- published: 22 Apr 2016
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Ricky Whittle (born 23 November 1981) is a British actor from Oldham, Greater Manchester.
The son of former Royal Air Force serviceman Harry Whittle, Whittle grew up travelling with his father's career around the world, with a home base at Burghfield Common near Reading, Berkshire.
A keen sportsman, Whittle represented England and the United Kingdom at youth level in football, rugby, American football and athletics. After having been watched by Arsenal and Celtic, an injury brought about the pursuit of a degree in criminology at the University of Southampton.
At university, Whittle began modelling, becoming the face of a Reebok campaign in 2000. This brought him to the attention of casting agents for Sky One's Dream Team. Cast as Ryan Naysmith, Whittle left university to pursue an acting career. Carrying on with his sports ambitions, in the third series Whittle broke his leg in seven places, and was forced into a long hospital stay. The writers wrote a broken leg into the Dreamteam script, allowing Whittle a slower recuperation.
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, reprinted in 1992 with revisions. It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history.
The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet of Islam Muhammad. Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination."
The 1992 revisions included the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, and the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hart took sides in the Shakespearean authorship issue and substituted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for William Shakespeare. Hart also substituted Niels Bohr and Henri Becquerel with Ernest Rutherford, thus correcting an error in the first edition. Henry Ford was also promoted from the "Honorary Mentions" list, replacing Pablo Picasso. Finally, some of the rankings were re-ordered, although no one listed in the top ten changed position.