46: The Series (Episode 2: People)
There are people in history that I want to make sure my children know about. Their struggles and their stories help tell the story of why we are where we are as a country and also as a family. I can’t rely on the schools to teach them about these people. After all, I just asked one of them today who Ben Franklin was and got “Uh, wasn’t he the guy who invented the telephone? No? The telegraph?” Maybe I have my work cut out for me.
Of course, there are people like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others in American history that I want my children to know about. Hopefully Ben Franklin was just an anomaly, or I’m gonna have to re-write this list.
Anyway, I’ve composed a list of 46 people throughout history that I want to make sure my children know about. There are a few on here I’m pretty sure the older two know about. I want to include them anyway. I want them to know about their struggles. I want them to know about their ingenuity, leadership, faithfulness, and determination. I may not agree with all of their ideologies or philosophies, but I want them to learn from them and be challenged by their stories. I will elaborate at a later date why I have chosen the people I’ve chosen. Some might make sense. Others might leave you scratching your heads.
That’s OK.
I’m sure this list will continue to grow. But I chose to use pick 46 of them. So here goes…
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Maximus the Confessor
- Gregory of Nazianzus
- Julian of Norwich
- Waite Phillips
- James Naismith
- Frederick Douglass
- Martin Luther
- W.E.B. DuBois
- Ryan White
- Ruby Bridges
- Rosa Parks
- Haile Selassie I
- Haile Gebraselassie
- Jesse Owens
- Thomas Edison
- Henry Ford
- William Wilberforce
- Rich Mullins
- Earl Todd
- Cædmon
- St. Patrick
- Amelia Earhart
- St. Nicholas
- Gregory the Great
- Harry and Bertha Holt
- Lord Robert Baden-Powell
- Tecumseh
- Sally Ride
- Christa McCauliffe
- Geraldine Ferraro
- Condoleezza Rice
- John Purdue
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Francis of Assisi
- Truett Cathy
- Jim Elliot
- Ernie Pyle
- Johannes Gutenberg
- Aaron Copland
- Jonas Salk
- Clara Barton
- Nolan Bushnell
- Steve Jobs
- Billy Graham
Who would you include on the list?
Latest posts by Matt Todd (see all)
- My PopCon Conversation with Carl Doninger - April 25, 2024
- What would your liftoff song(s) be? - April 12, 2024
- My solar eclipse playlist (redux) - April 6, 2024
William Still. Should definitely expand the list to include him.
And Josephus Hopwood.