Society & Social Issues

Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan's first President for Life, created a bizarre dictatorship. He closed all hospitals and libraries outside the capital, banned dogs and beards from the city, and forced citizens to read his own book, the Ruhnama, for everything from school to driving tests.

Aurore Gagnon, a Quebec girl, died at 11 from horrific abuse by her stepmother and father. Her tragic 1920 death, revealing over 50 wounds, transformed her into "L'enfant martyre," a powerful cultural symbol against child abuse that spurred social change in Canada.