Thomas Paine

American Founding Father, philosopher, and political activist (1737–1809)

  • Fame74.2
  • Momentum0.5
  • Academics rank#87
Source-basedFalling
  • Fame74.2
  • Momentum0.5
  • Academics rank#87
  • Wikipedia57.5K
Lived 1737–1809, aged 72United Kingdom
  • Wikipedia
    90 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1737–1809
    Aged 72
  • Awards
    1
    recognised work
Summary
Updated 2026-06-09

The pamphleteer who lit the fuse for American independence then burned every bridge he had. Common Sense made him the Revolution's indispensable voice; The Age of Reason made him radioactive—so toxic that six people showed up to bury him.

Biography

About

Born in Thetford, Norfolk, in 1737, Paine crossed to the colonies in 1774 with Benjamin Franklin's backing and arrived just as rebellion crystallized. His 47-page Common Sense in 1776 catalyzed the break from Britain—virtually every Patriot read it—and he followed with The American Crisis pamphlets through 1783. He returned to Britain in 1787, wrote Rights of Man in 1791 to defend the French Revolution against Edmund Burke, and was convicted in absentia for seditious libel in 1792. He fled to France that September, won a seat in the National Convention despite speaking no French, then landed i…

Where to find them

Platforms

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Falling
74.2
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum0.5
Historical26.1
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Global rank
Country rank
Category rank
#87
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence