Iconic men through the ages

Snowie

Touchy subject in someways, as could be deamed as some what sexist....

Its not. I've been watching, that tv series Rome, Its about how julias ceaser came to power and then died. It was interesting...
In many ways but got me thinking.

Who do you see as, your most iconic soical figures in history...
There is a lot out there.

but thinking about it I'd have to say,
The Wright brothers.
Arton Senna
The reason being that, the wright brothers managed to fly, Which was of huge benafit to man kind.
Arton Senna, as a kid living and england the hole fammilly would sit around watching him an Nigal Mansill battel so many times while most of the fammilly would support mansell I always thaught arton was a better driver, and not to forget his contrabution to one hell of a great handeling sports car.

But who are yours and why ?

Will

M C Escher - just love his work, examples here.

Jim Ward - Father of modern body piercing. Without him i wouldn't have my main hobby in life

Few more but can't think, need my coffee

cowzerp

Ali, the most important man in sporting history, he took sport around the world, and kept it there.

L31mr0d

None of these topics should start without mentioning the polymath: Leonardo Da Vinci

He set the standard tbh.

Also, personally, I find Otto von Bismarck to be an astounding figure. One of the few people in History who understood power and how to wield it. He just got enough of it to accomplish his goals then stopped short where other, lesser men, would of let it intoxicate them into feelings of grandeur.

norrie rugger

Pa Norrie Rugger

eamonpendergast

Michael Collins, I'm not a militant republican or anything like that, just admire his leadership and strategic skills, along with what he achieved for Ireland.

Stephen Hawkings, brought science to the masses. One of the few (or first) scientists to have a bestselling book!

Emme

L31mr0d wrote: »

None of these topics should start without mentioning the polymath: Leonardo Da Vinci

He set the standard tbh.

Leonardo Da Vinci left a great legacy, but he was influenced by Pythagoras. Actually, Pythagoras came to my mind when I saw the title of this thread.

norrie rugger

eamonpendergast wrote: »

Michael Collins, I'm not a militant republican or anything like that, just admire his leadership and strategic skills, along with what he achieved for Ireland.

A bit OT but is it not amazing that this man's reputation is not that of Washington in America but linked to a terrorist organisation.

You feel the need to defend yourself, for proposing a great man in Irish history. Much like we feel ashamed of having a celebration march on Easter, to commerate the rising.
Thank you very much Sinn Fein, for highjacking our flag and independance, for your sordid party

QOTSA90

George Bush.. Sorry, but look what the man did, if he had just one more screw loose I think he could have changed the face of the world forever, thank fook hes gone!

pikachucheeks

Charlie Chaplin.
Oscar Wilde.
T.S Eliot.
The Blues Brothers.
Banksy.
Tarantino.

... All those people are cool. I'll think of more and post 'em up.

Gillo

Ernest Shackleton

One of the most memorable things I heard about him was that if he noticed one of his men was weakening, he'd order the chef to make hot chocolate for everyone so as not to pinpoint the weaker person.

I've read a few books on him and never fail to be amazed by his quality as a leader.

Handsome Bob

Martin Luther King jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Both men showed what's capable without being agressive, violent, or arrogant. I always say on here how do you expect to win someone over to your way of thinking if you are being in any way

a) agressive
b) confrontational
c) condescending
d) arrogant
e) egotistical

It gives me great pleasure to know that some of the most important men in history had the same way of thinking as me.

pikachucheeks

Salvador Dali.

David La Chapelle.

Charles Dickens.

dazman2250

Niccolo Machiavelli, the foremost political thinker of his time, and a man whose ideas are still highly relevant 500 years later.

CDfm

John F Kennedy was iconic and he was a rockstar president and he had Clintons charisma and if you ever see Clinton speak you would know what I mean.The first politician to understand television as a campaign medium. And he slept with Marilyn Monroe - the Madonna of her day but without the boney ass.

His Vice President who succeeded him was the radical- a Southerner Lyndon B Johnson - took on racism,segregation and the Ku Klux Klan.

Morlar

+1 for Michael Collins

Otis Driftwood

Elvis Presley.
He took black music,made it white and sold it to the world.

Pherekydes

Emme wrote: »

Actually, Pythagoras came to my mind when I saw the title of this thread.

+1.

Pythagoras was the original equal opportunities employer. His 'brotherhood' was open to women on an equal footing. In fact, his wife, Theano, took over leadership of the Pythagoreans on his death.

Other Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and several others have shaped western education and thought for 2500 years.

Other include Gauss, Euler and Pascal, who laid the foundation for modern probability theory.

godtabh

Lee Marvin - The man is a legend. There isnt one thing he hasnt done. Fought in WW2. Got shot. Became an actor. Became a drunk. Is the test case for polygamy in the States and in between this made some great films.

Also loved the story were he asked Sean Connery was his granny wearing any nickers at a dinner party.

tommmy1979

Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin for their contributions to science...

Alexander Fleming for discovering penicillin..

Captain Cook and Ferdinand Magellan for their voyages of discovery..

The list is endless

Edit: Ireland can claim a few great scientists.. Robert Boyle and George Boole to name but a few.

T

starchild

from a world perspective for me it would be nelson mandela and mother teresa
for a sports figure for me it would definitely be muhammad ali

from an irish point of view

i have always admired the achievements of tom crean

i have the utmost respect for michael collins & eamon de valera for what they both did for this country

Gone West

starchild wrote: »

and mother teresa

[gender citation needed]

Jazzy

http://www.emc3.eu/presentation/images/largephotos/fashanu_john_bi.jpg

John Fashanu.
Powerful

LegacyUser

Edvard Munch
Freddie Mercury
Stanley Kubrick
Al Pacino
Roger Moore (as James Bond)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sylvester Stallone

My icons have creative backgrounds...

BumbleB

Nikola Tesla.

pablomakaveli

Going back a bit in time but i've always thought Alexander The Great and Hannibal Barca were two iconic figures. Two brilliant generals and men who's reputations have echoed loudly down the ages.

I'd have to say Michael Collins as well. A brilliant man who was taken too early.:(

Wolfe Tone

Bobby Sands and the hunger strikers.

Ardennes1944

steven ambrose,eminem

HavingCrack

Buenaventura Durruti
Martin Luther King
Gandhi
John Steinbeck
Ernest Hemingway
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
Napoleon

jmn89

+1 Michael Collins and Ayrton Senna.

Also:
WB Yeats,
Paul Newman,
Johnny Depp,
Steve McQueen,
Robert Falcon Scott,
Jesse Owens

OldGoat

I agree with lots of the suggestions - disagree vehemently with others.
However one name that I feel need to be added to the tGC Hall of ManFame is Mr. Frank Zappa.

Composer extraordinaire, advocate of civil rights and wearer of an iconic moustache. His personal battles against the narrow minded rightwing fanatics through the US courts was epic and a stand for anyone who enjoys hearing a little profanity in their song lyrics.

"He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, autodidacticism and the abolition of censorship."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa

Hero.

Galvasean

Deleted User wrote: »

Terry Gene Bollea (AKA Hulk Hogan) is a dispicable man. Nothing gentlemanly about him.

Bottle_of_Smoke

norrie rugger wrote: »

Thank you very much Sinn Fein, for highjacking our flag and independance, for your sordid party

Are you actually for real? The tri-colour was flown at the Easter rising.

The free-state government then adopted it as the national flag.

If anything the free state hi-jacked it from the republican movement Sinn Fein were a major part of.

You do realise Sinn Fein won the 1918 election in Ireland by a landslide right?

Bottle_of_Smoke

Men I would see as iconic were Brendan Hughes for sticking to his beliefs until he died. He was also led the hunger strike in 1980 for 53 days. He called it off because he was deceived into accepting what looked like a concession to the striker's demands. Had he died on that strike it would be his face on the falls road mural not Bobby Sands, of whom I also view as iconic, like all the other hunger strikers.

John Hume for making an unpopular, courageous and ultimately correct decision to talk to Sinn Fein during the troubles, which undoubtedly was one of the most important steps in the peace process.

David norris for fighting the oppressive laws against homosexuals in a homosexual hostile state.

Shane MacGowan for his wonderful music and lyrics.

Will come back with some international icons when I think about it a bit more. Charles Darwin probably be number 1 though.

CDfm

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Are you actually for real? The tri-colour was first publicly used at the Easter rising.

Not precisely true, it was first unveiled at a meeting in Abbey Street , Dublin in 1848 and there is a plaque outsidw the Irish Life Mall & some statues commemorating the event.

The flag itself was formally adopted in the 1937 contitution.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Irish flag is known as the 'Irish Tricolour' and its history began in the early nineteenth century. It represents the unification of the old Ireland, with the green, and the new Ireland, with the orange; while the white between represents brotherhood. Irish tricolours were mentioned in 1830 and 1844 but widespread recognition was not given to the flag until 1848. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] In April of 1848, Thomas Francis Meagher, the Young Ireland leader, brought a silk tricolour of orange, white and green from Paris and presented it to a Dublin meeting. John Mitchel said "I hope to see that flag one day waving as our national banner"; however, for many years the national flag continued to be the green one with a gold harp.[/FONT]

http://www.littleshamrocks.com/Irish-Flag.html

So it does predate the Easter Rising by almost a century and it predates Thomas Francis Meagher's use of it too.

Bottle_of_Smoke

CDfm wrote: »

Not precisely true, it was first unveiled at a meeting in Abbey Street , Dublin in 1848 and there is a plaque outsidw the Irish Life Mall & some statues commemorating the event.

The flag itself was formally adopted in the 1937 contitution.

Ok well I think you know what I mean. It is best known for its symbolism during the rising.

I doubt any of the posters here accusing Sinn Fein of hijacking it would object to the 1916 rising using it. Which IMHO is ridiculously ignorant and hypocritical

CDfm

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Ok well I think you know what I mean. It is best known for its symbolism during the rising.

I doubt any of the posters here accusing Sinn Fein of hijacking it would object to the 1916 rising using it. Which IMHO is ridiculously ignorant and hypocritical

The Arklow Shipowner Kate Tyrell was the first to use it internationally on her schooner as she sailed into Liverpool after Independence and it got confused with the Italian flag. She had an ensign made several years earlier which she kept in a box in her cabin.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66291928&postcount=83

She used to transport explosives which were volitile and were safer in timber vessels. She was also the first woman ships master recorded on the Llyods Shipping Register.

So the first person to officially use the flag in any legal sense, may indeed have been a woman. And seeing that this is an iconic man thread :eek:

krudler

Paul Newman, fought in WW2 in the Pacific, Oscar winning, iconic actor in movies like Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy, The Sting, was a major contributor to charities and societies for sick children, and due to his political views was even on Richar Nixon's enemies list, married to the same woman for over 40 years, raced in Le Mans, one of the last true men in Hollywood.

Bottle_of_Smoke

I don't see your point in relation to what I said but an interesting story nonetheless. So back on topic....

CDfm

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I don't see your point in relation to what I said but an interesting story nonetheless. So back on topic....

It is , but my point was that no one tradition or gender owns the flag.

Anyway, thats miles off topic and the only reason I thought it relevant was in the context of the Iconic Men Thread and first to use the flag - a Woman. Humpf.:mad:

CDfm

From an Irish point of view Brian Boru is every bit as important as William the Conqueror is in England. He rocked by beating the Vikings and his death meant that the Battle of Clontarf was just a military victory and there was no longer term political unification at the time which eventually led to the Norman Invasion.

Pretty iconic.

tbh

Acknowledging a post is off topic is not an excuse for off-topic posting - just saying! There will obviously be a bit of discussion around choices but let's not get bogged down on minor points if possible. If you don't agree with someones choice, it's cool, just tell us your own choice

scientific1982

James Connolly.
John Hume.
Christopher Hitchens.
Henry Rollins.
Michio Kaku.
Stanley Cohen.

PK2008

Jesus Christ

Whatever he was, he left one hell of a legacy.

The Corinthian

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus
Adolf Hitler [1]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Galileo Galilei
Muhammad ibn Abdullah [2]
Zoroaster
Napoleon Bonaparte
Leonardo de Vinci
Jesus of Nazareth
Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus [3]
Socrates
Confucius
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Giuseppe Verdi
Albert Einstein
Siddhartha Gautama
Charles Darwin

There are many others who arguably have had a greater impact on our World (Paul of Tarsus had a far greater influence on the development of Christianity than Jesus of Nazareth ever did) but are not seen quite as iconic.

[1] While controversial certainly remains an iconic figure today.
[2] Iconic, although ironically cannot be portrayed in such a manner.
[3] Who, perhaps unwittingly, turned a Jewish cult into an Imperial religion.

CDfm

These two need no explanation

Santa Claus a.k.a Saint Nikolaos of Myra

Saint Patrick

DOC09UNAM

Music wise, michael jackson has left quite the legacy behind him.

Films wise, george lucas and steven spielberg pushed the boundaries with star wars, and then Many moons later Peter Jackson came along and did it again with Lord Of The Rings, three iconic men in the history of cinema.

--Kaiser--

Gaius Julius Caesar

Archimedes

Sun Tzu

Leonardo Da Vinci

Galvasean

I don't think anyone has filled so may with the enchantment and wonderment of the natural world as Sir David Attenborough.



Truly the most inspirational man I have ever encountered.

Mackman

^ Definatly. You reminded me of this guy:



He was one of the greatest spokesmen for animal rights in the world and his love and passion for all living things was unrivaled.