Excluding presidents, which five Americans should every US student learn about?

[Albion Wilde]

Sorry for the double post.

[M Kehoe]

Marconi
Edison
Ford
Gates
Jobs

Imho.

5.56mm

[sparklite2]

Ah, yes. Thanks.

[M Kehoe]

Oops, Marconi doesn’t count.

Oppenheimer.

5.56mm

[MomwithHope]

Henry Ford
Thomas Edison
General Patton
Antonin Scalia
Jim Robinson

[M Kehoe]

Oops again. American born, not naturalized?

I’ll go with Whitney.

5.56mm

[omega4412]

Excellent question, especially for here. My first three: Franklin, Edison, and Lee. Lewis and Clark, choose one. The transcontinental railroad deserves a place but it's hard to choose one person. Lawrence and the invention of the cyclotron, to bring in the story of nuclear physics.

Choices I particularly liked from other lists: Mark Twain, Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers (not just inventing the airplane but devising ways to measure the quantities needed to design the airplane)

[missthethunder]

Yes I meant Hedy.
I was replying to someone else who listed her
I wonder if they made the same mistake I did

[xrmusn]

but General Grant is one of the all time great generals. Grant won all his offensive campaigns.
= = = = = = = = =

“Gen Grant? For GENERAL OF THE ENTIRE ARMY?
Mr President, Do you realize he is a drunk?”

AL:”Good find out what he drinks and send ALL the Generals a case”

[Auslander154]

I wish everyone would read “Five Equations That Changed the World” by Michael Guillen.Ph.D.

The most inspirational story was of Michael Faraday.
He was a great, good, and humble man.

Young people do not know enough about the real scientists that have changed their world. My list would be all scientists:

Michael Faraday
Nikola Tesla
Albert Einstein / Max Planck
Madam Curie
James Watson/Francis Crick/Rosalind Franklin

Honorable Mention:
Tim Berners-Lee ( invented World Wide Web)
Philo Taylor Farnsworth ( inventor of TV )
Charles Babbage / Konrad Zuse ( computer )

Thank you for starting a topic that makes you think.

[hirn_man]

Alexander Hamilton
Wilbur and Orville Wright (2 for 1)
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Paine
William Tecumseh Sherman

[OKSooner]

Yes, The American Soldier aka GI Joe.

[OKSooner]

Shoot, which five from just the American Revolution, then five others?

[MayflowerMadam]

Samuel Adams
John Leland (probably responsible for ourL Freedom Of Religion)
Abigail Adams
William F. Buckley
General Patton

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

(Trying to pick people that have not been named yet...)

George Westinghouse
Babe Ruth
Elvis Presley
Billy Graham
Steve Jobs

[dfwgator]

Tadeusz Kościuszko
Kazimierz Pułaski