History hero

Mary Seacole as seen in a contemporary photo. Although she became famous for her nursing work in the Crimean War, her story subsequently became largely forgotten. (Photo by Alamy)

History hero Bernardine Evaristo chooses Mary Seacole (1805–1881)

Victorian heroine Grace Darling (1815–1842) with her father, lighthouse keeper William Darling. They are rowing from the Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands off Northumberland, to rescue the passengers of the stricken ship 'SS Forfarshire'. (Photo by Nigel Dobinson/Getty Images)

History hero Miriam Stoppard chooses Grace Darling (1815–1842)

c1935: Beatrice Shilling sits astride her Norton motorcycle. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

History hero Cathy Newman chooses Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990)

American jazz singer Helen Forrest performing with trumpeter Harry James (1916-1983), c1945. (Photo by Metronome/Getty Images)

Second World War

History hero Dame Vera Lynn chooses Helen Forrest (1917–99)

Frank Gillard pictured during a 1944 rehearsal for battle reporting

History hero Chris Mason chooses Frank Gillard (1908–98)

Harold Wilson in 1971, after his first period as prime minister. He would take power again in 1974. (Photo by Getty Images)

History hero Jason Watkins chooses Harold Wilson (1916–95)

Rosa Parks (right) riding on a bus following the Supremacial segregation on Montgomery's public transit system. (Photo by Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)

History hero Gabby Logan chooses Rosa Parks (1913–2005)

Sylvia Pankhurst is taken into custody

History hero Emma Barnett chooses Sylvia Pankhurst (1882–1960)

Prime Minister Harold Macmillan at Admiralty House, London

History hero Michael Heseltine chooses Harold Macmillan (1894–1986)

Oskar Schindler, who prevented hundreds of Jews from being murdered in the Holocaust

Second World War

History hero Simon Reeve chooses Oskar Schindler (1908–74)

A contemporary portrait of scientist Ada Lovelace

History hero Konnie Huq chooses Ada Lovelace (1815–52)

British journalist Tom Wintringham (1898–1949), the candidate for the Christian Socialist Commonwealth Party. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

History hero Peter Tatchell chooses Tom Wintringham (1898–1949)

Amelia Earhart, who became the first woman to fly non-stop across the Atlantic in 1932. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

History hero Julia Bradbury chooses Amelia Earhart (1897–1937)

Margaret Hodge has been the MP for Barking since 1994. She held a number of ministerial positions during the 1997–2010 Labour administration, and was appointed DBE in 2015. (Photo by AP/REX/Shutterstock)

History hero Margaret Hodge chooses Katharine Graham (1917–2001)

Native American leader Sitting Bull

History hero Steven Knight chooses Sitting Bull (1831–90)