Leopold von Ranke

Leopold von Ranke was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of historical documents. Building on the methods of the Göttingen school of history, he was the first to establish a historical seminar. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources (empiricism), an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics (Außenpolitik). He was ennobled in 1865, with the addition of a "von" to his name.

21 December 1795

Born on the same birth date (21 December 1795): Jack Russell (priest)

Born on the same birth day (21 December): Arnošt Lustig • Barry Gordon • Edward Hoagland • Jeffrey Katzenberg • Masaccio • Paul Winchell • Sherry Rehman • Thomas Allen (mathematician)

Born in the same month (December 1795): Jack Russell (priest) • Peter Andreas Hansen • Thomas Carlyle