The Most Important Leaders in World History Politicians
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The Most Important Leaders in World History

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This is a list of the most important and influential leaders in the history of the world. Anyone can vote on this definitive list of the men and women who shaped our civilization - for better or worse - making it a collaborative list of the greatest leaders in human history. Visionaries, pragmatists, conquerors and humanitarians all share this list. Rank them in terms of importance and add anyone you see missing.

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Rank     Name Born Birthplace Nationality
  1. 1
    Up 151
    Down 55

    Alexander The Great

  2. 2
    Up 200
    Down 109
    1769
    Ajaccio
    France, Corsica
    Controversial
  3. 3
    Up 116
    Down 67
    100
    Rome
  4. 4
    Up 139
    Down 66

    Genghis Khan

  5. 5
    Up 112
    Down 61
    1732
    Colonial Beach
    United States of America, Kingdom of Great Britain
  6. 6
    Up 121
    Down 73
    1869
    Porbandar
    India
  7. 7
    Up 119
    Down 89
    1809
    Hodgenville
    United States of America
  8. 8
    Up 107
    Down 88
    1874
    Blenheim Palace
    United Kingdom, England
    Most Listed
  9. 9
    Up 76
    Down 58

    Augustus Caesar

  10. 10
    Up 67
    Down 58
    272
    Niš
  11. 11
    Up 88
    Down 57

    Martin Luther King Jr.

  12. 12
    Up 180
    Down 93

    Muhammad

  13. 13
    Up 81
    Down 60
    1918
    Transkei
    South Africa
  14. 14
    Up 65
    Down 73
    1914
    Campobello Island
    United States of America
    Controversial
  15. 15
    Up 17

    Jesus Christ

  16. 16
    Up 57
    Down 58
    742
    Liège
  17. 17
    Up 60
    Down 50

    Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

  18. 18
    Up 63
    Down 127
    1533
    Greenwich
    England
    Controversial
  19. 19
    Up 48
    Down 34

    Ramses II

  20. 20
    Up 10
    1889
    Braunau am Inn
    Germany, Austria
  21. 21
    Up 141
    Down 68
    1948
    Dijon
    France
  22. 22
    Up 51
    Down 33
    Babylon, Babylonia
  23. 23
    Up 55
    Down 35

    Sun Tzu

  24. 24
    Up 52
    Down 65

    Vladimir Lenin

  25. 25
    Up 42
    Down 49
    Athens
  26. 26
    Up 48
    Down 58

    Salah al-Din

  27. 27
    Up 35
    Down 46

    Queen Isabella of Spain

  28. 28
    Up 38
    Down 44
    0483
  29. 29
    Up 35
    Down 40
    1027
    Falaise
  30. 30
    Up 35
    Down 33

    Cleopatra

  31. 31
    Up 36
    Down 43

    Ashoka the Great

  32. 32
    Up 29
    Down 28

    Catherine the Great

  33. 33
    Up 46
    Down 66
    1911
    Tampico
    United States of America
  34. 34
    Up 23
    Down 33
    1893
    Shaoshan
    China
  35. 35
    1870
    Ulyanovsk
    Russia
  36. 36
    Up 72
    Down 107
    1881
    Thessaloniki
    Turkey
    Controversial
  37. 37
    1878
    Gori
    Soviet Union
  38. 38
    Up 36
    Down 41

    Selim I

  39. 39
    Up 42
    Down 24

    Hannibal

  40. 40
    Up 44
    Down 34
    1925
    Grantham
    United Kingdom
  41. 41
    Up 23
    Down 29

    Darius The Great

  42. 42
    Up 27
    Down 31

    Sargon the Great

  43. 43
    Up 29
    Down 27
    1819
    Kensington Palace
    United Kingdom
  44. 44
    Up 22
    Down 48
    0849
    Wantage
    Wessex
    Controversial
  45. 45
    Up 20
    Down 43
    1537
    Nakamura-ku, Nagoya
    Japan
  46. 46
    Up 21
    Down 43
    0169
  47. 47
    Up 19
    Down 36

    Moctezuma I

  48. 48
    Up 22
    Down 56
    1856
    Staunton city
    United States of America
  49. 49
    Up 11
    Down 16

    Xerxes the Great

  50. 50
    Up 21
    Down 38

    Crazy Horse

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The Most Important Leaders in World History

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    1. Badamsambuu
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 10/16/2011 4:07 AM
      Khubilai khan was a great leader of East Asia who was influenced on earth in XIII century
    2. Demon_Boy
      Mahatma Gandhi at 5/10/2012 6:04 AM
      Gandhi was an activist, not a leader
    3. non nazi guy
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 6/13/2011 1:32 AM
      where the f**k is hitler??? i aint a nazi or whatever but you cant tell me the man that pretty much started world war 2 isnt important!!
      1. HistoryGuy
        The Most Important Leaders in World History at 6/13/2011 3:40 PM
        add him to the list, then. I'm personally on the fence if he was a "leader" so much as a despot. But you could probably make the same argument about a lot of people on this list.
    4. Stephen12
      Louis Napoleon Bonaparte at 7/14/2011 7:03 PM
      Bonaparte the most important leader in world history? LOL...
    5. anti jew
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 6/21/2011 3:10 PM
      hi hitler
    6. I agree.... its a little weird that he's so strongly in the top spot. Would never have guessed it.
    7. Just some historian
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 2/09/2012 9:31 AM
      This is the "definitive list of the men and women who shaped our civilization"? A group of the world's greatest historians was asked to make this same list. This list is missing 2 of the top 3 people that experts say were the most influential people in history. Where are Isaac Newton (the historians' #1 because his mathematical and scientific ideas made the modern and post-modern era's possible) and Jesus of Nazareth (the historians' #3). Also, the majority of the people that did make this list, while historically important and influential, were only important and influential in the context of the era and/or region in which they lived. They really had little or no lasting historical impact.
    8. mine of history
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 4/02/2012 9:33 PM
      what about qin she huang de that unified china, am not Chinese but that person is important, mehmet the conqueror, king Leonidas of Sparta, Charles the hammer the Frankish king

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