Alexis Charles Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 – April 16, 1859) was a French aristocrat, lawyer, and pioneering political thinker whose keen observations of democracy still resonate today. Born into a noble family in Paris, he studied law before, in 1831, embarking on a seminal nine-month journey across the United States with his friend Gustave de Beaumont to examine its penitentiary system. The resulting two-volume masterpiece, Democracy in America (1835 & 1840), combined detailed reportage with deep reflection on equality, individualism, and the strengths and perils of democratic institutions. Back in France, Tocqueville entered politics—serving in the Chamber of Deputies through the turbulent July Monarchy and briefly holding the portfolio of Foreign Affairs in 1849—where he advocated for liberal reforms and warned against the “tyranny of the majority.” In 1856 he published The Old Regime and the Revolution, a groundbreaking study of how revolutionary change is shaped by both tradition and modern forces. Struck by illness while in Cannes, he died in 1859, leaving behind a legacy as one of the 19th century’s greatest analysts of political life and the enduring tension between liberty and authority.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—often called AOC—was born on October 13, 1989, in the Bronx, New York, to a working-class Puerto Rican family. After graduating cum laude from Boston University with degrees in economics and international relations, she returned home to work as a community organizer and bartender, helping to coach local students and fight for tenants’ rights. In June 2018, at age 28, she stunned political observers by defeating ten-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th District, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Sworn in at 29, she rapidly emerged as a leading voice of the progressive wing, co-sponsoring landmark proposals such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, and serving on the House Oversight and Financial Services Committees. Re-elected in 2020 and 2022, AOC has leveraged her vibrant social-media presence and powerful oratory to push for action on climate change, economic inequality, and immigration reform—transforming what it means to run for and hold public office in the 21st century.

Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, was born in July 356 BCE in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. Tutored by Aristotle, he developed a lifelong passion for learning and a visionary sense of leadership. At just twenty years old, he succeeded his father, King Philip II, and swiftly quelled unrest among the Greek city-states, forging the Corinthian League. In 334 BCE he crossed into Asia Minor and over the next decade achieved a series of stunning victories—at the Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela—that toppled the Persian Empire and brought Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and beyond under his control. He founded over twenty cities bearing his name, most famously Alexandria in Egypt, which became a beacon of Hellenistic culture. Pushing his army into modern-day Pakistan and India, he reached the Hyphasis River before his troops, weary after years of campaigning, insisted on turning back. Alexander died in Babylon in June 323 BCE at the age of thirty-two, leaving behind one of history’s largest empires and a legacy that fused Greek and Eastern cultures, reshaping the ancient world forever.

Alexander Pope was the foremost English poet of the early 18th century’s Augustan era, celebrated for his masterful use of heroic couplets and his keen satirical wit. Born on May 21, 1688, in London into a devout Catholic family (then barred from many professions), he suffered lifelong health problems—possibly Pott’s disease—that left him short and stooped. Undeterred, he educated himself voraciously and published his first poems as a teenager. His early successes included the “Pastorals” (1709) and the mocking-elegiac “Rape of the Lock” (1712), which established him as both a stylistic innovator and a cultural chronicler of polite society. Pope’s philosophical “Essay on Criticism” (1711) and “Essay on Man” (1733–34) explored the principles of poetic taste and human nature, while his biting “Dunciad” (1728) attacked literary mediocrity. Perhaps his greatest commercial and artistic triumph was the twelve-year, subscriber-funded translation of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (1715–1726), which earned him a royal pension and widespread acclaim. In 1719 he settled at Twickenham, where he landscaped the famed grotto overlooking the Thames and entertained a circle of writers including Jonathan Swift. Pope died on May 30, 1744, and was honored with a memorial in Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner—an enduring testament to his influence on English poetry and criticism.

Lee “Alexander” McQueen (March 17, 1969 – February 11, 2010) was a pioneering British fashion designer whose fearless creativity and technical brilliance transformed modern runway shows into immersive theater. Raised in London’s East End, he apprenticed on Savile Row before earning his MA at Central Saint Martins—his graduate collection, “Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims,” famously bought by muse Isabella Blow. In 1992 he launched his own label and, from 1996 to 2001, served as Givenchy’s head designer, winning four British Designer of the Year awards and being named an OBE in 2003. Known for legendary collections like “Highland Rape” and “Plato’s Atlantis,” as well as groundbreaking collaborations (including a 2006 Target line), McQueen continually blurred the line between fashion and art. Though he tragically died in 2010, his dramatic silhouettes, masterful tailoring, and unapologetically provocative vision endure in retrospectives such as the V&A’s “Savage Beauty” and in the work of countless designers he inspired.

Alexander Hamilton was a dynamic Founding Father of the United States whose intellect and drive shaped the young republic’s financial and political foundations. Born out of wedlock on January 11, 1755 (or 1757) in the Caribbean island of Nevis, he overcame orphanhood and poverty to win a scholarship to King’s College (now Columbia University) in New York. A passionate advocate for independence, he served as an artillery officer and then as aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. After the war, Hamilton helped author the Constitution and, alongside James Madison and John Jay, wrote the majority of the Federalist Papers, arguing for its ratification. As the first Secretary of the Treasury (1789–1795) under President Washington, he established the nation’s credit by assuming state debts, creating the First Bank of the United States, and implementing tariffs and excise taxes to fund government operations. His vision of a strong central government often put him at odds with Thomas Jefferson’s agrarian philosophy, sparking the emergence of America’s first political parties. Hamilton’s career—and life—ended tragically on July 12, 1804, when he was mortally wounded in a duel with longtime rival Aaron Burr, but his legacy endures in the institutions and policies that undergird the United States to this day.

Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born inventor and scientist whose pioneering work in acoustics and communication forever changed the world. Born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Bell grew up surrounded by the study of speech and hearing—his mother and later his wife were both deaf—which inspired his lifelong fascination with sound. After studying at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, he emigrated with his family to Canada in 1870 and soon moved to Boston, where he taught at the Perkins School for the Blind and the Boston School for Deaf Mutes. There, alongside his assistant Thomas Watson, he developed the telephone, securing U.S. patent No. 174,465 on March 7, 1876, and famously transmitting the first intelligible words, “Mr. Watson—come here—I want to see you.” In 1877 he co-founded the Bell Telephone Company, laying the foundations for the modern telecommunications industry. Beyond the telephone, Bell’s innovations included the photophone (an early wireless optical communication device), improvements to hearing aids, and advances in aeronautics and marine engineering from his Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C. A tireless advocate for scientific research and education, he served as first president of the National Geographic Society. Bell died on August 2, 1922, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, leaving a legacy of curiosity, compassion for the deaf community, and a world more closely connected by his inventions.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, historian, and outspoken critic of Soviet totalitarianism, whose writings gave the world a haunting insight into the brutality of the Soviet regime. Born on December 11, 1918, in Kislovodsk, Russia, he served as a soldier in World War II but was arrested in 1945 for criticizing Joseph Stalin in private letters. He spent eight years in the Gulag, the Soviet labor camp system, an experience that would shape the core of his most powerful works. His novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962), published during a brief political thaw, was the first to expose the horrors of the Gulag to Soviet readers. His later works, including The Gulag Archipelago, provided a detailed, devastating account of Soviet repression, based on hundreds of testimonies and his own experience. Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, but he was later exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974 due to his uncompromising criticism of the regime. After two decades in the West, he returned to Russia in 1994. Solzhenitsyn died in 2008, remembered as a fearless voice for truth, justice, and the indomitable human spirit in the face of oppression.

Aldous Huxley was a British writer and philosopher best known for his thought-provoking novel Brave New World, which offered a chilling vision of a future dominated by technology, conformity, and the loss of individual freedom. Born on July 26, 1894, into a distinguished intellectual family, Huxley was deeply influenced by science, literature, and spirituality from a young age. Despite losing much of his eyesight in his teens, he became an accomplished author, publishing novels, essays, and philosophical works that explored human nature, society, and consciousness. Brave New World (1932) remains one of the most influential dystopian novels of the 20th century, examining themes like state control, consumerism, and the dehumanizing effects of technology. In his later years, Huxley became increasingly interested in mysticism, Eastern philosophy, and altered states of consciousness, which he explored in his book The Doors of Perception—a reflection on his experiences with psychedelics. Huxley passed away on November 22, 1963, the same day as the deaths of C.S. Lewis and President John F. Kennedy. His legacy endures as a powerful voice warning of the costs of technological progress without wisdom or humanity.

Albert Schweitzer was a remarkable German-French theologian, physician, philosopher, and humanitarian who dedicated his life to the service of others. Born on January 14, 1875, in Alsace (then part of Germany, now France), Schweitzer was a true polymath. He earned doctorates in philosophy and theology and was also an accomplished organist and music scholar, especially known for his work on Johann Sebastian Bach. At the age of 30, Schweitzer chose to study medicine so he could serve as a medical missionary in Africa. In 1913, he founded a hospital in Lambaréné, in what is now Gabon, where he treated thousands of patients and expanded healthcare services in a region with little access to modern medicine. Schweitzer’s philosophy of “Reverence for Life” became the ethical foundation for his work, advocating respect and compassion for all living beings. His selfless service and moral leadership earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. He continued his humanitarian and medical work well into his 80s. Albert Schweitzer passed away in 1965, leaving a legacy of compassion, intellectual depth, and global service.