You're saying that we should be defining famous as "known far and wide" - which is fine, but that makes "what would a foreigner recognize" a great fit for the pick.

I'm rebutting the idea that this is limited to non-western countries - It's not. If you want a pick who people from a location would identify with more as a local... this data isn't that: every person on my list is in my news much more often than MLK jr.