Women Who Made History
In 2014, this Pakistani activist became the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize after advocating for girls' education.
Who is Malala Yousafzai?
This primatologist famously spent decades living among chimpanzees in Tanzania, where she observed them using blades of grass to "fish" termites out of their nests.
Who is Jane Goodall?
This comedian created, wrote, and starred as Liz Lemon in the television comedy 30 Rock.
Who is Tina Fey?
This gymnast became the first woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games for the United States in gymnastics.
Who is Simone Biles?
She co-founded Mattel and named the company's most famous doll after her daughter, Barbara.
Who is Ruth Handler?
In 1956, this woman became the first Black woman to win an Academy Award, taking home Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind.
Who is Hattie McDaniel?
This American astronomer discovered that stars can be classified by their temperatures and personally catalogued hundreds of thousands of stars.
Who is Annie Jump Cannon?
This singer became the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 1987.
Who is Aretha Franklin?
This tennis legend won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in the Open Era.
Who is Serena Williams?
She founded Spanx after cutting the feet off a pair of control-top pantyhose to create a smoother look under white pants.
Who is Sara Blakely?
This British monarch became the first woman to rule England in her own right, though her nine-day reign ended with her execution in 1554.
Who is Lady Jane Grey?
This American marine biologist's 1962 book Silent Spring warned about the dangers of pesticides and helped spark the modern environmental movement.
Who is Rachel Carson?
This actress won an Oscar for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, then played a different British monarch, Queen Victoria, in the 2009 film The Young Victoria.
Who is Helen Mirren?
This soccer star became the first player, male or female, to score in five different Women's World Cups.
Who is Marta?
She founded Mary Kay Cosmetics in 1963 after leaving a direct-sales company where she felt her male colleagues were being promoted over her.
Who is Mary Kay Ash?
In 1972, this congresswoman became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She later became the first Black candidate to seek the Democratic nomination for president.
Who is Shirley Chisholm?
This American mathematician worked for NASA and checked the calculations for John Glenn's orbital flight after he reportedly asked for her to verify the computer's numbers.
Who is Katherine Johnson?
This actress became the first woman to receive the Academy Award for Best Director, winning in 2010 for The Hurt Locker.
Who is Kathryn Bigelow?
This American swimmer won 12 Olympic medals, including five golds, across three Olympic Games.
Who is Jenny Thompson?
She founded Bumble in 2014, creating a dating app where women make the first move.
Who is Whitney Wolfe Herd?
This woman became the first elected female head of state in the modern world when she was elected president of the Philippines in 1986, following the People Power Revolution.
Who is Corazon Aquino?
In 1967, this graduate student noticed an unusual repeating radio signal while examining data from a radio telescope. She correctly identified it as the first known pulsar, though the Nobel Prize associated with the discovery went to her male supervisor and another scientist.
Who is Jocelyn Bell Burnell?
This actress became the first woman to win three Academy Awards for Best Actress, with victories for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Iron Lady, and The Favourite.
Who is Frances McDormand?
This basketball player became the first woman to dunk in a WNBA game during the league's inaugural season.
Who is Lisa Leslie?
She founded The Body Shop in 1976, opening its first store in Brighton, England, with an emphasis on ethically sourced ingredients and opposition to animal testing.
Who is Anita Roddick?