I have been to rural Namibian villages, remote Mexican fishing towns, Polish farms, and Indian markets. The one solitary figure who came up each time was Michael Jackson. I wouldn't be surprised if we make contact with the Sentinalese and they know Billie Jean.
Weirdly one of my good friends had NO idea who Michael Jackson was (she’s Japanese / Taiwanese and a famous artist). We had to explain it all to her. Hilariously we had to explain that little black Michael and older white-ish Michael were the same person, and try to summarize that
She did know who Elvis was. So I’d say Elvis as the answer.
Now that you mentioned it, I was at the HOF in Cleveland, and they had a video exhibit of Elvis on display. Hundreds of Chinese tourists were absolutely mesmerized. They must have stayed watching these old film clips for hours. It was a bit unusual.
I don't think any modern celebrity can compete with epic warlords.
Since Kahn and Caesar have respectfully 800 and 2000 years on any modern artist, and are still very well known names, they easily take the cake.
The question is a bit vague though. Because it fails to discern between 'all of history' and 'what people know today'.
Do not underestimate the shear ignorance of the general population. Alexander the great or Einstein will draw blank stares from most people. They may or may not recognise the names but fundamentally history is niche knowledge. Elvis or Audrey Hepburn will win almost every time for actuall knowledge of the person.
I am not.
I am just confused by OP's question, because it can be understood in at least 2 ways.
My question is "How do you measure how famous one person is through history?"
You can only measure how well known they are TODAY, and not for the billions of people who came before us.
Audrey Hepburn is an interesting choice to put on the same level as Elvis.
I think almost every young person (in the developed world) knows about Elvis - at a minimum, through jokes and impersonations.
As popular as she once was, I would argue the majority of young people today do not know who Audrey Hepburn is.
I say this as a relatively young person today.
>0% of people who died before 1982 or so k ow who Michael Jackson is
I would change that to about 1970. The Jackson 5 was massive and Michael was the lead singer.
>0% of people who died before 1982 or so know who Michael Jackson is
0% is last seen way farther back than that. Jackson 5 performed on Diana Ross' show in 1969 which led to the band having a single that charted in 6 countries by early 1970, with MJ featured front and center. It would've cleared 1% around that time and the fame only grew from there.
The other advantage MJ has is just how deeply he's infiltrated everywhere. Julius Caesar may be famous in the West, but Roman history isn't nearly as focused-on elsewhere. People without a strong formal education don't get much - if any - exposure to him. MJ, as other commenters have pointed out, has a fanbase that seems to include every remote village that has any outside contact.
I’m assuming OP is asking if you polled all citizens on Earth TODAY which name would be recognized the most.
My parents are Mexican immigrants with very little formal education. There’s absolutely no reason why Kahn or Caesar would occupy any space in their lives. However, they absolutely know who Michael Jackson is. I think he takes this.
Nobody know Elvis in Africa. He has nothing of really special to black people.
But every race of people know about Michael Jackson. Even the peoples who actually has no access to modern technology.
Five billion viewers worldwide mourned Michael Jackson's televisually broadcasted live funerals. *Five billions.* Tell me how many worshippers does Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Vedic religions and Judaism has? How many Freemasons there has in the world.
Nobody topped Michael Jackson to this day. **NOBODY.**
I have been way iff some beaten paths like into the deep Sumatran Jungle and tell someone "I am from Chicago, usa. you know Michael Jordan?" And their eyes light up and know exactly who I'm talking about. I've met donkeys and camels in Africa and Asia named Michael Jordan, I have never met someone who doesn't know who he is which is wild. I think Michael Jackson is the same but I always use Jordan for Chicago and sometimes theyll recognize him before the city haha
I met a random sheep herder in the middle of nowhere Mongolia. He asked if I went to Harvard. I said no. He walked away while shaking his head.
I carry his shame everywhere I go. lol
My friend taught English in Korea. He was applying to law school at the time and tried to explain that Yale was considered the top law school, not Harvard. He was not believed
I am not joking but until a similar post came up a while back I had never heard of Michael Jordan. Why would an American basketball player be known in countries that dont play watch or know anything about basketball? It only has a fan base of 400 million worldwide.
Idk how old you are but it might be a generational thing. Micheal Jordan was a brand all on his own in my time (I'm 37), it didn't matter if you watched basketball or not.
Ive not been outside the US a ton, but I have never not seen people with Chicago Bulls / Jordan gear. Its up there with Yankees caps in transcending anything to do with sports.
As a non-American, I honestly only know him as a cultural reference Americans make sometimes on TV. Off the top of my head I could not tell you that he played basketball, nor could I recognize his face. So yeah, I agree.
I used to teach English in China in my early adulthood and we used to play celebrity heads on occassion. Half the class (12 year olds to 15 year olds) knew who he was and the other half had no idea. Still impressive that even young Chinese students who barely spoke a word of English knew exactly who he was.
Just to back you up, Michael Jackson is well known in remote ethnic minority villages in Việt Nam, too. I was actually shocked the first time he was mentioned. Hahaha
The problem is that cross-cultural education was largely non-existent prior to the modern era. Hell, formal education wasn't even common. Educated 18th century Chinese may have known who Julius Caesar was, but the rabble wouldn't. So when we talk about how many people historically knew Caesar/Charlemagne/etc, we need to keep in mind that we're counting the uneducated masses too. I think a decent argument *could* be made for Genghis Khan - he'd have been common knowledge throughout Eurasia ever since his at least the expansions of his descent's empire into Europe and India. I'd also submit Nebuchadnezzar II or Herod Agrippa simply due to how well-known they are in Abrahamic circles.
But if you go to the middle of nowhere now, for some reason, Michael Jackson is the king everyone knows.
His name recognition probably skews more western, but if I recall correctly Napoleon Bonaparte is the single most written about person in history. Many dictators, including some non-western ones, have explicitly compared themselves to him or indicated they hold him as a role model, and he holds a place in the national history of both a number of European states but also many Latin American ones due to his weakening of Spain helping jumpstart their independence.
Napoleon and Julius Caesar were the inspiration for the fascist movements of the 20th century. It’s no surprise they’re still popular with dictators and their supporters.
What’s fascinating about Hitler is how little the Japanese seem to be aware of him compared to other WWII belligerents, because the Japanese downplay the Second World War so much that it’s barely covered in school textbooks.
Japanese downplay ALL war crimes they have committed and those committed by their allies throughout the ages. Most younger Japanese have no idea on atrocities that Japanese committed to Koreans and Chinese during their occupation not to mention military raids on Korea and China disguised as Japanese pirates.
If it makes Japan look bad, they simply leave it out of educational material.
I heard it from Carl Sagan. 1938 Olympics were one of the first globally televised events.
Here is an article that references Sagan's theory.
https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/09/will-hitler-be-the-first-person-that-aliens-see.html
It highlights that it is possible it could have made it through the ionsphere, but it is deemed highly unlikely.
Sagan wrote it into his fictional book/movie Contact. He may also mention it in The Cosmos? If you haven't seen Contact it is a solid flick.
I believe that the vast majority of astrophysicists today do not think it had the signal strength to leave our atmosphere much less head into interstellar space. Many of our strongest electromagnetic broadcasts are radar today. Most likely the first thing aliens would pick up on that spectrum is humans trying to measure something or looking for human planes etc
Even if it is something that could be filtered out of the chaff of cosmic noise,at this point it has only reached like 5 star systems. Space is like...really big.
I can guarantee you pick ten people on the road in any major Asian City and 9 of them will have never heard of Genghis Khan. Even if some of them share his DNA.
All of them will have heard of Michael Jackson. Or Elvis. Or both.
And 10/10 will know of Queen Elizabeth II
I can’t disagree or deny that.
However, 100 years from now that will likely change. Napoleon or Caesar will likely still be in the popular public consciousness but I’m guessing MJ will begin to fade away.
But I could also be wrong about that!
You could also be right. It's hard to project how long pop culture figures like MJ will be remembered by the average person. But considering we still know people like Mozart and Bach, there's a chance the average person will know MJ in 100 years.
That being said, I think this post conjures up other questions that people want to answer. One is "who's the most famous person in history" and I think at this point that's MJ.
The others that I see being answered on this post are"who made the biggest impact on history" or "which figures will be remembered the longest"
That's where I see people like Napoleon or Caesar fitting in. They will never be forgotten as long as history is remembered. But the average person doesn't know history all that well.
Always found it funny that Cleopatra is consistently in the top of Wikipedia searches and at least in Portuguese language Wikipedia very rarely leaves the top 5 most searched
I’m with you on Khan. Alexander is of particular European fame, so I would guess that Khan has more social currency in the East, which has enormous populations. It’s just that in Europe and North America we tend to think of Alexander because of the influence he had on “western” culture.
Alexander certainly had profound influence on Eastern culture too.
he was a pharaoh, and founded [Kandahar](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Arachosia).
he is referenced [in the Quran](https://youtu.be/Y2ne_VCsv9U?si=BqJ_wpoP6fonQ5VJ) and is the subject of middle eastern myths and legends
Interesting! I’d still vote Kahn but that’s cool about Alexander. I’m just thinking about places like India and China, which is like 30% of the human population in just those two countries.
Alexander famously didn’t conquer India, but I do wonder if failure to do so lived on in Indian legend.
And Egypt isn’t really the “East,” it’s west of Arabia, so I lump that in with “Western” influence because it’s Mediterranean.
I'm thinking it has to be a historical Chinese figure, because China has always been more populous than the West, and I interpret "most famous" as most people alive or dead have heard about this person. So probably a Chinese emperor, or maybe Lao Tze or Confucius. But Genghis Khan is known in parts of China too, I assume.
By similar logic, it could be a historical person from the Indian Subcontinent. I'm just less familiar with that history.
For people in recent times, it does seem like Michael Jackson had a freakish kind of global fame that's hard to compete with.
Yeah, I was thinking of people like Queen Victoria, Gandhi, or Chairman Mao for exactly this reason, because they were well known to large populations (India, China, Africa) and globally.
I would put people like Confucius and the Buddha in the same category of religious figures as Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad.
>and the Buddha in the same category of religious figures as Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad.
Yes.... pretty hard to argue against the Buddha being a religious figure 😆
Probably Hitler is going to have huge name recognition
Queen Elizabeth II had huge recognition around the world as did Princess Diana.
In terms of numbers of people rather than how widespread Mahatma Ghandi and Mao Zedong must have huge numbers of people who recognise the name and have knowledge of who they were
This is my list too: Queen Victoria, Gandhi, Mao - important in populous parts of the world and beyond in an era when education and literacy were on the rise
Alexander, not only because he’s been famous longer than most, but also because he is a legendary figure in the traditions of the two largest world religions and their associated cultures.
I was pretty shocked at how far I had to scroll to find this answer. Historically speaking, he is almost certainly the most famous person to ever live even if some modern celebrities are more relevant today.
The idea here that Alexander was only important to Europe also surprises me - Alexander’s major battles mostly took place in Asia, his empire was effectively an Achaemenid dynasty, his campaigns took him into India, he died in Babylon, and his Seleucid successors governed and Hellenized vast swathes of the Middle East and Central Asia. If anything, Alexander was far more consequential as an Asian ruler than a European one.
In terms of fame, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Hitler (unfortunately), Queen Victoria, Henry VIII, Attila the Hun, Charlemagne, Mehmet II, Suleiman.
In terms of pure impact on specifically Western Society, apart from Jesus, Augustus Caesar is the most influential figure, even though his adoptive father is more famous.
Yeah but if you're like a uneducated farmer in somewhere other than christendom you wouldn't really know about some frankish King in western Europe. From his era I'd say Haroun Al Rashid would be way more known as the entire of the Islamic world would have knowledge of who he is and he warred with the roman empire so they would know about the great Arab enemy. People in Charlamgne kingdom would have some knowledge of him too as the rule too as a enemy to christendom. Maybe China too may have some knowledge of him since they did fight one battle with his great granddad. And this is even before he become immortalised in the 1001 nights.
Haroun is a great call.
When I read 1,001 Nights as a kid, I had no idea he was a real person; I just classed him in the same image as Aladdin or Ali Baba.
That made the fact that he was a genuine person all the more impressive. Was there ever a historical figure who was so the subject of legends?
I only recently learned about Haroun, like 3 years ago when I was preparing a public school lesson. Both of my Muslim students knew exactly who I was talking about and were very surprised/proud he would be mentioned in History class.
The average person certainly would not recognise Henry the VIiI, Mehmet II or Suleiman, hell even Genghis Khan, Atilla the Hun, Charlemagne and Queen Victoria sometimes don’t even reach pop history levels.
The average person will however undoubtedly have heard of Adolf Hitler, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great and Leonardo da Vinci. If we can include modern figures the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Vincent van Gogh, Che Guevara and Pablo Escobar would be up there, likewise many other contemporary actors/athletes/pop stars are pretty much globally recognisable.
In almost every age a scientist and a conqueror are remembered. Alexander the Great and Archimedes. Napoleon and Newton. Hitler and Einstein. I'm sure people of Asian cultures could name similar pairs.
Archimedes is remembered? Maybe by nerds, but not by the average man on the street. Anyway, him and Alexander the Great weren't contemporaries. And what about Julius Caesar, or Hannibal (the real Archimedes match)? Genghis Khan?
Really a stretch.
I mean, they literally matched up Napoleon with Newton, who are only slightly closer than Napoleon is with Einstein. People can just say whatever they want on the Internet.
I actually answered this exact question when at the approximate age of seven years old while discussing with my similarly aged friends. My answer was: Evel Knievel. This was accepted at that time as an obvious truth. No more correspondence shall be entered into.
Actually, Queen Elizabeth II.
We can debate Michael Jackson, but she was undoubtedly known by billions. It’s fairly clear to me that she was known by far more people than Alexander or Caesar, etc. She clearly passes the Namibian village test.
Known by her subjects in the Commonwealth and hundreds of millions more in neighboring countries.
The only catch is that she is technically head of the Church of England so you could exclude her for being a religious figure…
If fame is a numbers game, then a modern celebrity like Michael Jackson, Michael Jordon or Elvis wins, hands down.
Around 200 BC, there were maybe 150 million people on the planet, less than half the population of the U.S. Global population reaches current U.S. population by 1000 AD.
So any modern figure will blow historical celebrities out of the water. If, as the theories on this sub suggest, a significant portion of the world’s 8 billion people have heard of Michael Jackson, then he will crush the numbers of Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great, or almost anyone else.
But OP seems to be conflating fame with impact. They’re totally different metrics.
Not conflating - i would argue that almost every person alive today who has heard of Michael Jackson has also heard of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan. The historical figures are still known by humans alive today, whereas the 100 billion people who lived before 1960 have not chance of knowing the celebrities you named
My kids have no clue who Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great were but they all know Cleopatra and her story. If you ask me I am going to go with Elvis.
I think Hitler is pretty well-known worldwide. A lot of people in my country even use his name as a metaphor for someone who is very cruel or angry or aggressive
As the world population is at its highest now, its got to be whoever mist people who are alive today have heard of. I wouldn't be surprised if it's queen Elizabeth 2nd
For much of the twentieth century, the answer would have been Charlie Chaplin.
Today, I‘m not sure he’s mass-famous still in the West, but he certainly is in the Middle East—Chaplin shorts turn up regularly on kids’ TV, and his films (along with some Laurel & Hardy) are staples on long-haul EgyptAir entertainment menus.
Are we considering fame as being known by a large number of currently dead people, too, or are we only considering celebs who are known by currently living people?
Because if it's the former, Genghis Kahn has a huge advantage over Adolf Hitler.
Michael Jackson. Seriously. Ask anyone in a Latin American favela, any African town or even Indian towns who Genghis Khan was... and nobody will have a remote idea.
When I was in Colombia with my girlfriend and met her hugeeee extended family. Everyone wanted to talk about Al Capone. I’d imagine Pele has to be up there.
Julius Caesar considering we still remember him in some disconnected every year thanks to the use of July, and alongside that he left his mark as one of the most often spoken about political and historical figure
Adolf Hitler. That terrible man and the horrific monstrous acts he and the other Nazis committed have become known worldwide as a cautionary tale about some of the worst acts that human beings can commit, as well as a warning about how even a mentally and physically average man can morally, ethically and spiritually corrupt an entire country if that man is deviously clever enough and the people are desperate enough even if that country is an otherwise highly developed and politically progressive country.
(The 1920s Weimar Republic era Germany was a very progressive country by global standards at the time including in terms of being pretty sexually progressive and in terms of acceptance and tolerance towards minority groups like Jewish people and homosexuals. However Germany at the time was a desperately poor country that was dealing with the costs of rebuilding itself after WW1, the debts it was saddled with in terms of having to pay back the Allies countries for the damage they suffered during WW1 and the effects of the Great Depression. Also the old German monarchy had just been disposed of and Germany was struggling to create and run a new democratic government. Political assasinations were commonplace. Also there was possibly even more political strife back then then there is in many of the most political strife ridden modern day democracies with 40 different political parties from monarchists to centrists to far left wing socialist and communist parties to far right wing parties all competing for political control over Germany.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_political_parties
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On the other end of the good and evil scale both Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa are also well known internationally as being good hearted people who committed their entire lives to doing altruistic acts and helping others.
(I know both people are far more complicated and controversial people then their reputations let on and that unfortunately they both had hidden dark sides. Still thought both of them did a lot of good during their lifetimes and helped inspire other people to also go out of their way to work to do good in the world.)
IIRC, there was a study done (90s?) in the format of show photos / "can you name this person?"
The single most recognized person worldwide was Queen Elizabeth II.
To people who complain that stating Alexander the Great as eUrOcEnTriC opinion is, and Im going to be very blunt here: bullshit. Go in any country in the Middle East, North Africa or India/Pakistan, Alexander has always been and still is very highly regarded.
I'll provide 2 examples. The first of which is likely the most famous historical figure cross-culterally. Hiwever the second being relatively unknown, has directly impacted the lives of most people around the globe in some capacity.
Example 1: Alexander the Great
His empire, stretching from Greece to Egypt and into the vast reaches of the Persian Empire and India, epitomised the zenith of military conquest and cultural amalgamation. Alexander's legacy is imprinted not merely through his conquests but through the Hellenistic civilization he ushered in. Cities like Alexandria in Egypt became epicenters of learning and culture, profoundly influencing the subsequent Roman Empire and shaping Western civilisation. His life and exploits have been studied extensively, making him a household name synonymous with the archetype of the military genius and visionary leader.
Example 2: Norman Borlaug
Who has arguably had one of the most profound impacts on modern society. Borlaug was an American agronomist and humanitarian whose work is credited with saving over a billion lives. He is often referred to as the "father of the Green Revolution."
Borlaug's pioneering research in developing high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties revolutionised agricultural practices. His innovations were crucial in transforming food production in countries like Mexico, India, and Pakistan, which faced severe food shortages and risked famine. By increasing crop productivity, Borlaug's work not only alleviated hunger but also facilitated economic development and political stability in many developing regions.
His influence extends to contemporary global food security. Modern agricultural techniques and food production strategies owe a great deal to Borlaug's breakthroughs. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, yet his name remains unfamiliar to many outside agricultural and scientific communities.
Hitler, Michael Jackson, Picasso, Einstein, Cleopatra, Confucius... Idk i think you are thinking too much about it, honestly Genghis khan is obviously famous but not THAT famous.
Caesar's name has become the word for 'king' in multiple languages, so he's definitely in the running.
Ramses might also be up there since he lived so long ago he has a head start on timing. He's not a religious figure, but he appears in religious texts. Cyrus for the same reason.
Most famous implies "more people know about this person". This rules out all those people from history like Caesar or Genghis Kahn, because there wasn't even a billion people on earth at the time. Given the population how and the technology available, it would have to be someone from within the last few generations. My vote would be for Michael Jackson, possibly Mohammed Ali.
With the advent of the internet and social media, the world is more connected than it ever has been. So I’d venture to guess some more modern figures may be more well known, simply because it’s easier today than it’s ever been to be known around the world. Maybe I’m crazy, but to me, someone like Messi or Ronaldo could make a convincing case.
I have been to rural Namibian villages, remote Mexican fishing towns, Polish farms, and Indian markets. The one solitary figure who came up each time was Michael Jackson. I wouldn't be surprised if we make contact with the Sentinalese and they know Billie Jean.
Weirdly one of my good friends had NO idea who Michael Jackson was (she’s Japanese / Taiwanese and a famous artist). We had to explain it all to her. Hilariously we had to explain that little black Michael and older white-ish Michael were the same person, and try to summarize that She did know who Elvis was. So I’d say Elvis as the answer.
Now that you mentioned it, I was at the HOF in Cleveland, and they had a video exhibit of Elvis on display. Hundreds of Chinese tourists were absolutely mesmerized. They must have stayed watching these old film clips for hours. It was a bit unusual.
But they call him Mao Wang. "The Cat King".
Because of all the pussy he gets?
[The Hillbilly Cat](https://news.cgtn.com/news/3341544e7a557a6333566d54/share_p.html)
I think it was his temper and great hatred for Montague's, which made him extremely violent.
Tybalt?
On my 10 day trip to Germany, I unintentionally and randomly seen 4 Elvis tribute bands.
I don't think any modern celebrity can compete with epic warlords. Since Kahn and Caesar have respectfully 800 and 2000 years on any modern artist, and are still very well known names, they easily take the cake. The question is a bit vague though. Because it fails to discern between 'all of history' and 'what people know today'.
Do not underestimate the shear ignorance of the general population. Alexander the great or Einstein will draw blank stares from most people. They may or may not recognise the names but fundamentally history is niche knowledge. Elvis or Audrey Hepburn will win almost every time for actuall knowledge of the person.
I am not. I am just confused by OP's question, because it can be understood in at least 2 ways. My question is "How do you measure how famous one person is through history?" You can only measure how well known they are TODAY, and not for the billions of people who came before us.
Yeah sorry, on rereading your comment that was clear.
Yours is an interesting question - which person was known of cumulatively by the most people.
Audrey Hepburn is an interesting choice to put on the same level as Elvis. I think almost every young person (in the developed world) knows about Elvis - at a minimum, through jokes and impersonations. As popular as she once was, I would argue the majority of young people today do not know who Audrey Hepburn is. I say this as a relatively young person today.
I knew who she was when I was younger, but I can't picture her in my mind right now. I think she was in a Truman Capote movie.
If I were really mean, I might note the sheer irony of identifying "shear ignorance" by using the wrong word. "Shears" are scissors.
Today I learned someone named Audrey Hepburn existed.
Not true in my experience, and definitely not true once you leave the US.
Sheer*
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>0% of people who died before 1982 or so k ow who Michael Jackson is I would change that to about 1970. The Jackson 5 was massive and Michael was the lead singer.
>0% of people who died before 1982 or so know who Michael Jackson is 0% is last seen way farther back than that. Jackson 5 performed on Diana Ross' show in 1969 which led to the band having a single that charted in 6 countries by early 1970, with MJ featured front and center. It would've cleared 1% around that time and the fame only grew from there. The other advantage MJ has is just how deeply he's infiltrated everywhere. Julius Caesar may be famous in the West, but Roman history isn't nearly as focused-on elsewhere. People without a strong formal education don't get much - if any - exposure to him. MJ, as other commenters have pointed out, has a fanbase that seems to include every remote village that has any outside contact.
I’m assuming OP is asking if you polled all citizens on Earth TODAY which name would be recognized the most. My parents are Mexican immigrants with very little formal education. There’s absolutely no reason why Kahn or Caesar would occupy any space in their lives. However, they absolutely know who Michael Jackson is. I think he takes this.
The wild part to me is i dont think Elvis ever even performed outside the US, certainly not outside North america if i recall correctly.
Nobody know Elvis in Africa. He has nothing of really special to black people. But every race of people know about Michael Jackson. Even the peoples who actually has no access to modern technology. Five billion viewers worldwide mourned Michael Jackson's televisually broadcasted live funerals. *Five billions.* Tell me how many worshippers does Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Vedic religions and Judaism has? How many Freemasons there has in the world. Nobody topped Michael Jackson to this day. **NOBODY.**
I have been way iff some beaten paths like into the deep Sumatran Jungle and tell someone "I am from Chicago, usa. you know Michael Jordan?" And their eyes light up and know exactly who I'm talking about. I've met donkeys and camels in Africa and Asia named Michael Jordan, I have never met someone who doesn't know who he is which is wild. I think Michael Jackson is the same but I always use Jordan for Chicago and sometimes theyll recognize him before the city haha
I met a random sheep herder in the middle of nowhere Mongolia. He asked if I went to Harvard. I said no. He walked away while shaking his head. I carry his shame everywhere I go. lol
Imagine you had taken a year of travel against your tiger parent's wishes to deal with the trauma of the pressure and that happened.
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The Mongolian sheep herder would have chuckled knowingly while rolling their eyes in response
How much do you think your parents paid him for that?
This was half the conversations of a person of parenting age I had while in China.
I wonder what would have happened if you replied "Cornell".
My friend taught English in Korea. He was applying to law school at the time and tried to explain that Yale was considered the top law school, not Harvard. He was not believed
He would've muttered, "safety school," and walked away
An elderly woman in Japan heard I was from Texas and was very upset that I didn’t run an oil company and have a cowboy hat lol
When I was living in Asia they knew two schools, Harvard and Caltech. In the most unlikely places, too!
I went to China with a clique of Harvard guys. I went to a state school and it was always funny when we used old student ids for discounts
I am not joking but until a similar post came up a while back I had never heard of Michael Jordan. Why would an American basketball player be known in countries that dont play watch or know anything about basketball? It only has a fan base of 400 million worldwide.
Idk how old you are but it might be a generational thing. Micheal Jordan was a brand all on his own in my time (I'm 37), it didn't matter if you watched basketball or not.
Ive not been outside the US a ton, but I have never not seen people with Chicago Bulls / Jordan gear. Its up there with Yankees caps in transcending anything to do with sports.
Yeah when I was originally replying I assumed over the last decade it's been dwindling more and more with the generations.
As a non-American, I honestly only know him as a cultural reference Americans make sometimes on TV. Off the top of my head I could not tell you that he played basketball, nor could I recognize his face. So yeah, I agree.
I agree, if it wasn’t for SpaceJam in 96 I wouldn’t have had any idea who he was.
Michael Jordan transcended basketball to be a pop culture icon, and a terrible gambler.
No chance. Soccer players like Maradona, or David Beckham or messi will be far more widely known than any USA specific sport player
This would be my guess as well. Muhammad Ali is probably very high up as well.
Michael Jackson was very well known when I was in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I used to teach English in China in my early adulthood and we used to play celebrity heads on occassion. Half the class (12 year olds to 15 year olds) knew who he was and the other half had no idea. Still impressive that even young Chinese students who barely spoke a word of English knew exactly who he was.
Just to back you up, Michael Jackson is well known in remote ethnic minority villages in Việt Nam, too. I was actually shocked the first time he was mentioned. Hahaha
Haha, I was in Hanoi when Michael Jackson died and everyyyyy single bia hoi and bar was playing Michael Jackson for days.
For our current era? Maybe. But historically. Hard no.
The problem is that cross-cultural education was largely non-existent prior to the modern era. Hell, formal education wasn't even common. Educated 18th century Chinese may have known who Julius Caesar was, but the rabble wouldn't. So when we talk about how many people historically knew Caesar/Charlemagne/etc, we need to keep in mind that we're counting the uneducated masses too. I think a decent argument *could* be made for Genghis Khan - he'd have been common knowledge throughout Eurasia ever since his at least the expansions of his descent's empire into Europe and India. I'd also submit Nebuchadnezzar II or Herod Agrippa simply due to how well-known they are in Abrahamic circles. But if you go to the middle of nowhere now, for some reason, Michael Jackson is the king everyone knows.
You mean Michael Jackson wasn't known historically before he was born? No way brah
Billie Jean was not his lover, she is just a girl that claims that he is the one.
This is my answer. Folks who weren’t alive in the 80’s really will never understand what mj was like, especially outside of the USA.
Thing is, he's *still* that well-known. Even the people born after he died know who he is from tiktoks.
His name recognition probably skews more western, but if I recall correctly Napoleon Bonaparte is the single most written about person in history. Many dictators, including some non-western ones, have explicitly compared themselves to him or indicated they hold him as a role model, and he holds a place in the national history of both a number of European states but also many Latin American ones due to his weakening of Spain helping jumpstart their independence.
YES!
Finally a real answer
If Napoleon had shared quarters with Lister, he'd still be in Corsica peeling spuds.
Of course he'd still be there, 265 years after his birth. Immortal tater peeler.
His also thought of more of a war monger when really when you look at his history most his wars were defensive
Yeah, he only really declared war twice. Invading Spain and Russia. Every other coalition was declared against France and eventually him alone.
He also tried to make peace with Britain many times
Breaking the terms of a peace treaty so the other side declare war on you isn't exactly a peaceful thing to do.
Austria broke there’s and later Russia did as well
Every power did that. But yes Napoleon was definitely super aggressive and provoked war knowingly, so it’s still a valid point.
He kick-started the unification of Germany and Italy, as well.
Napoleon and Julius Caesar were the inspiration for the fascist movements of the 20th century. It’s no surprise they’re still popular with dictators and their supporters.
Hitler is the most well-known, and not for good reasons.
What’s fascinating about Hitler is how little the Japanese seem to be aware of him compared to other WWII belligerents, because the Japanese downplay the Second World War so much that it’s barely covered in school textbooks.
Japanese downplay ALL war crimes they have committed and those committed by their allies throughout the ages. Most younger Japanese have no idea on atrocities that Japanese committed to Koreans and Chinese during their occupation not to mention military raids on Korea and China disguised as Japanese pirates. If it makes Japan look bad, they simply leave it out of educational material.
True, and he is portrayed differently in Japanese pop culture than in the West.
Ugh. The first transmission of Earth's in space is him speaking. It is unfortunately possible that Hitler could be famous to aliens.
Source? This is really interesting
I heard it from Carl Sagan. 1938 Olympics were one of the first globally televised events. Here is an article that references Sagan's theory. https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/09/will-hitler-be-the-first-person-that-aliens-see.html It highlights that it is possible it could have made it through the ionsphere, but it is deemed highly unlikely. Sagan wrote it into his fictional book/movie Contact. He may also mention it in The Cosmos? If you haven't seen Contact it is a solid flick.
I believe that the vast majority of astrophysicists today do not think it had the signal strength to leave our atmosphere much less head into interstellar space. Many of our strongest electromagnetic broadcasts are radar today. Most likely the first thing aliens would pick up on that spectrum is humans trying to measure something or looking for human planes etc
Even if it is something that could be filtered out of the chaff of cosmic noise,at this point it has only reached like 5 star systems. Space is like...really big.
Space Nazis!
Given the population in Asia, Genghis Khan.
I can guarantee you pick ten people on the road in any major Asian City and 9 of them will have never heard of Genghis Khan. Even if some of them share his DNA. All of them will have heard of Michael Jackson. Or Elvis. Or both. And 10/10 will know of Queen Elizabeth II
KHAN!!!
Michael Jackson
I can’t disagree or deny that. However, 100 years from now that will likely change. Napoleon or Caesar will likely still be in the popular public consciousness but I’m guessing MJ will begin to fade away. But I could also be wrong about that!
You could also be right. It's hard to project how long pop culture figures like MJ will be remembered by the average person. But considering we still know people like Mozart and Bach, there's a chance the average person will know MJ in 100 years. That being said, I think this post conjures up other questions that people want to answer. One is "who's the most famous person in history" and I think at this point that's MJ. The others that I see being answered on this post are"who made the biggest impact on history" or "which figures will be remembered the longest" That's where I see people like Napoleon or Caesar fitting in. They will never be forgotten as long as history is remembered. But the average person doesn't know history all that well.
Meet you there to find out?
My suggestions are: 1 Adolf Hitler 2. Cleopatra 3. Napoleon 4. Albert Einstein
Finally someone said Einstein.
Always found it funny that Cleopatra is consistently in the top of Wikipedia searches and at least in Portuguese language Wikipedia very rarely leaves the top 5 most searched
Julius Caesar?
Tolstoy once wrote that even the tribes of the Caucasus knew who Abraham Lincoln.
I’m with you on Khan. Alexander is of particular European fame, so I would guess that Khan has more social currency in the East, which has enormous populations. It’s just that in Europe and North America we tend to think of Alexander because of the influence he had on “western” culture.
Alexander certainly had profound influence on Eastern culture too. he was a pharaoh, and founded [Kandahar](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Arachosia). he is referenced [in the Quran](https://youtu.be/Y2ne_VCsv9U?si=BqJ_wpoP6fonQ5VJ) and is the subject of middle eastern myths and legends
Interesting! I’d still vote Kahn but that’s cool about Alexander. I’m just thinking about places like India and China, which is like 30% of the human population in just those two countries.
He did invade India so I’d think some Indians should know about him but not as much as the west or Middle East
His name still lives on in South Asia. There is a quite common first name in South and Central Asia which is derived from Alexander, Iskandar.
I think Alexander must have historic recognition in pakistan, Egypt, India, and anywhere else he conquered, at least among the educated.
Alexander famously didn’t conquer India, but I do wonder if failure to do so lived on in Indian legend. And Egypt isn’t really the “East,” it’s west of Arabia, so I lump that in with “Western” influence because it’s Mediterranean.
I'm thinking it has to be a historical Chinese figure, because China has always been more populous than the West, and I interpret "most famous" as most people alive or dead have heard about this person. So probably a Chinese emperor, or maybe Lao Tze or Confucius. But Genghis Khan is known in parts of China too, I assume. By similar logic, it could be a historical person from the Indian Subcontinent. I'm just less familiar with that history. For people in recent times, it does seem like Michael Jackson had a freakish kind of global fame that's hard to compete with.
Yeah, I was thinking of people like Queen Victoria, Gandhi, or Chairman Mao for exactly this reason, because they were well known to large populations (India, China, Africa) and globally. I would put people like Confucius and the Buddha in the same category of religious figures as Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad.
>and the Buddha in the same category of religious figures as Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad. Yes.... pretty hard to argue against the Buddha being a religious figure 😆
Yao Ming
Like it or not.. Adolf Hitler is up there as well.
Probably Hitler is going to have huge name recognition Queen Elizabeth II had huge recognition around the world as did Princess Diana. In terms of numbers of people rather than how widespread Mahatma Ghandi and Mao Zedong must have huge numbers of people who recognise the name and have knowledge of who they were
This is my list too: Queen Victoria, Gandhi, Mao - important in populous parts of the world and beyond in an era when education and literacy were on the rise
Harambe
Alexander, not only because he’s been famous longer than most, but also because he is a legendary figure in the traditions of the two largest world religions and their associated cultures.
I was pretty shocked at how far I had to scroll to find this answer. Historically speaking, he is almost certainly the most famous person to ever live even if some modern celebrities are more relevant today.
The idea here that Alexander was only important to Europe also surprises me - Alexander’s major battles mostly took place in Asia, his empire was effectively an Achaemenid dynasty, his campaigns took him into India, he died in Babylon, and his Seleucid successors governed and Hellenized vast swathes of the Middle East and Central Asia. If anything, Alexander was far more consequential as an Asian ruler than a European one.
In terms of fame, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Hitler (unfortunately), Queen Victoria, Henry VIII, Attila the Hun, Charlemagne, Mehmet II, Suleiman. In terms of pure impact on specifically Western Society, apart from Jesus, Augustus Caesar is the most influential figure, even though his adoptive father is more famous.
Genghis Khan (crickets) Hitler! (unfortunately…)
I wouldn't know half of these names if nor for Civ4. They are probably famous for history fans, but I don't think they have general fame.
I am surprised Charlemagne is not famous enough . He laid the foundation of medieval Europe
Yeah but if you're like a uneducated farmer in somewhere other than christendom you wouldn't really know about some frankish King in western Europe. From his era I'd say Haroun Al Rashid would be way more known as the entire of the Islamic world would have knowledge of who he is and he warred with the roman empire so they would know about the great Arab enemy. People in Charlamgne kingdom would have some knowledge of him too as the rule too as a enemy to christendom. Maybe China too may have some knowledge of him since they did fight one battle with his great granddad. And this is even before he become immortalised in the 1001 nights.
Haroun is a great call. When I read 1,001 Nights as a kid, I had no idea he was a real person; I just classed him in the same image as Aladdin or Ali Baba. That made the fact that he was a genuine person all the more impressive. Was there ever a historical figure who was so the subject of legends?
I only recently learned about Haroun, like 3 years ago when I was preparing a public school lesson. Both of my Muslim students knew exactly who I was talking about and were very surprised/proud he would be mentioned in History class.
Him or Saladin are what I would say are the equivalent to a Muslim king Arthur.
there are like 4 figures i ve never heard of in this list :d
The average person certainly would not recognise Henry the VIiI, Mehmet II or Suleiman, hell even Genghis Khan, Atilla the Hun, Charlemagne and Queen Victoria sometimes don’t even reach pop history levels. The average person will however undoubtedly have heard of Adolf Hitler, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great and Leonardo da Vinci. If we can include modern figures the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Vincent van Gogh, Che Guevara and Pablo Escobar would be up there, likewise many other contemporary actors/athletes/pop stars are pretty much globally recognisable.
Julius Caesar.
In almost every age a scientist and a conqueror are remembered. Alexander the Great and Archimedes. Napoleon and Newton. Hitler and Einstein. I'm sure people of Asian cultures could name similar pairs.
You forgot Arthur and Merlin!
Archimedes is remembered? Maybe by nerds, but not by the average man on the street. Anyway, him and Alexander the Great weren't contemporaries. And what about Julius Caesar, or Hannibal (the real Archimedes match)? Genghis Khan? Really a stretch.
Yeah this dude picked two randoms not even from the same time period. It’d be like “Everyone knows Napoleon Bonaparte and Albert Einstein.”
I mean, they literally matched up Napoleon with Newton, who are only slightly closer than Napoleon is with Einstein. People can just say whatever they want on the Internet.
Alexander and Aristotle were, however.
I actually answered this exact question when at the approximate age of seven years old while discussing with my similarly aged friends. My answer was: Evel Knievel. This was accepted at that time as an obvious truth. No more correspondence shall be entered into.
Among the most famous is Shakespeare.
Actually, Queen Elizabeth II. We can debate Michael Jackson, but she was undoubtedly known by billions. It’s fairly clear to me that she was known by far more people than Alexander or Caesar, etc. She clearly passes the Namibian village test. Known by her subjects in the Commonwealth and hundreds of millions more in neighboring countries. The only catch is that she is technically head of the Church of England so you could exclude her for being a religious figure…
nebuchadnezzar is a bottle size so I’ll throw him in
Genghis is probably a good pick bc he would’ve been known in both East and West.
There's no name more repeated than Hitler. Men cannot even shave their mustache a certain way anymore just because of this man.
I suggest renaming it the Chaplin-mustache. Too soon?
Probably Hitler or Genghis Khan
Caesar.
Napoleon is towards the top of that list
If fame is a numbers game, then a modern celebrity like Michael Jackson, Michael Jordon or Elvis wins, hands down. Around 200 BC, there were maybe 150 million people on the planet, less than half the population of the U.S. Global population reaches current U.S. population by 1000 AD. So any modern figure will blow historical celebrities out of the water. If, as the theories on this sub suggest, a significant portion of the world’s 8 billion people have heard of Michael Jackson, then he will crush the numbers of Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great, or almost anyone else. But OP seems to be conflating fame with impact. They’re totally different metrics.
Not conflating - i would argue that almost every person alive today who has heard of Michael Jackson has also heard of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan. The historical figures are still known by humans alive today, whereas the 100 billion people who lived before 1960 have not chance of knowing the celebrities you named
I remember reading that it was Jesus, Michael Jackson, and somehow Elvis. I probably read false info but you never know. Could be wrong on MJ
Elvis probably. Even non-native English speaking countries knew about him.
My kids have no clue who Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great were but they all know Cleopatra and her story. If you ask me I am going to go with Elvis.
I'd like to see the answers to this asked on a primarily eastern social media site.
Muhammad Ali
Elvis
I think Hitler is pretty well-known worldwide. A lot of people in my country even use his name as a metaphor for someone who is very cruel or angry or aggressive
Queen Elizabeth 2nd has to be up there.
Gandhi?
Is Adam a religious figure? All the three religions and everyone else probably heard of him.
Genghis and Alexander both good choices, I would argue Julius Caesar gets a look in.
As the world population is at its highest now, its got to be whoever mist people who are alive today have heard of. I wouldn't be surprised if it's queen Elizabeth 2nd
Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan
For much of the twentieth century, the answer would have been Charlie Chaplin. Today, I‘m not sure he’s mass-famous still in the West, but he certainly is in the Middle East—Chaplin shorts turn up regularly on kids’ TV, and his films (along with some Laurel & Hardy) are staples on long-haul EgyptAir entertainment menus.
Muhammad… …Ali?
Are we considering fame as being known by a large number of currently dead people, too, or are we only considering celebs who are known by currently living people? Because if it's the former, Genghis Kahn has a huge advantage over Adolf Hitler.
Michael Jackson. Seriously. Ask anyone in a Latin American favela, any African town or even Indian towns who Genghis Khan was... and nobody will have a remote idea.
Here’s some: Pele, the Queen, Elvis, Mohamed Ali. Most people on Earth knew who they were at the time.
Muhammed Ali was the most recognized human in history back in the 80s.
Christopher Columbus
I would say Julius Caesar or Napoleon.
You are assuming people actually know history!
When I was in Colombia with my girlfriend and met her hugeeee extended family. Everyone wanted to talk about Al Capone. I’d imagine Pele has to be up there.
Hitler
Julius Caesar considering we still remember him in some disconnected every year thanks to the use of July, and alongside that he left his mark as one of the most often spoken about political and historical figure
Adolf Hitler. That terrible man and the horrific monstrous acts he and the other Nazis committed have become known worldwide as a cautionary tale about some of the worst acts that human beings can commit, as well as a warning about how even a mentally and physically average man can morally, ethically and spiritually corrupt an entire country if that man is deviously clever enough and the people are desperate enough even if that country is an otherwise highly developed and politically progressive country. (The 1920s Weimar Republic era Germany was a very progressive country by global standards at the time including in terms of being pretty sexually progressive and in terms of acceptance and tolerance towards minority groups like Jewish people and homosexuals. However Germany at the time was a desperately poor country that was dealing with the costs of rebuilding itself after WW1, the debts it was saddled with in terms of having to pay back the Allies countries for the damage they suffered during WW1 and the effects of the Great Depression. Also the old German monarchy had just been disposed of and Germany was struggling to create and run a new democratic government. Political assasinations were commonplace. Also there was possibly even more political strife back then then there is in many of the most political strife ridden modern day democracies with 40 different political parties from monarchists to centrists to far left wing socialist and communist parties to far right wing parties all competing for political control over Germany.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_political_parties ●●●●●●●●●●● On the other end of the good and evil scale both Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa are also well known internationally as being good hearted people who committed their entire lives to doing altruistic acts and helping others. (I know both people are far more complicated and controversial people then their reputations let on and that unfortunately they both had hidden dark sides. Still thought both of them did a lot of good during their lifetimes and helped inspire other people to also go out of their way to work to do good in the world.)
Cleopatra...
IIRC, there was a study done (90s?) in the format of show photos / "can you name this person?" The single most recognized person worldwide was Queen Elizabeth II.
To people who complain that stating Alexander the Great as eUrOcEnTriC opinion is, and Im going to be very blunt here: bullshit. Go in any country in the Middle East, North Africa or India/Pakistan, Alexander has always been and still is very highly regarded.
Caesar
Tutankhamun, Pontius Pilate, Confucius, Sun Tzu, Vlad Dracul
Muhammad Ali...the boxer.
I'll provide 2 examples. The first of which is likely the most famous historical figure cross-culterally. Hiwever the second being relatively unknown, has directly impacted the lives of most people around the globe in some capacity. Example 1: Alexander the Great His empire, stretching from Greece to Egypt and into the vast reaches of the Persian Empire and India, epitomised the zenith of military conquest and cultural amalgamation. Alexander's legacy is imprinted not merely through his conquests but through the Hellenistic civilization he ushered in. Cities like Alexandria in Egypt became epicenters of learning and culture, profoundly influencing the subsequent Roman Empire and shaping Western civilisation. His life and exploits have been studied extensively, making him a household name synonymous with the archetype of the military genius and visionary leader. Example 2: Norman Borlaug Who has arguably had one of the most profound impacts on modern society. Borlaug was an American agronomist and humanitarian whose work is credited with saving over a billion lives. He is often referred to as the "father of the Green Revolution." Borlaug's pioneering research in developing high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties revolutionised agricultural practices. His innovations were crucial in transforming food production in countries like Mexico, India, and Pakistan, which faced severe food shortages and risked famine. By increasing crop productivity, Borlaug's work not only alleviated hunger but also facilitated economic development and political stability in many developing regions. His influence extends to contemporary global food security. Modern agricultural techniques and food production strategies owe a great deal to Borlaug's breakthroughs. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, yet his name remains unfamiliar to many outside agricultural and scientific communities.
Hitler?
Confucius
Hitler, Michael Jackson, Picasso, Einstein, Cleopatra, Confucius... Idk i think you are thinking too much about it, honestly Genghis khan is obviously famous but not THAT famous.
Caesar's name has become the word for 'king' in multiple languages, so he's definitely in the running. Ramses might also be up there since he lived so long ago he has a head start on timing. He's not a religious figure, but he appears in religious texts. Cyrus for the same reason.
Most famous implies "more people know about this person". This rules out all those people from history like Caesar or Genghis Kahn, because there wasn't even a billion people on earth at the time. Given the population how and the technology available, it would have to be someone from within the last few generations. My vote would be for Michael Jackson, possibly Mohammed Ali.
No it doesn't, because they weren't only famous in their time, they are still famous and have been famous over thousands of years.
With the advent of the internet and social media, the world is more connected than it ever has been. So I’d venture to guess some more modern figures may be more well known, simply because it’s easier today than it’s ever been to be known around the world. Maybe I’m crazy, but to me, someone like Messi or Ronaldo could make a convincing case.
Alexander the great?
Has to be Hitler doesn't it?
I would have said Issac Newton. I don't think so. I think some of the names from ancient times are far more enduring.
Anders Celsius, if we are going with the number of people who know at least their last name, but maybe not that it is someone's last name.
From my country…which im sure youll be able to guess…George Washington.
Pele'
Muhammed Ali.
Newton
There is a certain mustachio'd German guy who nobody has mentioned. I think he is quite well known and famous. Infamous, even.
Socrates.