Who: Mary Anning (19th century)

Profession: Fossil seller on the beach.

Mary was born into a poor family in England. To somehow make a living, the girl collected strange 'stone shells' on the shore and sold them to tourists. She had no education and could barely read.

At the age of 12, she unearthed something incredible from the rocks — the first completely preserved ichthyosaur skeleton (a giant marine reptile) in history. Then she found the first plesiosaur and pterodactyl. Her discoveries were a sensation. At the time, people believed that the Earth was only a few thousand years old and that animals could not go extinct. Mary’s findings proved the existence of prehistoric monsters and laid the groundwork for Darwin's theory. During her lifetime, male scientists bought her skeletons and published scientific articles about them without even mentioning the name of the poor seller. Only a century later did the world recognize Mary Anning as one of the greatest paleontologists in history.