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I was watching VOY: Scorpion last night. At the beginning of Part I, Captain Janeway spends some time on the Holodeck conversing with Leonardo da Vinci about his inventions and suggesting refinements.

Who are the actual Earth history figures that have been recreated on the Holodeck in any of the Star Trek series?

Specifically:
- From real Earth history (as opposed to fiction in-universe history).
- Verified as having existed.

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    I'm at a loss who's voted to close this as 'too broad'. It's simple and definitively answerable.
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 16:25
  • by "actual" do you mean, out of universe, our reality? (the second criteria is vaguely worded). If not, the NX crew would count thanks to Riker....
    – NKCampbell
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 16:30
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    @Spencer - Yes, moriarty is out. I attempted to post a question on fictional as well, but it got DV to oblivion.
    – JohnP
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 16:40
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    The title says "Which" but the question body says "How many". So what is it you are asking for, a list of names, or a number?
    – user14111
    Commented Oct 25, 2017 at 3:51
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    @user14111 an answer that just gave a number without listing the names would be very poor indeed, regardless of the question.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Oct 26, 2017 at 14:43

3 Answers 3

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In terms of historical personages actually seen on screen we have;

Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking (TNG: Descent)
enter image description here

Sigmund Freud (TNG: Phantasms)
enter image description here

Leonardo Da Vinci (VOY: Scorpion, VOY: Concerning Flight, etc)
enter image description here

Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Byron, Socrates (VOY: Darkling)
enter image description here

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    Related: the "real" Sir Isaac Newton was brought aboard Voyager in the episode "Death Wish".
    – Ellesedil
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 16:31
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    I think you made a mistake. That's a picture of Gimli with a green hat badly photoshopped on, not Leonardo da Vinci.
    – KSmarts
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 19:20
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    Does Stephen Hawking count if he was played by Stephen Hawking? Or is he the only one that counts?
    – jwodder
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 20:06
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    @AytAyt: That baseball player you refer to is actually fictional. He's a player set sometime in our future who plays for a baseball team that doesn't (yet) exist.
    – Ellesedil
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 21:59
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    @jwodder While Hawking is still alive in our world, he is very likely deceased when that episode takes place, making him a historical person in the context of that episode.
    – Philipp
    Commented Oct 25, 2017 at 10:47
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Seen on screen

  • Albert Einstein, besides on Descent as Valorum pointed out, was also recreated in TNG: The Nth Degree by Reginald Barclay.

Only referenced in dialogue or otherwise implied to exist

The following were not explicitly seen on screen but only referenced in dialogue, or indirectly implied to exist by the context:

  • Tris Speaker and Ted Williams were two 20th century baseball players that were available on a holosuite program run by Benjamin and Jake Sisko on DS9: If wishes were horses.
  • The Three Musketeers was a holoprogram run by Reginald Barclay on TNG: Hollow Pursuits, based on the famous novel of Alexandre Dumas; real historical figures like King Louis XIII of France, Cardinal Richelieu and the Duke of Buckingham appeared on the novel, and it is safe to assume that their holographic versions were featured on the holonovel as well.
  • The Battle of the Thermopylae was a holoprogram where Dr. Bashir wanted to carry Ezri Dax to, in DS9: What you leave behind. Very probably it contained real historical figures like King Leonidas.
  • The Battle of the Alamo, similarly, was a holoprogram enjoyed by Julian Bashir and Miles O'Brien and referenced in DS9: Wrongs darker than death or night and DS9: The changing face of evil; even here, real historical characters were likely recreated.
  • The Battle of Britain, probably the favourite holoprogram of Bashir and O'Brien, and referenced in many episodes.
    If compared with the above examples, we have far less evidence that real historical figures were created in this holoprogram, that focused on the aerial battles during World War II; anyway, I think it is fair to suppose that the appeal to run historical holoprograms was not just to live in another era but also to interact with real historical figures; and another supposition of mine without any reference, but I like to think that B&O'B ran that program not just for actual airplane battles, but also for the supposed briefing/debriefing/aftermath parts, where they could have had the chance to meet some real historical figure.

Bonus: impersonated by crew members

The following historical figures were not recreated by actual holograms, but were impersonated by crew members inside a holoprogram:

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    There's no good indication that the Battle of Britain program contained any real life figures. The only person referred to is "Clive".
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 18:32
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    No, there is no evidence, hence my "very probably" statements; I think it is fair to suppose that the appeal to run historical holoprograms was not just to live in another era but also to interact with real historical figures; another supposition of mine without any reference, but I like to think that B&O'B run that program not just for the airplane battles, but also for the supposed briefing/debriefing/aftermath parts, where they could have had the chance to meet someone (maybe even being decorated by Churchill himself :D)
    – Sekhemty
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 18:37
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Seriously, kids these days.

Star Trek: TOS didn't have any newfangled, highfalutin' holler-decks. Instead we had to make do with historical figures living through to Starfleet times, or with aliens recreating famous people to try to kill Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and various red shirts.

Ahem. Anyway, since you specifically allowed TOS:

Believe me, the "holodeck episode" was invented long before the holodeck.

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    This isn't an answer to the question asked (e.g. which ones appear on the holodeck). You've invented your own question and then answered it.
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 25, 2017 at 1:32
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    @Valorum Oh for Pete's sake, OP's original text of the question said "any Star Trek series" and specifically allowed TOS. It was your own edit that changed it, because you wanted to emphasize the holodeck over the appearance of historical characters. It can be argued that it was you who invented their own question.
    – Spencer
    Commented Oct 25, 2017 at 2:11
  • I'd leave off Apollo because he was supposed to be the original being, not a recreation. @Valorum According to the letter of the question, yes, this answer doesn't directly address it. However, this isn't Server Fault where straying slightly from the original question results in an insecure server or Stack Overflow where it results in subtly broken programs. I think this answer stays within the spirit of the question (fake recreations of historical figures) and provides some related information that is likely to interest people wondering about the original question.
    – jpmc26
    Commented Oct 25, 2017 at 5:40
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    Per the original question "how many actual Earth history figures have been recreated on the holodeck?". I didn't change the focus of the question, I merely bolded and highlighted it. If the question was "What historical figures do we ever see in Star Trek", there'd be scope to add dozens more.
    – Valorum
    Commented Oct 25, 2017 at 8:07
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    This answer is clearly off-topic, the question was crystalline clear in asking specifically about the holodeck and not about general appearances of historical characters, even in its first unedited version.
    – Sekhemty
    Commented Oct 25, 2017 at 10:06

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