Who is the most revered person in your country's history?

[Valmy]

Look revolutionizing science and creating calculus and modern physics is nothing compared to being Lady Diana.

[Admiral Yi]

I've heard the name Brunel before (hard to forget Isambard Kingdom once you've heard it), but I really have no idea with he did.

[Valmy]

I've heard the name Brunel before (hard to forget Isambard Kingdom once you've heard it), but I really have no idea with he did.

Probably the greatest civil engineer in history. Which, granted, isn't saying much.

[Berkut]

US list as I think it likely exists:

Washington
Franklin
Jefferson
Lincoln
MLK

How I would rank them

Lincoln
Jefferson
Washington
MLK
Bell

If we get to claim Einstein, he gets in there somewhere.

[Berkut]

Look revolutionizing science and creating calculus and modern physics is nothing compared to being Lady Diana.

No kidding.

I might have Newton as my #1 human being of all time, much less #1 in Britain.

Of course, when it comes to science, Britain certainly tops the list of nations with the greatest scientists. It's kind of obscene how many of the greats were British.

[mongers]

The top 10 list from a big BBC survey in 2002:

1.Sir Winston Churchill
2.Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3.Diana, Princess of Wales
4.Charles Darwin
5.William Shakespeare
6.Sir Isaac Newton
7.Elizabeth I
8.John Lennon
9.Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
10.Oliver Cromwell


Apart from Diana and arguably Lennon, it's a decent enough top 10.

Anything that doesn't have Newton at the top is auto-fail, no matter what.

I think part of the problem with that list was how it was marshalled and presented by the BBC, they had some odd thing like the top 100 already nominated, then the ten leaders each had a programme dedicated to them which was fronted by a celebrity.

Hence IKB made a strong showing because Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson fronted it, I forget who did Diana but they did a good enough job to persuade their votes.

I agree with you about Newton, certainly top three if you drop Diana, Lennon and demote Churchill a few places.

Possibly stick in a social reformer or campaigner, maybe Bazalgette deserves a place or one of the medical researchers.

[Malthus]

I've heard the name Brunel before (hard to forget Isambard Kingdom once you've heard it), but I really have no idea with he did.

Built modern society. Literally. 

[Zanza]

Huh. Who would choose Charles V?

Germans?
Dutch people?
Austrians?
Belgians?

Why would anybody consider him to be one of their greatest though? I mean he is an important historical figure, but "revered"?

[The Larch]

Huh. Who would choose Charles V?

Germans?
Dutch people?
Austrians?
Belgians?

Why would anybody consider him to be one of their greatest though? I mean he is an important historical figure, but "revered"?

He was actually in the list for the Greatest Spaniards. Pretty low, though, at #28.

[Malthus]

Huh. Who would choose Charles V?

Germans?
Dutch people?
Austrians?
Belgians?

Who would choose Charles V?

Depends on among which group in each nation: Gods, women, men, or horses. 

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to Women, French to Men, and German to my Horse.

[Archy]

He's seen in a good light over here. For his 500 birthday they had a lot of events.
There are also lots of folktales about him. Guess he was the symbol of the good old times for the Catholics in the Southern Netherlands. During and after the eighty years war

[celedhring]

Huh. Who would choose Charles V?

Germans?
Dutch people?
Austrians?
Belgians?

Why would anybody consider him to be one of their greatest though? I mean he is an important historical figure, but "revered"?

Spanish Empire nostalgics.

[Valmy]

Spanish Empire nostalgics.

Holy Roman Empire fans.

[Duque de Bragança]

As for Catalans... It's probably King Jaume I (conquered Valencia, Mallorca from the Arabs). He's comfortably the most popular Catalan historic figure, and relatively non-controversial. I guess separatists would pick Lluís Companys, though.

I'd personally vote Salvador Dalí, but I'm a huge fan.

Huh. Jaume was not born nor raised in Catalonia.

He spoke Catalan and was the sovereign of the Catalans - in fact, he was one of the key figures in the development of Catalan as a literary language. Your point?

I just think it's kind of weird. It's like choosing Carlos I as the most revered Spaniard.

Or King Juan Carlos I, who was similarly neither born or raised in Spain 

Just because he spent a lot of time in Estoril does not mean he is Portuguese. Chillax, you can keep him 

[Ed Anger]

The guy who wrote Gor.