Who has shaped history?
February 22nd, 2009Jennifer at Literate Housewife (with a new and improved design!) linked to someone else who asked this question:
What event in history or historical person do you feel had the greatest influence on the modern world and why?
Interesting question! The obvious answer is whoever first came up with string cheese. Google doesn’t know who it was, just that it was apparently invented in Armenia or Syria.
I am going to avoid answering Jesus Christ because it seems too obvious…so I will say Benjamin Franklin. Apart from being my namesake (my middle name is Franklin), he did so much stuff in his life. His list of important inventions is mind boggling (bifocals, catheter, Franklin Stove, lightening rod, glass harmonica, Daylight Savings Time, etc…). He also discovered a lot of natural “inventions” (the Gulf Stream, Whirlwinds, Electrostatic Machine). As an added bonus, I am pretty sure he invented the $100 bill.
NOT ONLY THAT – Franklin founded many civic services (street lighting, paving, post office, fire company, insurance, and the Library Company) and many institutions (The University of Pennsylvania, American Philosophical Society, Pennsylvania Hospital, Franklin and Marshall College).
So, yeah, I’m going with Benjamin Franklin. Or maybe LeBron James.
What about you?
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February 23rd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
He was quite the ladies man too you know!
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Frankin that is…lol
February 24th, 2009 at 1:18 am
Founding Fathers are always a good bet. I think I might choose Thomas Paine. His Common Sense sparked the American Revolution; his Rights of Man sparked the French Revolution. And his Age of Reason shaped post-revolution thinking on both continents. Add to that that he had his finger in most Enlightenment-era pies and he was one influential figure.
I wrote a review of Craig Nelson’s biography of Paine: http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com/2008/10/re-run-of-day-thomas-paine.html
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
How old is he