The Slovak people are an ethnic group predominantly residing in the modern-day nation of Slovakia and its surrounding areas. Slovaks have played an active role in European history, including politically, militarily, scientifically, culturally, and religiously. Ethnic Slovaks have inhabited Central Europe since the Middle Ages. Slovaks were minority citizens of Hungary, and subsequently Austria-Hungary, from the 7th Century until the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 by the Treaty of Versailles. After Slovak calls for greater autonomy dissolved the Czechoslovak parliament, the Slovak Republic was formed in 1993. The major language among Slovaks is Slovak.
Jesse Ventura (1951) – 38th Governor of the U.S. state of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, as well as an actor, author, and former professional wrestler. His parents were from Slovakia, and his legal name is James George Janos.
Štefan Marko Daxner (1822–1892) – Slovaklower nobleman of Swiss descent, politician, lawyer, and poet who of outlined a program unifying the requests for national (Slovak), cultural, political and social liberties
Andrej Hlinka (1864–1938) – Priest and founders of the Slovak People's Party
Ľudovít Štúr (1815–1856) – the leader of Slovak national movement, the creator of standardSlovak, politician, poet, journalist, publisher, teacher, philosopher and member of the Hungarian Parliament
Jozef Miloslav Hurban (1817–1886) – freedom fighter and leader of the 1848 Slovak National Uprising against the Hungarians.
Rudolf Viest (1890–1945?) – Anti-Fascist military leader, member of the Czechoslovak government in exile, member of the Slovak National Council and the commander of the 1st Czechoslovak army during the Slovak National Uprising. First and only Slovak to reach the position of General in the interwar Czechoslovak Army.
Ján Golian (1906–1945?) – Supreme Military Leader of the Slovak National Uprising against the Nazis. Golian was murdered by the Nazis in a concentration camp.
Augustín Malár (1894–1946) – WWII General who commanded the East Slovak units of the First Slovak Republic, a Nazi protectorate state. Died in a concentration camp.
Jozef Turanec (1892–1957) – Slovak General and Nazi sympathizer during World War II.
Matej Kocak (1882–1918) – United States Marine Corps sergeant during World War I, posthumously awarded both the U.S. Army and Navy Medals of Honor for action against the enemy on July 18, 1918. He was born in the town of Gbely, in Western Slovakia, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1906.
Štefan Moyses (1797–1869) – Bishop, patriot and the first president of the Matica Slovenská, the first Slovak cultural institution.
Jozef Roháček (1877–1962) – Protestant activist and scholar who translated the first Slovak Bible from the original languages
Alexander Rudnay (1760–1831)(hung.: Rudnay Sándor) – Parish priest who became Archbishop of Esztergom, Prince Primate of the Kingdom of Hungary and a Cardinal.
Anton Bernolák (1762–1813) – Lower nobleman, Jesuit, creator of the first standard version of Slovak (in the 1780s), which was based on western Slovak dialects.
Ľudovít Štúr (Ludevít Štúr) (1815–1856) – Best known for his role in the development of modern Slovak. In 1844 he suggested that the central Slovak dialect be used as the standard language of the Slovaks, and in 1846 he codified the new language standard in his Nauka reči Slovenskej (Theory of the Slovak Language)
Adam František Kollár (Adam Franz Kollar) (1718–1783) – Lower nobleman, historian and jurist who rose to the ranks of Imperial-Royal Court Councilor and Chief Imperial-Royal Librarian of Empress Maria Theresa. Coined the term ethnology.
Janko Matúška (1821–1877) – author of the Slovak national anthem
Aurel Stodola (1859–1942) – engineer and professor, enabled the construction of steam and gas turbines (around 1900), constructor of a movable artificial arm (the Stodola arm) in 1915
John Dopyera (Ján Dopjera) (1893–1988) – inventor of music instruments, invented the Dobro resonator guitar
Aviation
Ján Bahýľ (1865–1916) – military engineer, inventor of a motor-driven helicopter (four years before Bréguet and Cornu). Bahýľ was granted 7 patents in all, including the invention of the tank pump, air balloons combined with an air turbine, the first petrol engine car in Slovakia (with Anton Marschall) and a lift up to Bratislava castle.
Ivan Alexander Getting (1912–2003) – American physicist and electrical engineer, credited (along with Bradford Parkinson) with the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS).