Hidden Heroes: Lesser-known figures who shaped history.

1. Claudette Colvin

Before Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin. This African American civil rights activist refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a bus in Montogomery Alabama - nine months before Rosa Parks. However, her act of defiance was largely ignored by the media and civil rights leaders at that time. Nonetheless, her courage helped set the stage for the civil rights movement that followed.

2. Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist and pioneer in the study of molecular structures. Her work on the X-ray diffraction images of DNA was crucial in discovering the DNA double helix. Unfortunately, her contributions were overshadowed by her male colleagues, James Watson and Francis Crick, who won the Nobel Prize for the discovery.

3. Ignaz Semmelweis

Ignaz Semmelweis, often known as 'the saviour of mothers', introduced hand-washing standards in obstetrical clinics during the 19th Century, significantly reducing the mortality rate. Nevertheless, his findings were rejected by the medical community then. It was only years later, with the advent of the "germ theory of disease", that his hand-washing techniques were recognized and adopted widely.

4. Chiune Sugihara

Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania during World War II who helped more than 6,000 Jews escape the Holocaust by issuing transit visas, defying his government's orders. His bravery went largely unacknowledged until 1985 when he was recognized by Israel as "Righteous Among the Nations".

These hidden heroes remind us that every person, no matter how unassuming, has the potential to make a significant contribution to society. Often, it is the everyday individuals who quietly stand up for what is right, defy convention, or pioneer a new thought who truly shape history.

It's important to acknowledge and celebrate these unsung heroes because, without them, our world may have been a very different place.