Survival of the fittest": Darwin, evolution's architect, forever changed biology.

Fought apartheid, "Mandiba" led South Africa to freedom.

Infinity has sizes. Mathematician who proved some infinities are bigger than others.

So What? Miles Davis: Cool innovator, jazz redefined forever.

Dickens: Championed poor through novels; great expectations, a tale told.

Han Dynasty's longest-reigning emperor: expanded borders, promoted Confucianism, unified China.

Ask not what your country can do for you. Camelot cut short in Dallas.

Discovered an invisible world. Self-taught scientist who first saw bacteria, launching microbiology.

A long-reigning Goryeo monarch who balanced Mongol overlordship, dynastic marriage politics, and fragile court reform ambitions.

Warrior pharaoh who led the greatest military expansion of the Ptolemaic Empire, conquering vast Seleucid territories and returning sacred Egyptian artifacts stolen by the Persians.

A steadfast nationalist and master organizer who united India’s princely states, earning the title “Iron Man of India.”

Aspasia: Athens' sharpest mind, advised Pericles, shaped golden age.

King for a year, married to a Queen, ignited French wars.

Seven-time consul who remade Rome's army. Saved the Republic, then nearly destroyed it.

Reformed papacy, excommunicated Elizabeth, Saint: Pius V defended the Catholic Church.

Medici founder. Banker, politician, art lover. Florence flourished.

Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651) was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who consolidated the power structure established by his grandfather Ieyasu and father Hidetada. He is best known for implementing the sakoku (closed country) policy that isolated Japan from most foreign nations for over two centuries. A stern and authoritarian ruler, he institutionalized the sankin-kotai system requiring daimyo to spend alternate years in Edo, effectively controlling the feudal lords through financial pressure and hostage-taking. His reign marked the peak of Tokugawa absolutism and shaped Japan's political landscape for generations.

Brilliant fifth-century mathematician who refined pi, improved calendars, and fused astronomy with engineering for statecraft and science.

A visionary Joseon monarch who advanced science, governance, and literacy by creating Hangul for common people.

Charlemagne's brain: Alcuin sparked Europe's learning, shaping medieval minds.

First woman Nobel laureate: Lagerlöf's 'Nils' flew literature to new heights.

A formidable Qin general who secured northern frontiers, expanded fortifications, and embodied disciplined loyalty amid imperial intrigue.

Egypt's warrior pharaoh who led seventeen military campaigns, expanding the empire to its greatest territorial extent and earning the title 'Napoleon of Egypt'.

Byzantine golden emperor. Expanded the empire and earned the title 'John the Good.'

Carthaginian general who commanded forces in Hispania during the Second Punic War and died heroically attempting to reinforce his legendary brother Hannibal in Italy.

Sun never set on his empire. Habsburg emperor who ruled half the world and fought Luther.

Snake handler, murder suspect, mother of Alexander the Great. She played the deadly game of Macedonian politics—and rarely lost.

Semerkhet: First Dynasty pharaoh, waged war, ruled ancient Egypt.

The third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate who unified the Northern and Southern Courts and built the iconic Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion). He was a masterful politician who achieved unprecedented power and became the patron of Kitayama culture.

A hard-driving soldier-emperor who toppled rivals, reunited much of southern China, and founded the Liu Song dynasty.

Troy's greatest hero. Knew he would die but fought anyway to defend his city and family.

Brilliant but treacherous Athenian statesman and general whose shifting loyalties shaped the Peloponnesian War's outcome.

Morocco's iron-fisted sultan: Built Meknes, ruled ruthlessly, feared and obeyed.

Traveled 75,000 miles — three times more than Marco Polo. Islam's greatest explorer.

Early pharaoh who unified ancient Egypt. Builder of monuments lost to time.

A celebrated Warring States patron whose diplomacy and generosity rallied allies for Zhao amid Qin’s relentless expansion.

Göring: Luftwaffe boss, Nazi second-in-command, architect of horror, evaded justice.

Brilliant Yuan dynasty astronomer-engineer who refined calendars, built observatories, and advanced precision instruments for imperial science.

A meticulous Western Jin poet whose dazzling rhapsodies reshaped literary taste and sparked a frenzy for fine paper.

Lightning of Carthage. Father who raised Hannibal to hate Rome and nearly destroy it.

Spider King," Louis XI: Unified France through cunning, centralized power.

Supreme regent who dominated Heian Japan through strategic marriages, placing his daughters as empresses and grandsons on the throne, immortalized in his moon poem.

Saint and conqueror. United Castile and León, took Córdoba and Seville from the Moors.

A thunderous warrior of the Three Kingdoms, famed for fierce loyalty, battlefield courage, and explosive temper.

A gifted Han dynasty poet and musician whose captivity and return shaped enduring literature, memory, and identity.

Kushite pharaoh who reunited Egypt and revived ancient traditions. He proved that greatness could flow from the south.

Child emperor, died at seven. His brief reign marked the end of one dynasty and the beginning of Rome's long transformation.

Hero of two hemispheres. Fought for American and Polish freedom.