The Greatest Britons of all Time Chosen by the People of Britain

In November 2002, the British public voted to find the Greatest Britons of all time. Over a million people voted. Here are the results:

1. Sir Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill was a politician, a soldier, an artist, and the 20th century's most famous and celebrated Prime Minister.

2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was an extraordinary Victorian engineer. He designed and built amongst other structures bridges, ships, railways and viaducts.

3. Diana, Princess of Wales. From the time of her marriage to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in a car accident in Paris in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales was one of the world's most high-profile, most photographed, and most iconic celebrities.

4. Charles Darwin. A British naturalist of the nineteenth century. He and others developed the theory of evolution. This theory forms the basis for the modern life sciences. Darwin's most famous books are "The Origin of Species" and "The Descent of Man".

5. William Shakespeare. Playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in English literature. He wrote dozens of plays, which continue to dominate World Theater 400 years later.

6. Sir Isaac Newton. Mathematician and scientist who invented differential calculus and formulated the theory of universal gravitation, a theory about the nature of light, and three laws of motion.

7. Queen Elizabeth I. The daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I reigned England from 1558–1603. Her reign was marked by several plots to overthrow her, the execution of Mary Queen of Scots (1587), the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588), and domestic prosperity and literary achievement.

Princess Diana Paul McCartney Winston Churchill

8. John Lennon. John Lennon was a musician and composer who was a member of the Beatles, the biggest rock band of the 1960s.

9. Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. Nelson is the greatest hero in British naval history, an honor he earned by defeating Napoleon's fleet in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.

10. Oliver Cromwell. Oliver Cromwell was a military, political, and religious figure who led the Parliamentarian victory in the English Civil War (1642–1649) and called for the execution of Charles I. He was Lord Protector of England for much of the 1650s, ruling in place of the country's traditional monarchy.

11. Captain James Cook. James Cook was an explorer of the eighteenth century, known for his voyages to the Pacific Ocean. Cook visited New Zealand, established the first European colony in Australia, and was the first European to visit Hawaii. He also approached Antarctica and explored much of the western coast of North America.

12. Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher was the United Kingdom's first woman prime minister, and she held the office of PM for longer than anyone in the 20th century.

 

Alexander Fleming David Beckham Charles Darwin

13. Queen Victoria. Victoria's nearly 64-year reign was the longest in British history.

14. Sir Paul McCartney. McCartney was a singer, songwriter and guitarist for the Beatles, the biggest rock band of the 1960s.

15. Sir Alexander Fleming. British bacteriologist who discovered penicillin in 1928, for which he was awarded with a Nobel Prize in 1945.

16. Alan Turing. English mathematician whose works explored the possibility of computers and raised fundamental questions about artificial intelligence. During World War II he contributed to the allied victory by helping to decipher the German Enigma codes.

17. Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) is the Queen regnant and Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and fifteen other Commonwealth countries.

18. David Beckham. Beckham is a leading English footballer and a former star of the legendary team Manchester United.

19. Charles Dickens – writer. Charles Dickens wrote some of the most popular and widely read novels of the 19th century, from "Oliver Twist" to "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Great Expectations".

20. Freddie Mercury – singer.