1. Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille. From 1469 to 1504 C.E., Spain.

They united most of Spain into one kingdom and were quintessential in establishing a European presence in the Americas.

2. Justinian and Theodora. From 525 to 548 C.E., Byzantine Empire.

They reunited most of the old Roman Empire and navigated a complex geopolitical and religious scene.

3. Marc Antony and Cleopatra. From 41 B.C.E., Egypt.

Destined to lose, they faced their odds with the eye of the tiger.

4. Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. From 1503 to 1533 C.E., England.

Their divorce fundamentally changed English society.

5. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. From 1533 to 1536 C.E., England.

Their marriage, and her beheading, sowed the seeds of the creeping absolutism that would prefigure the English Civil War.

6. John and Abigail Adams. From 1764 to 1818 C.E., USA.

They were major figures in the American Revolution, served as president and first lady and gave birth to another president.

7. Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine de Beauharnais. From 1779 to 1809 C.E., French Empire.

They ruled over basically all of continental Europe.

8. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. From 1770 to 1793 C.E., Kingdom of France.

Their beheadings were to the Divine Right of Kings what Smells Like Teen Spirit was to '80s rock.

9. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. From 1947 C.E. to present, the UK.

They ruled over and steadied the hand of Britain through the Cold War, decolonization, radical economic reforms and a post-1989 world.

10. Rocky Balboa and Adrian. Fromthe films Rocky I - V, 1976 to 1990, USA.

Though the only fictional characters on this list, their love was electrifying and none of Rocky's victories would have been possible without Adrian by his side.

Charles Rennie Macintosh and Margaret MacDonald Macintosh. From 1900 to 1928 C.E., Scotland.

“The artists and designers Charles Rennie Macintosh and his wife Margaret MacDonald Macintosh were a couple whose work and collaboration were profoundly influential in their marriage of fine art, architecture and furniture and interior design. Although Rennie is the more celebrated of the two, as is often the case in our still male-dominated world, by all accounts, including Rennie's, it was Margaret who inspired his work more than anyone. Their work has more aesthetic appeal to me than the other design couple Charles and Ray Eames, who deeply influenced modern aesthetics and the more austere, practical and, I would add, cold commingling of art, architecture and design.”

Adam and Eve, with a guest appearance by Lilith. From the holy texts of the Abrahamic religions. The whole fall from grace thing, of course, and subject of one of the great works of literary history, Paradise Lost; Lilith gets in there as the example of what happens to women who refuse to obey: centuries of bad press and, at the same time, appearances in some really beautiful art.

Scheherazade and her prince. From One Thousand and One Nights, which was set in Central Asia and the Middle East and dates back to the 9th century B.C.E.

She is the storyteller, the authority and an early, powerful example of the idea that stories can be a life saver.

1. For the most obvious of reasons, Adam and Eve. From the holy texts of the Abrahamic religions.

We would not be here without them.

2. Noah and his unnamed wife. From the holy texts of the Abrahamic religions.

Also because the whole animal kingdom gets sorted out in couples in the ark.

3. King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. From the holy texts of the Abrahamic religions.

Generated the source of much love poetry.

4. Zeus and Hera. From Greek mythology.

Again, for obvious reasons, with many complex side plots, divine jealousy and bickering.

5. Scheherazade and King Shahryar. From One Thousand and One Nights, which was set in Central Asia and the Middle East and dates back to the 9th century BC.

For the sake of Scheherazade’s endless storytelling, which keeps a misogynous ruler from killing more virgins in an already depleted land.

6. Apollo and Daphne. From Ovid’s Metamorphoses, written in 8 C.E., Roman Empire.

They were among other couples from Ovid’s Metamorphoses who have inspired much subsequent literature, art — Bernini! — and music.

7. Paolo and Francesca. From Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy, written from 1308 to 1321 C.E, Italy.

For Dante’s touching version of the adultery plot.

8. Yesugei and Högelun. From 12th century C.E., from the Mongolian Plateau.

Too little known as a couple, and also spelled in different ways, they parented Temujin, who became known as Genghis Khan, the man who created the largest empire the world had ever seen.

9. Romeo and Juliet. From Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, published in 1597 C.E., England.

Their names have come to symbolize the tragic love plot that goes back to Pyramus and Thisbe and forward to West Side Story.

10. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. From Macbeth by William Shakespeare, published in 1623 C.E., England.

The progenitors of all power-hungry couples, up to House of Cards.