46: The Series (Episode 2: People)

XLVI

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…

  1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  2. Maximus the Confessor
  3. Gregory of Nazianzus
  4. Julian of Norwich
  5. Waite Phillips
  6. James Naismith
  7. Frederick Douglass
  8. Martin Luther
  9. W.E.B. DuBois
  10. Ryan White
  11. Ruby Bridges
  12. Rosa Parks
  13. Haile Selassie I
  14. Haile Gebraselassie
  15. Jesse Owens
  16. Thomas Edison
  17. Henry Ford
  18. William Wilberforce
  19. Rich Mullins
  20. Earl Todd
  21. Cædmon
  22. St. Patrick
  23. Amelia Earhart
  24. St. Nicholas
  25. Gregory the Great
  26. Harry and Bertha Holt
  27. Lord Robert Baden-Powell
  28. Tecumseh
  29. Sally Ride
  30. Christa McCauliffe
  31. Geraldine Ferraro
  32. Condoleezza Rice
  33. John Purdue
  34. Ludwig van Beethoven
  35. Johann Sebastian Bach
  36. Francis of Assisi
  37. Truett Cathy
  38. Jim Elliot
  39. Ernie Pyle
  40. Johannes Gutenberg
  41. Aaron Copland
  42. Jonas Salk
  43. Clara Barton
  44. Nolan Bushnell
  45. Steve Jobs
  46. Billy Graham

Who would you include on the list?

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Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
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