of the last century. He stood at the origins of the creation of the theory of probability, being one of its founders. He was also able to obtain fundamental results in many areas of mathematics.

One of the most prominent chemists is Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. His greatest contribution to this science is considered to be the theory of combustion phenomena. Another chemist Mikhail Lomonosov is recognized as the founder of such a direction in science as physical chemistry. Like Lavoisier, almost at the same time, he derived the law of conservation of mass of matter.

Most likely, there is no such person who would not know anything about Albert Einstein. This physicist developed a number of physical theories, wrote almost three hundred scientific papers, he is the founder of modern theoretical physics.

The list of the most famous scientists could be continued. It is quite difficult to choose among the outstanding, the most significant and those whose contribution to the development of science is the greatest.

Popular actors and directors

Speaking about the world of cinema and about famous actors, the image of Charlie Chaplin always pops up. The image of an intellectual wanderer he invented was to the taste of the audience and made the actor a favorite of the public. He starred in silent films and managed to play in eighty films.

Film lovers will name Gerard Depardieu, Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Sean Connery and Robert De Niro among the most talented and famous actors in the world. The list of the most popular actors will not be complete without such personalities as Anthony Hopkins, Humphrey Bogarde and Jean Paul Belmondo.

The most famous Russian actors are Mikhail Boyarsky and Oleg Tabakov, Vakhtang Kikabidze and Leonid Yarmolnik, Vladimir Mashkov and Yevgeny Mironov, Nikita Mikhalkov and Vyacheslav Tikhonov, as well as many others.

Speaking of Western cinema, one cannot but recall the names of such directors as Emir Kusturica, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron and Luc Besson. His films are loved in many parts of the world. A lot of thrillers, considered the standard, were shot by Alfred Hitchcock. This director is called none other than the "Master of Horror".

Federico Fellini's films captivate the viewer with a special charming simplicity. Another famous filmmaker is Steven Spielberg. It is recognized as the most successful and highest-grossing film in the history of cinema.

Soviet people appreciate and love the works of Stanislav Govorukhin, Vladimir Menshov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergei Solovyov, Andrey Konchalovsky. Modern Russian cinema is represented by films by such masters as Fyodor Bondarchuk, Valeria Gai Germanika, Svetlana Druzhinina, Timur Bekmambetov and others.

Notable politicians and historical figures

There are historical figures and politicians who influenced the course of history or left a noticeable mark on it. One of these people is Mao Zedong, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx. Adolf Hitler, who started a terrible war, brought people a lot of suffering.

Franklin Roosevelt is considered the political star of America, it was he who came up with the idea of ​​creating the UN. The USSR became a superpower under Joseph Stalin. He led the country when it defeated Hitler. The site has an interesting article about Adolf Hitler and other scariest people in history.

An outstanding British politician who served as Prime Minister of the country is Winston Churchill. He made history not only for Britain, but for all of Europe.

It is impossible not to name Napoleon Bonaparte. In the nineteenth century, thanks to this man, France became a superpower. He is rightfully called a state and military genius. In Russia, Peter the Great did a lot for its development and prosperity. He wanted life in his native country to become similar to life in Europe, in addition, he sought to expand the borders and create a powerful fleet.

The most famous person in the world

There are many opinions and many disputes about who is the most famous person in the world, because of this it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to this question. Many consider Jesus Christ to be such a person.

He is central to Christianity because he is seen as the messiah foretold in the Old Testament. People know him as an expiatory sacrifice, as a man who took torment for the sins of people. About Jesus it is written not only in the Gospel, but also in other books of the New Testament. According to theologians and religious scholars, this is a real historical figure.
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The Russian Federation is a great state that ranks first on the planet in terms of territory and national wealth. However, its main pride is made up of outstanding citizens who have left a noticeable mark on history. Our country has nurtured a huge number of famous scientists, politicians, generals, athletes and artists of world renown. Their achievements allowed Russia to take one of the leading positions in the list of superpowers of the planet.

Rating

Who are they, outstanding citizens of Russia? The list of them can be continued endlessly, because each period in the history of our Fatherland has its own great people who have become famous in different fields of activity. Among the most prominent personalities who, to one degree or another, influenced the course of both Russian and world history, it is worth mentioning the following:

1. Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky.
2. Peter the Great.
3. Alexander Suvorov.
4. Mikhail Lomonosov.
5. Dmitry Mendeleev.
6. Yuri Gagarin.
7. Andrei Sakharov.

Minin and Pozharsky

An outstanding Russian citizen Kuzma Minin and his no less famous contemporary Prince Dmitry Pozharsky went down in history as the liberators of Russian lands from the Polish invaders. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Time of Troubles began in the Russian state. The crisis, which engulfed many areas of life, was aggravated by the presence of impostors on the throne of the capital. In Moscow, Smolensk and a number of other cities, the Polish gentry was in full swing, and the western borders of the country were occupied by Swedish troops.

In order to expel foreign invaders from Russian lands and liberate the country, the clergy called on the population to create a people's militia and liberate the capital from the Poles. The call was answered by the Novgorod zemstvo headman Kuzma Minin (Sukhoruk), who, although not of noble origin, was a true patriot of his homeland. In a short time, he managed to gather an army from the inhabitants of Nizhny Novgorod. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky from the Rurik family agreed to head it.

Gradually, residents of the surrounding cities, dissatisfied with the dominance of the Polish gentry in Moscow, began to join the people's militia of Nizhny Novgorod. By the autumn of 1612, the army of Minin and Pozharsky numbered about 10 thousand people. In early November 1612, the Nizhny Novgorod militia managed to expel the Poles from the capital and force them to sign an act of surrender. The success of the operation became possible thanks to the skillful actions of Minin and Pozharsky. In 1818, the memory of the heroic liberators of Moscow was immortalized by the sculptor I. Martos in a monument erected on Red Square.

Peter the Great

The significance of the reign of Peter I, nicknamed the Great for his services to the state, is difficult to overestimate. An outstanding citizen of Russia, Peter the Great, was on the throne for 43 years, coming to power at the age of 17. He turned the country into the greatest empire, founded the city of Petersburg on the Neva and transferred the capital from Moscow to it, conducted a number of successful military campaigns, thanks to which he significantly expanded the borders of the state. Peter the Great began to trade with Europe, founded the Academy of Sciences, opened many educational institutions, introduced the compulsory study of foreign languages, forced representatives of the noble classes to wear secular outfits.

Significance of the reign of Peter I for Russia

The sovereign's reforms strengthened the economy and science, contributed to the development of the army and navy. His successful domestic and foreign policy became the basis for the further growth and development of the state. Voltaire highly appreciated the internal transformations of Russia in the time of Peter the Great. He wrote that the Russian people in half a century managed to achieve what other peoples could not achieve in 500 years of their existence.

A. V. Suvorov

The most outstanding citizen of Russia in the second half of the 18th century is, of course, the great commander, Generalissimo of the Russian land and sea forces Alexander Suvorov. This talented commander fought over 60 major battles and was not defeated in any of them. The army under the command of Suvorov managed to win even in those cases when the enemy forces significantly outnumbered it. The commander took part in the Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1791, brilliantly commanded the Russian troops during the storming of Prague in 1794, and in the last years of his life led the Italian and Swiss campaigns.

In the battles, Suvorov used the tactics of warfare developed by him personally, which was significantly ahead of its time. He did not recognize military drill and instilled in the soldiers love for the Fatherland, considering it a guarantee of victory in any battle. The legendary commander made sure that during military campaigns his army was provided with everything necessary. He heroically shared all the hardships with the soldiers, thanks to which he enjoyed great authority and respect among them. For his victories, Suvorov was awarded all the high military awards that existed in his time in the Russian Empire. In addition, he was a holder of seven foreign orders.

M. V. Lomonosov

Outstanding citizens of Russia glorified their country not only in the art of statecraft or military tactics. Mikhail Lomonosov belongs to the cohort of the greatest domestic scientists who have made a huge contribution to the development of world science. Born into a poor family and unable to get a decent education, from early childhood he had a high intellect and was drawn to knowledge. Lomonosov's desire for science was so strong that at the age of 19 he left his village, went on foot to Moscow and entered the Slavic-Greco-Roman Academy. This was followed by studies at St. Petersburg University at the Academy of Sciences. To improve knowledge in the natural sciences, Michael was sent to Europe. At the age of 34, the young scientist became an academician.

Lomonosov, without exaggeration, can be considered a universal person. He possessed brilliant knowledge of chemistry, physics, geography, astronomy, geology, metallurgy, history, and genealogy. In addition, the scientist was an excellent poet, writer and artist. Lomonosov made many discoveries in physics, chemistry and astronomy, and became the founder of the science of glass. He owns the project of creating Moscow University, which was later named after him.

D. I. Mendeleev

The world famous chemist Dmitry Mendeleev is the pride of Russia. Having been born in Tobolsk in the family of the director of the gymnasium, he had no barriers to education. At the age of 21, young Mendeleev graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the St. Petersburg Pedagogical Institute with a gold medal. A few months later, he defended his dissertation for the right to lecture and began teaching practice. At 23, Mendeleev was awarded a master's degree in chemistry. From this age, he began teaching at the Imperial University of St. Petersburg. At the age of 31, he becomes a professor of chemical technology, and after 2 years - a professor of general chemistry.

World fame of the great chemist

In 1869, at the age of 35, Dmitri Mendeleev made a discovery that made him famous all over the world. We are talking about the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. It became the basis for all modern chemistry. Attempts to systematize the elements according to their properties and atomic weight were made even before Mendeleev, but he was the first to clearly formulate the pattern existing between them.

The periodic table is not the only achievement of the scientist. He wrote many fundamental works on chemistry and initiated the creation of the Chamber of Weights and Measures in St. Petersburg. D. I. Mendeleev was a holder of eight honorary orders of the Russian Empire and foreign countries. He was awarded a doctorate degree from the Turin Academy of Sciences, Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Edinburgh and Göttingen Universities. The scientific authority of Mendeleev was so high that he was nominated for the Nobel Prize three times. Unfortunately, other scientists have become laureates of this prestigious international award every time. However, this fact in no way diminishes the merits of the famous chemist before the Fatherland.

Yu. A. Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin is a prominent Russian citizen of the Soviet era. On April 12, 1961, on the Vostok-1 spacecraft, for the first time in the history of mankind, he flew into space. Having spent 108 minutes in Earth's orbit, the astronaut returned to the planet as a hero of international proportions. Gagarin's popularity could be envied even by world movie stars. He made official visits to more than 30 foreign countries and traveled all over the USSR.

An outstanding citizen of Russia, Yuri Gagarin, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the highest distinctions of many countries. He was preparing for a new space flight, but a plane crash that occurred in March 1968 in the Vladimir region tragically cut short his life. Having lived only 34 years, Gagarin became one of the greatest people of the 20th century. Streets and squares in all major cities of Russia and the CIS countries are named after him, monuments to him are erected in many foreign countries. In honor of Yuri Gagarin's flight, April 12 is celebrated as International Cosmonautics Day all over the world.

A. D. Sakharov

In addition to Gagarin, there were many other prominent citizens of Russia in the Soviet Union. The USSR became famous throughout the world thanks to Academician Andrei Sakharov, who made an invaluable contribution to the development of physics. In 1949, together with Yu. Khariton, he developed a project for a hydrogen bomb - the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon. In addition, Sakharov conducted a lot of research on magnetohydrodynamics, gravity, astrophysics, and plasma physics. In the mid-70s, he predicted the advent of the Internet. In 1975, the academician was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In addition to science, Sakharov was active in human rights activities, for which he fell out of favor with the Soviet leadership. In 1980, he was stripped of all titles and top awards, after which he was deported from Moscow to Gorky. After the start of Perestroika, Sakharov was allowed to return to the capital. In the last years of his life, he continued to engage in scientific activities, and was also elected a deputy of the Supreme Council. In 1989, the scientist worked on a draft of a new Soviet constitution that proclaimed the right of peoples to statehood, but a sudden death did not allow him to complete the work he had begun.

Prominent citizens of Russia in the 21st century

Today, a huge number of people live in our country, glorifying it in politics, science, art and other fields of activity. The most famous scientists of our time are physicists Mikhail Allenov and Valery Rachkov, urbanist Denis Vizgalov, historian Vyacheslav Vorobyov, economist Nadezhda Kosareva, etc. The outstanding artists of the 21st century include artists Ilya Glazunov and Alyona Azernaya, conductors Valery Gergiev and Yuri Bashmet, opera singers Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Anna Netrebko, actors Sergei Bezrukov and Konstantin Khabensky, directors Nikita Mikhalkov and Timur Bekmambetov and others. Well, the most prominent politician in Russia today is its President - Vladimir Putin.

There is such a psychological test: a person is asked quickly and without hesitation to name a poet, a fruit and a bird. Interestingly, 90% of people immediately call Pushkin, an apple and a chicken. Pushkin is undoubtedly a literary genius. And who else can be ranked among the outstanding personalities of the past, what outstanding personalities of our time are known?

Pledge of fame

Those who left a noticeable mark in history will be remembered for centuries, and it does not matter in what area they "inherited" - politics, art or science.

Outstanding personalities are celebrities who excite the minds of hundreds of thousands of people. How did they manage to reach the top? What is it, natural talent and genius, work on oneself or just a finger of fate? It seems that on the way to world fame, all 3 factors are required:

1. Talent. He must be present. Yashin is a great goalkeeper, Einstein is a gifted physicist, Richelieu is a talented politician, and Leonardo da Vinci is simply a genius. Each of them is an outstanding personality of his time.
2. Diligence. Without it, talent will simply be buried in the ground.
3. Fate. A certain set of circumstances often plays a decisive role in the life of a genius and puts him on the path of public recognition.

The most famous personalities in the world

You can conduct an experiment: sit down at the table and write offhand all the most famous personalities in the world. Everyone will have their own list. Who can enter there? Of the writers - Pushkin, Lermontov, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Exupery, Shakespeare, Byron. The outstanding personalities of our time in literature are JK Rowling and Stephen King, or maybe Astrid Lindgren.

Of the artists - the immortal da Vinci, Picasso, Van Gogh, the unsurpassed marine painter Aivazovsky, Levitan and Shishkin.

Of the women - Cleopatra, the beautiful Roksolana, the legendary Mata Hari and the inimitable Coco Chanel. And also Monica Bellucci, Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren - outstanding personalities of our time. All of them became famous thanks to their bright appearance and acting talent.

Louis XIV, Cardinal Richelieu, Peter I, Catherine II, Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Fidel Castro, Roosevelt.

Among scientists, one cannot but recall Lomonosov, Newton, Archimedes, Tsialkovsky, Mendeleev. Perelman Grigory Yakovlevich is an outstanding personality of Russia of our time, a world-famous mathematician who proved the Poincaré conjecture.

The list goes on

Maya Plisetskaya is an icon of the Soviet ballet. She set a record - she danced until the age of 65 on stage, hardly anyone can repeat her achievement. But besides her, there were also Marie Ramberg, Anna Pavlova, Ulanova.

Our country has given the world many famous people in the past and in the present. Outstanding people of our time in Russia have shown themselves in various fields:

• sports - Alina Kabaeva; Yelena Isinbayeva, who set 27 world records and pole vault to a height of 5.06 m; Alexander Karelin, whom no one could defeat in Greco-Roman wrestling for 13 years; Vladislav Tretiak; undefeated figure skater Irina Rodnina;
• art - the whole world admires the works of artists Sergei Marshennikov, Dmitry Annenkov, Nikolai Blokhin, Stanislav Plutenko, Konstantin Lupanov, Alexei Chernigin;
• fashion - Natalia Vodianova and Sasha Pivovarova are among the highest paid models in the world;
• scientists - Sergey Brin (immigrated to America, together with the mathematician Larry Page created the well-known Google), Zhores Alferov, Yuri Oganesyan, Alexei Starobinsky.

All of them are outstanding personalities of the new time, distinguished by their talents and incredible diligence.

Nobody should be forgotten

World history is like a huge puzzle picture, and each puzzle has its place in it, otherwise we would not know our world as we see it today. With billions of invisible threads, our past is firmly connected with the present, and each outstanding personality of his time played a certain role on the stage of life.

Each field had its own outstanding personalities, and it would take a multi-volume encyclopedia to list them all.

Can literature cross out Jules Verne, Defoe, Nosov, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, Zhukovsky, Chukovsky, Bulgakov, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle or Jane Austen? Also significant are the works of the great philosophers - Confucius, Diogenes, Aristotle, Luther, Machiavelli.

Mahatma Gandhi, Lincoln, Churchill, Mao Zedong, de Gaulle - politicians who were able to change the face of countries, charismatic personalities who carried away hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.

Caesar, Macedonian, Napoleon, Nevsky, Dornskoy, Suvorov, Kutuzov are the greatest commanders of their time. The list goes on: Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, Hannibal Barca, Saladin and others.

In the century of great geographical discoveries, China, Portugal, Spain, Italy gave the world the greatest travelers, fearless romantics, people of duty who opened a new page of the era.

Dramatic medicine

Few people know that many doctors conducted deadly experiments on themselves, some of which ended tragically. The purpose of the experiments was to save humanity, to find cures for unknown diseases, to study viruses and bacteria. These are Max Pettenkofer, Rudolf Emmerich, Ilya Mechnikov, the English doctor White, the French doctor Bular, Antoine Clot, the Austrian doctor Rosenfeld, Dr. Finlay, Lacear, the Englishman Ross and the Italian Grassi and other heroes who sacrificed themselves for the sake of science. Their motto is: "Shining to others, I burn."

Hippocrates and Avicena, Sklifasovsky, Botkin, Amosov, Bekhterev, cardiologist Bakeria, Leila Denmark, Freud, Louis Pasteur and many more talented doctors - surgeons, virologists, pediatricians, oncologists, ophthalmologists, gynecologists - all of them are outstanding personalities whose activities save lives million.

Unknown heroes

We know, remember and honor those famous people who are captured in history, who have become the main characters of outstanding events in this or that area. But in everyday life, there are those who risk themselves daily for the sake of our safety and well-being.

April 1986 - a terrible accident in Chernobyl. Dozens of engineers, soldiers, firefighters and just public people gave their lives, extinguishing the raging atomic deadly flame.

March 2007 - a fire broke out in a nursing home in the city of Yeysk. Of the entire staff, only one nurse rushed to save patients. She saved the lives of more than 30 old people, but she herself died heroically from suffocation.

September 2004 - Lieutenant Turkin died after covering a grenade with his body. The terrorists threw her into a group of children.

Fifth-grader Sergey Krivov saved the child by pulling him out of the river. It became known about his feat by accident, he did not even tell anyone about it, showing not only the courage of a real man, but also the modesty of a spiritually rich person.

12-year-old Stas Slynko carried his 5-year-old sister out of the fire during a fire, saving the child's life. His heroism was awarded the medal "For Courage in a Fire". Professionals noted that in a critical situation, the boy acted surprisingly accurately, maintaining the composure and restraint of an adult man in the face of danger.

All of them and many more are outstanding personalities of our time.

Many heroes call Bruce Willis, Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan. But it should be remembered that their life is a game. They transform into heroes in front of the camera. In life, these are the most ordinary people, and how they will behave in moments of danger is unknown.

Top famous personalities

In every country in every era there were outstanding personalities. Who can determine with certainty whether Hegel or Copernicus made a greater contribution to science, or perhaps Pierre and or Academician Sakharov?

There is no doubt that cosmonauts Gagarin, Leonov, Tereshkova, and Anatoly Solovyov are outstanding people of all times and peoples in Russian society. But no less courageous are Bering, Columbus, Magellan and Amundsen, the significance of whose discoveries can hardly be overestimated.

If we return to the world of art, then on what scale can one measure the talents of artists Diego Velasquez or Caravaggio, Claude Monet or Filippo Brunelleschi? Or how can one compare the talents of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Mozart and Bach?

Mother Teresa is a nun who has dedicated her life to helping the poor and the infirm. Through her work, she saved thousands of lives and restored hope to millions.

Doesn't Bill Gates - the founder of Microsoft and the richest man in the world - deserve to be called an outstanding personality? And what about Walt Disney, whose cartoons have long become classics of the children's cinema? Or Olivier, who created the famous salad that is included in the menu of every housewife in Russia? Therefore, it is impossible to designate 10 outstanding people of all time, this is too narrow a framework.

The most famous person in the world

Despite the fact that there are many people who deserve all respect and admiration, there is still a person who has been the most significant and influential in history for many centuries. This is Jesus Christ. Scientific studies have confirmed his existence, but no one can comprehend his charisma and unparalleled influence on the entire Christian world for more than 2000 years. This can only be explained by the divine essence of Christ.

We all know about some of the scariest people who ever lived, from Adolf Hitler to Charles Manson, but there are countless other scary personalities from history who are very little mentioned in textbooks. The ten people featured on this list were brutal monsters among humans, infamous for such things as bathing in blood, killing scores of defenseless children, or for committing heinous and unforgivable crimes against humanity in times of war. In this article, you will learn about ten terrifying, but little-known historical figures, whose terrible ways of life are still a dark stain on the entire history of mankind.

1. Gilles de Rais (1404-1440), Serial killer of children

Gilles de Rais was an honored Breton knight who fought alongside Joan of Arc herself in the French army. However, he did not go down in history for his prowess on the battlefield. His life came to an end after he confessed to killing at least eighty to two hundred children of peasants and servants. The real number of his victims will never be established, but some scholars believe that over a seven-year period, up to six hundred children died at the hands of de Rais.

After de Rais retired, he admitted that he was engaged in the occult and tried to summon demons, offering them some of the children he had killed as victims. Finding children to kill was not difficult, as peasant children often approached his castle asking for food. Since he chose children from very poor families, no one had enough influence to accuse him of crimes when their children went missing.

Once de Rais kidnapped children, he took great pleasure in torturing, raping, and killing them. His preferred method of killing was decapitation, but he also slit their throats, dismembered them, or snapped their necks. He confessed that his habit included sexual self-gratification among the bloody remains of his victims.

In 1440, de Rais made a fatal mistake by kidnapping an influential clergyman, which led to an official investigation and trial. Finally, De Rais, who was about to be tortured to extract a confession from him, confessed to the murder of hundreds of children. He and several of his accomplices who assisted him in his terrible mission were executed by hanging and burning in 1440.

2. Elizabeth Báthory (1560-1614), "Bloody Countess"

Elisabeth Bathory was a countess from a prestigious noble family in Hungary. Bathory was well educated and able to read and write in four languages, and due to her social status she was an important person well known in and around Vienna. It was thanks to her noble blood and influential husband that her heinous crimes went unpunished for so long.

When Bathory's husband died in 1604, the authorities could not ignore the murmurings of the locals. There were rumors that many young women and girls disappeared in and around the countess's many castles. Most of the victims were peasant women and maids, whom Bathory assumed would never be enough, but towards the end of her reign of terror, she made the mistake of kidnapping the daughters of the petty nobility, which led to her being eventually caught and convicted of murder.

Bathory's trial lasted for several weeks, with hundreds of witnesses testifying against her. Most of the witnesses were family members of the missing girls, but there were also women who managed to escape Bathory's tenacious claws. They told horror stories about what they had to endure. In the end, Bathory confessed and she and four of her accomplices were convicted of torturing and killing hundreds of girls. One witness claimed that Bathory and her accomplices killed over six hundred and fifty young girls, but they were able to prove that she had only killed eighty.

Bathory is called the "Blood Countess" because she was rumored to bathe in the blood of her virgin victims, believing it would help her keep her youthful. After Bathory was convicted for her crimes, she was sentenced to life under house arrest. She was walled up in several small rooms in her castle, which had only small windows for the transfer of food and the passage of oxygen. There she remained until her death in 1614.

3. Maximilian Robespierre (Maximilien de Robespierre) (1758-1794), Obsessed with the guillotine

Maximilian Robespierre was a French lawyer and politician who was also one of the most influential figures in the French Revolution. Robespierre was a skilled speaker, and captivated the audience with his speeches about virtue, patriotism and morality. He sincerely desired liberty and civil rights for the people of France. Unfortunately, as soon as he came to power, he became a tyrant who believed that the only way to achieve his democratic goals was to terrorize people with death threats.

Maximilian Robespierre became obsessed with the French method of execution, the guillotine. During the ten months of the Reign of Terror, Robespierre carried out mass executions of people who, in his opinion, did not support the French Revolution. Robespierre executed hundreds of people by guillotine without trial, including some of his friends and family members. Even petty crimes such as hoarding, desertion, or rebellion were reasons for execution during the reign of Robespierre. French political cartoons of the era depict Robespierre killing an executioner with a guillotine after everyone else had already been killed.

An estimated forty thousand people were either executed or sentenced to life imprisonment, including notables such as King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. Robespierre also ordered hundreds of thousands of soldiers to fight in deliberately failed battles, including the Vendée Mutiny (Vendée), in which more than one hundred thousand men, women and children were killed. In the end, Robespierre suffered the same fate as his victims, when in 1794 he was executed without trial by guillotine.

4. Tamerlane (Timur) (1336-1405), Ruthless conqueror and mass murderer

Although Tamerlane (also known as Timur) is famous as the epic Asian conqueror who founded the Timurid empires and dynasties, he is also remembered as a brutal ruler and bloodthirsty barbarian who left a bloody trail during his reign. Tamerlane's methods of conquest were ruthless and cruel, bringing destruction and devastation to millions of people during the entire period of his life.

Timur liked to force soldiers and civilians to commit suicide by jumping from great heights. In India, Tamerlane ordered over 200,000 captured soldiers to jump off a cliff to their death. He also ordered his henchmen to behead tens of thousands of residents and soldiers in Aleppo, Ifshan, Tikrit, Baghdad, and many other cities.

For his entertainment, Tamerlane ordered the construction of towers from human skeletons, and during his life and reign, it is estimated that twenty million people died.

5. Ilse Koch (1906-1967), "The Witch of Buchenwald"

The story of Ilse Koch is just one of the horror stories of the Holocaust. Ilse Koch was married to Karl Koch, one of Adolf Hitler's commandants at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Ilse Koch lived with her husband in Buchenwald, but instead of living the normal life of a typical commandant's wife, she wholeheartedly joined the Nazi movement, becoming a camp overseer (Aufseherin SS).

Ilse performed her job with the zeal of a true sadist, often riding her horse around the camp and brutally beating the prisoners (sometimes to death) for no reason. She liked to randomly select prisoners whose skin interested her. She then ordered selected prisoners to be killed, and their skins she tanned to make disgusting objects such as leather lampshades, book bindings, and clothing. She was especially proud of the bag she often carried, which was made from human flesh.

In the end, Koch was arrested for her war crimes, and her husband was executed in 1945 in Munich. Koch was later sentenced to life imprisonment. After the war, the only son of Ilse and Karl Koch committed suicide, apparently not resigned to learning of his parents' involvement in the Holocaust. While in prison, Koch conceived by an unknown man, and nineteen years later her son became a frequent visitor to her prison cell. After twenty years in prison, Koch suddenly committed suicide the night before her son was due to arrive.

6. Ranavalona I (1778-1861), Mad Queen of Madagascar

Ranavaluna I was queen of the kingdom of Madagascar for thirty-three years. During this time, Ranavaluna worked tirelessly to reduce Madagascar's dependence on Europe, repelled French attacks, and raised a formidable army. Ranavaluna's favorite method of mustering the 30,000-strong army of Ranavaluna was to force peasants who couldn't pay their taxes on time to take up arms, participate in public works, and work without wages to pay off their debts. During her reign, millions of people died due to constant war, disease, starvation, harsh punishments for petty crimes, and forced labor.

Throughout her life, Ranavaluna was viewed as a tyrant who was quite possibly insane. Her frequent use of excessive force, both towards her people and towards Europeans (especially the French), led many Europeans to refer to her with such nicknames as: "The Crazy Queen of Madagascar", "Ranavalona the Cruel" (Ranavalona The Cruel), The Bloody Mary of Madagascar, Most Mad Queen of History, Wicked Queen Ranavalona, ​​and Caligula in a Skirt (Female Caligula).

7. Liu Pengli (date of birth unknown, date of death - approximately 144 BC), One of the first serial killers in history

*Note: The picture does not depict Liu Pengli, as there are no officially documented images of him.

Liu Pengli was the Prince of Jidong, China and the Emperor's cousin. Pengli was equal parts arrogant and cruel. He loved to take groups of his equally corrupt relatives and slaves to siege local villages, where they raped, robbed, killed, and took the slaves as souvenirs. Pengli terrorized people for pleasure, stealing from them, killing their loved ones, and leaving them to die. The people of Jidong lived in fear of their prince, people hid in their houses and avoided going out at night. Pengli is responsible for the deaths of at least a hundred confirmed victims, but it is likely that there were many more victims that went unaccounted for.

The emperor eventually found out about Pengli's crimes, but he refused to execute his cousin, so he stripped Pengli of his royal titles, took his land and fortune from him, made him a mere layman, and banished him to a distant corner of the country.

8. Belle Gunness (1859 - year of death unknown), "Infernal Belle"


Belle Gunness was born in Norway and according to some reports led a relatively normal life until a man kicked her in the stomach as a teenager, causing her to lose her first child. After that, the character of Gunness changed radically. Also, perhaps by accident, the person who hit her died shortly after from "stomach cancer".

In 1881, Gunness immigrated to the United States, where she worked as a maid, married, and had children. Gunness learned how to use the insurance system by taking out large insurance on her family members and their business. Shortly after she received insurance policies, her children began to die from stomach problems and their business burned to the ground. Gunness's husband also later died of intestinal problems, reportedly on the same day of the year that two of his life insurance policies were valid. Gunness collected all the insurance payments and then remarried.

Within a week of her second marriage, her husband's child from a previous marriage died while under Belle's care. Within a year, her second husband died of a mysterious head wound. Gunness collected the insurance money again and moved on.

In the end, Gunness's crimes were brought to light by a handyman whose advances she rejected. She was found to have killed most of her suitors and pals, as well as two of her daughters, and most likely she killed both of her husbands and all of their children (between twenty and forty) over a period of about twenty years. She became quite wealthy by collecting insurance payments, cash, and valuables from her victims. Gunness never went to jail for her crimes, she emptied her bank accounts and disappeared around the early 1900s.

9. Empress Wu Zetian (625-705), "Charming" Empress

*The photo is an image of Wu Zetian created by the artist.

Wu Zetian was the only female empress in Chinese history, and she is known as a fearsome and ruthless person who never hesitated to resort to murder for the benefit of herself and her country. Empress Zetian led China to a period of political and military leadership, and she is credited with greatly expanding the Chinese empire. However, she was a heartless, cruel, sexually depraved and violent leader. She even had her own infant daughter killed to advance her political career.

On each day of her reign, Wu Zetian resorted to torture, execution, and forced people to commit suicide. She orchestrated the assassination of her rivals, their families, clerics, and a host of other people. Empress Zetian also ordered tens of thousands of her people to be killed with poison, she ordered them to be boiled alive, or sometimes simply mutilated. She ruled China until her death, from natural causes, at the age of eighty-one.

10 Thug Behram (1765-1840), World's Most Massive Serial Killer


Between 1790 and 1840, an Indian cult leader named Thag Behram killed nine hundred and thirty one people in the Avadh region of India. The English word "thug" (which means "thug" in translation) came from the name of Behram, and his gang was called "Thuggee" (Thuggee). Using a ceremonial cloth called Rumal, similar to a handkerchief or belt, Behram strangled his victims in a ritualistic killing style that was attended by many members of his cult. Behram was executed by hanging in 1840 for his crimes.

culture

Who is the most powerful and most significant person in history?

The researchers created algorithm, which sorts historical figures by importance on Wikipedia, article length, readability, achievement, and notoriety.

The program was developed by a professor of computer science Steven Skiena(Steven Skiena) and Google Software Engineer Charles B. Ward(Charles B. Ward), who wrote the book "Who matters more?" (Who's Bigger: Where Historical Figures Really Rank).

Of course they conclusions are not without controversy.. The authors were based on the results of the English version of Wikipedia, so the list rather highlights the most important historical figures in Western history.

It is noteworthy that the hundred most significant personalities included only Three women: Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and Joan of Arc. Also unexpected was the 7th place of Adolf Hitler, who was much higher in the ranking of Joseph Stalin, who was in 18th place.

The most historically significant musician was Mozart (24th), followed by Beethoven (27th) and Bach (48th). The most famous modern pop musician was Elvis Presley (69th).

Most Significant People

1. Jesus Christ- the central person in Christianity (7 BC - 30 AD)

2. Napoleon- Emperor of France (1769 - 1821)

3. Muhammad- prophet and founder of Islam (570-632)

4. William Shakespeare- English playwright (1564 -1616)

5. Abraham Lincoln- 16th President of the United States (1809-1865)

6. George Washington- 1st President of the United States (1732 -1799)

7. Adolf Gitler- Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, who participated in the Second World War (1889 - 1945)

8. Aristotle- Greek philosopher and polymath (384 -322 BC)

9. Alexander the Great(Alexander the Great) - Greek king and conqueror of world power (356 - 323 BC)

10. Thomas Jefferson- 3rd President of the United States, who wrote the Declaration of Independence (1743-1826)

11. Henry VIII- King of England (1491-1547)

12. Charles Darwin- scientist, creator of the theory of evolution (1809-1882)

13. Elizabeth I- Queen of England, known as the "Maiden Queen" (1533-1603)

14. Karl Marx- German philosopher, founder of Marxism (1818 -1883)

15. Julius Caesar- Roman commander and statesman (100 -44 BC)

16. Queen Victoria- Queen of Great Britain of the Victorian era (1819 -1901)

18. Joseph Stalin- Soviet leader (1878 -1953)

19. Albert Einstein- theoretical physicist, creator of the Theory of Relativity (1878 -1953)

20. Christopher Columbus- explorer who discovered America for Europeans (1451-1506)

21. Isaac Newton- scientist, creator of the theory of gravity (1643 -1727)

22. Charlemagne- the first Roman emperor, considered the "father of Europe" (742 -814)

23. Theodore Roosevelt- 26th President of the United States (1858 -1919)

24. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- Austrian composer (1756 - 1791)

25. Plato- Greek philosopher, wrote the work "Republic" (427 -347 BC)

26. Louis XIV- King of France, known as the "Sun King" (1638 -1715)

27. Ludwig van Beethoven- German composer (1770 -1827)

28. Ulysses S. Grant- 18th President of the United States (1822-1885)

29. Leonardo da Vinci- Italian artist and inventor (1452 - 1519)

31. Carl Linnaeus- Swedish biologist, father of taxonomy - the classification of flora and fauna

32. Ronald Reagan- 40th President of the United States (1911-2004)

33. Charles Dickens- English novelist (1812 -1870)

34. Apostle Paul- Christian apostle (5 AD - 67 AD)

35. Benjamin Franklin- Founding Father of the United States, scientist (1706 - 1790)

36. George W. Bush- 43rd President of the United States (1946 -)

37. Winston Churchill- Prime Minister of Great Britain (1874 -1965)

38. Genghis Khan- Founder of the Mongol Empire (1162 - 1227)

39. Charles I- King of England (1600-1649)

40. Thomas Edison- Inventor of the light bulb and phonograph (1847 -1931)

41. Jacob I- King of England (1566-1625)

42. Friedrich Nietzsche- German philosopher (1844-1900)

43. Franklin D. Roosevelt- 32nd President of the United States (1882-1945)

44. Sigmund Freud- Austrian neurologist, creator of psychoanalysis (1856 -1939)

45. Alexander Hamilton- Founding Father of the United States (1755 -1804)

46. Mahatma Gandhi- Indian national leader (1869-1948)

47. Woodrow Wilson- 28th President of the United States (1856 - 1924)

48. Johann Sebastian Bach- German composer (1685 -1750)

49. Galileo Galilei- Italian physicist and astronomer (1564 -1642)

50. Oliver Cromwell- Lord Protector of England (1599 - 1658)

51. James Madison- 4th President of the United States (1751 -1836)

52. Guatama Buddha- the central figure in Buddhism (563 -483 BC)

53. Mark Twain- American writer (1835 -1910)

54. Edgar Alan Poe- American writer (1809 -1849)

55. Joseph Smith- American religious leader, founder of Mormonism (1805 -1844)

56. Adam Smith- economist (1723 -1790)

57. David- the biblical king of Israel, the founder of Jerusalem (1040 -970 BC)

58. George III- King of Great Britain (1738 - 1820)

59. Immanuel Kant- German philosopher, author of the "Critique of Pure Reason" (1724 -1804)

60. James Cook- explorer and discoverer of Hawaii and Australia (1728 -1779)

61. John Adams- Founding father and 2nd President of the United States (1735 -1826)

62. Richard Wagner- German composer (1813 -1883)

63. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Russian composer (1840 -1893)

64. Voltaire- French philosopher of the Enlightenment (1694 -1778)

65. Apostle Peter- Christian apostle (? - 67 AD)

66. Andrew Jackson- 7th President of the United States (1767 -1845)

67. Constantine the Great- Roman emperor, the first Christian emperor (272 -337)

68. Socrates- Greek philosopher (469 -399)

69. Elvis Presley- "King of rock and roll" (1935 -1977)

70. Wilgelm the conqueror- King of England, Norman conqueror (1027 -1087)

71. John F. Kennedy- 35th President of the United States (1917 -1963)

72. Aurelius Augustine- Christian theologian (354 -430)

73. Vincent Van Gogh- post-impressionist painter (1853 -1890)

74. Nikolay Compernik- astronomer, author of heliocentric cosmology (1473 -1543)

75. Vladimir Lenin- Soviet revolutionary, founder of the USSR (1870 -1924)

76. Robert Edward Lee- American military leader (1807 -1870)

77. Oscar Wilde- English writer and poet (1854 -1900)

78. Charles II- King of England (1630-1685)

79. Cicero- Roman politician and orator, author of "On the State" (106 -43 BC)

80. Jean Jacques Rousseau- philosopher (1712 -1778)

81. Francis Bacon- English scientist, founder of empiricism (1561 -1626)

82. Richard Nixon- 37th President of the United States (1913 -1994)

83. Louis XVI- King of France, executed during the French Revolution (1754 -1793)

84. Charles V- Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1500 -1558)

85. King Arthur- the mythical king of Great Britain of the 6th century

86. Michelangelo- Italian Renaissance sculptor (1475 -1564)

87. Philip II- King of Spain (1527 -1598)

88.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe- German writer and thinker (1749 -1832)

89. Ali ibn Abu Talib- caliph and central figure in Sufism (598-661)

90. Thomas Aquinas- Italian theologian (1225 -1274)

91. John Paul II- Pope of Rome of the 20th century (1920 - 2005)

92. Rene Descartes- French philosopher (1596 -1650)

93. Nikola Tesla- inventor (1856 -1943)

94. Harry S. Truman- 33rd President of the United States (1884 -1972)

95. Joan of Arc- French heroine, canonized saints (1412 -1431)

96. Dante Alighieri- Italian poet, author of the Divine Comedy (1265 -1321)

97. Otto von Bismarck- the first chancellor and unifier of modern Germany (1815 -1898)

98. Grover Cleveland- 22nd and 24th President of the United States (1837 -1908)

99. Jean Calvin- French Protestant theologian (1509 - 1564)

100. John Locke- English philosopher of the Enlightenment (1632-1704)