Who is Simon Bolivar?

I was talking to a fellow the other day who said he was Simon Bolivar. Okay, maybe he wasn't, but I was shocked at how many people had never heard of him, or just vaguely had heard his name. This guy was the biggest National Hero in Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, much of South America. Bolivia was named after him. He was the South American George Washington. And how about Joachin Murieta in Mexico? These guys should be known to everybody if we really have a global society. Maybe we are still more isolated than we ever realized.