Biggest power couples in history

Coretta was also an influential activist in her own right. In 1974, she founded and served as co-chair of the National Committee for Full Employment and the Full Employment Action Council, which sought to promote equal economic opportunities. Her commitment to civil rights took her around the world, from Greece to South Africa. Coretta Scott King died in 2006, and is buried in The King Center alongside her husband.

Continuing Dr. Kings legacyFollowing Dr. Kings assassination in 1968, Coretta worked tirelessly to preserve his legacy. She was the driving force behind the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, in Atlanta, which hosts the largest archives of Civil Rights documents. She also fought to see her husbands birthday observed as a national holiday.

Each in their own way, these unions had a profound impactIt is perhaps clichd to say that love makes us stronger. But it is certainly true that, throughout history, the power of some partnerships has been greater than the sum of their parts. Here are some of the most exceptional couples who together had a transformative and lasting influence on the world.

A lifetime of commitmentThe nonviolent movement Dr. King championed in the 1950s and 1960s led to sweeping political action on civil rights. In 1963, over 25 million people participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. King delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act ended legal discrimination against minorities in education, hiring, and public housing. That year, at just 35 years old, Dr. King became the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act eliminated further barriers to voting for African Americans.

From partnership to artistic inspirationWhen the two met, Rauschenberg was recently divorced from the painter Susan Weil, and had come out of a relationship with the famous artist Cy Twombly. Rauschenberg and Johns began to work together as window designers, under the name Matson-Jones. As their relationship deepened, their union became its own form of artistic expression, offering the kind of freedom that, as gay men, they could not find within the Abstract Expressionist circle.

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas: The dynamic Jewish lesbians hosted an all-star cast of influential, era-defining artists at their salon in Paris. Their union was inspirational for many outsiders and continues to inspire literature, art, theater, and actual relationships.

Adam and Eve were responsible, literally or metaphorically, forin no particular orderthe subservience of women; the pain of childbirth; the concepts of sin, shame, and clothing; a lot of great artwork; and oh yes, procreation, without which there would have been no one else to influence.

I nominate Adam and Eve. My second choice is Voltaire and milie du Chtelet, the woman often referred to as his mistress but who was more like a collaborator. They performed critical analyses of the Bible, from which Voltaire concluded that our first parents never existed and therefore werent powerful at all.