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The saying goes that age is just a number.

And it certainly isn’t something that has stopped young people from setting their sights on some impressive targets throughout the years. From politics to sport, aviation to filmmaking, young people have made a significant impact on the world around them.

�鶹Լ�� Bitesize takes a look at five record-breaking young people and their extraordinary achievements.

Person to birdwatch on all continents: Mya-Rose Craig

The British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist and diversity activist Dr Mya-Rose Craig, also known as her alter-ego, Birdgirl, broke records in 2015 by becoming the youngest person to birdwatch on every continent.

She arrived at her seventh and final continent in Brown Bluff on the Antarctic Peninsula on 27 December at the age of 13 years and 234 days. During this trip, she recorded sightings of birds such as emperor penguins and Antarctic shags.

The campaigner became a keen birder at the age of three and had logged over 5,000 species, almost half of the world’s known total, by the age of 17.

But that isn’t all. In 2016, Mya-Rose founded Black2Nature, a charity that aims to provide young people in minority ethnic communities equal access to nature.

In 2020, she became what is thought to be the youngest British person to receive an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Bristol.

Olympian: Dimitrios Loundras

At the tender age of 10 years and 218 days, Dimitrios Loundras competed in the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Representing Greece in the team parallel bars event, Loundras was part of the Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos team and he and his troupe earned bronze medals for their efforts.

The 1896 Olympic event was the first of the modern games to ever take place, with only 13 nations taking part, opposed to the 206 involved in Tokyo 2020.

Later in life, Loundras became an officer in the Royal Hellenic Navy, where he fought in World War I. From 1924, he became a member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the Olympic governing body of Greece.

Prime Minister: William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was born in London on 28 May 1759 and made history by becoming the world’s youngest Prime Minister at the age of 24.

Son of politician William Pitt the Elder, he first entered Parliament in 1781, quickly became the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1782 and was eventually appointed PM in 1783.

While his new found power wasn’t received well by everyone, Pitt’s appointment would result in him becoming the second-longest serving Prime Minister in history, with 18 years and 343 days in office.

While he was in power, he implemented 1800 Act of Union, which created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Hollywood executive producer: Marsai Martin

In April 2019, Little, a US comedy film was released featuring actresses Regina Hall, Issa Rae and Marsai Martin.

But as well as having a starring role Marsai was also breaking records as the youngest Hollywood executive producer at the age of 14 years and 241 days.

The movie inspiration came to Marsai while she was on the set of the tv show Black-ish, where she pitched the idea to the show’s creator Kenya Barris. She was 10 at the time.

Four years later the movie had been filmed and was distributed by major production studio, Universal Pictures.

The film follows the life of a successful but bullying businesswoman who learns the error of her ways when wakes up one day to discover she has been transformed into her younger self.

Woman to fly the world solo: Zara Rutherford

It took Zara Rutherford just five months to become the world’s youngest female pilot to fly the world solo when she set off on her venture in 2022.

The 19 year-old Belgian-British pilot, endured all types of flying conditions, ranging from the freezing climate of Serbia, to the wildfires of California.

She took off in a two-seater Shark Aero, one of the world’s fastest lightweight aircrafts.

The journey saw Zara fly 32,0000 miles across five continents in 155 days. She landed in 31 countries along the way.

Following her flying feat, she spoke of her ambitions to study electrical engineering and become an astronaut.

That same year, her younger brother, Mack Rutherford broke the record for youngest male pilot to fly around the world solo at 17 years and 64 days old.

This article was published in December 2022