Before It Was Cool
This ancient civilization developed papyrus as a writing material and used it for records, literature, and administration.
The Ancient Egyptians
This company began in 1994 as an online bookstore before expanding into cloud computing, streaming, logistics, and much more.
Amazon
This aviator became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Amelia Earhart
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong
The Running Man, Dolores Claiborne, The Green Mile
Stephen King
This civilization is credited with developing one of the earliest known writing systems, cuneiform, on clay tablets.
Ancient Mesopotamians
Founded in 1972, this company became one of the earliest major video game companies and helped popularize home gaming
Atari
This British woman became the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom in 1979.
Margaret Thatcher
“I think, therefore I am.”
René Descartes
The Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens
William Shakespeare
This civilization developed movable-type printing centuries before Gutenberg, using ceramic type in the 11th century.
The Chinese
This company’s purchase of the operating system QDOS helped it secure a landmark deal with IBM.
Microsoft
This country became the first to grant women the right to vote in national elections, in 1893.
New Zealand
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people…”
Abraham Lincoln
A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, True at First Light
Ernest Hemingway
This ancient civilization created the Antikythera mechanism, a complex geared device used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses.
The Ancient Greeks
Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, this company became one of the most influential manufacturers in history.
Intel
This explorer’s expedition completed the first circumnavigation of Earth, although he died before the voyage was finished.
Ferdinand Magellan
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Isaac Newton
The Kreutzer Sonata, Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Leo Tolstoy
This Mesoamerican civilization independently developed the concept of zero as a true number and used it in an advanced calendar system.
Mayas/Mayans
Originally called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, this Japanese electronics company adopted a shorter international name in the 1950s.
Sony
This cosmonaut became the first human to travel into space.
Yuri Gagarin
“The price of greatness is responsibility.”
Winston Churchill
The Idiot, Demons, Notes from Underground
Fyodor Dostoevsky