As a child, Kimani Maruge from Kenya never had the chance to go to school. At the age of 84, Maruge could finally afford to get an education, so he went to first grade at Kapkenduiywo Primary School. It took a while to get used to, but as time passed, everyone got accustomed to the first grade’s elderly member. Maruge’s inspiring story was made into a movie, The First Grader, starring Naomie Harris and Oliver Litondo, which was released in 2011.

Fauja Singh is the first centenarian to complete the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. When he was asked how he managed, he simply said “the first 20 miles are not difficult. As for the last six miles, I run while talking to God.”

Bette Calman is a full-time yoga teacher at the age of 87. Calman wanted to try out yoga since the young age of 15, but she never had time between her studies and other commitments. Years later, she got married and opened a hotel and she used yoga as an outlet. Now she teaches 11 classes of yoga every week.

Sam Bryant Jr started working out at the ripe age of 44, right after he got divorced. He needed an outlet and “started picking heavy stuff”. After just a year, others at the gym encouraged him to enter bodybuilding competitions. 26 years later, he’s still a fierce contender.

In 2013, a five-year-old girl Jocelyn Rojas went missing. Police sent a massive search and rescue team of over 100 people and dogs to find the little girl. According to Temar, he got “a gut feeling” that he would find Jocelyn. After a full day of searching, Temar spotted a car that he thought looked suspicious. As he peeked inside, he saw the girl. He jumped on a bicycle and chased the car for about 15 minutes. The car made a U-turn at the bottom of the hill and let the little girl out. Temar brought her home.

Wang Yan was a successful businessman who adored his loyal dog. One day, his beloved friend went missing. Yan searched and searched but couldn’t find his pup anywhere. A friend suggested he check the slaughterhouse. He never found his dog, but seeing the conditions the dogs were living in in the slaughterhouse, the 29-year-old purchased it and all its prisoners for $400,000. He then dedicated his time to caring for the 2,000 dogs.

In 2004, Rick Platt bought a patent to build “an all-trampoline, walled playing field and a sport played on that playing field.” He called it “Sky Zone”. It quickly became extremely popular and Platt began franchising all over the country. There have been especially incredible results from working with autistic kids.

Alastair Humphreys from Liverpool had a great desire to travel the world. He had a dream to become the first person to visit every country in the world. Not only did he make his own dream come true, but he did it on a bike! It took him four years, and he now continues to travel the world as a motivational speaker.

Carol Gardner was 52 when she got divorced, leaving her in serious debt. She was unemployed, had no income and fell into a depression. A friend of hers suggested to “get a therapist or a dog”. Gardner got a four-month-old English bulldog pup and named her Zelda. Feeding Zelda was expensive, but Gardner spotted a photo competition with dog food as a prize. Gardner and Zelda’s photo won the contest and Gardner sent the photo to a greeting card company. The company bought the photo and requested more. Gardner now owns her own greeting card company and travels the world as a motivational speaker.

Badass Fred Mack celebrated his 100th birthday by taking a skydive. Mack’s biggest fan is his doctor. “Fred has been my patient for 20 years and he is in great shape. He’s an amazing man.”

Anthony Full had a passion for cutting hair, and a self-starter attitude. Having held a scissor in one hand and a mirror in the other for many, many years, it left him wanting more from his professional life, and he wanted to teach his kids that you can be whatever you want to be. He took out a home equity line of credit and started Rock Barbers, a shop which offered a comfortable environment for men with larger chairs, guitars, and even a putting green. In its first year, Rock Barbers grossed $50,000.

In 1985, Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds enrolled at Cardiff University. Because she was the first disabled person to ever attend, the school wasn’t accommodated for this. As a result, Rosaleen had to write with her mouth. She has four fingers and 13 toes. She later began painting with her mouth and her work is amazing.

Dashrath Manjhi was a laborer whose wife became very ill. The nearest hospital was 31 miles away, and like many people in this area, Manjhi’s wife didn’t survive the long trip to the hospital. A devestated Manjhi started chipping away at rocks every day for the next 22 years, until he had built a road that shortened the commute from 31 miles to only 9 miles. In honor of his wife, he’s saved hundreds of lives.

Tap Van Kieu diverged from the classic path, and did things in a different order. By the time he was 64, he had done everything he wanted to do in life. He had become a husband, a US citizen, a father and finally a grandfather. There was just one thing he never got to do, so he did it later. At age 70, Tap graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Liang Yaoyi was a gifted 11-year-old who dreamed of becoming a doctor. He got a brain tumor and his prognosis was grim. Days before he passed away, young Liang offered his body to science. He wanted to help doctors save lives after he was gone. After Liang passed away, doctors bowed to pay their respects to the selfless child.

Dr. Leila Denmark was truly a remarkable woman. She was born in 1898 and in 2001, she was still practicing her passion. She even developed a vaccine for whooping cough in 1932. She retired at the age of 103, and passed away in 2012, at age 114. When she turned 113, she made it onto the list of the 100 oldest people ever.