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Key People
Important Names to Know
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| King Hammurabi | King of Babylon who wrote code of law, "eye for an eye" |
| Siddhartha Gautama /Buddha | Religious leader,the Enlightened One" created the Four Noble Truths, said follow the Eightfold Path, reached nirvana, and believed in reincarnation. |
| Moses | Led the Jews out of slavery and brought down the Ten Commandments from Mt. Sinai. |
| King Cyrus the Great | Persian King who made the oldest known decree of human rights, was tolerant towards conquered people, and allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem. |
| Confucius | Chinese philosopher who believed in strong family loyalty, respect for elders by children (filial piety), the Golden Rule, and created civil service exams. |
| Emperor Shi Huangdi | Chinese ruler of the Qin Dynasty. Halted outside invaders with the Great Wall of China. Centralized Chinese roadways, currency, law, writing, and measurements. |
| Socrates | Founder of Western philosophy. Teaching method involved only asking questions and never giving direct answers. Executed by Athenian government for corrupting the youth. |
| Plato | Student of Socrates who wrote of his teacher's life. Also wrote The Republic, which outlined the perfect society of farmers, warriors, and a ruling class (feudalism). |
| Alexander the Great | Most successful Greek King and military leader in history. Conquered the Persian Empire and created a huge empire stretching from Asia to Eastern Europe and Northern Africa. |
| King Ashoka | Emperor of the most populated empire in India, the Maurya Dynasty. Spread Buddhism throughout all of Asia. |
| Muhammad | Prophet and founder of Islam. His teachings of the Five Pillars are in the Qur'an. |
| Emperor Justinian | Byzantine Emperor formed his own code of law that applied to all of his subjects, rebuilt Constaninople, and the Hagia Sophia (Church of the East). |
| Genghis Khan | Mongolian leader who conquered land in Asia. Was a gifted and cruel military leader. Was tolerant of conquered people's religions. |
| Kublai Khan | Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty of China who united China and opened trade to foreign contacts from Europe. |
| Marco Polo | Explorer who visited China and first introduced Europeans to Asia. |
| Charlemagne | Rebuilt the Western part of the Roman Empire as the first Holy Roman Emperor. Formed a strong alliance with the Pope. Encouraged learning in his empire. |
| Pope Urban II | Issued the First Crusade to recapture the Holy Land for Christians from the Muslims. Also created the Roman Curia administrative body in the Vatican. |
| Martin Luther | Wrote the 95 Theses, which attacked the Church's sale of indulgences and started the Protestant Reformation. |
| Machiavelli | Wrote The Prince, a political handbook for rulers on how to have absolute power over enemies and subjects. |
| Leonardo da Vinci | A true Renaissance man who was a painter, sculptor, and engineer among many other talents. Painted the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper |
| Mansa Musa | African Muslim ruler who controlled the gold and salt trade during the Middle Ages. |
| Ibn Battuta | Visited and wrote about his travels to the Middle East and China over 30 years. His journals are an important primary source. |
| Vasco da Gama | First European explorer to discover a direct route to India. Opened up trade between Europe and India for silks and spices. |
| King Louis XIV | French King who held absolute power, controlled the nobility, built a luxurious palace at Versailles, and raised taxes. Blamed for the conditions that led to the French Revolution. |
| Peter The Great | Tsar of Russia who westernized Russia and made his nation a major European power in the 18th Century. |
| John Locke | Enlightenment thinker who criticized absolute monarchy, supported self-government, believed in natural rights, all men are born free and equal. |
| Maximilien Robespierre | French leader during the Reign of Terror, ruled France as a dictator, and was executed after a year. |
| Napoleon Bonaparte | Successful French emperor and military leader whose rule ended the French Revolution. Set-up efficient tax collection, national bank, and complex system of law that used Enlightenment ideas. |
| Adam Smith | Father of modern economics. Believed in capitalism, fair competition, laissez-faire government, and supply and demand. |
| Karl Marx | Founder of Communism. Believed the middle class should overthrow the wealthy class, creating a classless society. |
| Touissant L’Overtoure | Led enslaved Africans to overthrow France in the Haitian Revolution. |
| Simon Bolivar | Won Venezuela independence from Spain. |
| Otto von Bismarck | "Iron Chancellor". United Germany for the first time in 1871. Used "Realpolitiks" to fix economy and Balance of Power democracy to establish peace in Europe. |
| Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito | Japanese emperor of the Meiji Dynasty who westernized Japan and colonized China and Korea. |
| Vladimir Lenin | Led the Bolshevik party during the Russian Revolution. Promised "peace, land, and bread." |
| Joseph Stalin | Totalitarian ruler of Russia who launched the Great Purge and outlined the Five Year Plans. |
| Fidel Castro | Communist leader of Cuba. Involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis during the Cold War. |
| Ho Chi Minh | Led Vietnamese independence movement from France and founded the Vietcong who fought America during the Vietnam War. |
| Pol Pot | Led the communist party, the Khmer Rouge, in Cambodia. Slaughtered 2 million people in the Cambodian Genocide. |
| Mikhail Gorbachev | Tried to reform the Soviet Union with "Glasnost" -openness of government, and "perestroika" - economic restructuring that allowed private ownership. |
| Mao Zedong | Communist leader of the People's Republic of China. Led the cultural revolution that shaped Chinese education, women's rights, and health care. Also a ruthless dictator who starved 40-70 million. |
| Deng Xiaoping | Chinese leader who shared power with the Eight Elders. Modernized agriculture, industry, defense, science and technology. |
| Mohandas Gandhi | Led Indian independence movement against Great Britain. Called on Indians to avoid buying British goods, paying taxes, and used civil disobedience to protest government. |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | First prime minister of India who emphasized democracy unity, and economic modernization. Elevated the status of lower castes. |
| Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) | Led the Turkish Revolution and overthrew the Ottoman Empire in 1922. |
| Ayatollah Khomeini | Led the Iranian Revolution in 1979 to overthrow the secular government, started war against Iraq, and supported the Iranian Hostage Crisis. |
| Nelson Mandela | Help to end the apartheid of South Africa. Was jailed for 27 years and became president of South Africa and a world leader against racism. |
| Suleiman the Magnificent | Leader of the Ottoman Empire who united his empire under an efficient government structure. |
| Akbar the Great | Emperor of the Mughal Empire in India. He is responsible for religious toleration and the increasing of trade and cultural diffusion. |
| Elizabeth I | Queen of England and Ireland between 1558 and 1603. She was an absolute ruler who was tolerant of her subjects' religions. |
Created by:
mrdesar
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