MIT recently released a survey ranking the most famous people from the beginning of time (ok, or from 4000 BC), and Avril Lavigne came out on top as the most famous Canadian. Well, sort of.
In total, 121 Canadians made the list.
Jim Carrey, Justin Bieber, Celine Dion and Pamela Anderson rounded out the top 5 Canadians. Other noteable mentions include authors Leonard Cohen and Margaret Atwood, Stephen Harper, Wayne Gretzky, Terry Fox, Michael J. Fox, Bryan Adams, and Nelly Furtado.
The list of the most famous actors of all time include (CBC News):
1. Moliere
2. Johnny Depp
3. Bruce Lee
4. Charlie Chaplin
5. Brad Pitt
6. Angelina Jolie
7. Arnold Schwarzenegger
8. Marlon Brando
9. Jackie Chan
10. Ingmar Bergman
However, after much outrage that Lavigne came out on top, the website published the following disclaimer on their website: “Due to implications that have been drawn by some Pantheon visitors, we would like to remind our visitors that, 1. Small differences in ranking (i.e. who is first, second or tenth) are not statistically meaningful and should not be used to draw conclusions about the popularity of similarly ranked individuals. (i.e. we are NOT claiming that Avril Lavigne is the most famous Canadian)” (CTV News).
Photo: Avril Lavigne
