Historical figures · Puzzle #18 · Saturday, October 17
Historical figures: the board
Eight items, eight categories, one place each. Here is the board with every figure and where it comes from, and the best way to place them. Play today's Historical figures.
The categories
- Far from home: 1 pt per doubling over 4 miles from birthplace
- Decorated: 1 pt per 2 awards and honors
- Most looked-up: 1 pt per 400,000 Wikipedia views in 2025
- Out of this world: 10 pts if a crater is named after them
- Ancient history: 1 pt per doubling over 2 years since birth
- Known worldwide: 1 pt per 25 Wikipedia languages
- Big family: 1 pt per child
- Long life: 1 pt per 5 years lived past 40
The best board
The best board is hidden while some of these items are still in play: they're on a board again within 14 days.
The lineup, figure by figure
Niccolò Machiavelli
Author of The Prince
Photo: Santi di Tito, Public domain Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.
Peter the Great
Tsar who built a new capital on a marsh
Photo: Attributed to Jean-Marc Nattier, Public domain Peter the Great had 11 children, so their best fit on this board was Big family, worth 10.0. Their weakest was Out of this world, worth 0.0, since Peter the Great has no crater named after them.
- Far from home
- died 395 miles from where they were born (6.6) Source: Wikidata Q8479
- Decorated
- received 4 awards and honors (2.0) Source: Wikidata Q8479
- Most looked-up
- their Wikipedia article was read 1.11 million times in 2025 (2.8) Source: Wikimedia pageviews, 2025
- Out of this world
- has no crater named after them (0.0) Source: Wikidata Q8479
- Ancient history
- was born 354 years ago (7.5) Source: Wikidata Q8479
- Known worldwide
- Wikipedia has an article on them in 182 languages (7.3) Source: Wikidata Q8479
- Big family
- had 11 children (10.0) Source: Wikidata Q8479
- Long life
- lived to 52 (2.4) Source: Wikidata Q8479
Roberto Clemente
Pirates star and humanitarian
Photo: US Marines, Public domain Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Led the Manhattan Project's lab at Los Alamos
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Leader of glasnost and perestroika
Photo: Leo Medvedev/Лев Леонидович Медведев, CC BY-SA 4.0 Its figures are hidden while it's still in play: it's on a board again within 14 days.
Konosuke Matsushita
Founder of Panasonic
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain Konosuke Matsushita lived to 94, so their best fit on this board was Long life, worth 10.0. Their weakest was Out of this world, worth 0.0, since Konosuke Matsushita has no crater named after them.
- Far from home
- died 41 miles from where they were born (3.4) Source: Wikidata Q252785
- Decorated
- received 8 awards and honors (4.0) Source: Wikidata Q252785
- Most looked-up
- their Wikipedia article was read 40,404 times in 2025 (0.1) Source: Wikimedia pageviews, 2025
- Out of this world
- has no crater named after them (0.0) Source: Wikidata Q252785
- Ancient history
- was born 132 years ago (6.0) Source: Wikidata Q252785
- Known worldwide
- Wikipedia has an article on them in 63 languages (2.5) Source: Wikidata Q252785
- Big family
- had 1 children (1.0) Source: Wikidata Q252785
- Long life
- lived to 94 (10.0) Source: Wikidata Q252785
René Descartes
"I think, therefore I am"
Photo: After Frans Hals, Public domain René Descartes has a crater named after them, so their best fit on this board was Out of this world, worth 10.0. Their weakest was Decorated, worth 0.0, since René Descartes received 0 awards and honors.
- Far from home
- died 1,110 miles from where they were born (8.1) Source: Wikidata Q9191
- Decorated
- received 0 awards and honors (0.0) Source: Wikidata Q9191
- Most looked-up
- their Wikipedia article was read 812,136 times in 2025 (2.0) Source: Wikimedia pageviews, 2025
- Out of this world
- has a crater named after them (10.0) Source: Wikidata Q9191
- Ancient history
- was born 430 years ago (7.7) Source: Wikidata Q9191
- Known worldwide
- Wikipedia has an article on them in 254 languages (10.0) Source: Wikidata Q9191
- Big family
- had 1 children (1.0) Source: Wikidata Q9191
- Long life
- lived to 53 (2.6) Source: Wikidata Q9191
Edward Jenner
Invented the first vaccine, against smallpox
Photo: James Northcote, Public domain On this board Edward Jenner scored best in Out of this world (10.0): Edward Jenner has a crater named after them. Far from home was their weakest fit (0.0): Edward Jenner died 0 miles from where they were born.
- Far from home
- died 0 miles from where they were born (0.0) Source: Wikidata Q40852
- Decorated
- received 4 awards and honors (2.0) Source: Wikidata Q40852
- Most looked-up
- their Wikipedia article was read 219,528 times in 2025 (0.5) Source: Wikimedia pageviews, 2025
- Out of this world
- has a crater named after them (10.0) Source: Wikidata Q40852
- Ancient history
- was born 277 years ago (7.1) Source: Wikidata Q40852
- Known worldwide
- Wikipedia has an article on them in 114 languages (4.6) Source: Wikidata Q40852
- Big family
- had 3 children (3.0) Source: Wikidata Q40852
- Long life
- lived to 73 (6.6) Source: Wikidata Q40852
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