On August 15, 1769, Napoleon was born in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The scion of an impoverished noble family, he was able to attend the Brienne military school thanks to a royal scholarship. Due to his Corsican accent, he was initially teased by his classmates, but his military acumen did not go unnoticed and Napoleon quickly gained respect.

Napoleon owed his stellar career to the French Revolution of 1789. Having successfully led the artillery of the revolutionary forces against the royalists in 1793, he was promoted to general and lauded as a young military genius. He was said to be unafraid of death as he believed himself chosen by God and hence immortal. Napoleon thus always went into battle ahead of his soldiers.

Napoleon cultured a unique style with his two-pointed hat, which, unlike his contemporaries, he wore crosswise on his head. Every year he orderws several of them from the hatter Poupard at a cost of 40 francs. When he was angry, Napoleon is said to have stomped on his hat. Some 19 of his headpieces have survived the centuries and fetch seven-figure sums at auction.

The cornerstone of the hero-worship cultured by Napoleon is the three-day Battle of Arcole in Italy against the Austrians in November 1796. The Corsican commander later commissioned this painting from the painter Horace Vernet. He is shown seizing a flag and, undaunted by the hail of bullets from the enemy, charges ahead of his soldiers. Napoleon would continue to self-promote his heroics.

Josephine de Beauharnais was six years older than Napoleon and divorced. The military general fell madly in love with her. She nearly followed her former husband, General Alexander de Beauharnais, to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror, but was spared due to the fall of Robespierre, who had had countless nobles beheaded. Her aristocratic contacts proved to be a valuable asset for Napoleon.

In 1798, two years after their wedding, Napoleon set out on his infamous Egyptian expedition under the orders of the revolutionary government. The campaign on the Nile turned out to be a triumph: Napoleon managed to wrest the country from the Ottoman Empire. He was followed by scientists and artists who researched the history of the ancient pharaohs and triggered great interest in Egypt in Europe.

Napoleon was considered the strong man to save France from misrule. In 1799, he took power in a coup d'état and declared the Revolution over. He had himself elected as the First Consul of the Republic and initiated reforms of the judiciary, the military and education. In 1804, he enacted France's first coherent set of laws, the Napoleonic Code, which was adopted throughout Europe and beyond.

Being first consul was not enough: In 1804, Napoleon anointed himself emperor. In Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, he even snatched the crown from the Pope and unceremoniously placed it on his own head. His role models: Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. He wanted to rule the world. He would later install his siblings as heads of state in the countries he conquered.

Napoleon's war campaigns pumped money into the French treasury. Until 1815, he waged constant war — against the Austrians, Prussians, Russians, and the British and its allies. He turned the whole of Europe upside down. The 900-year-old Holy Roman Empire collapsed, cities like Rome and Cologne became French. "The Corsican and his Bloodhounds" is the title of this contemporary political cartoon.

Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia in 1812 marked the start of his downfall. When his troops reached Moscow, they found an abandoned city. The Grande Armée soon perished in the freezing winter. Very few soldiers made it back to France. Russia's Tsar then allied himself with Prussia and Austria, who faced off the French at the "Battle of the Nations" in Leipzig in 1813. Napoleon admitted defeat.

After Napoleon's defeat, the victorious powers had convened the Congress of Vienna to reorganize Europe's military alliances and create a balance of power. But suddenly, the Frenchman reappeared, and battles were waged again. He won the first battle, but at Waterloo in Belgium, he was crushed by the troops of the English general, the Duke of Wellington.

The British then banished Napoleon to the island of St. Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic (this image, from 2012). The Frenchman was no longer able to surprise the Allies again. There, Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, presumably from stomach cancer. The enlightened despot who passed important judicial and civil reforms while wreaking death and destruction across Europe was just 51 years old.

After the American actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of abusing him three decades ago, Ridley Scott cut all of Spacey's scenes in "All the Money in the World" in November and had him recast with the Canadian actor Christopher Plummer. The unprecedented move did not jeopardize the December premiere of the movie and both Plummer's appearance and the crime drama have received good reviews.

His films burst with visual power and opulence, and even his more minor films boast stunning cinematography. In his best works, visual style and narrative depth complement each other perfectly. Ridley Scott, born in 1937, is an image magician — and has given modern cinema some unforgettable moments. He is pictured here on the set of "Black Rain" (1989).

In 1977 Scott was 40 years old and making television shows and ads, so no one expected that he'd become one of the most sought-after directors in world cinema. But his feature film debut that year, "The Duellists," the story of two officers during the reign of Napoleon, showcased Scott's special talent: sumptuous images, a distinct visual style and cinema for all the senses.

The film to follow went to a whole new level: "Alien" was remarkable in for its perfect combination of science-fiction and horror, complete with breathless suspense, bold cinematography and Oscar-winning special effects. For the first time, a woman (Sigourney Weaver) was the lead in an action movie. "Alien" went on to inspire a new generation of sci-fi thrillers.

Ridley Scott went one better with the 1982 dystopian sci-fi film "Blade Runner," which featured more fantastic visuals and unique neo-noir atmospherics. Harrison Ford entered cinema history in his role as a replicant-hunter, and few films have inspired so many imitators — a sequel was also released in 2017. The original "Blade Runner" remains one of the greatest cult films of all time.

After excursions into fantasy, action and thriller, Scott landed another coup in 1991 with "Thelma & Louise." The story of two very different friends who just want to escape their dreary everyday lives becomes a wild road movie stretching across America. It was another film with strong cinematography and a quirky story that also featured Brad Pitt in a breakout role.

Almost a decade later, Scott's next major international success came with "Gladiator," a grand Roman Empire epic. The blood and swords action drama won five Oscars (including Best Actor for Russell Crowe, who played the revengeful Roman general turned gladiator) and a nomination for Scott. It was another work with a compelling narrative and brilliant cinematography.

Following his trip to antiquity, the following year Scott released his first war film, "Black Hawk Down" (2001), and proved he was able to create breathless tension in yet another genre. Tracing an episode involving US soldiers during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, the film also created controversy for its "airbrushed" depiction of American military involvement in a civil war.

Scott's next project was the sequel to the worldwide hit, "The Silence of the Lambs." The serial killer Hannibal Lecter was in good hands with Scott, who pulled out all the stops in his return to the horror suspense genre. Nevertheless, Scott struggled to replicate the massive success of the original Hannibal movie, and the 2001 film is today regarded as one of his minor works.

Scott took another trip into history with his 2010 action film "Robin Hood," a potent re-imagining of the legendary story of the do-gooder who helps the poor. "Grown-up but not too serious; action-packed but not juvenile…[it's] the Robin Hood movie we’ve been waiting decades for, it's also Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe at their most entertaining since 'Gladiator,'" said one critic.

Ridley Scott belongs to the handful of very powerful Hollywood directors who can freely choose their subjects and actors. So it proved with the A-list cast — Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt — assembled for the British director's 2013 drug thriller "The Counselor." Top stars want to work with Scott. The film received a mixed response, however.