Earth plays host to a whole lot of people — over 7 billion at the present date. Nearly 110 billion human beings have called this planet home over the vast eons of our existence here — each having some effect (however small it might be) on the future we’ve built together. While it is true, in some sense, that we all begin as equal in the eyes of God, some of us proceed to reach heights of achievement in life that others could only dream of. In a few significant cases, the acts of single individuals have had macro-historical effects on human civilization — forging new futures and changing the paths of entire societies for centuries. Here are the ten men we believe have cast the longest shadows, and had the greatest impact, over mankind’s storied history.