8 famous figures who changed the course of history

[FutureLearn Blog]

Bonnie Prince Charlie

Full name: Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart

Occupation: Aristocrat

Also known as: The Young Pretender, The Young Chevalier

Time period: 1720 – 1788

Famous for: trying to reclaim the British throne for his exiled family (the Stuarts) by leading an uprising in 1745, failing and running away to France

Quick fire facts:

• Born in Rome
• Catholic
• Firm believer in the divine right of kings

Discover more about Bonnie Prince Charlie with the course Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites

Humphry Davy

Full name: Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet

Occupation: Chemist, Inventor, Poet

Time period: 1778 – 1850

Famous for: All sorts. He invented the Davy lamp and an early form of incandescent light bulb, isolated many chemical elements and invented the field of electrochemistry

Quick fire facts:

• First ever scientist to be awarded a baronetcy
• His lab assistant was Michael Faraday
• Born and raised in Cornwall

Learn more about Humphry Davy’s fascinating life with the course Humphry Davy: Laughing Gas, Literature, and the Lamp

Hadrian

Full name: Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus (Latin)

Also known as: third of the five good emperors

Occupation: Emperor of Rome

Time period: AD 117 – AD 138

Famous for: Building a pretty big wall which partitioned the northern part of Roman Britain

Quick fire facts:

• Helped beards become fashionable again (the only emperor, other than Nero, to not be clean-shaven)
• Travelled all over the Roman empire during his reign
• A ‘philhellene’ also known as a big fan of the Greeks

Visit Hadrian’s namesake with the course Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier

Hadrian

Full name: William Thomas Cosgrave

Also known as: Liam Tomás Mac Cosgair (Irish)

Occupation: Irish politician

Time period: 1880-1965

Famous for: Being the unofficial first Taoiseach (prime minister) of an independent Ireland

Quick fire facts:

• Become politically active when he attended a Sinn Féin conference aged 25
• Originally sentenced to death for his part in the Easter Rising
• Has a controversial legacy due to him turning on former republican allies

Explore more Irish history with the course Irish Lives in War and Revolution: Exploring Ireland’s History 1912-1923

Agrippina the Younger

Full name: Julia Agrippina

Also known as: Agrippina Minor, Julia Augusta Agrippina

Occupation: Roman Empress

Time period: AD 49 – AD 54

Famous for: Being part of the Ancient Roman Julio-Claudian dynasty (she was related to five different emperors, and might have poisoned one of them)

Quick fire facts:

• Exiled at a young age for her involvement in a murder plot
• Feuded with Emperor Nero, her son, who may have executed her
• Suspected to have been involved in multiple murders to ensure her powerful position as Empress of Rome

Travel back to Ancient Rome with the course Rome: a Virtual Tour of the Ancient City

Shakespeare

Full name: William Shakespeare

Also known as: The Bard of Avon

Occupation: Playwright, poet, actor

Time period: 1564 – 1616

Famous for: writing some of the best known plays ever written. Many even consider him the greatest writer in the English language

Quick fire facts:

• Wrote 38 plays
• Estimated to have contributed thousands of new words to the English language including ‘scuffle’, ‘addiction’ and ‘puking’
• Left Anne, his wife, his ‘second best bed’ in his will

Examine Shakespeare’s enduring influence with the course Shakespeare: Print and Performance

Adelina Patti

Full name: Adelina Patti

Occupation: Coloratura soprano (opera singer)

Time period: 1848 – 1919

Famous for: having one of the most beautiful voices in history, as endorsed by composer Verdi

Quick fire facts:

• Began her opera career aged 16 in New York
• Commanded huge fees
• Her great-grand niece is another musical legend: Patti LuPone

Delve further into the world of opera with the course Inside Opera: Why Does It Matter?

Van Meegeren

Full name: Han van Meegeren

Occupation: Forger, artist

Time period: 1889 – 1947

Famous for: producing impeccable forgeries of famous artists including Vermeer

Quick fire facts:

• His forgeries earned him around $30million
• He once sold a forgery to Hermann Göring
• Used Bakelite, an early plastic, to ‘age’ his forgeries

Uncover more of the art world’s dark underbelly with the course Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime

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