Democritus
c. 460 BC – 370 BC · 90 years · Abdera · Europe
With his teacher Leucippus he taught that the world consists of indivisible atoms moving in a void, with all things being their combinations. Ancient writers called him the "laughing philosopher".
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 5th century BC
Portrait: Odysses · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Socrates — Athenian philosopher, 10 years older
- Plato — ancient Greek philosopher, 32 years younger
- Aristotle — ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, 76 years younger
- Hippocrates — ancient Greek physician, born the same year
- Sophocles — Athenian tragic playwright, 37 years older
- Pericles — Athenian statesman, 35 years older
Middle East
- Herodotus — ancient Greek historian, 24 years older
Asia
- Mozi — Chinese philosopher, founder of Mohism, 10 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 447 BC–432 BC Construction of the Parthenon — aged 13, Europe
- 431 BC–404 BC Peloponnesian War — aged 29, Europe
- 430 BC–426 BC Plague of Athens — aged 30, Europe