Watch Personalities

24 July 1897 - 5 January 1939

An American aviation pioneer who was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928. She was an instrumental figure in endorsing air travel, especially for women, in the 1930s. 

In 1937 during an attempt to become the first woman to complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe, she disappeared mysteriously at the last legs of the journey in the Pacific islands. 

30 August 1935

An American marine biologist, oceanographer and explorer, who was named by Time Magazine as its first “Hero of the Planet” in 1998 for her dedication towards protecting the ocean and its wildlife. 

In 2009, she founded Mission Blue, an organization which aims to establish marine protected areas around the world. Their vision is to achieve 30% protection of the ocean by 2030.

14 March 1879 - 18 April 1955

A German theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity. His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. An example is his mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc2, which is dubbed “the world’s most famous equation”. He received a Nobel Prize in Physics for his services to theoretical physics. 

1 September 1878 - 10 February 1966

Captain Fuller took the leadership of the first Outward Bound School in Aberdovey (aka Aberdyfi) in 1942 and served as a senior warden until 1971. He adapted the Outward Bound motto from the poem "Ulysses" by Alfred Tennyson. 

6 August 1881 - 11 March 1955

A Scottish physician and microbiologist. Known for his greatest discovery to mankind, the first antibiotic, Penicillin. His discovery changed the world of modern medicine. He has saved and is still saving millions of people around the world. The discovery had earned him a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 which he co-shared with other scientists. 

31 March 1948

An American politician who served as Vice President of the USA under President Bill Clinton from 1993 - 2001, he was also an environmentalist whose work in climate change activism earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. 

In 2006 he was featured in a documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, about his campaign to educate people about global warming.

22 February 1962 - 4 September 2006

A passionate conservationist who spent his life educating the world about land clearing leading to the loss of habitat for animals. To minimise further loss of wildlife habitats, Steve bought over parcels of nature areas before the land were lost to urbanization. 

17 October 1956

An American chemical engineer and doctor. She was the first black woman to travel in space. After being an astronaut, she dedicated her life to science and medicine. She is also an advocate in encouraging young children and youths to understand and pursue science. 

31 December 1979

Indian mountaineer, and the first woman to summit Mt Everest twice in a season. She has been awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award and conferred the Young Indian Leader Award. She dedicated her life in empowering women to take on challenging feats. 

12 May 1820 - 13 August 1910

An English social reformer, statistician and founder of modern nursing. Her most famous contribution came during the Crimean War in which she organised care for the wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a favourable reputation and became the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds and tending to wounded soldiers at night. 

4 January 1643 - 31 March 1727

An English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian and natural philosopher. He was widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution. He formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation and he used his mathematical description of gravity to prove the laws of planetary motion, account for tides, the trajectories of comets, the presence of equinoxes and many more. 

6 June 1868 -  29 March 1912

An English naval officer who led two expeditions to South Pole. On his first expedition, he set a record by marching to latitude 82°S and discovering the Antarctic Plateau in 1901-04. 

In 1910-13, he led a second expedition to South Pole, reaching the Pole less than five weeks after Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition. During the return journey he died. When their bodies were discovered, they had in their possession the first Antarctic fossils ever discovered, which proved that Antarctica was once forested and connected to other continents.

13 October 1925 - 8 April 2013

A British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of United Kingdom from 1979-1990. She was nicknamed "The Iron Lady" for her uncompromising politics and leadership style. 

She was not merely the first woman and the longest-serving Prime Minister of modern times, but the most admired, most hated, most idolised and most vilified public figure of the 2nd half of the 20th century. To some she was the saviour of her country who created a vigorous enterprise economy. To others, she was a narrow ideologue whose hard-faced policies legitimized greed, deliberately increased inequality and destroyed UK's sense of solidarity and civic pride.

6 August 1809 - 6 October 1892

A British poet whose poem "Ulysses" was adapted as the Outward Bound motto, "To Serve, To Strive and not To Yield". 

He is regarded as the top poet of his period and the most widely read of all English poets. He was so important in his era that even the Queen of England, Queen Victoria, was inspired by his poems. 

12 November 1938

The oldest female mountaineer who scaled Mt Everest at age 63 after her retirement from public service, and 10 years later, she broke her own record, summitting Mount Everest again at the age of 73.