Wangari Muta Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Anne Bonny was an Irish-American female pirate of the 18th century. A crewmember of the ship captained by “Calico Jack” Rackham, Bonny was known as a fierce and relentless fighter.

Miriam Makeba, widely known as “Mama Africa,” was exiled from her home of South Africa for her revolutionary words and songs, but was widely respected for speaking—and singing—the truth about racism in the country.  Among other accomplishments, including acting as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, she continued performing into her 70s and exposed many Westerners to African music.

Tennis legend Althea Gibson won 56 championships and five Grand Slam singles titles. Dubbed “the Jackie Robinson of Tennis,” Gibson made it possible for other black players such as Arthur Ashe and the Williams sisters to compete.

Toni Morrison grew up in a house of African-American storytellers and developed a love for books. After earning a masters degree in English and teaching for many years, she felt there was a book she wanted to read but had yet to find—so she wrote it herself. A prolific career ensued, with Morrison winning both the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes for her fiction.

Six-time Olympic medal winner Jackie Joyner-Kersee is considered one of the greatest female athletes of the 20th century. Admired for her strength and speed as well as her character Jackie continues to inspire young athletes everywhere through her work as a mentor and motivational speaker.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy opposition leader of Myanmar, has spent much of the last two decades in detention, but she has remained an unwavering voice for the people of her country.

American pioneer Laura Ingalls Wilder did not begin writing her first book until she was 64. Only with her daughter’s coaxing did she ultimately decide to share her story, and a beloved children’s classic, the “Little House on the Prairie” series, was born.

Outlier and icon, enemy of altruism and champion of the free market, writer and philosopher, Ayn Rand was too extreme to be categorized by any single school of thought other than her own. To this day, she has retained an avid following and garners intense interest from many great figures in business.