Here are a list of a few:

Paul McCartney: In 1965, the melody for the song Yesterday came to Paul McCartney in a dream.

Mary Shelley: In 1816, the story Frankenstein was inspired by her dream and later written.

Otto Loewi: In 1920, Loewi dreamed of an experiment that led to the foundation of a theory of chemical transmission of the nervous impulse and led to a Nobel Prize.

President Abraham Lincoln: Dreamed of his assassination and described the dream to his wife just a few days prior to his assassination.

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz: Two of his dreams led to major scientific discoveries: The Structure Theory and the discovery that Benzene molecule, unlike other known organic compounds, had a circular structure rather than a linear one,

Madame C.J. Walker: Walker was suffering from a scalp infection that caused her to loose most of her hair in the 1890’s. She had a dream that informed her of the ingredients needed to solve her problem. Madame Walker founded a successful African-American cosmetic company that made her a millionaire.

Elias Howe: In 1845 Elias Howe invented the sewing machine. He had a dream that helped him understand how the penetration of the needle would work in his invention.

Robert Louis Stevenson: In 1886, the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was visualized in a dream. It was conceived and written in just 10 weeks following his dream.

Jack Nicklaus: In 1964 Jack Nicklaus discovered a new golf swing in a dream bringing him out of a bad golf slump.

Srinivasa Ramanujan: (1887-1920) One of India’s greatest mathematical geniuses made substantial contributions to analytical theory of numbers, worked on elliptical functions, continued fractions, and infinite series, and proved over mathematical 3,000 theorems in his lifetime. Ramanujan stated that inspiration and insight for his work came to him in his dreams on may occasions.

Louis Agassiz: (1807-1883) A Swiss born naturalist, zoologist, geologist, and teacher. While Agassiz was working on his vast work list of all known fossil fish, he came across a specimen that was not understood. He reports having a dream, three nights in a row in which he saw the fish in perfect original condition.

Stephen King: Dreams have an affect his writings including the thriller book and movie Misery. “Dreams are just another part of life. To me, it’s like seeing something on the street you can use in your fiction.”

Hitler: Hitler had a dream during the First World War that caused him to jump out of his trench at a moment’s notice before a shell stuck and blew up his trench killing everyone.

Sitting Bull: In 1876 Sitting Bull dreamed that soldiers were falling upside down from the sky into the Indian camp. As they fell he heard a voice cry “I give you these because they have no ears.” Sitting bull took it as a sign that the battle would be won and prepared for war.

Nils Bohr: This Danish scientist dreamed about “atomic structure” and then came up with the theories we use today in chemistry about the atoms and their structure.

Carl Jung: A Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker, and the founder of analytical psychology had a lucid dream vision that Europe was engulfed in a great flood and the water came right up to the mountains of Switzerland. Thousands of people drowned and the water then turned to blood. This occurred just months before the Great War began in August 1914.

Caligula: This Roman Emperor dreamed on the night before his assassination that he was standing before Jupiter’s heavenly throne, only to be kicked back down to earth by the God. This was see as a sign of his death.

Albert Einstein: His theory of relativity was inspired by a dream whereby he was going down a mountainside ever faster and watching the appearance of the stars change as he approached the speed of light.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: This writer’s dreams inspired Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Edgar Allen Poe: He regularly used dreams as the basis of his stories.

Dr. Frederick Banting: The cure for diabetes came to him in a dream. He won the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

St. Patrick: Claimed that two dreams guided St. Patrick to become a missionary.

Carl Perkins: This American rockabilly musician came up with the lyrics to Blue Suede Shoes in a dream. It began when Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins were waiting in a line to eat and heard someone in line the line say, “don’t step on my blue suede shoes.” Cash told Perkins that that would make a great song title. He turned the song over to Elvis who made it famous

David Parkinson: An engineer at Bell Laboratories had a dream in the early 1940s that help developed a potentiometer, which was an essential part of the anti artillery guns resulting in the new M9 gun used on V-1 missiles. This help change the course in WW2.

As you can see, amazing dreams are threaded throughout history. These are only a very small sample of dreams that inspired famous people. I am sure there are a  plethora of dreams still occurring today on a regular basis that are influencing many people (famous or not) in a positive way. Just think about what the power of dreaming and the awesome power of lucid dreaming holds for you!

Have a lucid dream tonight!

© 2009 – 2011 Gary Gardner, All Rights Reserved