







Occupation
INVENTORS
With 426 biographies, Inventors are the 40th most common occupation in Pantheon, behind Skaters, Coaches, and Chess Players.
People
Pantheon has 425 people classified as inventors born between 48 and 1997. Of these 425, 39 (9.18%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living inventors include Valerie Thomas, Franky Zapata, and Ernő Rubik. The most famous deceased inventors include David Hahn, Alois Senefelder, and Nicéphore Niépce.
Living Inventors
Go to all RankingsElon Musk
1971 - Present
HPI: 86.81
Jimmy Wales
1966 - Present
HPI: 75.20
Ernő Rubik
1944 - Present
HPI: 75.03
Bob Kahn
1938 - Present
HPI: 73.96
Steve Wozniak
1950 - Present
HPI: 73.34
Robert Cailliau
1947 - Present
HPI: 64.78
Elizabeth Holmes
1984 - Present
HPI: 63.91
Robert Metcalfe
1946 - Present
HPI: 63.58
Gunther von Hagens
1945 - Present
HPI: 62.91
Larry Sanger
1968 - Present
HPI: 62.66
James Dyson
1947 - Present
HPI: 61.68
Peter Madsen
1971 - Present
HPI: 59.74
Deceased Inventors
Go to all RankingsLeonardo da Vinci
1452 - 1519
HPI: 96.80
Nikola Tesla
1856 - 1943
HPI: 91.90
Thomas Edison
1847 - 1931
HPI: 91.65
Johannes Gutenberg
1394 - 1468
HPI: 90.58
James Watt
1736 - 1819
HPI: 88.47
Karl Benz
1844 - 1929
HPI: 88.12
Alexander Graham Bell
1847 - 1922
HPI: 85.31
Guglielmo Marconi
1874 - 1937
HPI: 83.41
Henry Ford
1863 - 1947
HPI: 82.33
Louis Braille
1809 - 1852
HPI: 81.98
Charles Babbage
1791 - 1871
HPI: 81.59
Samuel Morse
1791 - 1872
HPI: 80.49
Places
Most inventors were born in United States (131), United Kingdom (68), and Germany (45). By city, the most common birth places were Paris (10), Philadelphia (8), and London (5).
Places Over Time
The earliest biographies classified as inventors in Pantheon are Thonmi Sambhota, Mary the Jewess, and Cai Lun. The concentration of inventors was largest during the Newspaper Era, which lasted from 1700 to 1899. Some birth or death locations for earlier inventors are unknown, which may account for timeline differences below.
Lifespans
Which Inventors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Inventors since 1700.