World's top ten most significant people EVER (according to Wikipedia) (2024)

• Algorithm based on impact on opinions over time - and Wikipedia
• Top ten most significant in history puts Jesus in the number one spot
• The list also includes Muhammad, Lincoln, Hitler and Shakespeare
  

By Sara Malm

Published: 04:46 EST, 10 December 2013 | Updated: 12:19 EST, 11 December 2013

Jesus has been named the most significant person in human history, followed by Napoleon and Shakespeare, as ruled by the internet.

Based on the impact on opinions certain individuals have had over time, and how that has reflected onto their Wikipedia pages, two computer scientists have come up with the ultimate list.

Professor Steven Skiena and Charles Ward use quantative analysis to rank more than a thousand historical figures and prominent people, from Elvis to Beethoven, Stalin and Queen Victoria.

With Jesus as a front runner it comes as no great surprise that the prophet Muhammad is ranked at number four.

Leaders of empires are prominent on the list with Napoleon as number second and Alexander the Great at number nine.

Alexander’s teacher and the founder of Western philosophy, Aristotle, is listed as number eight.

The list sees three US presidents, two of which were the founding fathers of the United States, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

However despite their indisputable significance in history, they are both outranked by Abraham Lincoln, who is listed as number five.

The top-ten only lists one Briton, the formidable William Shakespeare, author of Romeo and Juliet and responsible for centuries of unreasonable expectations of love.

The only entry on the list which serves as a person of impact ‘lest we forget’ is Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who is ranked as the seventh most significant person in human history.

The is an unmissable absence of women on the list, which the authors explain is a result of centuries of inequality meaning the impact of female figures has not been as great.

In the book Who's Bigger? Where Historical Figures Really Rank, Professor Skiena and Mr Ward compare their ranking to Google’s system of ranking web pages in a search.

By collection millions of opinions on famous and infamous figures throughout history they have calculated, how successfully the idea of each person has spread in society through time.

‘We would call Jesus "the most significant person ever",’ Professor Skiena told Pacific Standard.

‘With over two billion followers a full 2,000 years after his death, Jesus is an incredibly successful historical meme.’

The pair use English Wikipedia as a base for their algorithm, which has led to some figures ranking higher than they ‘should,’ Skiena says.

‘Our rankings will continue to evolve with Wikipedia, and people can move up or down over time.

‘The highly ranked fellow most on the bubble is George W. Bush, who our algorithms put too high at 36.

‘This is an artifact of his having dominated coverage during eight years of Wikipedia's rapid growth. Objectively, he belongs in the main body of presidents we rank at around 200 or so.’