Your History

The pioneering yet reclusive artist was one of founding figures of British pop art whose bold, vibrant work helped define a movement. Image: Getty

Lord Tebbit was one of the most combative figures in British politics, and was known as Thatcher's 'enforcer'. A key architect of 1980s union reform, he survived the Brighton bombing and later left frontline politics to care for his wife, Margaret, who was severely injured in the bombing.

He was one of Britain’s most intrepid and inspiring foreign correspondents - a journalist who dodged bullets, bombs and dictators to bring distant wars into the nation’s living rooms. From Kinshasa to Kabul, Sandy Gall reported with grit and clarity, surviving more near-death experiences than he cared to count. Though best known as the voice of ITN’s News at Ten, it was far from the studio and on the frontline that he found his purpose as a journalist.Image: Getty

Nina Kuscsik was a trailblazing athlete who challenged the patronising rules of her sport and helped open the door for generations of female distance runners. She made history as the first woman to win both the Boston and New York Marathons in the same year and led the fight to secure a marathon event for women in the Olympics. Image: Getty

Actress, model and music publicist, Madeleine Kasket, helped the fledgling radio station Classic FM to find its footing. Her connections included the greats of the classical music world - the tenor Plácido Domingo, cellist Julian Bream, and flautist James Galway. For a decade from the mid 1980s her partner was the harmonica player Larry Adler. The society photographer Baron was so taken with her look that he published a photograph of her for the Evening Standard in the same pose as the famous bust of the Egyptian queen, Nefertiti.Image credit: Baron

David "Syd" Lawrence - the first British-born black cricketer to play for England - was fearsome fast bowler whose career was cruelly cut short by injury. He fell horribly in the middle of his delivery stride as he was about to bowl on the last day of the Third Test between England and New Zealand in Wellington on February 10, 1992. He said that it “felt like a sniper had shot me in the knee” and although he never played for England again, it was typical of his bravery that he attempted a comeback for Gloucestershire in county cricket not once but twice.Image: Getty