This is a list chosen by Michael H. Hart, from the book "100 most influential people in the world". He chose people on a ranking of who had done the most to influence the world.

See the names of the first 20 Most Influential People Of All Time

1) Muhammad (570 – 632 AD) Prophet Muhammad is the "Seal of the Prophets" (Khatam an-Nabiyyin, i.e. the last prophet)

2) Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) – British mathematician and scientist.

3) Jesus Christ (c.5BC – 30 AD) Spiritual teacher and central figure of Christianity.He is among the prophets of Allah and also the son of Mary.

4) Buddha (c 563 – 483 BC) Spiritual Teacher and founder of Buddhism.

5) Confucius (551 – 479 BC) – Chinese philosopher.

6) St. Paul (5 – AD 67) – Christian missionary and one of the main writers of New Testament.




7) Ts’ai Lun (AD 50 – 121) Inventor of paper.

8 ) Johann Gutenberg (1395 – 1468) – Inventor of the printing press.

9) Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) – Italian explorer landed in America.

10) Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German/ US scientist discovered Theory of Relativity.

11) Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) French biologist. Developed a cure for rabies and other infectious diseases.

12) Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) Italian scientist – confirmed the heliocentric view of the universe.

13) Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) – Greek philosopher and polymath

14) Euclid (c. 325 – 265 BC) – Greek mathematician

15) Moses (c 1391 – 1271 BC) A key figure of Jewish / Christian history gave 10 Commandments of Old Testament

16) Charles Darwin (1809 -– 1882) –Scientist who proposed and popularised theory of evolution.

17) Shih Huang Ti (259 – 210 BC) – King of the state of Qin who conquered and united different regions of China in 221 BC.

18) Augustus Caesar (63 BC-AD 14) – First Emperor of Rome

19) Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who believed Sun was the centre of Universe – rather than earth.

20) Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743 – 1794) French chemist and biologist who had leading impact on the chemical revolution.