Overlooked

She led a successful career despite coping with a horrific event that she witnessed at 18: the killing of her mother and sister at the hands of her father.

She started out at Blancpain as an apprentice and eventually took over as an owner, a move that one industry insider noted was “totally unprecedented” for a woman.

He became wealthy working as a hairdresser in New York, then used his funds to free enslaved people, build churches and house orphans of color.

With one arm and one leg, he upended assumptions that disabled people could not lead fulfilling lives, and his artistry had audiences clamoring for more.

She created one of the world’s best-known characters for children, and fought to have the book published, but she never sought celebrity status.

A pioneering record-label owner and engineer, she played guitar in a raw and unapologetically abrasive way. “Whatever song it was,” she said, “I always creamed it.”

She is best remembered for importing reindeer to the Scottish Highlands centuries after they were hunted to extinction. About 150 roam there today.

She learned to fend for herself during a venture to Wrangel Island. By the time a rescue ship arrived, she was the last crew member standing.

Beginning the 1930s in San Francisco, she transformed the image of her native Mexican cuisine in the United States with a restaurant and popular cookbooks, all while overcoming a loss of sight.

Long before Kindles and iPads became popular, Ruiz Robles, a teacher, created her Mechanical Encyclopedia to help lighten her students’ textbook load.