Two people ride a motorcycle as a Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet approaches for landing at an air force base in Hsinchu in northern Taiwan on May 23, 2024. China on May 23 encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft in war games aimed at punishing the self-ruled island after its new president vowed to defend democracy. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

This picture taken on October 20, 2016 shows students practising wushu at the Tagou martial arts school in Dengfeng. China is investing hugely in football training and has vowed to have 50 million school- age players by 2020, as the ruling Communist party eyes “football superpower” status by 2050. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

Russian model Irina Shayk early May 2023 snapped a selfie before she broke “all the rules” at Met Gala. (Photo by irinashayk/Instagram)

A reveller perches on a public hire bicycle outside a bar in Shoreditch, the weekend before new licensing rules come in to effect across Hackney on July 28, 2018 in London, England. Hackney Council has voted to introduce strict new licensing rules which will see “core” curfews in place for new venues as well as extending the “Special Policy Area”, within which licenses are granted only in exceptional circumstances. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

in WA police cordon guards the house of Poland's ruling conservative party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski against a crowd protesting a decision by the Constitutional Court, in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, October 23, 2020. Poland’s top court ruled Thursday that a law allowing abortion of fetuses with congenital defects is unconstitutional, shutting a major loophole in the predominantly Catholic country's abortion laws that are among the strictest in Europe. Defying the pandemic-related ban on gatherings, the protesters chanted for the government to resign. (Photo by Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

A woman enjoys her last alcoholic drink on December 4, 2020 in Cardiff, Wales. Following a firebreak period that ran from October 23 to November 9 the Welsh Government have introduced new rules which will prevent pubs, restaurants and cafes from selling alcohol at any time from 6pm on Friday. The rules will be reviewed on December 17. (Photo by Wales News Service)

Residents gather to watch fireworks rehearsals ahead of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the founding of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Chinese authorities have closed Beijing's central Tiananmen Square to the public, eight days ahead of a major celebration being planned to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

A small series by illustration Alex Solis remembering those things that used to rule the world.