Born on May 5

An English statesman and military leader, Oliver Cromwell led the Puritan revolution against Charles I. Commander of the Roundheads, he had the king executed in 1649 and ruled England as Lord Protector until his death in 1658.

Danish philosopher and theologian (1813-1855), regarded as the father of existentialism. A critic of the Hegelian system and of institutional Christianity, he placed individual existence, choice, and faith at the heart of his thought.

German philosopher, sociologist, and economist (1818–1883), Karl Marx is the founder of historical materialism and the critical analysis of capitalism. He revolutionized political thought by proposing a theory of class struggle and social transformation.

A Chilean singer and companion, then wife, of the poet Pablo Neruda, she was his muse and the inspiration behind several of his major collections. After the poet's death in 1973, she dedicated her life to preserving and promoting his work.

American legal scholar and theorist born in 1959, she coined the concept of intersectionality in 1989, showing how racial, gender, and class discrimination intersect and mutually reinforce one another. A professor at UCLA and Columbia, she is one of the founders of Critical Race Theory.

Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to win the Fields Medal in 2014, the highest honor in mathematics. Born in Iran, she revolutionized the understanding of Riemann surfaces and hyperbolic geometry. A professor at Stanford, she passed away from cancer at just 40 years old, leaving behind a landmark body of mathematical work.

Adele is a British singer-songwriter born in 1988 in London. She broke through to mainstream audiences with her album '19' in 2008, and has since established herself as one of the best-selling artists of the 21st century, known for her powerful voice and introspective lyrics.