“One man can make a difference.”

[Jackmoves]

Name a man or woman that you think deserves some praise, I'll start with a bit of a national hero, Raoul Wallenberg, it's the 100th anniversary of his birth this year.

Born into a really wealthy family it could have been easy for him to ignore what was happening around him, to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, instead, he went to Budapest in Hungary during the darkest days of the WW2, were he worked for the Embassy, he demonstrated a sense of self-sacrifice to the greater good that one could only wish more people did. No one really knows what happend to him, all we know is that he was arrested by the Soviet Union when they entered Budapest and died while in captivity.

Surviviour, saved by Wallenberg


Per Almark, Swedish diplomat who worked with Wallenberg in Budapest and his story about what happend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGOzOr-LVTk

- Righteous among the nations

Pretty neat video with obama from earlier this year


- Honary citizen of the USA 1981 (only Winston Churchill had been given that honor before Wallenberg)

- Congressional gold medal, 4 or 5 US senators + some congressmen came over here this summer to give it to his Sister.

Anyways, post some more!

[Deleted]

At the expense of sounding like a nationalist echo chamber, I'm going to put down Robert the Bruce. Everyone remembers William Wallace, but it was Bruce who managed to secure full Independence from English rule, and involved in the creation of the Declaration of Arbroath, which is considered to be one of the main inspirations for the US Declaration of Independence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath

[NPEC]

Ok im totally natinalist so im gonna say Afonso Henriques.

For the record he was the 1st Portuguese king and he is credit with the foundation of Portugal, altougth His dad did a petry pre-job at it.

[semaphore]

Since it's 2012 still, Alan Turing. Contributed immeasurably to the Allied victory in WW2, and was responsible for enormous advances in the field of computing. Persecuted for his sexuality by an ungrateful nation, which he bore with good graces, and died of poisoning in the prime of his life. This year was the Alan Turing Year.

[Deleted]

I'l have to go with Jean Monnet, the main architect of what is today the European Union.

[Kalyyn]

I'm going to continue the trend of citing national heroes. And because I know everyone will love me for it, I'm going to say Robert E. Lee.

He served in the American army for many years, graduating from West Point and then receiving three honorary field promotions in the Mexican-American war. When the civil war began, Lee was initially offered command of all federal forces by president Lincoln. He turned down this offer, instead choosing to side with him home state of Virginia. Despite the fact that the north had better numbers, training, and equipment, Lee led the south to several major victories. For much time, it looked like he would win. His defeat came only due to political turmoil within the CSA, and his food supplies running out. After his defeat, he retired to his estate which would later be converted into Arlington National Cemetery.

For those of you who believe that Lee fought for slavery, know this: Robert E. Lee vigorously opposed slavery and as early as 1856 made this statement: "There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil." Lee also knew that the use of slaves was coming to an end. Cyrus McCormick’s 1831 invention of the mule-drawn mechanical reaper sounded the death knell for the use of slave labor. Before the Civil War began, 250,000 slaves had already been freed.

Robert E. Lee did not own slaves, but many Union generals did. When his father-in-law died, Lee took over the management of the plantation his wife had inherited and immediately began freeing the slaves. By the time Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, every slave in Lee’s charge had been freed. Notably, some Union generals didn’t free their slaves until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.

Teddy Roosevelt called him "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth."
Winston Churchill referred to him as "one of the noblest Americans who ever lived."

His history has been rewritten and poisoned by his enemies after his death, but he is, without a doubt, one of our nation's greatest heroes.

[Deleted]

At the expense of sounding like a nationalist echo chamber, I'm going to put down Robert the Bruce. Everyone remembers William Wallace, but it was Bruce who managed to secure full Independence from English rule, and involved in the creation of the Declaration of Arbroath, which is considered to be one of the main inspirations for the US Declaration of Independence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath

Correct me if Im wrong but isn't it right that Scotland is a part of GB now and don't really have more independence that a county?

[semaphore]

A few other underappreciated but IMHO truly great people:

William Murray, for declaring slavery to be illegal in England due to its "odious nature" in his judgement of the Somersett's Case. He thereby sparked a political movement that would eventually lead Britain to abolish slavery throughout the Empire in 1833.

Mary Wollstonecraft, for her revolutionary thinking on feminism. A child of the Enlightenment, she passionately advocated a society founded upon reason and universal benevolence, and argued the cause of gender equality with unsurpassed intellectual prowess. Her foundational writings inspired the English feminist movement that would eventually win equal suffrage in the colonies a century after her death, and in Britain by 1928.

Eric Rothschild, for his brilliant cross examination of the fraud Michael Behe in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trials. His performance that day materially helped ensured the end of Intelligent Design as a credible legal alternative to real science in American schools.

René Descartes, for writing the Discourse on the Method, which laid down the guiding principles of the sceintific method. His writings marked the emergence of the modern philosophy based on methodological skepticism, and with it, the Scientific Revolution.

[Deleted]

Anders Chydenius, who "invented" capitalism a decade before Adam Smith.

[semaphore]

Correct me if Im wrong but isn't it right that Scotland is a part of GB now and don't really have more independence that a county?

Scotland is now part of the United Kingdom, but so is England.

[Deleted]

Correct me if Im wrong but isn't it right that Scotland is a part of GB now and don't really have more independence that a county?

Scotland is still technically an Independent nation, it's just in a political union with England, the UK is a country of countries as it were. The difference between Scotland, Wales and N.I. is that Wales and N.I. were both conquered militarily by the English, and considered part of England for a long time, Scotland however entered into an agreement with England to form a Union and was not conquered. Although there is a strong historical viewpoint that Scotland's ruling class were essentially bribed into the Union, as immediately after the signing of the treaty there was heavy protesting for weeks in every town and city in Scotland. It's also the basis for Robert Burns 'A Parcel of Rogues' quote.

But yeah, rambling.

[Lightfist]

I'm going to continue the trend of citing national heroes. And because I know everyone will love me for it, I'm going to say Robert E. Lee.

He served in the American army for many years, graduating from West Point and then receiving three honorary field promotions in the Mexican-American war. When the civil war began, Lee was initially offered command of all federal forces by president Lincoln. He turned down this offer, instead choosing to side with him home state of Virginia. Despite the fact that the north had better numbers, training, and equipment, Lee led the south to several major victories. For much time, it looked like he would win. His defeat came only due to political turmoil within the CSA, and his food supplies running out. After his defeat, he retired to his estate which would later be converted into Arlington National Cemetery.

For those of you who believe that Lee fought for slavery, know this: Robert E. Lee vigorously opposed slavery and as early as 1856 made this statement: "There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil." Lee also knew that the use of slaves was coming to an end. Cyrus McCormick’s 1831 invention of the mule-drawn mechanical reaper sounded the death knell for the use of slave labor. Before the Civil War began, 250,000 slaves had already been freed.

Robert E. Lee did not own slaves, but many Union generals did. When his father-in-law died, Lee took over the management of the plantation his wife had inherited and immediately began freeing the slaves. By the time Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, every slave in Lee’s charge had been freed. Notably, some Union generals didn’t free their slaves until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.

Teddy Roosevelt called him "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth."
Winston Churchill referred to him as "one of the noblest Americans who ever lived."

His history has been rewritten and poisoned by his enemies after his death, but he is, without a doubt, one of our nation's greatest heroes.

It is a shame how so many people automatically brand any Southerner during the Civil War as pro-slavery or some nonsense.

[Lora]

I'm going to go ahead and say the single most important "man" in the universe is The Doctor

[Deleted]

J.K. Rowling for inspiring and entertaining millions.

[Deleted]

I'll start with a bit of a national hero, Raoul Wallenberg, it's the 100th anniversary of his birth this year.

Born into a really wealthy family it could have been easy for him to ignore what was happening around him...

By extreme coincidence, Harald Edelstam (The Black Pimpernel) is another swedish national hero, who was born a year later (making his 100th anniversary 2013). He spent time during WW2 in norway freeing jews, but is more famous for going to Chile and serving as a diplomat during the Pinochet military coup there. Like Raoul he was born rich but risked his life to save many others, and was treated horribly by the foreign department for it.

Since it's 2012 still, Alan Turing. Contributed immeasurably to the Allied victory in WW2, and was responsible for enormous advances in the field of computing. Persecuted for his sexuality by an ungrateful nation, which he bore with good graces, and died of poisoning in the prime of his life. This year was the Alan Turing Year.

On the topic of cryptology, and to keep the swede-train rolling, Arne Beurling deserves to be mentioned aswell. Unlike the work of the brits on the Enigma machine, the Geheimsschreiber (which handled strategic-level communications such as troop stationing and invasion plans) was not only deciphered, but cracked and reverse-engineered by Beurling, working all on his own. This gave Sweden the closest real life equivalent to cheat codes in a war, allowing them to know anything of major importance (e.g. the invasion of the soviet union) before it happened.

[Deleted]

Scotland is still technically an Independent nation, it's just in a political union with England, the UK is a country of countries as it were. The difference between Scotland, Wales and N.I. is that Wales and N.I. were both conquered militarily by the English, and considered part of England for a long time, Scotland however entered into an agreement with England to form a Union and was not conquered. Although there is a strong historical viewpoint that Scotland's ruling class were essentially bribed into the Union, as immediately after the signing of the treaty there was heavy protesting for weeks in every town and city in Scotland. It's also the basis for Robert Burns 'A Parcel of Rogues' quote.

But yeah, rambling.

Oh, thanks for clarifying. There were some news about Scottish wanting to become independent a few years ago thats why I wasnt sure.

Anyway, OT, I dont think one person can make that much difference. There were some scientific discoveries made by a single person in history that made a world of difference, however that time has passed now and its more about a team effort now. As for other matters, political etc. I think they're just mostly figureheads to give a face to an organization or a group of people and are pushed to look like saints. They really dont do that much to be honest, just take the credit for the whole organization.

[Kerath]

Nice thread

My contribution is Edward Jenner -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner

Responsible for the development of a widely used and accessible small-pox vaccine, and his work paved the way for modern immunology. His contributions to medicine have helped to save millions of lives over the years.

[Reeve]

Scotland is still technically an Independent nation, it's just in a political union with England, the UK is a country of countries as it were. The difference between Scotland, Wales and N.I. is that Wales and N.I. were both conquered militarily by the English, and considered part of England for a long time, Scotland however entered into an agreement with England to form a Union and was not conquered. Although there is a strong historical viewpoint that Scotland's ruling class were essentially bribed into the Union, as immediately after the signing of the treaty there was heavy protesting for weeks in every town and city in Scotland. It's also the basis for Robert Burns 'A Parcel of Rogues' quote.

But yeah, rambling.

Scotland: The Texas of the UK.

[Deleted]

I'm going to continue the trend of citing national heroes. And because I know everyone will love me for it, I'm going to say Robert E. Lee.
*snip*

Thanks for this, all our history lessons thought about Robert E. Lee was that he fought for the slave-labouring south and for some reason I never bothered to learn more. Your post made me read more about him, and my gods what a man.

[Jackmoves]

Thanks for this, all our history lessons thought about Robert E. Lee was that he fought for the slave-labouring south and for some reason I never bothered to learn more. Your post made me read more about him, and my gods what a man.

I think he's been called "the most loved general ever" :P

I actually knew most of what Kal wrote, some good picks btw guys!
Some people I havn't heard about tbh. Cheers