# Who were some early "famous" people (not kings or queens, etc)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054 "2025-02-08T18:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054/81 "2025-02-13T00:21:45Z")
What accounts for fame when most people can’t read and are largely isolated from everybody but their fellow villagers and maybe an occasional tax collector? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054/82 "2025-02-13T00:25:56Z")
> [@Sooner](#): > > The Venerable Bede 673–735 AD > Assume I have just given away my course of studies. The one and only mention of Eostre. And brief. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054/83 "2025-02-13T04:31:45Z")
Ea-Nasir’s celebrity might have taken a few thousand years to fully develop, but he predates most of the people mentioned in this thread. And those copper ingots were seriously crappy. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054/84 "2025-02-13T05:35:12Z")
[![](https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMnRmczlnOGc1czdsM3RpODE0cXNsNDhkNTA5am1xeTFjYm5ueHkxcyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/a4kUaskDOZ5iU/giphy.gif) ](https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMnRmczlnOGc1czdsM3RpODE0cXNsNDhkNTA5am1xeTFjYm5ueHkxcyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/a4kUaskDOZ5iU/giphy.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054/85 "2025-02-13T06:12:52Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Another interesting fact is that the usual picture you see of Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) is clearly not him, since it’s of a fat Chinese man, probably imitating someone from Chines folklore. It’s the Chinese monk Qieci, who carried the nickname ‘[Budai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai)’. (Weirdly, I seem to remember him being a sort of folk deity of luck and abundance, but the wiki doesn’t indicate this; it’s [mentioned here](https://www.beinghappybuddha.com/blogs/insights/who-was-laughing-buddha), however—so there may be more than one layer of confusion here.) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054/86 "2025-02-13T13:23:25Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > It’s the Chinese monk Qieci, who carried the nickname ‘[Budai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai)’. (Weirdly, I seem to remember him being a sort of folk deity of luck and abundance, but the wiki doesn’t indicate this; it’s [mentioned here](https://www.beinghappybuddha.com/blogs/insights/who-was-laughing-buddha), however—so there may be more than one layer of confusion here.) And maybe a layer of Confucian, as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-some-early-famous-people-not-kings-or-queens-etc/1014054.md?page=4)