Leif Eriksson is a crucial figure in maritime exploration: this Viking navigator is believed to have discovered the Americas at the turn of the first millennium AD, over 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Indeed, at this point in history the Vikings were far better explorers than other Europeans due to their more technologically advanced ships and excellent navigation skills, which allowed...
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Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese navigator and explorer who is known for completing the first circumnavigation of the earth. His voyage is particularly interesting because of the discoveries that were made along the way: he discovered a previously unknown strait while sailing past America and proved once and for all that the world is not flat. In just 50 minutes,...
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Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was known in particular for being the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century, not to mention for being the first woman to have ever held the office. It did not take long for...
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Marie Curie was a pioneering chemist and physicist at a time when few women had the opportunity to pursue a career in science and research. She is particularly well-known for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity and her discovery of radium, which revolutionized cancer treatment and challenged scientific theories that had endured since antiquity. Along with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri...
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Marie-Antoinette was the Queen of France from 1774 to 1791 and the wife of the ruler of the country during the French Revolution. As a queen who did everything she could to stay out of politics, preferring instead to entertain friends at Versailles, she was not a particularly popular ruler, and her image took a hit with the Affair of the Diamond...
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Martin Luther King was an American pastor who played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Known in particular for his role in raising awareness of the racial problems in the United States and in the emancipation of African-Americans, King was a supporter of non-violence and made considerable progress towards a more equal America....
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a military and political leader and Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814. He steered France through a time of intense internal and external conflict and took part in decisive military engagements such as the Battle of Austerlitz. Besides his military campaigns throughout Europe, he also established civil institutions which exist in France to this day, such...
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On 21 July 1969, the American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the commander of the Apollo 11 spaceship, became the first person in history to set foot on the Moon. This crucial event marked the peak of the Space Race, which pitted the Cold War rivals the USA and the USSR against one another as they sent artificial satellites, probes and eventually humans...
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Nelson Mandela was the leading figure in the fight against the apartheid regime in South Africa. He swiftly rose to become one of the most influential members of the African National Congress (ANC), but his activism saw him arrested in 1962 and sentenced to life imprisonment two years later. Much of his sentence was served at the notoriously tough Robben Island...
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Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and one of the most controversial politicians of the 20th century. Known in particular for the Watergate scandal, the affair that ended his political career, Nixon was a fierce anti-communist and was responsible for the end of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. In just 50 minutes, you will find out about...
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Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. He rose to prominence as a military commander during the English Civil War, winning a series of impressive victories with his New Model Army. Cromwell was a political pragmatist and a skilled communicator, which facilitated his rise to power during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. He eventually became...
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Diana, Princess of Wales was a leading humanitarian activist in the 1980s and 1990s. After her marriage to Prince Charles granted her a royal title, she became an increasingly active campaigner for causes such as AIDS relief and the elimination of landmines. However, allegations of infidelity and intense media scrutiny soon put her marriage under heavy strain, causing a rift between...
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