Your History

Alfred Brendel, one of the most influential pianists of the 20th and 21st centuries, was born in a small Czech town and came of age during the Second World War. Self-taught and fiercely intellectual, he brought clarity, wit and emotional depth to the works of composers like Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart - leaving a lasting mark on classical music.Image: Getty

Gerry Francis was the first black South African to play in the English First Division. A child of the apartheid era, he came to Britain to prove himself against white players after being inspired by Nelson Mandela. He shone briefly on the pitch, but he believed his playing career was cut short by what he called the "racist attitudes in the boardroom".Image: Shutterstock

Brian Wilson was the musical genius behind The Beach Boys and didn’t just write songs, he created an idea of California as a state of bliss. From sun-kissed harmonies to the psychedelic heights of Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations, he was the creator of the Beach Boys’ musical golden era. But behind the blissful soundscapes, lay a turbulent life and a troubled man.Image: Getty

“I decided that it would be a lot better if they weren’t used, a lot better if they were impossible to build." Richard Garwin was credited as the physicist who turned a crude design of a hydrogen bomb into something close to a blueprint in a couple of weeks. “I understood what many of these hydrogen bombs would mean” he said later "But if I hadn’t designed it, somebody else would have, probably within the year or so." He was also a remarkable inventor in many other fields of physics and who went on to influence the creation of many aspects of modern life we now take for granted.Image: Getty

Described as a musical “joy maker,” Michael Tretow was the sound engineer behind all of Abba’s first eight albums and every one of their hit singles between 1973 and 1982. Experimenting with different recording techniques, he helped develop Abba’s remarkable signature sound.Image: Alamy

Sebastião Salgado, one of the world’s most prodigious and impactful photographers chronicling the world we inhabit. Working in high-contrast black and white, Salgado sought to convey profound truths about the world in which we live, leaving a legacy of over half a million images.

Yuri Grigorovich, a revered and sometimes divisive figure in the history of the Bolshoi Ballet. As a leading choreographer of the 20th century, he played a pivotal role in shaping a bold, contemporary vision for Russian ballet.Image Credit: Getty

Joseph Nye, coined the two word phrase: “soft power” as a way of encapsulating a new way to see US foreign policy - a path through influence rather than military force and it became a catch phrase for many nations to rethink their place in the world.Image Credit: Getty

Karen Durbin championed feminism, free expression, and sharp writing. A defining voice at New York's The Village Voice and its second female editor-in-chief.Image: SYLVIA PLACHY/COURTESY BARNARD COLLEGE ARCHIVE