Using data to tell complex stories that move people to action is a rare skill to be prized and celebrated - rare at least today. Over the past two centuries, some figures have shone out as the true gods of data-driven storytelling, in part because of the visualisations they’ve created to simplify hugely complex stories. The five gods venerated here are: Florence Nightingale, Dr John Snow, Hans Rosling, Edward Tufte, and David McCandless.