Socrates was, by his own account, “a gadfly”. He spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them how little they genuinely understood. His typical approach was to innocently question an established idea; … [Read more...]

Alimamy Rassin was a Fula chief from Sierra Leone, who devoted his life to making peace. Raised in a warrior culture during the 1800s, he was a pacifist from an early age; he harbored an innate hatred of war and all forms of violence. He showed the strength of his conviction by … [Read more...]

The word “genius” is doubtlessly overused. Leonardo da Vinci, however, was the real deal. He showed what the human brain—albeit just one—is capable of. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, inventor, musician, scientist, mathematician, anatomist, geologist, … [Read more...]

In 1849, Harriet Tubman trekked ninety miles from Maryland to Philadelphia under constant threat of being caught and either killed or returned to the white family that owned her. When she arrived in the city of brotherly love, she found that she was unable to enjoy her freedom. … [Read more...]

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy wrote two of the best novels of all time. War and Peace was published in 1869. The novel details the events leading up to the French invasion of Russia, as seen through the eyes of five aristocratic families. There are five hundred and eighty characters … [Read more...]