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One of the most powerful leaders of the 20th century, Adolf Hitler was a German dicator whose policies started the WWII that resulted in the death of millions of people. He had a visceral hatred for Jews and during his regime nearly six million Jews were killed in Holocaust.
Bessie Coleman was an American civil aviator and the first African-American woman to hold a pilot license. Nicknamed Queen Bess, Coleman became a high-profile pilot in the air shows organized in the United States. Bessie Coleman died at the age of 34 in a plane crash. Her efforts to promote aviation inspired the Native American communities.
Best known as a pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre, Sergio Leone was born to legendary Italian actors Vincenzo Leone and Edvige Valcarenghi. He dropped out of law to focus on films and created masterpieces such as Once upon a Time in America and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Édouard Manet was a French painter who played a key role in the transition to Impressionism from Realism in the 19th-century. Manet was one of the first artists from his generation to paint modern life. His early masterworks, such as Olympia, served as rallying points for young and aspiring impressionist painters. His works continue to influence painters around the world.
Inger Stevens was a Swedish-American actress whose promising career was cut short when she committed suicide at age 35. Stevens is remembered for her performance in TV series like The Farmer's Daughter, for which she received the Golden Globe for Best TV Star – Female in 1963. Her performance in the series also earned her an Emmy nomination in 1964.
Austrian Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger was in his teens when he first showed an interest in racing. He was killed while qualifying for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, while uncannily, Brazilian world champion racer Ayrton Senna died during the race the next day.
At age 10, John Montagu succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, as the earl of Sandwich. The Eton- and Cambridge-educated statesman had held several important positions, such as the First Lord of the Admiralty. While gambling, he would often have bread and meat, leading to the delicacy being named “sandwich.”
Nizar Qabbani was a Syrian writer, diplomat, publisher, and poet. Renowned for incorporating themes like eroticism, religion, love, feminism, and Arab nationalism into his poetry, Qabbani's poems have achieved worldwide acclaim; they have been translated into many languages, including English and Russian. Regarded as Syria's National Poet, Qabbani is also one of the most respected poets in the Arab world.
Daniel Berrigan was an American anti-war activist, Jesuit priest, Christian pacifist, author, poet, and playwright. Berrigan gained national attention for his protest against the Vietnam War, which landed him on the FBI's most-wanted list. He remained a popular anti-war activist throughout his life, co-founding an anti-nuclear weapons movement called the Plowshares movement in 1980.
Born Benzion Mileikowsky, he became Benzion Netanyahu when at the age of ten he moved to Mandate Palestine with his parents. A scholar of Judaic history, he was also an encyclopedist and actively involved with the Revisionist Zionism movement, lobbying for the creation of the Jewish state. One of his sons, Benjamin Netanyahu, later became the Prime Minister of Israel.
Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer started his career as a typist in his teens. He penned his first novel in a Dutch prison camp, after being imprisoned for his revolutionary activities. Best known for his work the Buru Quartet, he later became a poster child for freedom of expression and human rights.
Sikh warrior Hari Singh Nalwa was one of the most feared army commanders of India and is remembered for his multiple battles against the Afghans. Part of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army, he had also been the governor of Kashmir, Hazara, and Peshawar. He died during the Battle of Jamrud.
Sociologist Beatrice Webb is best remembered for coining the term collective bargaining. Along with her husband, Sidney Webb, whom she met at the Fabian Society, and others, Beatrice co-founded the London School of Economics. In spite of her lack of formal education, she was a prominent educator and an avid diarist.
Initially a physicist and mathematician, Ernesto Sabato did his postdoctoral research at prestigious institutes such as MIT. His articles opposing the Juan Peron government of Argentina in La Nación got him removed from his teaching posts. The Cervantes Prize-winning author is best remembered for his works such as El Túnel.
Emily Stowe created history by becoming the first female doctor to practice in Canada and the second to receive a physician’s license in the country. A champion of women’s education, she was also a prominent suffragist and assisted in building the first women’s medical school in Canada.
Director Edwin S. Porter, best known for films such as The Life of An American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery, revolutionized filmmaking with his pioneering technique of cross-cutting in editing. He had previously been a tailor and had served the US Navy, before being hired by the Edison Company.
Ophthalmologist Patricia Bath is remembered for her pathbreaking invention of the Laserphaco Probe, which made laser cataract surgery possible. The first Black female surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center and the first female faculty staff of the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, she dedicated her life to curing blindness.
