The Magazine's feature on heroes overlooked by history prompted a huge response from readers, who have been making their own nominations.

All the names put forward have some level of renown, of course, so some may be familiar. But they each have a compelling case for being more widely celebrated.

The submissions were overwhelmingly male, with a strong leaning towards men of science and discovery and very few from the arts.

Thanks for the hundreds of nominations. Here is a selection.

1. Scottish explorer John Rae (1813-1893) was the real discoverer of the Northwest Passage from the North Atlantic ocean to the North Pacific ocean although the credit, for some inexplicable reason, is given to Franklin. He also discovered what happened to the remains of the ill-fated Franklin expedition.

Peter Heslop, York

(More details from BBC Two)

2. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917) was the first female doctor in the UK, the first female Mayor (Aldeburgh) and founder of the suffragette movement (the Kensington Society). I discovered this amazing woman whilst helping my daughter with her Victorian topic at school. I've learnt a lot! And I believe she's not given the recognition she deserves at all.

Pauline Slinger, Burton, Carnforth, Lancs

First at this, first at that... Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

(More details from BBC History)

3. James Clerk Maxwell, who as Einstein said, was founder of the modern world. His work as a physicist paved the way for Hertz, Marconi, Einstein himself, and others to study theoretical and quantum physics. He was not just an inventor and excellent teacher at university, but his intellect was well in advance of that of his peers, leading to future advances.

Gordon Macpherson, London

(More details from BBC Radio 4)

4.Tommy Flowers gets my vote. Thomas Harold Flowers was the creator of the first practical electronic computer and he changed our world forever. He was the technical innovator behind the design of the Colossus computer that was used at Bletchley Park to break German military codes during the Second World War

Steve, Cardiff, UK

(More details from BBC h2g2)

5. I think one of the greatest unsung heroes is Donald Davies. A computer scientist and mathematician responsible for developing packet switching. The method which transformed all communication around the globe and allowed the development of the internet.

Ray, London

(More details from BBC News)

6. Walter Tull is my unsung hero because he broke down the colour bar in the army by becoming the first black infantry officer during the First World War. He was recommended for a Military Cross for his bravery. He died at the Second Battle of the Somme. He was also a professional footballer for Spurs and Northampton Town. Phil Vasili, London

(More details from BBC London)

7. Mary Wortley Montague brought "ingrafting" from Turkey to England to combat smallpox, which scarred her own face. Persuaded the Royal Family to ingraft their children, and so made it fashionable and widely used. The idea was developed by Jenner and others to produce the smallpox vaccination. Smallpox is now an eradicated disease.

John Stringer, Leamington Spa

(More details from BBC's Woman's' Hour)

8. My unsung hero would be Harry Beck, the designer of the first London Underground map, which went on to influence many other mapping pictograms around the world.

Peter Lawley, Telford

James Clerk Maxwell had Einstein among his fans

9. Percy Edwards, who did bird impressions, and was the voice of Nelson the dog (amongst other animals) on The Archers.

Martin Horseman, London

10. I think that Chad Varah, who started The Samaritans as a young vicar in London the early 1950s, is worthy of greater acclaim. At that time, suicide was still illegal in the UK and what he began, and what became The Samaritans, was something new and vital for people in distress who needed to talk to someone in confidence. The Samaritans are still performing that important role today - and Chad Varah deserves more than just a nod of recognition for that.

Mel Martyn, London

(More details from BBC News)

11.Sir Joseph Bazalgette is not really remembered because his major work, the London sewage system, is hidden. It could be argued that he has saved more Londoners' lives than any other - before him cholera was a regular occurrence and after him it vanished from the scene. He also, in a very longseeing manner, allowed for the expansion of the system, which is essentially that used to this day. If you can remember the riverbank scene in Slumdog Millionaire, that will give you an idea what the Thames was like before his efforts, and what Londoners owe to him.

Peter Hopkins, Manchester

(More details from BBC History)

Has Sharman been too quickly forgotten?

12. Many interested in science in the UK remain mystified why Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space, slipped so quickly out of public notice. She came across as a lively and intelligent woman - an excellent role model for those of us who want to see more women in science, especially the maths-based disciplines. The suspicion is that because she was female, worked in private industry, and travelled with the Russians, when Whitehall wanted "a chap from the services", the mandarins wanted her written out of history.

Des Hickey, London

(More details from BBC News)

13. Sir Allen Lane, founder of Penguin Books, who did more than anyone else to popularise affordable, quality paperback books in Britain.

Tim Footman, London

14. Considering how much aviation has touched our lives over the past century, I think that Percy Pilcher deserves much more accolade and acknowledgement than he has received. Pilcher designed and built a powered aircraft several years before the Wright Brothers did, and the only thing that stopped him from making history was his death. The craft was proven to be successful many years later. Had Pilcher survived to fly it, we would probably be speaking of Stanford Hall as being the birthplace of powered flight, not Kitty Hawk.

Edward Wallace, Glasgow

(More details from BBC Horizon)

Walter Tull was the subject of a BBC drama

15. John Lilburne the Leveller's campaign for a more democratic form of government took place in an age - the mid-17th Century - when "democracy" was equated with impiety and treason, and he and his family suffered terribly for it, but never gave up. He pioneered many of the forms of activism which are now universal: petitions to Parliament; marches and demonstrations; meetings to canvas support; even the idea of a political party with regular meetings and a common fund. He and his party were among the first to make use of the print media to publicize their cause, and they consistently took positions - for religious toleration, freedom of speech, and the right of ordinary people to have a say in government - which were years in advance of their time. They lost, but we, their heirs, have benefited from their struggle.

Gillian Ball, Coventry

16. I would like to nominate William Garbutt as an unsung British hero. Garbutt was born in Stockport in 1883. An injury ended his professional football career and back then, there was no natural career progression for an ex-professional footballer (except to become a pub landlord) but Garbutt was offered the role of coach of Genoa, in Italy's infant football league. Garbutt accepted the post and at the age of 29, took himself and his young family off to Italy and in so doing, became the first professional football coach in Italian football. He revolutionised Italian football, introducing new training techniques, and concentrated on improving the players fitness. Despite winning three championships in Italy and one in Spain, assisting the Italian national team and generally introducing modern football coaching to Italy, Garbutt's achievements are virtually unknown in his own country.

Paul Edgerton, Birmingham, UK

An inspiration to women, Rachael Heyhoe-Flint

17. Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was England's women's cricket captain for 12 years, unbeaten in six Test series. My father used to talk about her in the 70s and whilst I never took up cricket, it helped to endorse my belief that women can succeed in all aspects of life. Sadly, the media do not on the whole relay their sporting success. If they did, perhaps there would be a few more sporting role models for girls to aspire to.

Rachel Harris, Bath, UK

18. I'd nominate Charles Merz (1874-1940), who was a pioneer in the field of electricity generation and railway electrification and who was heavily influential in the 1920s in the setting up of the National Grid. Every time you turn an electrical appliance on in your house, you should remember Merz because his vision helped in no small way to make electricity the universal service it is now. Tragically, he was killed in an air raid in October 1940.

Richard Allen, Letchworth, England

19. Stanley Unwin is one of the great unsung heroes. He talked gibberish and part from having inspired several generations of politicians, he has undoubtedly been a great influence on our current prime minister. Here beholdy manifold things Gordon Talibanmost - all deep joy and thorkus for great helicopterlode laugh'n Wootton Bassetride.

Richard Ruzyllo, Glynde, UK

(More details from BBC News)

20. Annie Besant was concerned about the health of young women workers at the Bryant & May match factory. On 23 June 1888, Annie published an article White Slavery in London where she drew attention to the dangers of phosphorus fumes and complained about the low wages paid to the women who worked at Bryant & May. Three women who provided information for Annie's article were sacked. Annie responded by helping the women at Bryant & May to form a Matchgirls Union. After a three-week strike, the company was forced to make significant concessions including the re-employment the three victimized women.

Gerald Davies, Langho, Lancashire

(More details from BBC History)

21. James Brindley organized and designed the canal systems, with more in the West Midlands and Birmingham than in Venice. This form of transportation made goods easily moveable and assisted in the rise of the industrial midlands. What my antecedent Brindley did is surely worthy of more promotion - yet he seems quite overlooked.

Susan Johnson, Seal Beach, California, USA

(More details from BBC Staffordshire)

22. Henry Blogg was a lifeboatman from Cromer and one of the bravest men who ever lived, and one of the most modest. Too many accomplishments to list briefly, so here's one to get a flavour of the man. A ship is breaking up - no way to get near it: the waves are too big and they're crashing over it. So Henry doesn't get near it... he goes on it. He actually surfs his lifeboat on the wave, lands on the stricken ship, gets as many of the crew on board as possible, then, picking his moment, heads into another wave to coast off the ship again. Maybe you're thinking it was a fluke, a stroke of luck. Yeah... well, as soon as he'd unloaded the crew safely to another boat, he went back and did the same again to rescue the remaining crew. Henry Blogg. Hero. Enough said.

Dom Murphy, Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire

Joseph Swan did not have the PR skills of Thomas Edison

(More details from BBC News)

23. John Snow (1813-1858) discovered, despite the incessant naysaying of the establishment, and through his own ingenuity, that cholera (and, by extension, other diseases) was spread by water. He thus saved not only countless poor in the slums of Soho, but thousands throughout history. A real hero.

Deborah Duke, London

(More details from BBC History)

24. Joseph Swan invented the light-bulb. I would expect the British to be more patriotic on this matter than to credit Edison with priority. It is Swan's bulbs that were used in Cragside, the house built for the undervalued industrialist, William Armstrong. These individuals are well known locally though I suspect not nationally.

Aidan Wightman, Whitley Bay

(More details from BBC History)

25. Peter Durand is all but unknown, but every household sports his invention - the tin can.

Jonathan Day, Stockport