Derived from the Latin root ‘fama,’ it literally means ‘talk’ and implies something that is talked about in the city or a thing of repute. There are many ways for people to become famous, but it is not always a deliberate or willful act. There are millions of Americans who are famous, and to find the most famous amongst them is like finding a needle in a haystack. The list given below is simply our point of view and by no means something conclusive, which, in fact, is an unachievable objective.

1.  Bartolome de Las Casas

Bartolome de Las Casas was born in 1484 in Seville, Kingdom of Seville, Castile, and died on July18, 1566 at the age of 82. He was buried in the Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha. Being one of the first settlers in the New World, he opposed the atrocities against Native Americans and advocated for them before King Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The Mexican capital Chiapas was renamed after him as San Cristobel de Las Casas. The Church of England enrolled him in the Calendar of Saints.

2.  Simon Bolivar

Simon Jose Antonio de La Santisma Trinidad Bolivar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco, popularly known as Simon Bolivar, was born in Caracas,Captaincy General of Venezuela, Spanish Empire on July 24, 1783 and died in Santa Marta, New Granada, on December 17, 1830 at the age of 47. He was a political and military leader who played a pivotal role in the success of the Hispanic, Spanish-American struggle for independence.

3. Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S. on February 12, 1809 and died in Petersen House, Washington, U.S., on April 15, 1865 at the age of 56. He was the 16th President of the United States and remained in his office from March, 1861 till his assassination in April, 1865. Abraham Lincoln preserved his country during a great moral, military, and Constitutional crisis during the Civil War. He appears on U.S airmail stamps, coins, and the five-dollar bill. He is the most identified person in the world.

4. Harriet Tubman

Arminta Harriet Rose, popularly known as Harriet Tubman and sometimes known as Minty Moses, was born in Dorchester County, Maryland, U.S. in 1820 and died in Auburn, New York, U.S. on March 10, 1913 at the age of 93 suffering from pneumonia. She was born a slave and escaped from slavery and freed 70 slaves utilizing the services of the antislavery devout activists and safe havens called the ‘underground railroad.’ She guided an armed expedition, the Combahee River Raid which liberated 700 slaves in South Carolina.

5. Samuel Langhorne

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, popularly known as Mark Twain, was born to John Marshal Clemens and Jane Lampton Clemens in Florida, Missouri, U.S. on November 30, 1835. His birth name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He died in Redding, Connecticut, U.S. on April 21, 1910 at the age of 74. Mark Twain is reputed as the greatest American humorist of his age and sometimes as the father of American literature. His novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published in 1876 and its sequel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn made him a household name in America. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is sometimes known as ‘The Great American Novel.’ His awards were prolific, and many streets, schools, and even Army installations have been named after him. His boyhood residence is preserved as a national heritage. A postal stamp with his portrait and name ‘Samuel L. Clemens’ was issued in 1940 while another with Halley’s Comet which appeared when he was born was issued on December 4, 1985.

6. Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, U.S. on February 11, 1847 and died in West Orange, New Jersey, U.S. on October 18, 1931.He was a famous inventor, scientist and businessman. Known as ‘The Wizard of Menlo Park,’ Edison is the fourth most prolific inventor holding 1,093 U.S. patents and many others in the U.K., France, and Germany.

7 . Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born in Kingdom of Wurttemberg, German Empire on March 14, 1879 and died in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. on April 18, 1955 at the age of 76. He had been a Swiss, Austrian, German, and ultimately an American citizen from 1940 to 1955. His alma mater was ETH Zurich University, Zurich, but he was associated with the Swiss Patent Office, Charles University of Prague, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute and the University of Leiden for Advanced Studies. Albert Einstein is considered the father of modern physics, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 ‘for his services to theoretical physics and especially for his discovery of the law of photoelectric effect.’ This law played the pivotal role in establishing quantum theory, a major discovery in physics.

8.  Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S. on February 4, 1913 and died in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92. She was an African-American, popular Civil Rights activist; and best known for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. U.S. Congress called her ‘The Mother of the Freedom Movement’ and ‘the First Lady of Civil Rights.’ She refused to surrender her seat in favor of a white passenger at the orders of the bus driver, James F. Blakes, in Montgomery, Alabama in December, 1955. Her action, though not the first of its kind, prompted and realized the Civil Rights Movement.

9. Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. on January 17, 1942. He is 6’3’ tall with an 80-inch reach. Originally known as Cassius Clay, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali after embracing Islam. He is inclined to Islamic Mysticism (Sufism) in conformance with the Sunni Sect of Islam. He is the first and only thrice winner of the Lineal World Heavyweight Champion. Muhammad Ali  is the most famous athlete in the world. In 1999, he was crowned as ‘Sportsman of the Century,’ and the BBC nominated him as ‘Sports Personality of the Century.’ He fought 61 matches; the most prominent being against Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Sony Liston, Floyd Patterson, and Ken Norton. He gave grace to boxing with his  ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ style. He was against the Vietnam War saying, ‘I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me nigger.’ This phrase prompted Martin Luther King, Jr. to march on Washington. He is one of the most famous and popular Americans.

10. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born to Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams Kin in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. on January 15, 1929 and died in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. on April 4, 1968 at the young age of only 39. His birth name was Michael King, Jr. His alma mater was Morehouse College where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He received a Bachelor of Divinity degree (B.D.) from Cozer Theological Seminary, and a doctorate from Boston University. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964, a Presidential Award in 1977, and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2004 after his death. He was inspired by Gandhi’s non-violent resistance doctrine; therefore, he visited his birthplace in India in 1959. King’s speech ‘I Have a Dream’ is considered to be like Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘infamy’ speech. The Big Six’s including King marched on Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963, and King’s speech facilitated in the culmination of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Conclusion:

Fame is like a shadow never caught by those who chased it as it ran faster than those who ran behind it. And queerly the shadow followed those who turned their backs from it. The faster they ran, fame approached them more speedily. Heights achieved by great men were not attained in a sudden flight, and a devout, dedicated, and persistent struggle is invariably seen in its perspective. For many it was a matter of ‘easy come, easy go’ as quite a few famous people could not preserve themselves from infamy.