Isaac Newton
1643 – 1727 · 84 years · Cambridge · Europe
Formulated universal gravitation and the laws of motion, co-invented calculus and explained the colour spectrum, founding classical physics.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 17th century
Portrait: Godfrey Kneller · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 5 years older
- Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 42 years younger
- Voltaire — French Enlightenment writer, 51 years younger
- Rembrandt — Dutch painter, 37 years older
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — German philosopher and mathematician, 3 years younger
- Leopold I — emperor under whom Vienna was saved from the Turks and Hungary retaken, 3 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Peter the Great — first Emperor of Russia, 29 years younger
- Mikhail Lomonosov — Russian polymath, 68 years younger
- Vitus Bering — Danish explorer in Russian service, 38 years younger
- Catherine I — first Russian empress, widow of Peter the Great, 41 years younger
- Anna — empress who tore up the Conditions; era of Biron's dominance, 50 years younger
- Alexis the Most Quiet — tsar of the 1649 Law Code and the church schism, 14 years older
Middle East
- Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', 30 years younger
- Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 45 years younger
- Ahmed II — sultan who lost the Battle of Slankamen, born the same year
- Mehmed IV the Hunter — sultan of the Köprülü era and the siege of Vienna, 1 year older
- Suleiman II — sultan who retook Belgrade after 39 years in the 'cage', 1 year older
- Evliya Çelebi — Ottoman traveller, 32 years older
Africa
- Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba — Queen of Ndongo and Matamba, 60 years older
- Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 2 years younger
- Osei Tutu I — founder of the Ashanti Empire, 17 years younger
- Fasilides — Emperor of Ethiopia, 40 years older
- Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, 41 years younger
Asia
- Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 11 years younger
- Aurangzeb — Mughal emperor, 25 years older
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 3 years younger
- Matsuo Bashō — Japanese poet, 1 year younger
- Tokugawa Yoshimune — reforming shogun who allowed Western books, 41 years younger
- Shivaji — founder of the Maratha state, 13 years older
Americas
- Benjamin Franklin — American scientist and statesman, 63 years younger
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz — Mexican poet and nun, 5 years younger
Oceania
- Abel Tasman — Dutch navigator, 40 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1644 Fall of the Ming, rise of the Qing — aged 1, Asia
- 1648 Peace of Westphalia — aged 5, Europe
- 1649 Execution of Charles I of England — aged 6, Europe
- 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement — aged 11, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1662 Last sighting of the dodo — aged 19, Africa
- 1676 Leeuwenhoek sees microbes — aged 33, Europe
- 1682 Accession of Peter the Great — aged 39, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1683 Battle of Vienna — aged 40, Europe
- 1687 Newton's Principia — aged 44, Europe
- 1688–1689 Glorious Revolution — aged 45, Europe
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 60, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — aged 66, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1721 Proclamation of the Russian Empire — aged 78, Eastern Europe & Russia