Even in age of Wiki, Jesus is biggest hit

Published Jan 31, 2014

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London - What do Jesus, Napoleon and the prophet Muhammad have in common? They are the most significant figures in history, according to analysis of online encyclopedia Wikipedia’s three million pages.

Two computer scientists studied the Wiki pages of more than 800 000 people to come up with a list of the world’s most important figures.

Using a “ranking algorithm”, the pair looked at the length of a person’s Wikipedia page, how many times it was read and the number of links from the pages of other major figures.

Jesus was number one, with Napoleon ranked at number two and Muhammad number three.

Other figures who ranked among the top ten include William Shakespeare, Adolf Hitler and Aristotle.

The rankings are also compared against public opinion polls, Hall of Fame voting records, sports statistics and the prices of paintings and autographs.

The list appears in a book, Who’s Bigger: Where Historical Figures Really Rank, which includes separate rankings for artists and literary figures.

The highest ranked literary figure is Shakespeare, followed by Charles Dickens and Mark Twain.

The full top ten is:

1 Jesus;

2 Napoleon;

3 Muhammad;

4 William Shakespeare;

5 Abraham Lincoln;

6 George Washington;

7 Adolf Hitler;

8 Aristotle;

9 Alexander the Great;

10 Thomas Jefferson. - Daily Mail

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