Saint Dionysius Exiguus (#94)

Background

Dionysius Exiguus, later known as Dennis the Humble, was born in in the Roman empire around the year A.D. 470. Little is known about his life, but most believe he was born in the section of the Roman Empire known as Scythia Minor. He was amember of the Scythian monks from the city of Tomis. Dionysius was a Catholic and was fluent in both Latin and Greek.

Works

The main work of  Dionysius  was a Scythian monk was to translate religious documents from Greek to Latin. His translated works include The Life of St. Pachomius and Instruction of St. Proclus of Constantinople. He also translated a history of the discovery of the head of St. John the Baptist. In total,  Dionysius  is said to have translated 401 ecclesiastical canons which were collected into the book Collectio Dionysiana. At the request of Pope John I in 525,  Dionysius  also created a table listing out all the future dates of Easter and a set of arguments justifying the calculations.  Dionysius  ignored the Easter Tables used by the Church of Rome that were prepared in 457 by Victorius of Aquitaine. He stated that they did not obey Alexandrian principles. His tables were not, however, used to calculate Easter, using, instead, the tables created by Cyril of Alexandria. By far, though,  Dionysius 's most famous work is as the inventor of the Anno Domini era. Using different references and documents,  Dionysius  calculated the year in which Jesus was born, stating that the year that he made this calculation was 525 years "since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ." This year system was then applied to both the Julian and the Gregorian calender as a way of referencing the year. Before the birth of Jesus, the years are noted as B.C., or the years Before Christ. The years after the birth of Jesus are noted with A.D., or Anno Domini, or "In the Year of Our Lord. The Anno Domini era became dominant in Western Europe after it was used in 731 by the Venerable Bede to date events in his book, Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The Anno Domini year system is now the most used system of noting the year.

The End

Not much is known about the death of Dionysius Exiguus except that it was around the year A.D. 544. Dionysius is on our list because without him, we would really have a way of telling what year he did die in. Even though some people now use the notation C.E. and B.C.E. (Current Era and Before Current Era), they still are based on Dionysius's calculation of the birth of Jesus, and even though Dionysius's calculation are off by about three years, his system was still accepted and is used to this day. Without him, we wouldn't have any cool doomsday names like "Y2K" or "Twenty-Twelve."

Edwin A. Abbott (#95)

Background and Education

Edwin Abbott Abbott was born on December 20, 1838. His mother, Jane Abbott, as a first cousin of his father, Marylebone Abbott, which explains the two Abbotts in his name. He was educated at the City of London School and later, at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took highest honors in classics, mathematics, and theology. In 1861, he was Smith's prize, a prize given to Cambridge students in the fields of theoretical Physics or mathematics. 

Teacher and Writer

In 1863, Abbott married Mary Elizabeth Rangeley, with whom he would have two children. After getting his master's degree at King Edward's School, he became the headmaster of the City of London School in 1865. As headmaster, he oversaw the education of H.H. Asquith, who would one day become the Prime Minister. As headmaster, Abbott began to write, and he continued to do so even after he retired in 1889. Abbott's works, including Shakespearian Grammar, Silanus the Christian, and The Kernel and the Husk covered a wide range of topics from the English language to theological discussion. He also wrote an article, "The Gospels", for the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and a textbook on the Latin language.. He also wrote biographies on several people, including Francis Bacon and St. Thomas of Canterbury. His most famous work, however, is Flatland (1884), which he wrote under the name 'A. Square.' In Flatland, Abbott writes about a two-dimensional world which is populated by shapes. In this book, Abbott discuss how life would function in a two-dimensional world and what it would take to get shapes to understand other dimensions.

The End

Abbott died of influenza on October 12, 1926. Abbott is on our list because he thought outside of the box. He looked into the matter of how a population would function in a two-dimensional world, and he made fun of the fact that people believe there was no fourth dimension simply because they could not imagine how a fourth dimension would look. He also wrote a whole book on how Shakespeare's grammar worked, which is a feat of its own.

William Wallace (#96)

Background 

Sir William Wallace was born around the year AD 1272 as a minor member of the Scottish nobility. In 1286, King Alexander III of Scotland died after falling off his horse. Margaret, Maid of Norway, was the heir to the throne, but she became sick while on the voyage from Norway and died in Orkney. The lack of an heir led to "the Great Cause", a period of time in which several families claimed to be heir to the throne. With the threat of civil war, the Scottish nobility invited King Edward of England to arbitrate, though he insisted on being called Lord Paramount of Scotland. In November of 1292, John Balliol as found to have the strongest claim to the throne. King Edward reversed the rulings and summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. When Balliol refused, Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, a Scottish border town, defeating the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. Edward forced Balliol to abdicate and instructed the almost 2,000 Scottish nobles to pay homage to the King of England. This attack by Edward began the First War of Scottish Independence.

Uprising and War

Wallace's first known act of revolt was in 1297, when he assassinated William de Heselrig, an English Sheriff. With the help of William the Hardy, Wallace raided Scone as well. Uprisings had taken place throughout Scotland, but most nobles were forced to submit at Irvine in July of 1297. Wallace and the noble, Andrew Moray, continued to rebel, joining forces in September of 1297 around the time of the siege of Dundee. Wallace and Moray, to put the odds in their favor, abandoned the ideas of chivalric warfare, strength in arms, and knightly combat. Instead, they used opportunistic tactics and strategic use of terrain. Moray and Wallace's first major victory was at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September of 1297. In this battle, an English army, under the command of John de Warenne, tried to cross to the northern side of the Stirling bridge. The Scottish, waiting on the other side, were easily able to defend the northern side of the bridge from the English infantry. When the cavalry was sent in to aid the infantry, it was unable to get across the bridge due to all the retreating infantry men. When the battle was won,Moray and Wallace took the title of Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland on behalf of King John Balliol, though Moray died later in 1297. The English attempted to draw Wallace out in the open by invading Edinburgh as well as several strategic castles. Wallace, using hit and run and scorched earth tactics, continued to elude the English until April of 1298 at the Battle of Falkirk. Wallace arranged his men into schiltrons, where they used spears, sharpened stakes,and shields to create a protective shell around them, but Welsh long bowman broke these schiltrons and English cavalry was able to break up groups of Scottish archers. The Scottish had a devastating defeat at the Battle of Falkrik, and even though Wallace survived, he gave up the title of Guardian of Scotland to Robert the Bruce and John Comyn of Badenoch. Wallace continued to play an essential role in the war, attempting to get support from King Philip IV of France as well as from Rome and Norway. 

The End

Wallace as able to elude the English until August of 1305, when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over the English soldiers. Wallace was brought to London, where he was tired for treason. Wallace, in response to the charges, said, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject," implying that John Balliol was still Wallace's king. On August 1305, Wallace was stripped naked, dragged through London by a horse, then was hanged, drawn and quartered, and beheaded. His head as put on a pike on London Bridge. In 1328, the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton was signed, which ended the First Scottish War for Independence, established Scotland as a fully independent nation, and put Robert the Bruce on the throne of Scotland. William Wallace is on our list of important people because he was the victor, but not the victor. Like Joan of Arc, Wallace did not get to see the fruit of his labor and was even killed for his cause, but he stood up for his cause when nobody else could and played an essential role in the War of Scottish Independence.

Joan of Arc (#97)

Background

Joan of Arc was born in eastern France to a small French family in AD 1412. She was born in the height of the Hundred Years' War. The Hundred Years' War was a war mainly between England and France. Burgundy had sided with the British in the war, and together, England and Burgundy had taken over about half of France. At the time, the city of Orleans was the only thing   that was keeping England from invading the French heartland. Charles VII, the future king of France, known as Dauphin, was destined for the throne, and was to be crowned in Reims, but Reims was currently controlled by the English. In 1424, when Joan was about 12 years old, she said she saw visions of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her to drive out the English and bring Dauphin to Reims. 

Saving France

When she was 16, Joan through a series of personal connections, was able to get a private conference with Dauphin, predicting a military reversal during the Siege of Orleans. When her prediction came true, Dauphin sent her with reinforcements to Orleans, where Joan traveled with the army, dressed as a knight. After a background check to see if Joan of Arc was not a sorceress or whatnot, Dauphin tested her by sending her out into the thick of the Siege of Orleans. Though she was excluded from the war councils, Joan of Arc engaged the enemy in battle and is said to have worked during the Siege as a tactician and strategist. Soon, Orleans was free from the English siege, and Joan led troops upwards, capturing three fortresses in four days, taking an arrow wound to the neck in the process. This sudden victory led Dauphin to give Joan co-command of the army with Duke John II of Alencon. Joan made a series of victories, heading in a general direction towards Paris. The English put reinforcements in Paris to stop an attack, but instead, Joan attacked Reims, capturing it on June 29, 1429. Her series of victories had won her favor with much of the nobility, and her success in bringing Dauphin to his coronation in Reims led to Dauphin granting nobility to Joan's family.

The End

In May of 1430, Joan was helping out at a Burgundian siege of the French city of Compiegne. While her forces were attacking a Burgundian camp, she was captured and sold to the English. The English brought Joan to Rouen, the center of the English occupation government, where she was tried for heresy. She was found guilty of the charges, though some court functionaries later testified that the transcripts of the trial were altered in her disfavor and that several clerics at the trial were forced to serve, some even receiving death threats from the English. She was executed by burning on May 30, 1431. The Hundred Years' war came to an end in 1453, and in 1452, a nullification trial was authorized by Pope Callixtus to see if Joan was truly guilty of heresy. In 1456, she was declared innocent. Later, in 1920, she was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. Joan of Arc is on our list because she was one of the first women to lead a country militarily and is also one of the most famous religious and war heroes of Europe and the world.

Steve Irwin (#98)

Background

Stephen Robert Irwin was born on February 22, 1962 in Australia. In 1970, Irwin moved to Queensland with his parents. His father was a herpetologist and wildlife expert, and his mother was a wildlife rehabilitator. Both of Irwin's parents worked in the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. Steve would help to do feeding and maintenance jobs around the park. He began handling crocodiles at the age of 9, and he wrestled his first crocodile that year. Irwin volunteered for Queensland's East coast Crocodile Management program, and captured over 100 crocodiles. In 1991, Irwin took over as the manager of the Reptile and Fauna Park and renamed it Australia Zoo the following year.

The Crocodile Hunter

In 1991, Terri Raines, a naturalist from Eugene, Oregon, was visiting wildlife rehabilitation facilitis in Australia, and met Irwin while visiting the zoo. Four months later, the couple was engaged, getting married in June on 1992. The Irwins' honeymoon consisted of trapping crocodiles together. Film footage of their honeymoon was taken by John Stainton. This footage became the first episode of the Crocodile Hunter, which came out in Australia in 1996, and into North American television by 1997. The Crocodile Hunter was a massive success, reaching 130 countries and 500 million people. As the show progressed, the cast included Steve, Terri, their dog Sui, and their children: Bindi Sue and Bob Irwin. The show continued until 2006, though Irwin continued to appear in other shows, including Croc Files and The Crocodile Hunter Diaries. 

Later Roles

Irwin continued to appear on television. He was in several episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He also had cameos in Dr. Dolittle 2, Happy Feet, and The Wiggles. In 2002, he starred in the movie The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. He also was part of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service's media campaign to promote Australian customs requirements. Irwin also remained active in conservation, founding the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, an independent charity that was renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide. He also helped to found the International Crocodile Rescue, the Lyn Irwin Memorial fund, and the Iron Bark Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Facility. In November of 2003, Irwin was in Baja California filming a documentary when two scuba divers were reported missing. Irwin suspended the filming and helped in the search for the missing people, saving one person and finding the body of the other.  

The End

While filming a documentary on ocean creatures, Irwin was snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef when a ray turned and attacked Steve, stabbing Steve with the spine of its tail. Irwin died shortly afterwards. Steve Irwin makes our list because of his personality. He was able to capture the attention of the entire world with his show and was able to put that attention to good use. Irwin is also probably one of the most important conservationists in the history of the world. Also, Irwin had two species of animals and a gorilla named after him. Steve Irwin changed the world we live in and is remembered for his contributions to it.

Chandragupta Maurya (#99)

Background

Chandragupta Maurya was born around the year 340 BC in India. He is said to have come from the Moriya (or Maurya) section of the Khattya clan. Chandragupta was a prince of the Maurya family. Chandragupta was known by Greeks and Romans as Sandracottos, and Plutarch even said that in 326 BC, Chandragupta met Alexander the Great during Alexander's invasion of India.

Chanakya and Empire Formation

Chanakya was an advisor in the Nanda court. The Nanda kingdom was one of the larger clans in India at the time. For one reason or another, Chanakya was thrown out of the court by the king. Chanakya went to Magadha, the hometown of Chandragupta. When he met Chandragupta, Chanakya saw the potential Gupta had as a leader. Chanakya took the role as Chandragupta's teacher, hoping that Chandragupta would help him to one day get his revenge on the Nanda king. Chanakya helped Maurya to defeat the Magadha kings and the Chandravanshi clan. These areas became the foundation of the empire Chandragupta would create. At the same time, Alexander the Great and his generals were conquering western India. Several of the kings of India had signed peace treaties with Alexanders, while others, like the king of Punjab, were defeated in battle. Chanakya believed the only way to defeat the foreign invaders was to unite the kingdoms in an alliance and fight, but when none of the kings agreed to the alliance, Chandragupta decided that he needed to build an empire to protect the Indian territories. The first major kingdom for Chandragupta to conquer was the Nanda Empire. Nanda was so large and powerful that Alexander the Great's men simply refused to fight them. Chandragupta made an alliance with king Parvatka, who ruled a kingdom in the Himalayas. Though Bhadrasala, the commander of the Nanda army, originally had the upper hand in the war, Chandragupta pulled through and in 321 BC, he had captured Pataliputra, the capital of the Nanda Empire. The conquest of the Nanda Empire turned the Maurya kingdom into the Maurya Empire.

Expansion

When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, Chandragupta turned to Northwestern India, now in the hands of Greek generals left in charge by Alexander. By 316 BC, Chandragupta had conquered everything East of the Indus River. Chandragupta continued his expansion into Seleucid Persia, the most powerful of the territories left by Alexander. Seleucus I Nicator entered confrontation with Chandragupta in 305 BC, eventually going to war with him. Seleucus did not do too well in battle, and Seleucus had to cede a large amount of territory east of the Indus to Chandragupta. This stretched the Mauryan Empire into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Chandragupta is said to have married Seleucus's daughter to formalize the alliance, which would explain the 500 war-elephants that Chandragupta sent to Seleucus. These elephants helped Sleucus to win the Battle of Ipsus in 302 BC against other generals of Alexander. After expanding in the Northwest, Chandragupta moved to the South, on the Deccan Plateau, where he conquered most of the kingdoms there as well. 

The End

In 298 BC, Chandragupta gave up his throne to become an ascetic. Chandragupta migrated to southern India to what is now Karnataka. A temple marks the Bhadrabahu cave, the place where Chandragupta is said to have died while fasting. After he left, Chandragupta's son, Bindusara, took over the throne of the Mauryan empire. Chandragupta's grandson, Ashoka the Great, is said to have been one of the most influential kings in the history of India and the world. Chandragupta Maurya is on our list for founding on of the greatest empires in Indian history and in the world. Maurya tried to build an empire at the same time and place as Alexander the Great, and succeeded.

Giuseppe Fiorelli (#100)

Background 

Giuseppe Fiorelli was born in Naples, Italy in 1823, though not much is known about his childhood.

Finding Pompeii

In the article on Pliny the Elder, Pliny died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a mountain along the Bay of Naples. In the eruption, the city of Pompeii was buried along with many of its people. Parts of Pompeii and its neighboring city, Herculaneum were discovered at various points in time. A few frescoes were discovered in 1599, when an underground channel was being dug. In 1738, Herculaneum was discovered while workers were building the King of Naples's summer palace. Karl Weber directed the first real excavations in 1764, but the full excavation did not start until 1860, when Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge. In 1860, King Victor Emmanuel II of Naples came to power and appointed Giuseppe Fiorelli as the head of the excavations in Pompeii. Fiorelli also became a professor of archaeology at Naples University. 

New Methods

As the director of excavations, Fiorelli introduced new excavation techniques. First, he made the excavation site study the site layer by layer. Though this took a long time, much more was could be learned the site. He also created a training school where students could learn how to study particular materials and building techniques used in Pompeii. Fiorelli's most famous excavation technique was that of pouring plaster into cavities left by bodies in the hardened lava and volcanic ash. This process, now known as the Fiorelli process, allowed the archaeologists to recreate the position and look of the body at the time of death. Fiorelli also pushed for the restoration of Pompeii's buildings, though most of the artwork was brought to Naples.

The End

Fiorelli directed the excavation of Pompeii from 1860 to 1875.  Fiorelli was appointed the director of the Naples National Archaeological Museum in 1863, and in 1875, he was appointed as the director general of Italian Antiquities and Fine Arts.  Fiorelli died on January 28th, 1896, though the cause of death is unknown. Pompeii remains one of the most famous archaeological sites of all time, and although little is known about his life, Fiorelli makes our list because the methods of archaeology that he used on Pompeii became the basis of modern archaeology. Though plastering body cavities is not used often, it was a creative and useful way to study the bodies. Also, Fiorelli's layer-by-layer method of archaeology and his study of building methods and materials are still used today. The excavation of Pompeii is now widely accepted as the first modern archaeological dig.