Who will be famous longest?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Of people who are alive and famous today, who will remain reasonably well known by the world population for the longest, at least as a name? Who will be the Julius Ceasar, Socrates, Alexander the Great, and King Tut of our time?
I’ve pondered this question a bit, and I’ve come up with one name that I think is pretty inarguable:

Neil Armstrong.

500 or 1000 years from now, he’ll still be “the first man on the moon”. It’s hard to think of societal changes, or changes in taste, that will render that fact meaningless.

2

Hitler.

3

Err, Hitler is not alive AND famous today. Just infamous.

No doubt it will be Cecil Adams. Look me up in a thousand years and tell me I’m wrong.

4

Oh, whoops didn’t catch that alive today part

5

Bill Gates.

6

Stephen Hawking

Rudy Giuliani- was more of a symbol of American strength and resolve than any other person in the wake of 9/11.

Michael Jackson- for better or worse…

Ted Williams- once they thaw him out and reattatch his head, he’s gonna have a bone to pick.

7

Queen Elizabeth II.

I think Neil Armstrong will be in the shadow of whoever manages to land on mars (provided, of course, that happens). I sat and thought about this for a while and the fact that she’s been the Queen for 50 years and probably has 10 or 20 more (judging by the age of her mother) suggests to me she’ll be remembered for a long long time.

8

Interesting question.

And Neil Armstrong seems like a good answer. His name will, of course, be forever linked to a monumental “step for mankind.”

But the rest of the field? Who knows?

While CaptBushido’s initial post alludes to a cast of characters of whom some will likely be remembered by history (including also Stalin, FDR and Mao), they don’t qualify by virtue of not being alive today.

While we yet await the culmination of the GW Bush Presidency, so the jury’s out on that, it must be observed that there have not been leaders of true note for decades. What on Earth would Bill Clinton be remembered for? Blowjobs?

Or, for that matter, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush Dad? History might reflect Reagan prosecuting the end of the Cold War. If we’re lucky.

From other countries, I’d bet Maggie Thatcher has the best chance past Churchill of being remembered.

And Castro might make somebody’s list.

On first pass it seems improbable that current “names” from the entertainment industry might persevere. And I include pro sports in that category.

But then you think about it, and who do we remember from +/- 500 years ago? The Renaissance and its surrounds. Plenty of folks: Rousseau, Rabelais, Shakespeare and the like. And many more.

Who do we remember from 1000 years ago?

It almost seems like the Stones have a shot at it.

9

Yeah, and I named soome not currently alive (Eisenhower, JFK); well, I was thinking contemporary, I guess, but even that doesn’t quite work.

10

Osama bin Laden.

:frowning:

Or, to another subset of society…Ray Harryhausen.

11

Alive today is really the limiter, my guess would be somebody under ten years old we have not yet heard of yet but will do something amzaing. Given that population growth in the last 20 years there are simply more people available to become famous.

Neil Armstrong is possible but how about the biggest star of the worlds most popular sport?

Pele.

12

Alive today is annoyingly restricting, though a perfectly valid rule for the thread.

I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, since it’s a band, and only half the members remain alive, but…The Beatles? I mean, they renew their fanbase with every generation (albeit probably with a smaller chunk of people every time) I’m only 19, and I’ve loved the Beatles since I was roughly 13 - and they’re not really UNpopular in the circle of people my age. I think they have a shot at it.

To return to people - I’d say you damn near answered your own question with Armstrong.

I’m sure people like Ned Kelly and Don Bradman, perhaps Gough Whitlam, will remain icons here in Oz for a long time yet, but I believe you are talking on a worldwide scale.

13

Nelson Mandela. :slight_smile:

14

Who?

15

They were/(are?) a cricketer and an Australian politician respectively.

The former is dead hence disqualified from the OP. The later I do not know if dead or alive or care which says something about his fame…

16

For longevity, you need to be the first to do something important, or else you have to do a hell of a lot of work to reach that level of fame.

I’d go with Neil Armstrong, or possibly Tiger Woods who seems to be a total golf phenomenon but he will probably be remembered as a sports trivia question.

17

Only 1/2 of them are alive today, but I’d say the Beatles. 1,000 years from now, their music will still be played.

18

I hate to sound so disrespectful to my fellow Dopers but almost all the names being kicked around (even the “Oops, I forgot they’re dead” ones) are utterly laughable.

IMHO, Neil Armstrong is the clear favorite, with Bill Gates a very, very distant second. And celebrities, sports stars and musicians don’t even appear on the list, let alone top it.

19

Stuyguy, I think you may be underestimating the power of global sports, given the US doesn’t really participate in by far the biggest of the them all: soccer.

That said I probably have to put Neil Armstrong top.

BTW surely the Mop Tops are disqualifed what with half of them dead.

Businessmen are more laughable than celebrities, sport stars etc surely? Who remembers ANY 19th century businessmen? Maybe a cultural thing - the US regard for successful businessmen - just like our love of soccer.

20

Neil Armstrong is basically an unknown to the majority of Americans. (We’re talking about people here who don’t know that Alaska and New Mexico are states.) Probably better known in most Western countries though. But absolutely unknown to the average Joe in India, China, etc.

Given his current fame is so small, it is extrememly unlikely he will be at all famous even 100 years from now.

The most famous living non-political figure in recent years has been Muhammed Ali. But even that fame has been slipping quickly since he can no longer publicize himself.

Given that all the WWII big shots are gone, there doesn’t appear to be any political figure on the scene that will be of note far into the future (although a few might be infamous if certain practices are continued). The first woman POTUS is probably alive and at least semi-famous, but that will be a mainly US-centric lasting fame.

Bill Gates is the only current businessman likely to achieve the lasting infamy of a Carnegie or Rockefeller. But it will be the charities he founds that will be remembered for the next 100 years than the person. A 1000 years from now, there will be even bigger charities that will have superceded his, just like those of Carnegie and Rockefeller.

It really takes a major achievement to get truly world-wide famous.