Page 58 - BBC History - September 2017

History Hot 100 2017

Welcome to this year’s BBC History Magazine Hot 100 list, featuring the
historical !igures that have been fascinating you in 2017. We asked you to
each nominate up to three people, who could have lived in any historical
period (but who died more than 30 years ago). The full list is presented here,
along with comments on the results from historians. The characters and
rankings are bound to provoke controversy…
Charlotte Hodgman
Deputy editor

100 Isambard Kingdom 84 Harold II
Brunel c1022–1066 55 Alexander Hamilton
1806–59 England’s last Anglo-Saxon king c1755/57–1804
British civil and mechanical engineer Alexander Hamilton came to the atten-
83 Catherine de Medici tion of George Washington during the
99 Francis Drake 1519–89 American Revolutionary War, becoming
c1540–1596 Italian noblewoman and queen of France the general’s aide-de-camp. After train-
English admiral and navigator ing as a lawyer, he was elected to the
82 Bess of Hardwick lower house of the New York legislature
98 Christopher Columbus 1527–1608 and eventually earned himself a place
c1451–1506 Elizabethan noblewoman at the Constitutional Convention as
representative for New York. Hamilton
Italian explorer and navigator was consequently one of the founding
81 Anne Frank fathers of the US Constitution, and had
97 Catherine Howard 1929–45 a profound influence on its ratification.
c1524–42 German-born Jewish diarist When Washington was elected to the
Fifth wife of Henry VIII presidency, he appointed Hamilton the
80 Muhammad country’s first secretary of the treasury.
96 Anne Neville c570–632 Down 40 places from 2016
1456–85 Prophet and founder of Islam
Queen consort of Richard III
79 John of Gaunt 77 George Washington 66 Katherine Swynford
95 Simon de Montfort 1340–99 1732–99 1350–1403
c1208–65 Third surviving son of Edward III Founding father and first US president Third wife of John of Gaunt
Rebel baron
78 Isabella I of Castile 76 Anne of Cleves 65 Albert Einstein
94 Nikola Tesla 1451–1504 1515–57 1879–1955
1856–1943 Queen of Castile and Aragon German-born fourth wife of Henry VIII German-born theoretical physicist
Serbian-American inventor
75 Florence Nightingale 64 Cleopatra
93 Isabella of France 1820–1910 69 BC–30 BC
1295–1358 Founder of modern nursing Last active pharaoh of ancient Egypt
Queen consort of Edward II
74 Owain Glyndw ^ r 63 Alan Turing
92 Margaret Tudor c1350–c1416 1912–54
1489–1541 Welsh ruler and rebel Computer scientist and cryptanalyst
Daughter of Henry VII, sister of Henry VIII
73 Marie Antoinette 62 Tsar Nicholas II
91 King Arthur 1755–93 1868–1918
possibly sixth century Austrian-born queen of France Last emperor of Russia
Legendary British warrior and king
72 Katherine Parr 61 Lady Jane Grey
90 Cecily Neville 1512–48 1537–54
1415–95 Sixth and last wife of Henry VIII Queen of England for nine days
Mother of Edward IV and Richard III
71 Vlad the Impaler 60 Joseph Goebbels
89 Richard I 1431–76 1897–1945
1157–99 Prince of Wallachia, Romania Propaganda minister for Nazi Germany
English king, known as ‘the Lionheart’ 85 Hatshepsut
c1507 BC–c1458 BC 70 Leonardo da Vinci 59 Franklin D Roosevelt
88 Thomas More One of only a few known ancient 1452–1519 1882–1945
1478–1535 Egyptian female pharaohs, Hatshepsut Italian Renaissance polymath 32nd US president
Tudor statesman and author reigned in her own right, from
c1473–58 BC. However, Hatshepsut’s 69 Edward III 58 Charles Darwin
87 Thomas Jefferson royal reign really began in c1479 BC 1312–77 1809–82
1743–1826 when she acted as regent for her infant King of England British naturalist, geologist and biologist
Founding Father and third US president stepson, Thutmose III. By the end of his
seventh regnal year, Hatshepsut had 68 Charles I 57 King John
86 Marie Curie been crowned king and had adopted all 1600–49 1166/67–1216
1867–1934 pharaonic titles and regalia, co-ruling King of England, Scotland and Ireland King of England who sealed Magna Carta ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDY TUOHY
Polish-French physicist and chemist with her stepson. In images, she was
depicted with a male body wearing the 67 Charles Dickens 56 Clement Attlee
85 Hatshepsut traditional pharaonic kilt, crown and 1812–70 1883–1967
See box right false beard. British writer and social critic British prime minister

58 BBC History Magazine Hot 100