Top 10 Most Resilient People in History

10 Most Resilient People in-History

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were looking at people from modern history who found success by enduring hardships that would break most of us.

Before she became the fastest woman in the world, Wilma Rudolph had to learn how to walk. Born premature in 1940, she later contracted polio as a child The disease left her with a twisted leg. Doctors said shed never walk again, but Rudolph flat out refused to listen. By age 12, she stopped using her leg brace. By 16, she was running at the Olympics. Four years later, she attended her second Olympic Games in Rome. There, she became the first American woman to win three track and field Gold medals in a single year. She would go on to fight for desegregation and spent the rest of her life dedicated to training future generations of child athletes.

Stephen Hawking will forever be known for having one of the world's most brilliant minds. The brilliant theoretical physicist was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at 21. As the decades progressed, his condition gradually left him with paralysis. Throughout his life, he continued to make groundbreaking contributions to cosmology, helping humanity understand our universe. He was allegedly forced to endure further hardships in his personal life as his career took off. After divorcing his first wife, Jane, he married his nurse, Elaine Mason, in 1995. During their marriage, allegations of physical abuse surfaced, leading to police investigations. Hawking denied these claims, and no charges were filed.

Malala Yousafzai was only a kid when she took a stand against one of the most oppressive groups on earth. At the tender age of 11, she anonymously started speaking out against the Taliban's oppression in Pakistans Swat Valley. Her father, also an education activist, had taught her to use her voice in defense of girls' right to be educated. Her rising fame made her a target. In 2012, a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. Miraculously, she survived. Instead of silencing her, the attack only amplified her voice. Malala became a global symbol of resistance, winning the Nobel Peace Prize at 17. She continued her activism, proving that no bullet could stop her from fighting.

The phrase "running for his life" took on new meaning for Louis Zamperini. An Olympic athlete turned WWII airman, he survived a plane crash only to spend 47 days lost at sea. While stranded, he and his crew mates fended off both sharks and starvation. Zamperini was ultimately captured by the Japanese. Locked away in a POW camp, he was subjected to two years of unbearable torture. Sadly, freedom and the war's end brought little peace to Louis Zamperini; haunted by PTSD, he found himself with alcohol use disorder and rage. Eventually, Louis found his faith, and through God also found his way to forgiveness and peace. He turned his pain into purpose, dedicating his life to helping others.

Before he was a global icon, Nelson Mandela was a revolutionary. As a leader in the African National Congress, he fought against apartheid through protests, strikes, and eventually sabotage. His efforts earned him a life sentence. But prison bars couldnt hold back Nelson Mandelas spirit. Jailed for 27 years, he endured hard labor, isolation, and relentless attempts to break his will. Mandela chose resilience over bitterness. Upon his release in 1990, he led the charge to dismantle apartheid peacefully, negotiating a democratic transition rather than seeking revenge. In 1994, he became South Africas first Black president. Even after stepping down, he remained a global icon for justice. Thousands attended his funeral in 2013, which was also watched by millions more on television.

As DC comics was first conceptualizing Wonder Woman in the pages of their comics, a real-life superhero was walking the streets of Nazi-occupied Poland. Irena Sendler smuggled around 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, saving them from death. As an infectious disease nurse, she went door to door, begging families to let her get their children out. The Gestapo caught her and brutally tortured her; she endured all the pain they could throw at her, never giving up a single name. Sentenced to execution, she was miraculously saved when the resistance bribed a guard. Her efforts might have been lost to history if it wasn't for the efforts of three teens in Kansas to bring her story to light 60 years later.

When most explorers faced disaster, they perished. When Ernest Shackleton faced it, he became a legend. In 1914, his ship, the aptly named Endurance, became trapped in Antarctic ice. He and his crew were left stranded in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Shackleton was the right man at the right time. His earlier expeditions saw him battling starvation, frostbite, and near-fatal illness. With no rescue in sight, Shackleton led his men on an 800-mile journey in lifeboats. They endured frigid, storm-ridden seas before reaching help. Against impossible odds, every single crew member survived. Even after surviving the Antarctic, Shackleton couldnt stay away. His final journey to the icy continent ended with a fatal heart attack.

Most people would have been broken by the life Harriet Tubman endured. She, however, never gave up, instead becoming one of the most fearless freedom fighters in American history. Born into slavery, she suffered brutal beatings and a traumatic head injury that left her with seizures and visions for the rest of her life. Tubman didnt just escape: she risked everything to return, guiding dozens of enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad. When the Civil War broke out, she became a Union spy, scout, and even led an armed raid to free over 700 people. Even in old age, she fought for womens rights and established a home for the elderly. Chains, war, and illness couldn't break her. She was simply unstoppable.

Most soldiers return home after a war. Hiroo Onoda didnt: he refused to believe it ever ended. A Japanese intelligence officer during World War II, Onoda was stationed on Lubang Island in the Philippines. He took his orders to never surrender literally. When the war ended in 1945, he dismissed the news as enemy propaganda. For 29 years, he survived in the jungle, raiding villages and engaging in skirmishes. He was convinced that Japan was still fighting. In 1974, his former commanding officer was flown in to formally relieve him of duty. Only then did Onoda finally lay down his rifle. His return to the world was both celebrated and controversial. While his loyalty was remarkable, his long war had cost lives.

Modern fighter pilots rely on high tech planes and powerful weapons. Nadezhda Popova and her all-female squadron, the Night Witches, fought the Nazis with wooden biplanes and sheer will. Popova flew over 850 bombing missions, cutting her engine before swooping in silently to drop explosives on German forces. The risk was astronomical; she was shot down several times and lost comrades along the way. Despite these setbacks, she kept flying. Even after her home was occupied and her family displaced, she refused to quit. The Nazis hated and feared the Night Witches so much they gave them their infamous nickname. Popova, unfazed, simply kept proving them right.

Do you know of more inspiring tales of human resilience through horrible adversity? Let us know in the comments below.