Updated July 18, 2020 84.1k votes 7.7k voters 209.5k views
Voting Rules
Vote up the people whose charitable acts, invention, courageous leadership, or revolutionary thinking made a significant, positive impact.
This is a list of famous people who helped heal the world. Some people have been acknowledged for their efforts with Nobel Peace Prizes. Some of these people have a long-lasting legacy that has inspired others to act. Some have invented something that made life better. All the famous people on this list have worked hard to enact change for the better.
People who offer acts of kindness, unexpected or not, make the world a better place. All the people on this list have greatly affected society, whether or not they did so intentionally. Some set out for political change, while others just made a simple decision to not obey someone. They have all received critical acclaim in some way, so take a look, and vote up which people have had the most effect on society.
Gutenberg invented the printing press, which allowed for the creation and mass distribution of information. His invention helped to disseminate knowledge to the masses, giving the opportunity for the general public to be better informed about the world around them.
Marie Curie's pioneering research on radioactivity won her a Nobel Prize of Chemistry in 1911, the first ever for a woman. This physicist & chemist helped us to explore the unseen world. She paved the way for radiological cancer treatment, which has saved many lives.
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived. His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination". According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and "his mind and ...more
Age: Dec. at 67 (1452-1519)
Birthplace: Vinci, Italy
Profession: Military Engineer, Musician, Scientist, Inventor, Architect
Tesla was an electrical engineer who designed the modern alternating current electricity supply. The importance of the alternating current brought electricity to millions. Though he never got as much credit as Thomas Edison (his usurper), Tesla is definitely responsible for making the world better for many people.
Albert Schweitzer was a theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary in Africa during the first half of the 20th century. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his philosophy of "Reverence of Life," in which Schweitzer is quoted defining the phrase as nothing other than ethics: "Ethics is nothing other than Reverence for Life. Reverence for Life affords me my fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assisting and enhancing life, and to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil."
Louis Pasteur (, French: [lwi pastœʁ]; December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French biologist, microbiologist and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved many lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax.
His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and ...more
