# Which historical figure do you find interesting?



## i_am_Lois (May 23, 2014)

My father found Adolf Hitler's life interesting to read about. 
I like to read about Abraham Lincoln's life.


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## Raven (May 23, 2014)

I find Abraham Lincoln's life interesting too; saw the movie Lincoln a couple of years ago.

Eleanor Roosevelt has always fascinated me, a great lady in my humble opinion.

Here is one of her many quotes.

"You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”   
  ―     Eleanor Roosevelt


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## rkunsaw (May 23, 2014)

Thomas Jefferson is one that I'm interested in. We went to his home, Monticello, several years ago.  A very interesting place.


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## GeorgiaXplant (May 23, 2014)

Hm. I'm in the Eleanor Roosevelt camp, too. I didn't know anybody else ever gave her a thought. Maybe it's our generation...


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## CPA-Kim (May 23, 2014)

Jesus.


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## Mirabilis (May 24, 2014)

I like to read biographies.  I am currently reading about Steve Jobs and I bought another book of pictures that follows the Diary of Anne Frank.


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## Rainee (May 24, 2014)

I love Shakespeare .. anything to do with his life, stories acts and photos of his home where he lived , have visited there and it was so 
fascinating.. and really awesome..!


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## hollydolly (May 24, 2014)

Leonardo Da Vinci.... the man was more than a genius...that is if he wasn't actually an Alien...


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## GDAD (May 24, 2014)

*mandela.*


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## rkunsaw (May 24, 2014)

hollydolly said:


> Leonardo Da Vinci.... the man was more than a genius...that is if he wasn't actually an Alien...



Good choice hollydolly.


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## littleowl (May 25, 2014)

Paulinas.
He got rid of Boadicea


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## Capt Lightning (May 25, 2014)

It would have to be one of the great engineers/scientists  -  probably Michael Faraday.


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## Jackie22 (May 25, 2014)

Another Eleanor Roosevelt fan here, I read a lot of Bios and Autobios too, mainly politicians and celebrities that interest me.


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## Justme (May 25, 2014)

I don't know about interesting, but my family, on my father's side, are apparently related to a historical figure who rescued an English king a few centuries ago.


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## Ruth (May 29, 2014)

Jesus


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## Kaya (May 29, 2014)

Jesus


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## Justme (May 29, 2014)

I wonder if the guy was actually historical?


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## Kaya (May 29, 2014)

Of course he was/is.


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## Meanderer (May 29, 2014)

Justme said:


> I wonder if the guy was actually historical?



What guy is that?


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## Kaya (May 29, 2014)

Jesus, meanderer.


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## Meanderer (May 29, 2014)

Oh,that Guy...He was a King on His Father's side, who rescued many of us!


View attachment 7060


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## BDBoop (May 29, 2014)

Sign me on the big bio reader list. I don't have a historical figure picked just yet.


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## Meanderer (May 29, 2014)

I'd have to say Jesus, as well!


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## Justme (May 30, 2014)

Meanderer said:


> What guy is that?



The guy Jesus who has so many fantastical stories made up about him!


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## Kaya (May 30, 2014)

Made up?


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## Warrigal (May 30, 2014)

I've always been interested in explorers. Matthew Flinders is one who comes readily to mind.
Charles Darwin would be another.

I was born the wrong gender in the wrong age to become an explorer.


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## Justme (May 30, 2014)

Kaya said:


> Made up?



They aren't credible, in my opinion. As they were written long after he died, I suspect they were either highly exaggerated or untrue.


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## Warrigal (May 30, 2014)

The NT gospels are memoirs, not fiction and not diaries either. Different people's memories are not always identical. If they were you can be pretty sure that there has been collusion with the motive of deception. The degree of agreement and also the degree of difference in the various gospel stories is about right for memoirs written over one lifespan of the crucifixion. Given that there was a strong culture of oral story telling in addition to the sharing of letters and other written material, it is reasonable to accept that some things have been added for greater effect for particular audiences such as Jews, Romans, other Gentiles etc. Scholars spend years analysing the literary styles of the various books in the original language to work out what is original and what is likely to be an addon. People tend to forget that they were not written in English, nor for that matter Latin. Scientific knowledge was not what it is today either and the authors wrote with the understandings of their time. How could they do otherwise?

None of the above means that the whole lot is made up, or that Jesus was not an historical person.
The recorded teachings of that historical person are well worth some serious consideration. 
They were quite revolutionary in their time and are still revolutionary and counter cultural today.


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## rkunsaw (May 30, 2014)

There were many books written that the church didn't want people to know about so they weren't included in the bible. 

Most of the stories in the bible were copies of stories from other cultures that were written hundreds of years before the bible.


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## Warrigal (May 30, 2014)

Easy to say, rkunsaw. Care to name two from the New Testament?

I'll make it easier. Care to name two that are not found in Genesis where most of the mythology is found?


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## BDBoop (May 30, 2014)

Has one single person's mind ever been changed in conversations such as this?


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## Warrigal (May 30, 2014)

It's a conversation, BDBoop. 
No-one is required to change their mind.

But we have strayed fftopic:


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## BDBoop (May 30, 2014)

Dame Warrigal said:


> It's a conversation, BDBoop.
> No-one is required to change their mind.
> 
> But we have strayed fftopic:



I didn't say anybody was required to. I asked if conversations such as this have ever led anyone to change their minds. In my decades, I have never seen it so. I have never seen anybody say "Oh! I have never heard that before. This is news to me." 

This is a comment from me.


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## Warrigal (May 30, 2014)

Ok. I thought you were feeling uncomfortable about where this thread was heading. 
I was just being reassuring.

I'll argue about anything, any time, but I know that some topics can get a bit scratchy.
That's why I started the group Speakers' Corner to quarantine the more contentious topics.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 13, 2017)

i_am_Lois said:


> My father found Adolf Hitler's life interesting to read about.
> I like to read about Abraham Lincoln's life.


The more I learn about Immanuel Kant the more I believe that he may be perhaps the most profound thinker ever.  Einstein was clearly the rock star of relativity and some in relation to quantum theory, and astral physics.  But Kant may have been the first philosopher who discovered with logical discourse the divide between what empirical thought could produce vs what pure reason could produce.  Kant pointed out that empirical thought was incapable of providing real evidence of reality because it was always bound to its language.  Pure reason was able to see relationships because it was not empirical. He used the example of Des Carte's Cogito ergo sum.  I think was what became being. This was the result of pure reason.  He described pure reason as immortal.  This is something that might be explored much further.  But there will be few who may read this one.


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## RadishRose (Aug 13, 2017)

I'd like to meet Mary Magdalene.


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## Sassycakes (Aug 13, 2017)

I can't think of a Historical person right now except for Anne Frank,I'll have to think more. I can think of quite a few Celebrities that are now longer alive,that I wouldn't mind having a conversation with,Dean Martin,Cary Grant,Elvis Presley etc,etc,etc !


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## Ruth n Jersey (Aug 13, 2017)

Good old Abe Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. I went to Monticello also and found his gardens and his interest in gardening fascinating. They even sell seeds of varieties that he had grown at the time.  Louis and Clark expeditions interest me as well.


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## IKE (Aug 14, 2017)

I've always found Fidel Castro interesting.......the man not his politics.

I would have liked to have shared a few days with him salt water fishing and talking while putting away a few cool Cuba Libres and smoking big Cuban cigars.


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## dpwspringer (Aug 14, 2017)

I don't have a favorite as many draw my attention. At the moment I am considering reading about Genghis Khan.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

RadishRose said:


> I'd like to meet Mary Magdalene.


You have my vote.  I do not think Magdalene was the figure we hear advertised about today.  Magdalene may have been Jesus' wife.  If that was true it would have been something the disciples wanted to squash.  It would have made Jesus appear less God like and more man like.  

There are some contemporary historians who think Magdalene moved north after Jesus died.  She may have disappeared.  Don't remember the story.  Haven't read if for years.  But, it belongs to the Knostic's text in some uncannonized  books.  Magdalene may have had her own book along with Mary and Judas.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Sassycakes said:


> I can't think of a Historical person right now except for Anne Frank,I'll have to think more. I can think of quite a few Celebrities that are now longer alive,that I wouldn't mind having a conversation with,Dean Martin,Cary Grant,Elvis Presley etc,etc,etc !



Dean Martin was one of the Rat Pack.  Frank Sinatra was connected to organize crime.  I think this cast a shadow on the other members.  But, who knows.  I would also have liked to talked to was Dean Martin.  That man had a voice of pure silk.  Roy Orbison is the only man I can think of who could match Dean Martin.


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## beneDictus (Aug 14, 2017)

William Wallace....Or, perhaps better known by his pseudonym...''BRAVEHEART''....!!


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## beneDictus (Aug 14, 2017)

IKE said:


> I've always found Fidel Castro interesting.......the man not his politics.
> 
> I would have liked to have shared a few days with him salt water fishing and talking while putting away a few cool Cuba Libres and smoking big Cuban cigars.
> OTE]
> Probably would have been too risky. YOU might have begun smoking one of those exploding cigars which were kindly donated by the CIA, instead....!!


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

beneDictus said:


> William Wallace....Or, perhaps better known by his pseudonym...''BRAVEHEART''....!!



Are you confusing William Wallace with the leading character in the movie "Brave Heart".  You might have gotten a more honest look by reading, "Dragonfly In Amber".  This was a time when men beat their women with tree branches.


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## Knight (Aug 14, 2017)

Helen Keller 

A person that has actual historical documentation.


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## Falcon (Aug 14, 2017)

Lady  Godiva.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Knight said:


> Helen Keller
> 
> A person that has actual historical documentation.



I am not sure how actual documentation would change a person's impression.  I have seen Helen Keller on TV as she communicated with sign language.  She was absolutely amazing.  I do not know how accurate the movie was.  But I can imagine the enormous task  attempting to teach Helen was.  Even more if she resisted.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Falcon said:


> Lady  Godiva.


 
Don't know enough to say a thing.


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## Butterfly (Aug 14, 2017)

I'm a card carrying history nut, so I find many, many historical characters interesting.

I'd like to have a conversation with Abraham Lincoln.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> I'm a card carrying history nut, so I find many, many historical characters interesting.
> 
> I'd like to have a conversation with Abraham Lincoln.



I think of Abraham Lincoln as the bravest man in the U.S. ever.  Yet, I would also bet that he was scared, excuse the word please, shitless.


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## fuzzybuddy (Aug 14, 2017)

George Washington. Bad teeth and all. He was human after all. He was really a poor army general, as far as tactics go. When the war was over, he could very easily become king, he went home. That act made him famous not only here, but throughout the world. Yet, he was slave holder.  I don't think I'd want to be one of his slaves. He was devious. He evaded PA slave laws. A money grubbing land speculator. He knew how to make a buck. His diary consisted of weather reports, not great ideas. He didn't have a sparkling personality. Good dancer. He was George Washington. Even in his own time, he was idolized.  He gave the Presidency the star power it enjoys today. Everybody commented that he was "George Washington".  The Capitol, in Washington, has a dome on it,  because that's  where he was to be buried. (He wasn't)What was it that made him George Washington?


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## Sassycakes (Aug 14, 2017)

Uncontrolable said:


> Dean Martin was one of the Rat Pack.  Frank Sinatra was connected to organize crime.  I think this cast a shadow on the other members.  But, who knows.  I would also have liked to talked to was Dean Martin.  That man had a voice of pure silk.  Roy Orbison is the only man I can think of who could match Dean Martin.



I also would have loved to talk to Roy Orbison. He was one of my favorite singers and he had faced a lot of sadness in his life.


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## Lon (Aug 14, 2017)

Quite  a few  -  Alexander Hamilton-Ulysses S. Grant- Cornelius Vanderbilt--John Adams Henry Ford


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

fuzzybuddy said:


> George Washington. Bad teeth and all. He was human after all. He was really a poor army general, as far as tactics go. When the war was over, he could very easily become king, he went home. That act made him famous not only here, but throughout the world. Yet, he was slave holder.  I don't think I'd want to be one of his slaves. He was devious. He evaded PA slave laws. A money grubbing land speculator. He knew how to make a buck. His diary consisted of weather reports, not great ideas. He didn't have a sparkling personality. Good dancer. He was George Washington. Even in his own time, he was idolized.  He gave the Presidency the star power it enjoys today. Everybody commented that he was "George Washington".  The Capitol, in Washington, has a dome on it,  because that's  where he was to be buried. (He wasn't)What was it that made him George Washington?



People are not what they seem to be.  Remember Lance Armstrong.  First, a hero who actually inspired, perhaps thousands of people, to change their lives.  But is now only famous for his one failure.  Washington was a lucky dude.  Today, with the same life he would have been impeached and disgraced.  I think we need a more forgiving society.  When I think of my own past I realize how "imperfect"  I have been.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Sassycakes said:


> I also would have loved to talk to Roy Orbison. He was one of my favorite singers and he had faced a lot of sadness in his life.



I was a singer when younger.  At seventeen I hade a high falcetto  in my voice and could sing songs like "Sherrie"  not sure about the spelling.  I actually sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" on the radio once.  Small station, broadcasting from a coffee shop.  The only reason I bring this up was that I could not sing Orbison songs.  His voice range and his perfect control and the individuality in his voice were ao amazing.  As hard as I tried I could never sing more than parts of his songs.  I always had to start the song too low in order to try and match his highs but never could.  If you cannot tell, I loved him and hated it when he died.  He was too young.  

He was gone like Buddy Holley,  Patsy Cline, Janice Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix.  The days the music died.  I will never be the same, 
sob.  God I loved the artists of the 50's and 60's.  I have to stop now or I will have a breakdown and have to sing the blues.  This coudl be bad.  I ramble.  Oh my god, that sounds like a song title.  "Here is Uncontrollable with his mega hit, I Ramble."  Somebody stop me!


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Lon said:


> Quite  a few  -  Alexander Hamilton-Ulysses S. Grant- Cornelius Vanderbilt--John Adams Henry Ford



I am not familiar enough with these men to make a comment, except to say:  They left their mark, and made this country greater before they left it.


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## Camper6 (Aug 14, 2017)

I look at which historical figure changed the world the most.

I was choosing between Einstein and Edison.

I am going to go with Edison, because the invention of the incandescent bulb changed the way our daily lives are lived forever.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Camper6 said:


> I look at which historical figure changed the world the most.
> 
> I was choosing between Einstein and Edison.
> 
> I am going to go with Edison, because the invention of the incandescent bulb changed the way our daily lives are lived forever.



Not a bad choice at all.  This exercise is reminding me how many really great people there are.  What about Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa.  Ghandi.


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## Sassycakes (Aug 14, 2017)

Uncontrolable said:


> I was a singer when younger.  At seventeen I hade a high falcetto  in my voice and could sing songs like "Sherrie"  not sure about the spelling.  I actually sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" on the radio once.  Small station, broadcasting from a coffee shop.  The only reason I bring this up was that I could not sing Orbison songs.  His voice range and his perfect control and the individuality in his voice were ao amazing.  As hard as I tried I could never sing more than parts of his songs.  I always had to start the song too low in order to try and match his highs but never could.  If you cannot tell, I loved him and hated it when he died.  He was too young.
> 
> He was gone like Buddy Holley,  Patsy Cline, Janice Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix.  The days the music died.  I will never be the same,
> sob.  God I loved the artists of the 50's and 60's.  I have to stop now or I will have a breakdown and have to sing the blues.  This coudl be bad.  I ramble.  Oh my god, that sounds like a song title.  "Here is Uncontrollable with his mega hit, I Ramble."  Somebody stop me!



Even some of the biggest performers like Bruce Springsteen admired Roy Orbison. The 50's and 60's music was the best for people in my generation. The earlier years had wonderful music to,a lot better than most of today's music.


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## Uncontrolable (Aug 14, 2017)

Sassycakes said:


> Even some of the biggest performers like Bruce Springsteen admired Roy Orbison. The 50's and 60's music was the best for people in my generation. The earlier years had wonderful music to,a lot better than most of today's music.


You are right.  I remember when Orbison was being honored one day.  Just happened to be there on PBS.  I believe Springsteen was there.  Many well known artists who grew up with Orbison's music were there.  Wish I could remember some of their names.  They were all trying to perform Orbison's songs but it was Orbison who sang most of them.  I think it may have been shortly before he died.


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