10 Women in History
- Ella B
- Mar 1, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 18, 2024
Happy Women’s History Month! This month, we celebrate women in history that made major contributions and are remembered for their work. We want to talk about ten of those women and what they did, remember them for making huge strides in history.
Joan d'Arc
One of the most notable in Medieval History, Joan played a very crucial role in the Hundred Years’ War as a military leader. She was only 17 when she took on the role and lead her troops for the French against the English during the Surge of Orleans. She was captured as a Prisoner of War by the Burgundians, who were allies of the English, and persecuted both politically and religiously for declaring that she heard the voice of God which was what lead her decisions as a leader that turned the tides of war in the French’s favour. Only two years after becoming a leader, she was burned at the stake in Rouen. While there have been multiple movies and tv series depicting her life, my personal favourite was the two episode long (3-hour movie) version, in which LeeLee Sobieski portrayed Joan d'Arc. Joan was eventually retried, was posthumously declared innocent and canonized as Saint Joan by the Catholic Church in 1920. She has become a beacon of light for women in the military.
Jane Austen
One of the earliest well-known authors in history, her books having become labeled as “timeless classics” alongside many male authors. Jane brought to us the worlds of “Pride and Prejudice”, “Sense and Sensibility”, and “Emma” in the 18th Century. While she did publish these works in her own name, it was not until after her death that her name became well-known and was attached to her books as before that the author page had just read that it was “by A Lady”.
Amelia Earhart
Who hasn’t heard the story of the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic? Although she never completed the flight, becoming lost at some point with her navigator, she is remembered for doing something that no one believed a woman capable of doing. In 2009, a biographical film that was simply titled “Amelia” was released, telling her story and bringing her remarkable journey to life. While there have been many theories about how or why she became lost—whether her plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean or made an emergency landing on a remote island—her disappearance remains a great mystery. No conclusive evidence has been found regarding what happened to her and her navigator; there is no record of a crash or a plane landing.
Marie Curie
The first woman to have her name in the records of the Nobel Prize in 1903 for the work that she and her husband, as well as Henri Becquerel, won for their work with radioactivity. This research laid the groundwork for the future of medical development of the creation and use of the X-ray. It demonstrated a broader understanding of radiation. She is also the only woman in history to receive more than one Nobel Prize, as she received her second Prize in 1911 in Chemistry. Marie has given woman hope at working in major science fields and international recognition.
Rosa Parks
Rosa is a pivotal figure in both Women’s and Black History. Miss Parks created the biggest turning point in American history regarding segregation when she openly defied it by refusing to sit in the “coloured section” on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. It is because of this defiance that she is called the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”. Her arrest for refusing to give up her seat to a white man sparked outrage amongst the African American community of Montgomery. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized in response to her arrest; notably, the leadership that emerged during this boycott, including figures like Martin Luther King Jr., laid the groundwork for the broader Civil Rights Movement. Rosa’s act of defiance, her arrest, and the subsequent boycott helped in the Supreme Court ruling of Browder v. Gayle, which abolished segregation on public buses in 1956 by ruling that segregation was unconstitutional.
Malala Yousafazi
Another Nobel Prize winner, Malala is known in history as the youngest recipient. She is also one of the more recent women in history that has made waves, as she received her Prize in 2014 at the age of 17 alongside Kailash Satyarthi who is a children’s rights activist. Originally, Malala wrote a blog under a pseudonym that detailed her life under the Taliban, and her views on education. She eventually co-founded the Malala Fund which is a non-profit that is focused on advocating for girls’ education all around the world. The fund works to ensure that girls are able to receive 12 years of free, safe, and quality education. In 2012, before even receiving her Prize, she survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban on her way home from school.
Coco Chanel
The most well-known name in fashion! Coming from a humble early life of growing up in a poorhouse after the passing of her mother, Coco started her career as a singer until she took a job as a seamstress and discovered her love for fashion. She opened her first hat shop in 1920, gaining attention and notability for their simplicity and functionality. Her most notable creation is the "little black dress." This phrase resonates today, as many women choose to wear it as a response to emotional turmoil, such as a breakup, making a bold statement. An iconic example is the unforgettable moment when Princess Diana captivated the world with her "little black dress" following her separation from (now) King Charles. This look has also become a symbol of elegance in higher society. Her double C logo became well known when she released her (still famous) perfume Chanel No. 5. During World War 2, she closed her shop, but she made a significant comeback in the mid-1950s when she reopened and introduced the legendary Chanel 2.55 handbag. Coco, to this day, is still one of the most well-known and sought after brands.
The "Hidden Figures"
This group of women have become known over history as the “Hidden Figures” of NASA. These women all took part in the breakthrough of mathematics in space exploration and the orbit of Friendship 7 around the world. These women were Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan. Collectively, they shattered the walls of segregation at NASA and contributed significantly to putting the first man in space for the United States; however, these three also had their own individual footprints in history as seen in the 2016 movie “Hidden Figures” starring Taraji Henson, Janelle Monae, and Octavia Spencer, respectively.
Katherine Johnson was a renowned mathematician who helped configure the mathematical equation needed to get Astronaut Glenn and the Friendship 7 into space, and where the exact pick-up coordinates would be. After the success of the Friendship 7, Katherine continued to work with the Space Task Calculations Group and was a part of the calculations for the Apollo II and the Space Shuttle missions; in 2016 NASA dedicated a building in her name to honor her. She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2015.
Mary Jackson, on a mission to become the first black woman to attend night classes at a local all-white high school to complete the last degree that she needed, went on to become both NASA’s AND America’s first black female aeronautical engineer. In 1979, she became the manager of Langley’s Women’s Program where she continued her fight for black women advancements.
Dorothy Vaughan, after acting as a supervisor for what was once called the “coloured computers”, became the first official black Supervisor at NASA. With the installment of the IBM at NASA, she became the Supervisor for it and the women who kept it running. She was a Fortran Specialist and was highly regarded at NASA.
While there are many more women in history that have paved the way for women everywhere, these names stand out as particularly recognized and accomplished figures. As women, we are able to celebrate our accomplishments in history due to these women, and many more!
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