Key Historical Figures

Flashcards for major leaders and figures in world history.

Hammurabi

Created one of the first written law codes in Babylon.

Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)

Founded Buddhism and taught the Four Noble Truths.

Confucius

Chinese philosopher who emphasized filial piety and social harmony.

Ashoka

Mauryan emperor who converted to Buddhism and promoted nonviolence.

Socrates

Greek philosopher who, along with Plato and Aristotle, shaped Western philosophy.

Plato

Greek philosopher who, along with Socrates and Aristotle, shaped Western philosophy.

Aristotle

Greek philosopher who, along with Socrates and Plato, shaped Western philosophy.

Muhammad

The founder and final prophet of Islam.

Mansa Musa

Ruler of the Mali Empire who made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca.

Genghis Khan

Founded the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history.

Marco Polo

Venetian traveler who wrote about his experiences in the Mongol Empire.

Ibn Battuta

Muslim traveler who documented his journeys across the Islamic world.

Toussaint Louverture

Led the Haitian Revolution against French rule.

Vladimir Lenin

Led the Bolshevik Revolution and became the first Soviet leader.

Mao Zedong

Led Communist China and started the Cultural Revolution.

Mohandas Gandhi

Led a nonviolent movement for Indian independence.

Nelson Mandela

Led the fight against apartheid and became South Africa's first Black president.

Winston Churchill

Britain's Prime Minister during World War II.

Adolf Hitler

Led Nazi Germany and initiated the Holocaust and World War II.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Modernized and secularized Turkey after the Ottoman collapse.

Ho Chi Minh

Led the Vietnamese independence and communist movement.

Fidel Castro

Led the Cuban Revolution and ruled as a communist dictator.

Deng Xiaoping

Introduced market reforms in communist China.

Martin Luther

Started the Protestant Reformation by criticizing the Catholic Church.

Akbar the Great

Mughal ruler known for religious tolerance and imperial expansion.

Christopher Columbus

Began European colonization of the Americas in 1492.

Suleiman the Magnificent

Ottoman ruler who expanded the empire and reformed laws.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Founded the Tokugawa Shogunate and isolated Japan.

Simon Bolivar

Led independence movements across Latin America.

Karl Marx

Co-authored the Communist Manifesto and critiqued capitalism.

Queen Victoria

Symbolized the British Empire during its 19th-century peak.

Adam Smith

Considered the father of capitalism and wrote The Wealth of Nations.