AP World: People

Mansa Musa

Ruler of Mali (r.1312 - 1337). His extravagant pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecca in 1324- 1325 established the empire’s reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean world.

Zhenghe

(1371 - 1433?) Chinese Ming Dynasty naval explorer who sailed along most of the coast of Asia, Japan, and half way down the east coast of Africa before his death; facilitated China’s role in the tribute system in the Indian Ocean trade network.

Johannes Gutenberg

German blacksmith and inventor; invented the printing press and the moveable part

Genghis Khan

(Chinggis Khan) leader of the Mongols, created the largest empire to ever exist, from the entire Asian continent to Hungary

Marco Polo

(1254 - 1324) Italian explorer and author. He made numerous trips to China and returned to Europe to write about his journeys. He is responsible for much of the knowledge exchanged between Europe and China during this time period

Ibn Battuta

(1304 - 1369) Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan. His writings gave a glimpse into the world of that time period.

Montezuma II

(1466 - 1520) emperor of Mexico/ the Aztec empire; expanded the Aztec empire to its greatest size; overthrown by Hernando Cortes

Guru Nanak

founder of Sikhism

Martin Luther

a German monk who became one of the most famous critics of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1517, he wrote 95 theses, or statements of belief attacking the church practices; began the Protestant Reformation

Suleiman I

Sultan of Ottoman Empire a fair ruler who expanded holdings and reconstructed legal system

Prince Henry

(Henry the Navigator) (1394-1460) Portuguese prince who promoted the study of navigation and directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa; sponsored seafaring expeditions to search for an all water route to the east; imported enslaved Africans

Chris Columbus

Italian navigator who discovered the New World (in 1492) in the name of Spain while searching for a direct sea route to access Indian Ocean trade

Vasco da Gama

portuguese explorer; (1497-1498) he led the first naval expedition from Europe to sail to India, opening an important commercial sea route for Europeans

Bartolome de las Casas

a dominican priest who was one of the first spanish settlers in the New World; spoke out against spanish cruelties and injustices in the empire; first people to expose indigenous oppression by the Europeans in the Americas.

John Locke

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty and property

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations in 1776, a precursor to modern capitalism; came up with laissez-faire economics (free trade)

Karl Marx

(1818 - 1883) 19th century philosopher, political economist, sociologist, humanist, political theorist, and revolutionary. Often recognized as the father of communism. Analysis of history led to his belief that communism would replace capitalism as it replaced feudalism. Believed in a classless society.

Henry Ford

american industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production

Charles Darwin

founder of evolutionary theory of natural selection

Dr. Livingstone

Scottish missionary doctor who explored southern and central African to scout locations for Christian missionaries and traced the Zambezi river

King Leopold II

Belgian king who opened up the AFrican interior to European trade along the Congo River and by 1884 controlled the area known as the Congo Free State

Franz Ferdinand

Archduke of Austria Hungary was assassinated by Serbian Gavrilo Princip in 1914; his murder was one of the causes of WWI

Vladimir Lenin

Russian communist revolutionary before Stalin, politician and political theorist; helped orchestrate the Russian Revolution; overthrew czarist government and become the first communist leader in Russia

Joseph Stalin

Bolshevik revolutionary, dictator and head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953

Benito Mussolini

Italian nationalist and the founder of Italian fascism; fascist dictator from 1922-1925

Adolf Hitler

Austrian born Dictator of Germany, implemented Fascism and caused WWII and the Holocaust.

Mahatma Gandhi

leader of the Indian independence movement and advocate of nonviolent resistance. After being educated as a lawyer in England, he returned to India and become leader of the Indian National Congress in 1920; wanted a untied India for both Muslims and Hindus

George Marshall

America’s foremost soldier during World War II, come up with the plan the help western Europe rebuild after WWII

Ho Chi Minh

1950s and 60s; nationalist communist leader of North Vietnam; fought against French colonization of Vietnam, used guerilla warfare to fight anti-communist, American-funded attacks under the Truman doctrine, strategy drew out war and made it unwinnable for the US

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Communist Party in China that overthrew Jiang Jieshi and the Nationalists. EStablished China as the People’s Republic of China and ruled from 1949 until 1976; led the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution to bring economic and cultural change to Communist China

Kwame Nkrumah

African Nationalist, led the Gold Coast to independence, later was the first Prime Minister of Ghana

Nelson Mandela

South African nationalist Leader of the African National Congress (ANC); arrested for opposing white S. African rule and apartheid; used nonviolent means of protest; released from prison to become the South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994

Gorbachev

USSR ruler after 1985, reduced nuclear armament, proclaimed policies of glasnost and perestroika, renewed attacks on stalinism; opened up Russia a little

Jonas Salk

american doctor who invented the polio vaccine

Norman Borloug

father of the Green Revolution, laid the groundwork for agricultural technological advances to help reduce world hunger

Margaret Thatcher

leader of conservatives in Great Britain who came to power. Pledged to limit social welfare, restrict union power, and end inflation. Formed Thatcherism, in which her economic policy was termed, and improved the British economic situation. She dominated British politics in the 1980s, and her government tried to replace local property taxes with a flat-rate tax payable by every adult. Her popularity fell, and she resigned.