Abdel Kader Haidara: The Librarian Who Smuggled a Library

Throughout history, conquerors and fanatics have tried to erase civilisations by burning their libraries....

Virginia Apgar: The Woman Who Gave Every Child Their First Test

For most parents, the first moments after a baby is born are filled with...

Gino Bartali: The Cyclist with a Hidden Mission

During the Second World War, an Italian cycling champion spent hundreds of miles riding...

Major Jack Mullin: The Man Who Turned a Nazi Secret into Modern Music

Before the late 1940s, there was no way to edit recorded music. If a...

Harry Beck: The Engineer Who Drew London Wrong

By the early 1930s, London’s Underground had become increasingly difficult to understand. Every...

Nils Bohlin: The Man Whose Restraint Saved Lives

By the late 1950s, road deaths were climbing across the developed world. In the...

Pierre Bézier: The Man Who Taught Computers to Draw

The modern world is full of beautiful curves. The lines of a car, the...

Evelyn Beatrice Hall: The Woman Who Gave Voltaire His Most Famous Words

Many people believe that the famous defence of free speech, “I disapprove of what...

Edwin Beard Budding: The Man Behind the Modern Pitch

Would the Premier League exist without Edwin Beard Budding? Modern sport depends on carefully...