From my Google search at https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Positivism

pos·i·tiv·ism
noun
noun: positivism

    1.
    Philosophy
    a philosophical system that holds that every rationally justifiable assertion can be scientifically verified or is capable of logical or mathematical proof, and that therefore rejects metaphysics and theism.
        a humanistic religious system founded on positivism.
        another term for logical positivism.
    2.
    the theory that laws are to be understood as social rules, valid because they are enacted by authority or derive logically from existing decisions, and that ideal or moral considerations (e.g., that a rule is unjust) should not limit the scope or operation of the law.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism I believe I have found the answer to the other part of your question:

"Comte's fame today owes in part to Emile Littré, who founded The Positivist Review in 1867. As an approach to the philosophy of history, positivism was appropriated by historians such as Hippolyte Taine. Many of Comte's writings were translated into English by the Whig writer, Harriet Martineau, regarded by some as the first female sociologist. Debates continue to rage as to how much Comte appropriated from the work of his mentor, Saint-Simon.[21] He was nevertheless influential: Brazilian thinkers turned to Comte's ideas about training a scientific elite in order to flourish in the industrialization process. Brazil's national motto, Ordem e Progresso ("Order and Progress") was taken from the positivism motto, "Love as principle, order as the basis, progress as the goal", which was also influential in Poland.[citation needed]"

It seems Comte was successfully championing a more material and scientific cultural mindset following global shifts towards industrialization.  Historians can easily identify him as an influential figure by his many publications and observable, recorded influences he had on the world.
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