Born into poverty, Wilma Mankiller overcame numerous obstacles to become the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation — and to improve the lives of countless Native Americans along the way.

In 1980, Terry Fox ran the equivalent of almost 130 marathons in just 143 days to raise money for cancer research — despite the difficulties of running with a prosthetic leg.

Rick Rescorla fought for the British military for six years and earned a Purple Heart for his service with the U.S. Army in Vietnam — but the bravest moment of his life came on September 11, 2001.

A cross-dressing, cigar-smoking outlaw, Pearl Hart became a media sensation after she robbed a stagecoach, cementing her place as one of Arizona’s most notorious bandits.

One of the most disturbing creatures of Greek mythology, the Minotaur stalked the Labyrinth and feasted on human flesh — until he was killed by Theseus.

One of the most important gods in the Aztec pantheon, Quetzalcoatl was associated with wind, wisdom, and agriculture and was believed to have invented the calendar, discovered maize, and even created humankind.

Billed as a human-orangutan hybrid, Julia Pastrana made her stage debut in 1854. Though she eventually fell in love and got married, her life was isolated and cut tragically short.

For centuries, the Jivaroan people of South America severed and shrank the heads of their enemies for rituals and trophies — and later for trade.

The twisting tale of the Victorio Peak treasure has everything — a mysterious mineshaft, stacks of gold bars, murder, and a top-secret military base. But was the treasure even real?

Robert Landsburg captured several stunning images of Mount St. Helens erupting on the morning of May 18, 1980 — before using his own body to protect the film from the deadly cloud of ash racing toward him.

Despite being born into a family of wealthy enslavers in Kentucky, Cassius Marcellus Clay became a fierce abolitionist, fighting his many enemies with words and a Bowie knife.