Afghan girl athletes perform Wushu on the top of a hill in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, January 18, 2017. In the conservative Afghan society where people especially in the countryside deeply believe in the old traditions and don't allow their girls and female members of the family to go out of home, exercising sport in open is extremely risky, but a group of girls are broken the taboo and exercising Wushu on a hilltop where the temperature is minus 2 Celsius degrees. (Photo by Rahmat Alizadah/Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

Male members of the Zeleziar folk dance group whip and water the local girls dressed in traditional clothing, during Easter in Bociar, Slovakia on April 1, 2024. Boys and younger men visit the houses of young girls, whip them with fresh-cut decorated wickers and sprinkle water on them. By tradition, the whipping should give the girls strength, health, and abundance throughout the whole year. (Photo by Robert Nemeti/Anadolu via Getty Images)

This photo provided by the McKinney Fire Department shows officials at the site of a crash involving a small plane and a vehicle near Aero Country Airport, Saturday, November 11, 2023, in McKinney, Texas. Authorities say a small plane overshot the runway while trying to land at a Texas airport and struck a car that was driving along a nearby road, injuring one person. (Photo by McKinney Fire Department via AP Photo)

A bully greenfinch (left) got its comeuppance when a small but fiery dunnock (right) defended itself with its talons in Suffolk, United Kingdom on April 18, 2022. The smaller bird was perched peacefully before the finch burst onto the scene and aggressively squared up to the dunnock. But as the finch tried to peck at the dunnock, the small brown bird expertly used its foot to slam its mouth shut. (Photo by Paul Sawer/Solent News & Photo Agency)

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

A girl gets a helping hand across the road in Swansea, Wales, England on December 31, 2017. (Photo by Athena Picture Agency)

A girl participates in a New Year calligraphy contest in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2017. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A girl plays with coloured chicks for sale prior to Easter celebrations in Byblos, Lebanon on March 22, 2015. (Photo by Jamal Saidi/Reuters)