Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) — Italian navigator, explorer, and colonist (1451–1506)
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) — Italian diplomat and political and military theorist (1469–1527)
Marco Polo (1254–1324) — Venetian explorer and merchant who travelled through Asia (1254–1324)
Joan of Arc (1412–1431) — French folk heroine (1412–1431), military leader who crowned Charles VII and Roman Catholic saint, canonized 500 years after her death
Vasco da Gama (1460–1525) — Portuguese explorer (c. 1460s – 1524)
Johannes Gutenberg (1400–1468) — German inventor and craftsman (1400-1468)
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) — 14th century English poet and author (1343–1400)
Ibn Battuta (1304–1368) — 14th century Muslim Maghrebi scholar and explorer
Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) — Arab historiographer and historian
Hafez (1325–1389) — Persian poet and mystic (1325–1389)
Petrarch (1304–1374) — Italian scholar and poet (1304-1374)
Timur (1336–1405) — the founder of the Timurid Empire (1370–1405)