Louis XI, called the Prudent, was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois. During his 22-year reign, Louis successfully expanded royal power at the exp...

Philip the Good KG (French: Philippe le Bon), also Philip III, Duke of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty (the then Royal family of France). During his reign Burgun...

Murad I, "the God-like One", was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1361 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan I and the Valide Sultan Nilüfer Hatun and became the ruler following his father's death in 1361. He established the Empire by buil...

Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, who was one of the earliest humanists. His rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Renaiss...

Scottish King Robert I, known as Robert the Bruce. Though he had sworn allegiance to Edward I of England in 1296, a year later he switched sides, fighting for Scotland's independence. He was crowned King of Scots at Scone in 1306, though Sc...

Count Floris V of Holland (1254-1296), the "Keerlen God" (Peasant God), is one of the most important figures of the first, native dynasty of Holland (833-1299). His life has been documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his c...

Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham) was a Muslim scientist, polymath, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher, described in various sources as either Persian or Arab. He made significant contributions to the principles of optics, as well as to physi...

Gaius Julius Caesar is remembered as one of history's greatest generals and a key ruler of the Roman empire. As a young man he rose through the administrative ranks of the Roman republic, accumulating power until he was elected consul in 59...

Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of Macedon, a state in the north eastern region of Greece, and by the age of thirty was the creator of one of the largest empires in ancient history, stretching fro...

Cancer is the fourth astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Cancer. It spans the 90° to 120° of the zodiac, between 90° and 120° of celestial longitude. Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun transits this area o...