Daily Random Facts

Hiroo Onoda A Japanese soldier stayed hidden for 29 years after WWII ended because he didn't know the war was over.

The term "Laser" means Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Lasers are created by focusing photons into a incredibly tight beam instead of being scattered in all directions like a flashlight, the most common color a laser can emit is usually red - which is found in laser pointers in mouses.

Lasers are also being used as weapons by the US military - but because of the massive power requirements military lasers use, only massive military hardware like the AC-130 gunship. The US Military is currently developing a laser cannon that can destroy a tank.

Most Preserved Body Parts in the World

10. Dan Sickles’ Leg

A Union general who lost his leg to a cannon at the Battle of Gettysburg, Major General Dan Sickle was not a brilliant man. After seeing high ground in front of his troops, he ordered them to move about a mile away, which was more indefensible and where they were effectively decimated. His leg was hit by a cannonball and had shattered, but he persevered until his leg was amputated that afternoon. Sickles’ leg and the cannonball are displayed at the American National Museum of Health and Medicine since he remembered that the Army Surgeon General was building a display of morbid anatomy along with the projectiles that caused it. Too bad this insubordinate’s legacy lives on because of that directive.

9. Del Close’s Skull

While Del Close had taught many improvisational giants in modern media such as Stephen Colbert, John Belushi, Tina Fey, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and others, it was perhaps his final request that wound up being the cruelest joke. Close has wanted his skull donated to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago so he could play Yorrick in “Hamlet.” While his creative partner Charna Halpern tried to make it happen, no medical organization would allow his skull to be separated from his head due to funding and/or ethical concerns. So Goodman Theatre has a stand-in while Close’s skull was cremated along with the rest of the body, according to Halpern.

The skull of legendary improv actor, Del Close, is seen at a ceremony in Chicago on Thursday, July 1, 1999, before being handed over to Robert Falls, the artisitic director of the Goodman Theater. Close, who died in March, requested in his will that the skull be turned over to the theater for use as the part of Yorich, the court jester whose skull is unearthed in Hamlet's cemetery scene, and any other smaller roles the theater deems appropriate. 

8. Major John W. Powell’s Brain

This Major is the second American Civil War soldier on this list, though he only lost an arm in the war. John Wesley Powell was the founder and longtime director of the Bureau of American Ethnology though he was arguably most famous for his exploration of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon post-Civil War. The first of three brains on this list, Powell’s is on display in a vat at the Smithsonian institute

7. Paul Broca’s Brain

French physician and anthropologist Paul Broca is best known for his mid 1800s discovery of the speech production center of the brain in the frontal lobe. In addition to that area being named after him, he also famously founded a number of anthropological societies in France and beyond. Wonder what he would have to say about his brain being a display at the Museum of Man in Paris?

6. José Rizal’s Vertebra

José Rizal’s execution sparked the revolution of his homeland, Spanish colonial Philippine in 1896. Like Gandhi, Rizal believed in peaceful means to reform, which was what he wanted for his country. Now a national hero, he was originally buried in non-blessed grounds in an unmarked burial site. But about 17 years after his death his body was exhumed and transported to Luneta. During the transport a single vertebra was enclosed in a glass reliquary for display, eventually, at the Rizal museum in Fort Santiago. Supposedly it was the only bone hit by the single live bullet of the firing squad when he was executed.

5. St. Bonaventure’s Arm

Our only holy figure on the list, this saint’s writing arm and hand have been preserved due to his work “Commentary on the Four Books of Peter Lombard.” St. Bonaventure’s arm was encased in a silver arm-shaped reliquary that now resides in his hometown of Bagnoregio, in the parish Church of St. Nicholas. Called a Seraphic Doctor by his colleagues, this 13th century Franciscan monk postulated that no ideas existed in nature, that they were all given to human through the Divine; hence writing by the hand of God!

 4. George Washington’s Hair
The father of the American nation, George Washington’s death was mourned by everyone in the United States. However, it was the aunt of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who asked for a lock of his hair in remembrance of the great man. In 1850, Longfellow had the lock of hair enclosed in a gold locket, which was later given to the Maine Historical Society per his aunt Eliza Wadsworth’s wishes.

3. Lazzaro Spallanzani’s Bladder

Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani was best known in the 1700 as paving the scientific highways for Louis Pasteur by proving that microbes traveled by air and could be killed by boiling – like most other living organisms! He also proved that sexual reproduction in mammals requires a sperm and an ovum, and performed the first successful artificial insemination … on a dog. But his bladder was supposedly the most useful part to be preserved since he died from bladder cancer. Spallanzani’s bladder remains on public display in a Pavia, Italy museum.,

2. Galileo’s Finger

Galileo Galilei has been called the father(s) of “modern science,” “observational astronomy” and “modern physics.” He has a list of accomplishments as long as his arm, though his arm and fingers were under house arrest by the Inquisition during his last years of life due to his belief that the sun was the center of the universe, not the Earth. Of course when he died, his bodywouldn’t remain at his house and his finger didn’t remain with his body either. Galileo’s finger is on display at the Museo di Storia del Scienza in Italy after it was removed by Anton Francesco Gori in 1737. Just shy of a century after his death, Galileo’s body was transferred from a small closet to a newly built mausoleum.




1. Albert Einstein’s Brain

Like many other geniuses, Albert Einstein’s extraordinary intellect was always questioned – why was he so intelligent? After his death in 1955, Einstein’s brain was extracted from his body by Princeton Hospital pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey without the permission of Einstein’s family. Ostensibly, Harvey told the family that he would try to have it examined; it was examined once over the next 40 years, but those results were highly questionable according to the scientific community. To this day, no conclusive research has been done on Einstein’s brain, which has also not remained whole due to sending pieces to different researchers. Talk about picking your brain!

Random Facts About Einstein

Building of Atomic Bomb

Re-creation of Einstein and Szilárd signing the famous letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939
In 1939, alarmed by the rise of Nazi Germany, physicist Leó Szilárd [wiki] convinced Einstein to write a letter to president Franklin Delano Roosevelt warning that Nazi Germany might be conducting research into developing an atomic bomb and urging the United States to develop its own.

The Einstein and Szilárd's letter was often cited as one of the reasons Roosevelt started the secret Manhattan Project [wiki] to develop the atom bomb, although later it was revealed that the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 probably did much more than the letter to spur the government.

Although Einstein was a brilliant physicist, the army considered Einstein a security risk and (to Einstein's relief) did not invite him to help in the project.

His Work Largely went unnoticed after the war

While Einstein gained a lot of popular attention for his eccentricity and public image as a member of the scientific community behind the discovery of the atomic bomb, and while most people knew the sight of his unkempt hair style and that he did not own a pair of socks, his work in the later part of his life, went largely unexamined until recently. Einstein had been working on a Unified field theory, (it involved gravity and electromagnetism being solved by one set of equations), and would do so until he died, but from 1920 onwards he also began to concentrate on quantum theory. Most people will have heard of this area of theoretical physics by now, (if not in class then in any number of Hollywood movies that have exploited it), but the work was neglected until very recently and is now at the centre of the discipline being considered alongside such high sounding things as ‘superstring theory.’              

 Presidency of Israel

Here’s a good one. It is largely believed that in 1952 Israel asked Albert Einstein to become Prime Minister. In fact Einstein was asked by the Prime Minister, Ben Gurion, to become Israel’s Second President since it’s foundation in 1948, asking him ‘whether you would accept the Presidency of Israel if it were offered you by a vote of the Knesset.’ Albert, a Jew but not an Israeli citizen, declined the offer saying that while he was honored he was also sad and ashamed to say he could not accept it. There are various reports as to why he turned it down, but by and large they come down to his disinterest at taking on such responsibility, or joining the stress of the political world. After all his entire life had been spent fascinated by physics and the pursuit of scientific answers, his causes and ideology were a necessity brought on by the urgency of his time for good men to say wise words.


Obsessed Smoker


Einstein loved to smoke. As he walked between his house and his office at Princeton, one could often see him followed by a trail of smoke. Nearly as part of his image as his wild hair and baggy clothes was Einstein clutching his trusty briar pipe. In 1950, Einstein is noted as saying, "I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs," Although he favored pipes, Einstein was not one to turn down a cigar or even a cigarette.

Married his Cousin

After Einstein divorced Mileva (his infidelity was listed as one of the reasons for the split), he soon married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal. Actually, Einstein also considered marrying Elsa's daughter (from her first marriage) Ilse, but she demurred:

Before marrying Elsa, he had considered marrying her daughter, Ilse, instead. According to Overbye, “She (Ilse, who was 18 years younger than Einstein) was not attracted to Albert, she loved him as a father, and she had the good sense not to get involved. But it was Albert’s Woody Allen moment.” (Source)

Unlike Mileva, Elsa Einstein's main concern was to take care of her famous husband. She undoubtedly knew about, and yet tolerated, Einstein's infidelity and love affairs which were later revealed in his letters:

Previously released letters suggested his marriage in 1903 to his first wife Mileva Maric, mother of his two sons, was miserable. They divorced in 1919, and he soon married his cousin, Elsa. He cheated on her with his secretary, Betty Neumann.

In the new volume of letters released on Monday by Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Einstein described about six women with whom he spent time and from whom he received gifts while being married to Elsa.

Some of the women identified by Einstein include Estella, Ethel, Toni and his "Russian spy lover," Margarita. Others are referred to only by initials, like M. and L.

"It is true that M. followed me (to England) and her chasing after me is getting out of control," he wrote in a letter to Margot in 1931. "Out of all the dames, I am in fact attached only to Mrs. L., who is absolutely harmless and decent."

Einstein did not talk till he was 3

Albert Einstein is called by many the smartest man to have ever lived, but he had a great deal of difficulty in his early childhood development. Some have wondered if he suffered from ‘Asperger’s syndrome’ a high function type of autism. But such speculation is exactly that, speculation. But we do know that he did not learn to speak until he was three years old and even at the age of nine he is said to have spoken hesitantly and with uncertainty. This later information could have been a result of his dislike of this school system, (he went through several and never seemed to enjoy any of them), and his tendency towards introspection and thoughtfulness. If nothing else Albert Einstein is a good example of why being a late bloomer isn’t such a bad thing.

One interesting anecdote, told by Otto Neugebauer, a historian of science, goes like this:

As he was a late talker, his parents were worried. At last, at the supper table one night, he broke his silence to say, "The soup is too hot."
Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said a word before.
Albert replied, "Because up to now everything was in order." (Source)

In his book, Thomas Sowell [wiki] noted that besides Einstein, many brilliant people developed speech relatively late in childhood. He called this condition The Einstein Syndrome.



Einstein's Brain

The Saga of Einstein's Brain: Pickled in a Jar for 43 Years and Driven Cross Country in a Trunk of a Buick!


After his death in 1955, Einstein's brain [wiki] was removed - without permission from his family - by Thomas Stoltz Harvey [wiki], the Princeton Hospital pathologist who conducted the autopsy. Harvey took the brain home and kept it in a jar. He was later fired from his job for refusing to relinquish the organ.

Many years later, Harvey, who by then had gotten permission from Hans Albert to study Einstein's brain, sent slices of Einstein's brain to various scientists throughout the world. One of these scientists was Marian Diamond of UC Berkeley, who discovered that compared to a normal person, Einstein had significantly more glial cells in the region of the brain that is responsible for synthesizing information.

In another study, Sandra Witelson of McMaster University found that Einstein's brain lacked a particular "wrinkle" in the brain called the Sylvian fissure. Witelson speculated that this unusual anatomy allowed neurons in Einstein's brain to communicate better with each other. Other studies had suggested that Einstein's brain was denser, and that the inferior parietal lobe, which is often associated with mathematical ability, was larger than normal brains.

The saga of Einsteins brain can be quite strange at times: in the early 1990s, Harvey went with freelance writer Michael Paterniti on a cross-country trip to California to meet Einstein's granddaughter. They drove off from New Jersey in Harvey's Buick Skylark with Einstein's brain sloshing inside a jar in the trunk! Paterniti later wrote his experience in the book Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain

In 1998, the 85-year-old Harvey delivered Einstein's brain to Dr. Elliot Krauss, the staff pathologist at Princeton University, the position Harvey once held:

... after safeguarding the brain for decades like it was a holy relic -- and, to many, it was -- he simply, quietly, gave it away to the pathology department at the nearby University Medical Center at Princeton, the university and town where Einstein spent his last two decades.

"Eventually, you get tired of the responsibility of having it. ... I did about a year ago," Harvey said, slowly. "I turned the whole thing over last year [in 1998].

Here Are Some Trivia About our Country-- Philippines

1. Doctrina Christiana is the first book published in the Philippines, was published in 1593, by the Dominican press. Because of the monopoly of printing presses by religious orders prior to the 19th century, early written literature was predominantly religious in content and in purpose.

2. The first women's magazine in the Philippines was El Hogar (The Home), which first came out in 1893.

3. The first Filipino immigrants to the United States (1850) settled in Louisiana.

4. Emilio Aguinaldo lost to Manuel L. Quezon in the country's first presidential elections in 1935.

5. The largest crocodile ever captured in the Philippines (1823) was found in Laguna de Bay.

6. Fort San Pedro was the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

7. Farmers' Market Foodome is the largest restaurant in the Philippines (in Quezon City).

8. Cesar Virata is the first and last Prime Minister of the Philippines after WW II.

9. The Cagayan River, the Philippines longest river, originates in Nueva Vizcaya.

10. Aimee Carandang is the first Filipina to become a commercial plane pilot.

11. The oldest Philippine university for women is Centro Escolar University.

12. Jose P. Laurel has the most children (7) among the Philippine presidents.

13. Eva Estrada Kalaw is the first Filipina to be elected senator twice, in 1965 and in 1971.

14. The first modern building in the Philippines is considered to be the Crystal Arcade in Escolta, completed in 1932.

15. Aurora is the only Philippine province named after a first lady.

16. The biggest game preserve and wildlife sanctuary in the Philippines is located on Calauit Island in Palawan.

17. The most translated Philippine poem is Mi Ultimo Adios.

18. The Philippine mammal with the biggest eyes in relation to its body is the tarsier.

19. Bagumbayan was the original name of Luneta Park.

20. Iniibig and gawa are the first and last words of Panatang Makabayan.

21. The Presidential Saber is awarded to the top graduate of the Philippine Military Academy.

22. The original Philippine flag, sewn in Hong Kong in 1898, was made of silk.

23. Gen. Tomas Karingal was the first assassinated victim of the NPA's Alex Boncayao Brigade.

24. Frank Murphy was the last American governor-general of the Philippines.

25. After the United States, the Philippines have the most Boys Scouts.

26. After Happy Birthday, the song most sung in the Philippines is Lupang Hinirang, the national anthem.

27. Hajji Butu was the first Muslim Filipino to become a senator.

28. The most popular and durable of all Philippine almanacs is called Kalendariong Tagalog ni Honorio Lopez.

29. Rainier Lagman was the first Filipino to have a heart transplant.

30. Gemma Cruz was the first Filipina to win an international beauty title - Miss International 1964.

31. P5 million was the highest prize offered for the capture of then-rebel-now-turned-senator Gringo Honasan.

32. Palawan has the largest land area among the Philippine provinces.

33. Negros Occidental has the most cities among Philippine provinces.

34. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was the first Spanish governor-general of the Philippines.

35. Evangeline de Castro of Baguio was the first Filipina to win the Miss Philippines title.

36. Cebu is the oldest Philippine city.

37. The word Filipinas first appeared in coins.

38. Archipelago de San Lazarus was the name Ferdinand Magellan first gave to the islands he "discovered."

39. Alphabetically, the first province of the Philippines which comes first is Abra in the Ilocos region.

40. The largest Philippine wild animal is the tamaraw (a species of buffalo, similar to the carabao). It is found only in the island of Mindoro.

41. Rio Grande de Mindanao is the longest river in Mindanao.

42. The first line of Jose Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios is Adios patria adorada.

43. Luzon is the biggest island (141,395 sq km) among the Philippine Archipelago which consists of 7,107 (most figures) islands and islets stretching some 1,850 kilometers from north to south and 1,107 kilometers from west to east at its widest point.

44. Mt. Apo in Mindanao, a dormant volcano, is the highest mountain in the Philippines at 2,954 meters (9,689 feet). Mt. Pulog in Luzon is second at 2,928 meters (9,604 feet).

45. Cagayan River in Luzon is the longest river, snaking for 353 kilometers (221 miles) across the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Cagayan before finally flowing into the South China Sea in Aparri in Cagayan.

46. The first recorded intermarriage of a Filipino to a white foreigner was the wedding of Rajah Tupas' widowed niece to a Greek ship caulker who had sailed to the Philippines with Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (ca 1565).

47. According to the 1990 census, Metro Manila has a population density of 12,315 persons per square kilometer (32,000/ sq.mi.), the highest in the country.

48. The longest underground river system accessible to man IN THE WORLD is located at the St. Paul National Park in Palawan.

49. The hottest day in the Philippines was recorded on April 29, 1912 when the temperature reached 108.32 degrees Fahrenheit (42.4 degrees Celsius) in Tuguegarao, Cagayan. The coldest day was recorded in Baguio city back in January 7, 1903 when the thermometer dipped way down to 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius).

50. The safest province geologically is Palawan. It is farthest province from volcanoes and earthquake faults.

51. Marissa Delgado - The first Filipina who appeared in Playboy (sometime in 1965). She wasn't a centerfold but she did expose ... her back! The first Filipina who appeared as a centerfold is the beautiful Lourdes Estores of Hawaii.

52. The Tagalog term for dye is jobus or jobos which came from the name Joe Bush. Joe Bush was an American who set up a cleaning and dyeing shop in Manila back in the 1940s. His products were powdered dyes with the trade name Joe Bush.

53. Galunggong (mackerel) has the distinction to be the most widely caught fish in Philippine waters.

54. 8 - ocho, walo, eight - is the size of Imelda's shoes.

55. Ma Mon Luk - credited to be the inventor of mami. He was a Cantonese immigrant who probably named the dish after his surname and the Chinese word for noodles which is mi.

56. The first ice cream parlor in the Philippines was called Clarke's Cafe located at Plaza Moraga in Binondo. It opened sometime in 1899.

57. Kristo the Tagalog name of bookmakers at cockfights. He's called that because he poses like Jesus when he calls for bets and shouts the odds (arms extended like the Lord himself).

58. The first Greek fraternity in the Philippines is the University of the Philippines' Upsilon Sigma Phi (established in 1918). It does not have any branches outside the UP system. Among its alumni are the preserved ex-President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his arch-nemesis, the late Senator Benigno 'Ninoy Forever' Aquino. The first sorority with a Greek name is Sigma Delta Phi, also at UP and sister sorority of Upsilon Sigma Phi, established in 1938. (Partly contributed by Butch Bandong.)

59. Davao City is the largest city in the Philippines with an area of 2,211 sq. km., about three times the size of Metro-Manila.

60. Manila Hotel is the first building to be air-conditioned.

61. Philippine Airlines' first flight was from Manila to Baguio on March 15, 1941. The plane was a twin-engine Beech Model 18 carrying five passengers. There was no attendant or lavatory. It reached Baguio in 45 minutes.

62. The largest employer in the Philippines other than the government is San Miguel Corporation which has over 39,000 full-time employees.

63. Luneta Hotel, corner T.M. Kalaw and Roxas Blvd is said to be the oldest multi-storyed building in the Philippines

Random Facts about Valentine's Day

Hug:))

A hug that lasts for 20 seconds releases oxytocin which can make someone trust you more.






Happy Valentine's Day Guys

Saint Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it is not a holiday in most of them.

St. Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies. A popular hagiographical account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. An embellishment to this story states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.Today, Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine's Day, albeit on July 6 and July 30, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). In Brazil, the Dia de São Valentim is recognized on June 12.

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in theHigh Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting card.

Valentine's Day Started with the Romans

There are two theories about the origin of Valentine’s Day. The first is that the day derives from Lupercalia, a raucous Roman festival on February 15 where men stripped naked and spanked young maidens in hopes of upping their fertility. The second theory is that while the Roman Emperor Claudius II was trying to bolster his army, he forbade young men to marry (apparently single men make better soldiers). In the spirit of love, St. Valentine defied the ban and performed secret marriages. For his disobedience, Valentine was executed on February 14.

Source: http://www.womansday.com/life/holidays/10-fun-valentines-day-facts-103385

The Real romeo And Juliet :))

PYRAMUS AND THISBE: THE ORIGINAL ROMEO AND JULIET

For sure most of us are aware of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the story of two star-crossed lovers, which is probably the most famous tragedy of all time.

But before Romeo and Juliet, there was Pyramus and Thisbe, two characters of Roman mythology, whose love story of ill-fated lovers is also a sentimental romance. The tale is told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses.

It takes place in ancient Babylon, where these two children grew up in a one-room house that was connected to the other. Over the years, they fell in love with each other, but could only talk through a hole in their wall because their parents refused them to see each other.

Finally, Pyramus got fed up with his parents and so did Thisbe. They decided to run off one night and elope. Pyramus gave Thisbe the location of the place they would meet, and they agreed.

Thisbe was the first to arrive at the first Mulberry bush outside of the city, but as she was waiting, a lioness walked by with her jaws covered in blood from a previous kill that day. Thisbe, frightened at her sight, ran non-stop to the nearest cave. Soon after, Pyramus walked by and saw a cloak, his love gift to her, covered in blood and torn to pieces with the footprints of the lioness left behind. He immediately thought that his only love had been killed by a hungry lion, and unsheathed his sword (her love gift to him), letting the cold, hard steel pierce his broken heart. Thisbe, bringing courage to her heart, ran back and found her only love lying on the ground next to the blood-covered Mulberry bush with his sword impaling his chest.

She gasped in horror as she asked the still breathing Pyramus what happened. Barely able to stay awake, he told her what happened and she cried in sorrow. She took Pyramus' blood-stained sword and asked him to wait for her while she brought the blade into her own soft flesh. Thus they died together, in love and peace.
This is why the berries on the Mulberry bush are red, instead of their original white, in commemoration of the two young lovers and their great sacrifice.

Since It's Valentine's Day, Let me give you some facts about roses

Roses are traditional symbols of love and, depending on their color, can suggest different nuances of love.

For example:

Red roses indicate passion and true love. 

Light pink suggests desire, passion, and energy.

Dark pink suggests gratitude.

Yellow roses can mean friendship or jealousy.

Lavender or thornless rose can mean love at first sight.

White roses mean virtue or devotion.

Some roses even combine colors to create more complicated meanings.

Top 10 Greatest Mathematician

10. Pythagoras of Samos

Greek Mathematician Pythagoras is considered by some to be one of the first great mathematicians. Living around 570 to 495 BC, in modern day Greece, he is known to have founded the Pythagorean cult, who were noted by Aristotle to be one of the first groups to actively study and advance mathematics. 

He is also commonly credited with the Pythagorean Theorem within trigonometry. However, some sources doubt that is was him who constructed the proof (Some attribute it to his students, or Baudhayana, who lived some 300 years earlier in India). Nonetheless, the effect of such, as with large portions of fundamental mathematics, is commonly felt today, with the theorem playing a large part in modern measurements and technological equipment, as well as being the base of a large portion of other areas and theorems in mathematics. But, unlike most ancient theories, it played a bearing on the development of geometry, as well as opening the door to the study of mathematics as a worthwhile endeavor. Thus, he could be called the founding father of modern mathematics.

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9. Andrew Wiles

The only currently living mathematician on this list, Andrew Wiles is most well known for his proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem: That no positive integers, a, b and c can satisfy the equation a^n+b^n=c^n For n greater then 2. (If n=2 it is the Pythagoras Formula). Although the contributions to math are not, perhaps, as grand as other on this list, he did ‘invent’ large portions of new mathematics for his proof of the theorem. Besides, his dedication is often admired by most, as he quite literally shut himself away for 7 years to formulate a solution. When it was found that the solution contained an error, he returned to solitude for a further year before the solution was accepted.

To put in perspective how ground breaking and new the math was, it had been said that you could count the number of mathematicians in the world on one hand who, at the time, could understand and validate his proof. Nonetheless, the effects of such are likely to only increase as time passes (and more and more people can understand it).

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8. Isaac Newton and Wilhelm Leibniz

These two together are both ‘inventor’ of modern infinitesimal calculus, and as such have both made monolithic contributions to the field. To start, Leibniz is often given the credit for introducing modern standard notation, notably the integral sign. He made large contributions to the field of Topology. Whereas all round genius Isaac Newton has, because of the grand scientific epic Principia, generally become the primary man hailed by most to be the actual inventor of calculus. Nonetheless, what can be said is that both men made considerable vast contributions in their own manner.

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7. Leonardo Pisano Blgollo

Blgollo, also known as Leonardo Fibonacci, is perhaps one of the middle ages greatest mathematicians. Living from 1170 to 1250, he is best known for introducing the infamous Fibonacci Series to the western world. Although known to Indian mathematicians since approximately 200 BC, it was, nonetheless, a truly insightful sequence, appearing in biological systems frequently. In addition, from this Fibonacci also contributed greatly to the introduction of the Arabic numbering system. Something he is often forgotten for.

Haven spent a large portion of his childhood within North Africa he learned the Arabic numbering system, and upon realizing it was far simpler and more efficient then the bulky Roman numerals, decided to travel the Arab world learning from the leading mathematicians of the day. Upon returning to Italy in 1202, he published his Liber Abaci, whereupon the Arabic numbers were introduced and applied to many world situations to further advocate their use. As a result of his work the system was gradually adopted and today he is considered a major player in the development of modern mathematics.

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6. Alan Turing

Computer Scientist and Cryptanalyst Alan Turing is regarded my many, if not most, to be one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century. Having worked in the Government Code and Cypher School in Britain during the second world war, he made significant discoveries and created ground breaking methods of code breaking that would eventually aid in cracking the German Enigma Encryptions. Undoubtedly affecting the outcome of the war, or at least the time-scale.

After the end of the war he invested his time in computing. Having come up with idea of a computing style machine before the war, he is considered one of the first true computer scientists. Furthermore, he wrote a range of brilliant papers on the subject of computing that are still relevant today, notably on Artificial Intelligence, on which he developed the Turing test which is still used to evaluate a computers ‘intelligence’. Remarkably, he began in 1948 working with D. G. Champernowne, an undergraduate acquaintance on a computer chess program for a machine not yet in existence. He would play the ‘part’ of the machine in testing such programs.

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5. René Descartes

French Philosopher, Physicist and Mathematician Rene Descartes is best known for his ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’ philosophy. Despite this, the Frenchman, who lived 1596 to 1650, made ground breaking contributions to mathematics.

Alongside Newton and Leibniz, Descartes helped provide the foundations of modern calculus (which Newton and Leibniz later built upon), which in itself had great bearing on the modern day field. Alongside this, and perhaps more familiar to the reader, is his development of Cartesian Geometry, known to most as the standard graph (Square grid lines, x and y axis, etc.) and its use of algebra to describe the various locations on such. Before this most geometers used plain paper (or another material or surface) to preform their art. Previously, such distances had to be measured literally, or scaled. With the introduction of Cartesian Geometry this changed dramatically, points could now be expressed as points on a graph, and as such, graphs could be drawn to any scale, also these points did not necessarily have to be numbers. The final contribution to the field was his introduction of superscripts within algebra to express powers. And thus, like many others in this list, contributed to the development of modern mathematical notation.

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4. Euclid

Living around 300BC, he is considered the Father of Geometry and his magnum opus: Elements, is one the greatest mathematical works in history, with its being in use in education up until the 20th century. Unfortunately, very little is known about his life, and what exists was written long after his presumed death. Nonetheless, Euclid is credited with the instruction of the rigorous, logical proof for theorems and conjectures. Such a framework is still used to this day, and thus, arguably, he has had the greatest influence of all mathematicians on this list. Alongside his Elements were five other surviving works, thought to have been written by him, all generally on the topic of Geometry or Number theory. There are also another five works that have, sadly, been lost throughout history.


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3. G. F. Bernhard Riemann

Bernhard Riemann, born to a poor family in 1826, would rise to become one of the worlds prominent mathematicians in the 19th Century. The list of contributions to geometry are large, and he has a wide range of theorems bearing his name. To name just a few: Riemannian Geometry, Riemannian Surfaces and the Riemann Integral. However, he is perhaps most famous (or infamous) for his legendarily difficult Riemann Hypothesis; an extremely complex problem on the matter of the distributions of prime numbers. Largely ignored for the first 50 years following its appearance, due to few other mathematicians actually understanding his work at the time, it has quickly risen to become one of the greatest open questions in modern science, baffling and confounding even the greatest mathematicians. Although progress has been made, its has been incredibly slow. However, a prize of $1 million has been offered from the Clay Maths Institute for a proof, and one would almost undoubtedly receive a Fields medal if under 40 (The Nobel prize of mathematics).

The fallout from such a proof is hypothesized to be large: Major encryption systems are thought to be breakable with such a proof, and all that rely on them would collapse. As well as this, a proof of the hypothesis is expected to use ‘new mathematics’. It would seem that, even in death, Riemann’s work may still pave the way for new contributions to the field, just as he did in life.

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2. Carl Friedrich Gauss

Child prodigy Gauss, the ‘Prince of Mathematics’, made his first major discovery whilst still a teenager, and wrote the incredible Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, his magnum opus, by the time he was 21. Many know Gauss for his outstanding mental ability – quoted to have added the numbers 1 to 100 within seconds whilst attending primary school (with the aid of a clever trick).The local Duke, recognizing his talent, sent him to Collegium Carolinum before he left for Gottingen (at the time it was the most prestigious mathematical university in the world, with many of the best attending). After graduating in 1798 (at the age of 22), he began to make several important contributions in major areas of mathematics, most notably number theory (especially on Prime numbers).

He went on to prove the fundamental theorem of algebra, and introduced the Gaussian gravitational constant in physics, as well as much more – all this before he was 24! Needless to say, he continued his work up until his death at the age of 77, and had made major advances in the field which have echoed down through time.

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1. Leonhard Euler

If Gauss is the Prince, Euler is the King. Living from 1707 to 1783, he is regarded as the greatest mathematician to have ever walked this planet. It is said that all mathematical formulas are named after the next person after Euler to discover them. In his day he was ground breaking and on par with Einstein in genius. His primary (if that’s possible) contribution to the field is with the introduction of mathematical notation including the concept of a function (and how it is written as f(x)), shorthand trigonometric functions, the ‘e’ for the base of the natural logarithm (The Euler Constant), the Greek letter Sigma for summation and the letter ‘/i’ for imaginary units, as well as the symbol pi for the ratio of a circles circumference to its diameter. All of which play a huge bearing on modern mathematics, from the every day to the incredibly complex.

As well as this, he also solved the Seven Bridges of Koenigsberg problem in graph theory, found the Euler Characteristic for connecting the number of vertices, edges and faces of an object, and (dis)proved many well known theories, too many to list. Furthermore, he continued to develop calculus, topology, number theory, analysis and graph theory as well as much, much more – and ultimately he paved the way for modern mathematics and all its revelations. It is probably no coincidence that industry and technological developments rapidly increased around this time.