Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British polymath, philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist, and Nobel laureate. Throughout his life, Russell considered himself a liberal, a socialist and a pacifist, although he sometimes suggested that his sceptical nature had led him to feel that he had "never been any of these things, in any profound sense". Russell was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United Kingdom. In the early 20th century, Russell led the British "revolt against idealism". He is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy along with his predecessor Gottlob Frege, his friend and colleague G. E. Moore and his student and protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein. He is widely held to be one of the 20th century's most prominent logicians. Together with his former teacher A. N. Whitehead he wrote Principia Mathematica, a milestone in the development of classical logic, and a major attempt to reduce the whole of mathematics to logic (see Logicism). His article On Denoting has been considered a "paradigm of philosophy". His work has had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science (see type theory and type system) and various areas of analytic philosophy, especially logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics. Russell was a prominent anti-war activist, championed anti-imperialism, and chaired the India League. Occasionally, he advocated preventive nuclear war, before the opportunity provided by the atomic monopoly had passed and he decided he would "welcome with enthusiasm" world government. He went to prison for his pacifism during World War I. Later, Russell concluded that the war against Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany was a necessary "lesser of two evils" and also criticised Stalinist totalitarianism, condemned the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War and was an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought".

On April 20, 2021, Ma'Khia Bryant, an African-American 16-year-old girl, was shot to death by Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon in Columbus, Ohio. Body camera and security camera footage released after the shooting showed Bryant charging another person with a knife as she was shot. The officers applied medical treatment and Bryant was transported to Mount Carmel East hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:21 pm EDT. The incident is under investigation. The shooting of Bryant gained attention for occurring half an hour before the guilty verdict of State v. Chauvin was announced, as well as for occurring as the United States was grappling with other cases of police killings of children people of color, including Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo. Reactions have included protests.