[grey cells]

This riddle is to pay my respects to one of the greatest persons ever to have lived on earth.

" I was born on a day , which is not a holiday ,

But still a day where people have loads of fun.

My followers though could not bear the thought ,

And hence incremented my birthdate by one.

I was the one responsible for providing a clue ,

To one of the dark secrets inside man .

I lived in the land which has been ruled by a queen ,

And from whence has sprouted the Barmy Army of great renown."

Who am I?

[Guest]

Closest fit I can come up with is Herr Freud.

His B-day is one day off from Cinco de Mayo and the Pleasure Principal might very well be one of the dark secrets inside man.

But, I wouldn't agree that he's one of the world's greatest persons.

Is that who you had in mind?

[Guest]

I would think possibly Isaac Newton.

He was born in February, but since the calendar had not been adopted, his birthday was recorded as Dec 25th (Christmas).

He was also born in England, home of the Barmy Army (a group of Cricket fans)

I will keep thinking

[Guest]

Don't know

HG Wells, based on your time machine post. I have no other reason.

[itachi-san]

Though I don't know who this can be yet I can discern the point (hopefully). This person was born on April Fool's Day, but he/she is so highly regarded that their followers cannot bear to celebrate their birthday on such an occasion. Also, the person is clearly English.

[Guest]

Though I don't know who this can be yet I can discern the point (hopefully). This person was born on April Fool's Day, but he/she is so highly regarded that their followers cannot bear to celebrate their birthday on such an occasion. Also, the person is clearly English.

First thought was english cricketer born 1 st april or 31st march

David Gower, nice person but can't place him that high up. also does not work with 2nd section other than en-ge-land

Don't know anyone (yet) who has an increased bithdate - hang on iis it my friend Abbas, he is born on 2nd april, and always fools around?

[itachi-san]

It's Abbas.

[Guest]

This riddle is to pay my respects to one of the greatest persons ever to have lived on earth.

" I was born on a day , which is not a holiday ,

But still a day where people have loads of fun.

My followers though could not bear the thought ,

And hence incremented my birthdate by one.

May refer to some religious mentor

I was the one responsible for providing a clue ,

To one of the dark secrets inside man .

Refers to Freud (but how can he be one of the greatest person living on earth??)

I lived in the land which has been ruled by a queen ,

And from whence has sprouted the Barmy Army of great renown."

Is british

Who am I?

Thinking...

[Guest]

William Harvey..

Birthday 1st april...

Discovered systemic circulation and properties of blood

But I still have confusion...he might be a very noble man...but one of the greatest persons ever to have lived on earth??..not sure

Edited April 3, 2008 by storm

[grey cells]

Great , Storm has got it . And I agree that he was not one of greatest person in terms of fame (or) the magnitude of his achievement . But after the manuscripts of Micheal Servetus alias Miguel Serveto , a physician of the 15th century , with a multitude of other interests , on pulmonary circulation were destroyed , William Harvey was the one who succeeded in rediscoverering them and putting mankind on the right path.

And moreover , the allusion to his greatness was my personal viewpoint . It was not included in the riddle .

And Congrats to Itachi-san for unraveling the hidden meaning of the puzzle initially .

And LIS , hats-off to your reasoning . And by the way I am against the concept of time travel , I support the theory of Multiverse.

[Guest]

Decent riddle, but "one of the greatest persons ever to have lived on earth?"

Pretty big assertion for such an obscure persona. His contribution, while important, is pretty esoteric.

I'd think that to qualify as "one of the greatest persons ever to have lived on earth" one would have to be a household name, or at least commonly recognized outside the field of study where one contributes. Think Einstein, Freud, Jesus, Newton, Hippocraties, Socrates, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Confucious, Plato, Moses, Edison... - I am sure I can name over 100 people more recognizable for equally or more important contributions to society at large.

EDIT: Pardon. I did find a list of the 100 most influential people ever and William Harvey was number 60.

[Guest]

Decent riddle, but "one of the greatest persons ever to have lived on earth?"

Pretty big assertion for such an obscure persona. His contribution, while important, is pretty esoteric.

I'd think that to qualify as "one of the greatest persons ever to have lived on earth" one would have to be a household name, or at least commonly recognized outside the field of study where one contributes. Think Einstein, Freud, Jesus, Newton, Hippocraties, Socrates, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Confucious, Plato, Moses, Edison... - I am sure I can name over 100 people more recognizable for equally or more important contributions to society at large.

EDIT: Pardon. I did find a list of the 100 most influential people ever and William Harvey was number 60.

Try MIchael J Hart's "The 100" the most reputed book of 100 most influencial people on earth

The first 15 are-

1Mohammed

2Isaac Newton

3Jesus Christ

4Buddha

5Confucius

6St. Paul

7Ts'ai Lun

8Johannes Gutenberg

9Christopher Columbus

10Albert Einstein

11Louis Pasteur

12Galileo Galilei

13Aristotle

14Euclid

15Moses

WILLIAM HARVEY IS ON 55

Not a bad position though

Edited April 4, 2008 by storm

[grey cells]

First of all I apologize if my inclusion of the word "greatest" misled you all . But as I have mentioned in my previous post the particular line was not included in the riddle , it was just my opinion of him being one of the greatest persons .

And Storm , thanks for the list of the top 15 most influential people on earth .

Thanks for the compliment , Writersblock.