Direct real world references to know or famous people are rare in Magic: the Gathering.
There are plenty in Universes Beyond, of course, along with the actors and actresses who portray them. But in main story Magic with no UB sets, it is hard to find. And it's even harder if you just go by art. Flavor text, up until the early 2010's, often brought in real life quotes from everyone from Sun Tzu to Calvin Coolidge.
So by art alone, famous people are few if you remove all the UB sets, all MTG artists, all MTG employees, and all MTG players - the last of which came up often for several years with the MTG champion that year getting to be on a card. So regular set Magic, famous person not associated with Magic or UB. And when crunched down from a surprisingly long list there is actually one card that fits he bill. One regular card from a normal set that has someone transcending time, space, and fiction to be there. Who was it, Albert Einstein?
Well.....yes. It was Albert Einstein.
The card itself comes from 1994's Legends expansion, shortly before Magic started reeling in art guidelines. And since it is a Phil Foglio and legal in some formats, it still goes for around $11 today. It's also a bit troubling because, not only is Einstein in Magic in a tertiary way, so are the planets in the solar system since he is surrounded by them.
To date, the card has only been reprinted once in Urza's Saga, and even then, thanks to the new guidelines, new art had to be commissioned for it.
Also to date, Presence of the Master remains the sole card of a noted public/historical figure being on a card (Aristotle and Plato were in Assassin's Creed, but, again, that was UB.)
The question remains: will we ever see another mainline card of a historical person ever again? Short answer is no. Longer answer is that no, as it goes against guidelines, can cause headaches and, especially if that person is political, can really be divisive and distracting.
Einstein remains the lone real world figure somehow in the Magic menagerie. But, considering his work in dimensions and universes, it is oddly kind of fitting.
