Form 10. 100 Greatest Britons.

Full list[edit]

1. Sir Winston Churchill
2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3. Diana, Princess of Wales
4. Charles Darwin
5. William Shakespeare
6. Sir Isaac Newton
7. Elizabeth I
8. John Lennon
9. Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
10. Oliver Cromwell
11. Sir Ernest Shackleton, explorer. Made important contributions to the exploration of Antarctica. Was born in County Kildare, Ireland and was not British.
12. Captain James Cook, explorer. Made maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.
13. Robert Baden-Powell, soldier and activist. Founder of Scouting.
14. Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (871–899). Successfully stopped the Viking advance in England, encouraged education, proposing that primary education be taught in English, and improved his kingdom's legal system, military structure and people's quality of life.
15. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, general during the Napoleonic Wars (defeated Napoleon at Waterloo) and Prime Minister (1828–1830, 1834). Was born in Dublin, Ireland, and was not British.
16. Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister (1979–1990). First woman to have held the office.
17. Michael Crawford, TV, film and theatre actor (Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Emon television, and originated the title role in The Phantom of the Opera on the West End).
18. Queen Victoria, queen (1837–1901). Her reign is known as the Victorian era.
19. Sir Paul McCartney, musician (The Beatles).
20. Sir Alexander Fleming, physician and chemist. Discovered penicillin. Received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945.
21. Alan Turing, mathematician and pioneering computer scientist. Invented the Turing Test and devised cryptanalytical techniques, including those which cracked the Enigma machine.
22. Michael Faraday, physicist. Discovered electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis.
23. Owain Glyndŵr, Welsh ruler, the last native "prince of Wales"
24. Elizabeth II, reigning monarch (1952–present).
25. Stephen Hawking, astrophysicist. Achieved groundbreaking work in the field of quantum gravity and theoretical cosmology. Author of A Brief History of Time.
26. William Tyndale, scholar. Translated the Bible into English.
27. Emmeline Pankhurst, activist for women's rights. Helped achieve women's right to vote in the United Kingdom.
28. William Wilberforce, politician and activist. Led the anti-slavery movement.
29. David Bowie, musician (Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust, Heroes, Let's Dance)
30. Guy Fawkes, member of the Catholic Gunpowder Plot. Tried but failed to blow up the English Parliament. The event is the origin of the annual Bonfire Night.
31. Leonard Cheshire, military pilot and philanthropist.
32. Eric Morecambe, comedian and actor (Morecambe and Wise).
33. David Beckham, association football player.
34. Thomas Paine, philosopher (The Age of Reason).
35. Boudica, Celtic queen of the Iceni. Led resistance against the Roman army.
36. Sir Steve Redgrave, rower. Won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games (1984–2000).
37. Sir Thomas More, author and philosopher (Utopia).
38. William Blake, poet and painter (Songs of Innocence and Experience, Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion, Milton: A Poem in Two Books).
39. John Harrison, inventor of the marine chronometer.
40. Henry VIII, king (1509–1547).
41. Charles Dickens, novelist (Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, David Copperfield).
42. Sir Frank Whittle, engineer and inventor. Invented the turbojet engine.
43. John Peel, radio presenter.
44. John Logie Baird, engineer and inventor. Invented the television.
45. Aneurin Bevan, politician. Minister of Health (1945–1951). Spearheaded the establishment of the National Health Service, providing medical care to all UK citizens regardless of wealth.
46. Boy George, androgynous pop singer (Culture Club).
47. Sir Douglas Bader, military aviator.
48. Sir William Wallace, knight and resistance leader during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
49. Sir Francis Drake, explorer and captain. Helped defeat the Spanish Armada under Lord Howard.
50. John Wesley, religious activist. Founder of Methodism.
51. King Arthur, mythical king.
52. Florence Nightingale, humanitarian activist and founder of modern nursing. Nursed wounded soldiers during the Crimean War.
53. T. E. Lawrence, better known as "Lawrence of Arabia", soldier and author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
54. Robert Falcon Scott, explorer. Failed to reach the South Pole before Roald Amundsen and died on the way back. Became a national hero to the British because of his perseverance.
55. Enoch Powell, politician, linguist, soldier, philologist and poet.
56. Sir Cliff Richard, pop singer.
57. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor. Invented the telephone.
58. Freddie Mercury, rock singer (Queen) Born in Zanzibar of Indian Parsi descent.
59. Dame Julie Andrews, film actress (Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music).
60. Sir Edward Elgar, composer (Pomp and Circumstance Marches).
61. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, queen during WWII.
62. George Harrison, rock guitarist (The Beatles).
63. Sir David Attenborough, biologist and TV documentary presenter.
64. James Connolly, activist, politician, Socialist and Irish nationalist.
65. George Stephenson, civil engineer. "Father of the Railways". Invented the first practical steam locomotive and built the first public railway.
66. Sir Charlie Chaplin, comedian, actor and film director (The Kid, The Gold Rush, City Lights, The Great Dictator, Modern Times)
67. Tony Blair, Prime Minister (1997–2007).
68. William Caxton, printer. Introduced the printing press in England.
69. Bobby Moore, association football player. Captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup
70. Jane Austen, novelist (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility).
71. William Booth, humanitarian activist. Founder of the Salvation Army.
72. Henry V, king (1413–1422). Against all odds defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
73. Aleister Crowley, poet, novelist and occultist. Founded religion Thelema.
74. Robert the Bruce, king of the Scots (1306–1329).
75. Bob Geldof, pop singer (The Boomtown Rats) and humanitarian activist (Live Aid, Live 8). Born in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland.
76. The Unknown Warrior, soldier whose remains are buried at Westminster Abbey.
77. Robbie Williams, pop singer (Take That).
78. Edward Jenner, physician. Inventor of the smallpox vaccine.
79. David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, Prime Minister (1916–1922).
80. Charles Babbage, mathematician, philosopher, mechanical engineer and inventor. Invented the first programmable mechanical computer.
81. Geoffrey Chaucer, poet (The Canterbury Tales).
82. Richard III, king (1483–1485).
83. J. K. Rowling, novelist (Harry Potter).
84. James Watt, inventor. Improved the steam engine, making it economical for use in factories, which was fundamental to the Industrial Revolution which originated in Great Britain
85. Sir Richard Branson, businessman (Virgin).
86. Bono, rock singer (U2). Born in Dublin, Ireland, and is not British.
87. John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), rock/punk singer (The Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.)
88. Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein ('Monty'), WWII general.
89. Donald Campbell, speed record breaker. Only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year (1964).
90. Henry II, king (1154–1189). Born in Le Mans, France. Although King of England (as well as many other titles), not actually British.
91. James Clerk Maxwell, physicist. Developed the theory of electromagnetic radiation.
92. J. R. R. Tolkien, novelist (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings).
93. Sir Walter Raleigh, Explorer. Explored in Central America and sent expeditions to North America.
94. Edward I, king (1272–1307). The "Hammer of the Scots". Edward turned the longbow into England's most deadly weapon against the Scottish and French with devastating results, most notably at the Battle of Falkirk.
95. Sir Barnes Wallis, engineer and inventor. Invented the bouncing bomb, earthquake bomb and geodetic airframe.
96. Richard Burton, theatre and film actor.
97. Tony Benn, politician, and diarist.
98. David Livingstone, explorer. Discovered the origins of the Nile.
99. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, computer scientist. Inventor of the World Wide Web.
100. Marie Stopes, eugenicist and campaigner for women's rights. Pioneer in the field of birth control.