Notable People in History

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Berber Queen Dihya fought against Islamic expansion in ancient Numidia Kingdom under the leadership of Hasan ibn al Nu'man.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Pepi II Neferkare, the fifth king of Egypt’s 6th Dynasty and its longest reigning pharaoh. 

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Kandake Amanishakheto. She is remembered as a great queen of Kush and is known as a great warrior and pyramid builder; particularly at the Wad ban Naqa site that served as the seat of the Kushite/Nubian Kingdom.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Meryneith, an Egyptian High Priest during the reign of Pharaohs Akhenaten and Tutankhamun.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Queen Meryt Neith. She’s believed to be the earliest recorded female pharaoh of ancient Egypt. 

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Akhenaten, the 14th-century pharaoh who brought change to the ancient Egyptian kingdom, including changing his name, the country’s religion and its capital.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Empress Taytu Beytul who prevented Ethiopia from being colonized, and founded its capital city Addis Ababa.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Imhotep who is credited with designing the first step pyramid in Egypt.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Nzinga Mbandi, who became queen of Ndongo in 1624. She is known for her diplomatic and military strategies in defending her kingdoms against the Portuguese, transforming them into successful commercial states.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Pharaoh Menes who is credited with uniting Upper & Lower Egypt in the First Dynasty.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life Queen Amina. She was a warrior and ruler of Zazzau, a Hausa city-state which dominated the trans-Saharan trade after the collapse of the Songhai empire in what is now Northern Nigeria. She led an army of 20,000 soldiers, conquering towns to the north and south in the Nupe and Jukun kingdoms, and through Kasashen Ba...

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Oranyan, the second prince of Ile-Ife, who made Oyo his new kingdom. According to Yoruba history, Oranyan founded Oyo around the year 1300 and one of his children, Eweka I, went on to become the first king of the Benin Empire.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Nzinga Mbandi, who became queen of Ndongo in 1624. She is known for her diplomatic and military strategies in defending her kingdoms against the Portuguese, transforming them into successful commercial states.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Shaka Zulu. Before the ascendancy of King Shaka, Zulu referred to only one clan that recognized "Zulu" as its founding ancestor. After Shaka's mission of conquest and consolidation, the Zulu Empire’s population reached an estimated 250,000 and his state emerged as the largest in the history of Sout...

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Makeda, Queen of Sheba who ruled the Axumite kingdom for more than 50 years. She traveled to Jerusalem to witness the fabled wisdom of King Solomon and bore him a son named Menelik, the first Imperial ruler of Ethiopia.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Mansa Musa, the ninth ruler of the Mali Empire and considered the richest man to have ever lived. During his reign, the empire of Mali doubled in size, making it second in size only to that of the Mongol Empire at the time, and trade tripled.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Queen Amani. She’s remembered as having led her Kingdom’s army to fight back the Romans from 25 to 22 BC, halting their expansion into Kush. She captured three major Roman cities and brought back the bronze head of Augustus Caesar.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Leo Africanus. Born Al Hassan Ibn Muhammad Al Wazzan, he is best known for hisb book, Cosmographia et geographia de affrica (Cosmography and geography of Africa).

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Hatshepsut. Assuming the title King of Upper and Lower Egypt, she reigned Egypt as pharoah from 1478-1458 BCE, longer than any other woman of Egyptian dynasty.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Muḥammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi. His book , Hisab al-jabr w’al-muqabala  or  The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing , is generally considered to be the first written on the subject of algebra.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Queen Boudica, a Celtic queen of the Iceni tribe in England who led a rebellion against Roman occupation around 60 A.D.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Fibonacci. Traveling around the Mediterranean coast, Fibonacci met with many merchants, learning about their systems for doing arithmetic.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of  Wang Zhenyi. Despite societal norms which prohibited female education, she made accurate findings and observations as to the relationship between the lunar and solar eclipses. 

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Pythagoras. He’s credited with formulating the Pythagorean theorem, and the concept that music and harmony is present in the entire Universe.

In this week's Notable People in History podcast, we’ll take a look at the life of Hypatia of Alexandria. She became the head of the Platonist school at Alexandria, lecturin on mathematics and philosophy. In 415 AD, she was attacked by a mob, and beaten to death with what are thought to be roofing tiles.