people

Jonas Salk

Created the first polio vaccine (injected/inactivated).

Albert Sabin

Created the oral polio vaccine (liquid/live-weakened).

Christiaan Barnard

Performed the world’s first human heart transplant.

Robert Jarvik

Designed the first permanent artificial heart.

Ronald Reagan

U.S. President; pushed deregulation and tax cuts.

Margaret Thatcher

UK leader; privatized state industries and cut unions.

Augusto Pinochet

Chilean dictator; shifted to a market economy (Chicago School).

Deng Xiaoping

Chinese leader; opened China to foreign investment and SEZs.

Muhammad Yunus

Founded Grameen Bank; pioneered microfinance for the poor.

Theresa May

UK Prime Minister who managed the early Brexit process.

Leopold Sedar Senghor

Senegal’s first president; leader of the Negritude movement.

Pope Francis

Global advocate for social justice and the environment.

Desmond Tutu

South African bishop; nonviolent leader against apartheid.

F. W. de Klerk

Last white SA president; worked with Mandela to end apartheid.

Wangari Maathai

Founder of the Green Belt Movement (environment + women).

Malala Yousafzai

Activist for girls' education and Nobel laureate.

Manal al-Sharif

Leader of the movement for women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia.

Hare Krishna

Globalized Hindu-based spiritual movement (1960s).

Falun Gong

Chinese spiritual movement; known for persecution by the state.