Historical Figures

For centuries, Mexico lived under the rule of Spain. In that time, a discriminatory caste system was created to keep non-Europeans in their place. However, one priest, inspired by the thinkers of the Enlightenment, would cast the first stone and help bring about Mexico’s independence.

Best remembered for his invention of the calendar we still use today, Pope Gregory XIII became a voice for reform in the Catholic Church by pulling the Vatican out of the dark ages and into the modern era.

This 14th Century sultan of Mali became renowned for being the richest man who ever lived. During his 25-year reign, he helped Mali become one of the wealthiest and largest nations in the world.

A first-wave feminist of the 1800s and 1900s, Professor Margaret Murray was known as both "The Old Woman of Egyptology" and "The Grandmother of Wicca." She was one of the first to take up the subject of the witch-cults of England.

In the 1790s, Toussaint L’Ouverture emerges as a leading member of the most successful slave revolt in the Americas. This led to the formation of the country we know today as Haiti.