1. Gallowglass

    Gallowglass Contributor Contributor

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    Favourite Historical Person

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Gallowglass, Mar 12, 2010.

    Whether they're a king, emperor, warlord, or the female equivalents, or someone who had a completely different profession, who is your favourite person from any era of history, or any place in the world?
     
  2. Centurion

    Centurion New Member

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    I honestly can not pick one, but a few of my favorites would have to be...

    ~Emperor Aurelian
    ~Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
    ~Field Marshall Albert Kesselring
    ~Colonel Frost (Arnhem bridge defender)

    And a bunch of others I can not remember right now:p
     
  3. Sabreur

    Sabreur Contributor Contributor

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    Micheal Collins and Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig.

    Both were valiant fighters and stellar soldiers. The more I read about Somerled, the more I like him as well.

    For the non-Gaels? Sir John Hawkwood (yeah he was an Englishman but he was also an incredibly interesting mercenary in Italy too, so I guess he is cool ;) ) and Hannibal Barca.
     
  4. Forkfoot

    Forkfoot Caitlin's ex is a lying, abusive rapist. Contributor

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    Ramana Maharshi.
     
  5. Gallowglass

    Gallowglass Contributor Contributor

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    I'd also choose him, or Domhnall II of Harlaw, a very similar personality of the same family who ruled three hundred years later (the first Lord of the Isles to rule an empire larger than that of Somerled and Dal Riada combined).

    Somerled was a legend. He literally started out with nothing, in the 'Wild West' of Morvern, subjected to constant Norse raids, inhabited only by escaped slaves and individual guerrilla soldiers attempting to defend what they could of their homeland. What he did with no more than three hundred soldiers, over a long campaign of twenty years, was to force out the entrenched armies and people of a transatlantic trading empire, in a series of spectacularly innovative battles and tricks. He invented the weapons that he needed to take on the Norse, finally defeating them in a sea battle in the middle of winter, at night, off the coast of Islay, only to be assassinated years later by his nephew (if the Scottish story is true, and he was killed on the battlefield with many of his soldiers, why was the kingdom not invaded?).

    The Norse would not be expelled from Britain for another hundred years, of course, but without Somerled and his invasion of the Isle of Man, that simply would not have been possible. If Scotland had been conquered, there'd be no United Kingdom, and without the United Kingdom, there'd be no Britain, no British Empire. And he founded Clan Donald.

    The next time you sit down to eat your Happy Meal, just remember...if it wasn't for Somerled...;)
     
  6. Sabreur

    Sabreur Contributor Contributor

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    Well, there could've been a British Empire. It would just be speaking a Scandinavian language and have leaders with names like Knut and Snorri.

    I think it would be an improvement, personally :p
     
  7. hiddennovelist

    hiddennovelist Contributor Contributor

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    Anastasia. Like the Romanov Anastasia. She had always fascinated me.
     
  8. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    Do Presidents count???

    My favorite presidents:

    Washington
    Jefferson
    Lincoln
    Teddy Roosevelt
    FDR
    Eisenhower
    Kennedy
    Reagan

    [​IMG]

    I love 'em. :) :love:
     
  9. Sielas

    Sielas New Member

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    Michael Collins of course. What a hero.

    and then we have...

    -Atilla the Hun
    -Che guevara
    -Bohemond 1 of Antioch

    And a few others who I cannot think of at this time.
     
  10. Gallowglass

    Gallowglass Contributor Contributor

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    It does, mostly ;)
     
  11. Lydia

    Lydia Contributor Contributor

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    William of Orange and Louis XIV...

    Okay, they're probably not my favorite favorite, but they have cool stories. :D
     
  12. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    Too many to choose from, but basically:

    1) The USA Founding Fathers
    2) Lewis and Clark
    3) Elizabeth I
    4) Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee
    5) Napoleon Bonaparte
    6) William Shakespeare
    7) The Czar Nicholas II (He and his family are in my avvie.)
    8) Genghis Khan
    9) Louis Braille
    10) Helen Keller
    11) Gen. Braddock, British General in the French and Indian War.
     
  13. lessa

    lessa New Member

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    Tecumseh
    Laura Secord
    Maj-Gen Isaac BROCK,
    Georges Vanier and the van doos
     
  14. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    I'd like to have a good gossip with Nell Gwynne...
     
  15. Evil Flamingo

    Evil Flamingo Banned Contributor

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    Ashoka Maurya
    William Tecumseh Sherman
    William of Orange
    Admiral Farragut
    Samuel Adams
    Peter the Great (Especially the drunken wheel-barrowing!)
    William Scurry
    William Wallace (I guess I like Williams...)
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Hannibal
    Joan D'arc
    Genghis Khan
    Many many others that I can't seem to think of at the moment
     
  16. writewizard

    writewizard New Member

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    Martin Luther King was one of my personal favorites, as well as George Washigton.
     
  17. Marcelo

    Marcelo Member

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    History has always fascinated me, and its participants who I like the most are those who are enshrouded in mystery, and who sometimes can't have their lives separated fact from fiction. Here's a few of them:

    Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596)
    John Dee (1526-1608?)
    Jacques de Molay (1250-1315)
    Saladin (1138-1193)
     
  18. Centurion

    Centurion New Member

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    I find all the Romanov's fascinating, but Anastasia and her sister Maria were by far the most interesting of the family.
     
  19. Marcelo

    Marcelo Member

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    Also, my favorite historical figures in these past decades are definitely the Fab Four. :p
     
  20. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    Some of my favorites from the Ancient times:

    1) Most Egyptian pharohs like Tutankhamen, Ramses, Cleopatra, and Hashepsut.

    The last two are more recent than that. XD
    2) Saladin and Richard the Lionhearted.
    3) Martin Luther King, Jr.
     
  21. Evil Flamingo

    Evil Flamingo Banned Contributor

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    Oh Richard! I had forgotten about you! *facepalm*

    Thanks Link. :)
     
  22. Peerie Pict

    Peerie Pict Contributor Contributor

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    Rosa Parks
     
  23. Yarnillah

    Yarnillah New Member

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    Ned Kelly :) All for the Aussie bush rangers. And Captain Moonlight
     

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