1. The founder of modern Jainism. He is regarded as the twenty-fourth tirthankara, or spiritual teacher, who revived and synthesized ancient Jain traditions. His mother, Trishala, is said to have had either fourteen or sixteen auspicious dreams before his birth. In his forties, Mahavira is said to have achieved Kevala Jnana, or infinite knowledge, while meditating under a salah tree. He subsequently taught a number of principles, including ahimsa, the prohibition of violence against living beings of any kind.

2. A Chinese philosopher whose teachings are the basis of Confucianism, a tradition sometimes described as a philosophy and sometimes as a religion. Confucius's disciples organized his teachings into the Analects. He emphasized such ideas as li (decorum and proper behavior) and ren (benevolence or humaneness). He taught that disorder often arose from the failure to call things by their proper names, so he advocated the rectification of names. His followers developed his teachings in different directions; the most famous of them, Mencius, emphasized the innate goodness of human beings.

3. The founder of Christian Science. Sickly for much of her life, she sought treatment from many different healers, including a mesmerist and magnetic healer named Phineas Quimby. This experience inspired Eddy to write a book titled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, in which she equated God with the mind and argued that sickness is spiritual, not material. Eddy believed that mental techniques could be used not only for healing, but also to harm people, which she termed 'malicious animal magnetism.' She founded the Christian Science Monitor and laid out guidelines for her church in the Manual of the Mother Church, which established Christian Science reading rooms.

4. Protestants and Jews assign lower authority to the Apocrypha because it was written between 300 and 100 BC, but Catholics and Orthodox Christians consider the books that make up the Apocrypha to be 'deuterocanonical,' meaning that they are just as important and divinely-inspired as other parts of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. 'Apocryphal' in general means 'something outside an accepted canon,' and, in particular, in ancient Greek it meant 'hidden things.' Denominations differ as to which books make up the Apocrypha, but Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch are almost always included.

5. (400 - 461; r. 440 - 461) Convinced Attila the Hun to turn back a planned invasion of Italy

6. This elephant-headed god of wisdom and learning is often shown riding a rat. Parvati 'gives birth' to Ganesha by creating him from the saffron paste she scrubbed off of herself after bathing. When Parvati instructs Ganesha not to let anyone in as she took another bath, Ganesha prevents Shiva from entering, prompting Shiva to cut off Ganesha's head. To calm Parvati, Shiva tells servants to take the head of the first baby found whose mother had her back turned; the servants bring back the head of a baby elephant. Ganesha has two wives (Riddhi and Siddhi), two sons, and a daughter. People pray to this remover of obstacles and bringer of good fortune before they commence business.

7. Traditionally, by default, firstborn sons are obligated to assist in the Temple in Jerusalem. As there is currently no Temple, this requirement is symbolic, but it is traditional to 'redeem' such people from their obligations if possible. Children in priestly families (kohanim, singular kohen, descendants of Moses's brother Aaron) and Levite families (descendants of Levi) cannot be redeemed from service. Traditionally, the child's father pays a kohen five silver coins in exchange for the child's freedom, shortly after the child becomes one month old. Blessings and a meal accompany the ritual.

8. The chief hero of the Mahabharata, Arjuna is the son of Indra and one of five Pandava brothers, who fight a bitter war against their 100 cousins, Kauravas, culminating at the battle on 'Kuru's Field.' Before the battle, Arjuna asks his charioteer (Krishna) why he must fight. Krishna responds that Arjuna must follow a devotion to god (bhakti), and that even as he slays his brethren, it is for a just cause. Along with the rest of the Pandavas, Arjuna is married to Draupadi.

9. Discouraged, but permitted. It is effected by a document called a get. By Jewish law, a husband must present a wife with a get of his own free will, and traditionally (but not by law) she must choose to accept it. The former presents an obvious problem when a wife wishes to be divorced but her husband does not. This is a considerable problem in observant Jewish communities and has led to a variety of attempted solutions of varying acceptance and effectiveness (usually in the form of some sort of prenuptial agreement, but occasionally more creative, less legal forms).

10. (1478 - 1534; r. 1523 - 1534) Pope during the 1527 Sack of Rome and refused to annul Henry VII's Marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He is not to be confused with Antipope Clement VII, whose election in 1378 started the Western Schism.

11. The seventh avatar of Vishnu is hero of the Ramayana. Born as a prince to King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya, Rama wins the hand of his wife Sita in a competition held by Sita's father, King Janaka; only he can string Shiva's bow. When his aunt Kaikeyi schemes to deprive him of Dasharatha's throne by putting her son Bharata there, Rama and Sita are banished to a forest for 14 years. During that time, the ten-headed demon Ravana kidnaps Sita, but Rama rescues her and kills Ravana. Bharata abdicates; Rama makes Sita walk through fire to prove that Ravana had not corrupted her.

12. A deceased person's body is not embalmed; rather, it is ritually washed by members of a group called the chevra kadisha (literally 'holy society'), who then dress the body in a simple linen garment (tachrich), place it in a simple wooden casket (no metal, so that the body's return to dust is hastened), and stay with the deceased while reciting psalms. At the funeral, there is no viewing. Eulogies may be given, and mourners may recite psalms (especially Psalm 23, 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want) and El Malei Rachamim ('God, full of mercy'). Cremation is forbidden, and burial should take place as soon as possible. At the burial, mourners take turns shoveling dirt into the grave, but do not pass the shovel directly to one another. A common myth states that having a tattoo prevents one from being buried in a Jewish cemetery; though Judaism discourages tattoos, that is not true. Proper treatment of the dead is considered a critical mitzvah (both commandment and good deed) because the beneficiary (the deceased person) cannot offer repayment or express gratitude.

13. (1443 - 1513; r. 1503 - 1513) Nicknamed the 'Warrior Pope' for his military ambition in expanding the Papal States. He joined the League of Cambrai to resist Venetian expansion in northern Italy. He also instituted the Swiss Guard and commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Michelangelo created a number of notable sculptures as part of a plan for Julius II's tomb, including the Rebellious Slave, Dying Slave, and a 'Horned Moses' based on a mistranslation of the Vulgate.

14. One of the 'Four Books' used by the ancient Chinese for civil service study, it contains the sayings (aphorisms) of Confucius. The philosopher Confucius did not write or edit the words that make up the Analects; his disciples compiled them in the 5th or 4th century BC. Confucianism is more of a philosophical system than a religion, and Confucius thought of himself more as a teacher than as a spiritual leader. The Analects also contain some of the basic ideas found in Confucianism, such as ren (benevolence) and li (proper conduct).

15. A modern and non-obligatory ritual. It is primarily used in more secular movements, and represents the fact that a person has continued formal Jewish education past the bar/bat mitzvah and has now completed that formal education. Rituals vary widely, but generally there is recognition in the synagogue of the confirmation class (all at once, unlike for b'nai mitzvah), religious gifts may be given, and—as with nearly all Jewish events—food is served.

16. (Born 1936; r. 2013 - present) Served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires before ascending to the papacy upon the resignation of Benedict XVI. He is the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first pope from outside of Europe since Gregory III in the 8th century. When asked in 2013 for his view on gay clergy members, he responded 'Who am I to judge?'. He also had a historic meeting with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church in Havana in 2016, and the two issued a joint declaration denouncing the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

17. This is a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, as well as a number of other calamities in Jewish history. It is traditional to fast and to keep oneself in a solemn mood. The Book of Lamentations is read in a mournful tone, traditionally while sitting on the floor and with candles as the only lights.

18. One of the Trimurti (the holy trinity of Hindu gods), Vishnu is the Preserver, protecting the world. When needed, Vishnu descends to Earth as an avatar, or incarnation. Nine have appeared so far: Matsya, Kurma (tortoise), Varah (boar), Narasimha (man-lion), Vamana (dwarf), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, and Buddha. A tenth, Kalki, will appear with a flaming sword to save humans from the darkness. Some cult followers worship Vishnu as Narayana, the primal being. Vishnu has dark blue skin, rides with the eagle Garuna, and sits on the snake Shesha. His symbols are the conch, disc, club, and lotus; his chief wives are Lakshmi and Bhu (the Earth). Kama, the god of love, may be his son.

19. (1475 - 1521; r. 1513 - 1521) A son of Lorenzo de Medici whose papacy included the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. He revived the unpopular sale of indulgences to fund the construction of St. Peter's Basilica. Martin Luther responded by publishing his 95 Theses, which Leo denounced in the papal bull Exsurge Domine. At his coronation, Leo was given a white elephant named Hanno by Manuel I of Portugal; the animal was buried beneath the Vatican after its death.

20. Also known as Lord Mahesh, Shiva is the Destroyer in the Trimurti. Developed from Rudra, the Vedic god of death, Shiva is often shown sitting on a tiger skin and riding the bull Nandi. He is also associated with a lingam (phallus). He has three eyes, of which the third (in the middle of his head) is all-knowing; when it opens, the world is destroyed and regenerated. Lord of all underworld beings, he wears a necklace of skulls and another made of a snake. He carries a trident as a weapon and has a blue throat, the result of drinking poison while the ocean churns. Parvati, one of his several consorts, bears him two sons: Kartikeya (the god of war) and Ganesha.

21. Also called Vedanta, or 'last part of the Vedas,' the Upanishads were written in Sanskrit between 900 and 500 BC. Part poetry but mainly prose, the earlier Upanishads laid the foundation for the development of several key Hindu ideas, such as connecting the individual soul (atman) with the universal soul (Brahman). Spiritual release, or moksha, could be achieved through meditation and asceticism. The name 'Upanishads' means 'to sit down close,' as pupils did when a teacher recited them.

22. Hebrew for 'instruction,' the Talmud is a codification of Jewish oral law, based on the Torah. It consists of the Mishnah (the laws themselves), and the Gemara (scholarly commentary on the Mishnah). The Gemara developed in two Judaic centers, Palestine and Babylonia, so there are two Talmuds (Palestinian and Babylonian), the latter considered more authoritative. Rabbis and lay scholars finished the Babylonian Talmud around 600.

23. Celebrated on the sixth day of Sivan (the ninth month), the 50th day of the Omer that began after Passover. The word Shavuot means 'weeks,' (seven weeks of the Omer), hence the name of the homologous Christian holiday Pentecost. Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, as well as the beginning of the harvest in ancient Israel. Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot are the three pilgrimages, when Jews would all gather at the Temple each year; on Shavuot, Jews would dedicate their first harvest fruits to the Temple. The Book of Ruth is read in synagogue on Shavuot, and it is traditional to study all night on this festival.

24. (1502 - 1585; r. 1572 - 1585) Introduced the Gregorian Calendar in 1582 to correct the previous Julian Calendar

25. (1160 - 1216; r. 1198 - 1216) Ordered the disastrous Fourth Crusade and excommunicated Venetian crusaders who changed course from Jerusalem to sack Constantinople. He also initiated the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars of southern France. Innocent III convened the Fourth Lateran Council, which defined the dogma of transubstantiation and required Muslims and Jews to wear identifying clothing. In 1209, he excommunicated King John for refusing to recognize the appointment of Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury.