Marco Polo was an intrepid Venetian explorer, often credited with bridging medieval Europe and Far East Asia through his extensive travels.
Laurence Sterne was an 18th-century Irish-born English writer, known for his satirical novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman", which broke new ground in narrative form and humor.
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first European expedition to Florida and the southeastern United States.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who discovered the Pacific Ocean from the New World in 1513.
Diogo Cão was a Portuguese explorer who discovered the Congo River and mapped much of West Africa's coastline in the 15th century.
Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese explorer and navigator who discovered Brazil in 1500, establishing a new trade route to Asia.
Henry Hudson was an English explorer who navigated the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans in search of a Northwest Passage to Asia.
Emil Oskar Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer, and inventor, is best known for creating dynamite and establishing the Nobel Prizes.
Prithviraj Kapoor was an iconic Indian actor and director, renowned for his pioneering contributions to the world of Hindi cinema.
Sir Edmund Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, best known for being the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
Maurice Herzog was a French alpinist, writer, and politician who led the first successful ascent of Annapurna, the tenth highest mountain in the world, in 1950.
Göran Kropp was a renowned Swedish adventurer and mountaineer, who notably cycled solo from Sweden to Mount Everest and climbed it without supplemental oxygen.