Who is the most famous American?
American Culture
20 Answers
Other non popculture references:
Abe Lincoln (freed the slaves) George Washington (our first president) Thomas Jefferson (wrote the declaration of independence)
FDR (pulled the country out of the great depression) Benjamin Franklin (scientist, writer, diplomat and more) MLK (African American rights leader) Thomas Edison (invented the lightbulb) Henry Ford (started america's love for cars) Walt Disney (entertainment entrepreneur) Albert Einstein (E=mc^2) Bill Gates (Microsoft) Elvis Presley (the king of rock and roll ... as previously mentioned) Babe Ruth (baseball)
And some authors: Steinbeck, Hemingway, Thoreau, Emerson
We all have different ideas of fame and sometimes get it confused with infamy.
But to me there are two Americans who influenced my early years of understanding
what was America, and who were the "Americans" and they were, "Mark Twain"
( Samuel Clemmens) and " O Henry" ( William Sydney Porter) . They both
influenced my ideas, and opened up a new world of inquiry into the literature and
culture of the USA. I have been a fan ever since,so Mark Twain is my man.
At times I get a bit "fed up" hearing incorrect information - ( ref the light bulb above )
The first electric light was made in 1800 by Humphry Davy, an English scientist. He experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. When he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed, producing light. This is called an electric arc.
Much later, in 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) was determined to devise a practical, long-lasting electric light. He found that a carbon paper filament worked well, but burned up quickly. In 1878, he demonstrated his new electric lamps in Newcastle, England.
In 1877, the American Charles Francis Brush manufactured some carbon arcs to light a public square in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. These arcs were used on a few streets, in a few large office buildings, and even some stores. Electric lights were only used by a few people.
The inventor Thomas Alva Edison (in the USA) experimented with thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting. In 1879, Edison discovered that a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb glowed but did not burn up for 40 hours. Edison eventually produced a bulb that could glow for over 1500 hours.
Re Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich, where he later on began his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Later, they moved to Italy and Albert continued his education at Aarau, Switzerland and in 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in physics and mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his diploma, he acquired Swiss citizenship and, as he was unable to find a teaching post, he accepted a position as technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905 he obtained his doctor's degree. ...
... My American heroe is Henry Thoreau - but I bet most do not know his name.
"Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practise in himself. ... He went to gaol for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable." - Mohandas Gandhi
Michael Jackson is probably more well known than Elvis. Most likely, any of our presidents or pop artists are known around the globe for their acts of stupidity.
What I mean is that most of our famous people are notorious rather than famous. Our pop artists seem to hog a great deal of that malignant spotlight.
As for presidents, Bill Clinton will be forever known as the cheating husband. I found him to be an amazing president, just a very poor spouse.
Sports - Muhammad Ali
Inventor - Thomas Edison
Music - Elvis
Jerry Garcia.
Would have to be Martin Luther King.
Barack Obama
You might be right about it being MJ, but during the Elvis festival in Las Vegas every year 1 in 5 people are dressed like Elvis. It's incredable.
John Wayne recieved a Congressional Gold Medal which is an award bestowed by the United States Congress and is, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
Michael Jackson is undoubtedly the most famous American in regards to American Culture. You can go anywhere in the world and people are familiar with and influenced by Jackson's wonderful music!
Elvis Presley, no doubt.
If you allow naturalized immigrants, either Levi Strauss or Will Hung.
I do not really believe that Jerry Garcia is the most famous American, but if Americans really had good sense, he would be. Good answer!
Wouldn't John F. Kennedy figure somewhere in there?
