Global Women's History

Maryam Mirzakhani wins the Fields Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics becoming the first woman to win the award as well as the first Iranian

Birthdays

May 12, 1820

Florence Nightingale, English nurse, social reformer and statistician is born.

Birthdays

May 19, 1930

Lorraine Hansberry American playwright and director is born.

May

October 9, 1970

Annika Sorenstam Swedish Professional Golfer is born.

September

September 11, 1850

Jenny Lind, Swedish operatic soprano, known as the Swedish nightingale held her first US concert.

Black History

September 12, 1992

Dr. Mae Jemison becomes the first black woman in space on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

April

April 8, 2008

Soyeon Yi becomes the first Korean in space aboard Soyuz TMA-12 with two Russian cosmonauts.

Birthdays

January 29, 1954

Oprah Winfrey American Media Proprietor is born.

September

September 2, 2013

Diana Nyad at the age of 64 becomes the first person to swim from Cuba to Key West, Florida without a shark cage or swim fins.

Birthdays

September 26, 1981

Serena Williams American Tennis Player born.

Birthdays

September 16, 1924

Lauren Bacall American Actress was born.

August

August 7, 1909

Alice Huyler Ramsey completes a cross country automobile road trip becoming the first to do so.

August

August 6, 1926

Gertrude Ederle swims across the English Channel, becoming the first woman to do so.

August

August 4, 1910

Anita Page, aka Anita Evelyn Pomares American silent film actress, was born.

August

August 12, 1888

Bertha Benz drives round trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in the first long distance automobile trip.

August

August 4, 1904

Helen Kane American Singer was born.

August

August 9, 1930

Betty Boop made her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.

August

August 8, 1896

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings American author was born.

August

August 19, 1883

Coco Chanel, French fashion designer was born.

Birthdays

March 25, 1982

Danica Patrick American racing driver was born.

Birthdays

October 29, 1891

Fania Borach otherwise known as Fanny Brice American model was born.

Birthdays

January 9, 1982

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge member of the British royal family was born.

Birthdays

January 26, 1958

Ellen DeGeneres American comedian was born.

April

April 20, 2008

Danica Patrick becomes the first woman in history to win an Indy car race when she wins the Indy Japan 300.

April

April 18, 1905

Bertha von Suttner an Austrian novelist who was one of the first notable women pacifist receives the Nobel Peace Prize is born.

April

April 17, 1964

Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to fly solo around the world.

April

April 10, 1910

Margaret Clapp American Scholar was born.

April

April 25, 1917

Ella Fitzgerald American Singer was born.

Birthdays

June 21, 1957

Ellen Fairclough is sworn in as Canada's first woman Cabinet Minister.

April

April 12, 1994

Saoirse Ronan American-Irish actress was born.

Birthdays

December 26, 1780

Mary Sommerville Scottish Science writer was born.

Birthdays

October 25, 1947

Hillary Clinton First Lady of the United States was born.

1980s

July 2, 1989

Alex Morgan American Soccer Player is born.

Birthdays

July 30, 1981

Hope Solo American Goalkeeper was born.

Birthdays

March 17, 1933

Myrlie Evers-Williams American civil rights activist was born.

Birthdays

March 27, 1724

Jane Colden American botanist was born.

Birthdays

March 17, 1972

Mia Hamm Soccer Player was born.

Black History

January 21, 2013

Myrlie Evers Williams delivers the invocation at the second inauguration of Barak Obama as President of the United States, becoming the first woman and first layperson to do so.

January

January 20, 1891

Liliuokalani becomes Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii upon the death of King Kalakaua.

Birthdays

March 31, 1929

Liz Claiborne American Fashion Designer was born.

Birthdays

November 30, 1900

Mary Lasker American Activist was born.

Birthdays

July 28, 1929

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis First Lady was born.

Birthdays

July 6, 1921

Nancy Davis Reagan First Lady was born.

Birthdays

January 17, 1964

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama First Lady was born.

Birthdays

November 22, 1744

Abigail Adams First Lady of the United States was born.

Birthdays

December 13, 1989

Taylor Swift American Singer-Songwriter born.

ADELE

May 5, 1988

Adele English Singer-Songwriter was born.

Birthdays

December 31, 1878

Florence Nightingale Graham, American-Canadian Businesswoman who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was born.

Birthdays

November 12, 1929

Grace Kelly American Actress was born.

Birthdays

May 4, 1929

Audrey Hepburn British Actress was born.

April

April 25, 1990

Violeta Chamorro becomes the first woman to take office as the President of Nicaragua.

December

December 9, 1897

Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde, in Paris.

April

April 15, 1894

Bessie Smith American Blues Singer was born.

March

March 28, 1974

Gaura Devi leads a group of 27 women of Reni village of the Garhwal Himalayas, to prevent the cutting of trees.

Birthdays

October 16, 1925

Angela Lansbury British Irish Actress was born.

Birthdays

November 26, 1832

Mary Edwards Walker American Surgeon was born.

Birthdays

November 18, 1832

Louisa May Alcott author of “Little Women” was born.

Birthdays

November 14, 1889

Elizabeth Cochran aka Nellie Bly American Journalist begins her trip around the world.

Birthdays

November 20, 1903

Alexandra Danilova Russian Ballet Soloist was born.

Birthdays

December 27, 1901

Marlene Dietrich German and American Actress was born.

February

February 20, 1998

American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

July

August 25, 1927

Althea Gibson, American tennis player and professional golfer is born.

July

July 7, 1946

Mother Xavier Francis Cabrini becomes the first American woman citizen to become a saint.

Birthdays

November 30, 1924

Shirley Chisholm the first black female Congresswoman and Presidential nominee was born.

Birthdays

November 12, 1905

Louise Thaden American Aviator is born.

November

November 22, 2005

Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union since 2000.

Birthdays

July 17, 1954

Angela Merkel Chancellor of German was born

March

March 20, 1985

Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the Iditord Trail Sled Dog Race.

Birthdays

March 24, 1922

Onna White Canadian dancer and chorographer nominated for 8 Tony Awards and winner of an Academy Awad for her work in the musical 'Oliver' was born.

Birthdays

September 30, 1984

Danica Roem American journalist and politician was born.

November

November 7, 2017

Danica Roem of Virginia becomes the first openly transgender person elected, seated in a U.S. statehouse.

Birthdays

September 10, 1982

Misty Danielle Copeland American Ballet dancer was born.

April

April 15, 1960

Ella Baker leads a conference at Shawn University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

April

April 14, 1866

Anne Sullivan educator and companion of Helen Keller was born.

April

April 16, 1912

Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.

April

April 27, 1992

Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons.

Birthdays

November 8, 1949

Bonnie Lynn Raitt an American blues singer-songwriter, musician, and activist is born.

Birthdays

January 17, 1829

Catherine Booth co-founder of The Salvation Army was born.

May

May 20, 1932

Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin her solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, the first by a female pilot.

May

May 6, 1981

Maya Ying Lin design for the Vietnam veterans memorial is selected from 1,421 other entries.

Birthdays

May 10, 1965

Linda Evangelista Canadian Model is born.

Birthdays

July 25, 1955

Zara Mohamed Abdulmajid otherwise known as Man a Somali-American Fashion Model, Actress, and Entrepreneur is born.

April

April 1, 1929

Jane Powell American singer and dancer was born.

April

April 19, 1831

Mary Louise Booth American author, translator, and first editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar Magazine was born.

January

January 28, 1908

Julia Ward Howe becomes the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

January

January 15, 1559

Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London, England.

Birthdays

February 10, 1927

Mary Violet Leontyne Price an American soprano is born.

Black History

January 27, 1961

Leontyne Price made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Il Travatore. The final ovation lasted over 35 minutes, one of the longest in the history of the Met.

Birthdays

July 1, 1961

Diana Princess of Wales was born.

December

December 1, 1988

Benazir Bhutto appointed Prime Minister of Pakistan.

December

December 20, 2017

Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.

May

May 3, 1937

Margaret Mitchell wins the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Gone with the Wind”.

May

May 21, 1881

Clara Barton establishes the Red Cross in Washington DC.

May

May 18, 1953

Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first female pilot to break the sound barrier.

Birthdays

Mary Lou Williams American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer was born. Mary Lou Williams recorded over 100 records wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington, Benny Good Goldman, and others. She was a Grammy nominee.

18th Century

May 7, 1748

Olympe de Gouges French author of the "Declaration of the Rights Woman and Female Citizen" is born.

May

May 4, 1979

Margaret Thatcher takes office becoming the first female Prime Minister of the U.K.

May

May 1, 1987

Edith Stein, a Jewish born Carmelite nun who died in the Nazi concentration camp at Aushwitz, is beautified in the Roman Catholic Church.

1990s

May 13, 1995

Alison Hargreaves becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

May

May 10, 1872

Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States as the Equal Rights Party candidate.

October

October 28, 2017

Katie Taylor wins first professional World Championship title.With the win, Taylor became the first ever Irish boxer to win World titles at both amateur and professional level.

Black History

February 11, 1989

Barbara C. Harris is ordained Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts becoming the first woman to hold this position.

Black History

March 17, 2017

Nancy Abu-Bonsrah becomes the first black female Neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Birthdays

December 14, 1992

‘”Unbreakable Smile’ was based off one of the songs I wrote for the album – it was actually the first song I wrote for the album without realizing it yet. […]

March

March 12, 1903

"Der Wald" a one-act opera written by Dame Ethel Smyth was performed at the Metropolitan Opera. To date is the only opera written by a woman to be performed at the Met.

Birthdays

March 16, 1750

Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer was born. Caroline Herschel discovered eight comets and was the first woman to be paid as a scientist and be awarded the Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society.

Birthdays

June 12, 1929

Anne Frank, Dutch Author and Holocaust victim was born.

May

May 15, 1991

Edith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister.

April

April 14, 1932

. Loretta Lynn American country music singer-songwriter is born.

Birthdays

March 14, 1921

Ada Louise Huxtable American Architecture Critic was born.

Birthdays

March 27, 1924

Sarah Vaughan American Jazz Singer is born.

Birthdays

March 25, 1934

Gloria Steinem American Journalist is born.

Birthdays

March 24, 1935

Carol Kaye was born. Carol Kaye was an American bass player, one of the most prolific bass guitarists in history wih an estimated 10,000 recording sessions.

March

March 29, 1993

Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island.

March

March 17, 1969

Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

March

March 11, 2006

Veronica Michele Bacheiet Jeria is elected as first female President of Chile.

March

March 4, 1983

Martha Bertha Wilson is appointed the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada.

Birthdays

March 6, 1806

Elizabeth Barett Browning poet and author of Sonnets from the Portguese was born.

Black History

January 15, 1908

The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.

January

January 12, 1932

Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to serve a full term in the United States Senate. She represented the state of Arkansas.

January

January 14, 1972

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascends the throne as the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.

January

January 23, 1849

Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. becoming the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.

Birthdays

January 19, 1943

Janis Joplin American Singer-Songwriter was born

Birthdays

January 19, 1942

Dolly Parton American was born.

January

January 8, 1816

Sophie Germain becomes the first woman to win a prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her theory of surface vibrations.

Black History

January 7, 1955

Marian Anderson made her debut and became the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera.

January

January 4, 1972

Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, England.

January

January 3, 2007

Nancy Pelosi is elected Speaker of the House becoming the first woman, first Californian, and first Italian-American to hold the position

Black History

November 4, 1942

Patricia Era Bath American Inventor was born.

October

October 16, 1967

Farah Pahlavi crowned Empress consort of Iran making her the only person to hold the office since pre-Islamic Iran.

October

October 25, 1783

Deborah Sampson received an honorable discharge from the Continential army after serving one and a half years disguised as her deceased brother, Robert Shurtieff Sampson.

Black History

October 3, 1904

Mary McLeod Bethune opens her first school for black students in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Birthdays

December 11, 1996

Hailee Steinfeld American Actress and Singer was born.

Black History

September 24, 1988

Jackie Joyner Kersee set a world heptathlon record, winning the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics.

September

September 20, 1963

Katherine Graham is elected President of the Washington Post Company.

September

September 13, 1948

Margaret Chase Smith is elected senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

September

September 13, 1933

Elizabeth McCombs takes office as a member of the New Zealand Parliament. She is the first woman to do so

Black History

December 1, 1955

Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white person; her arrest sparks the civil rights movement.

April

April 7, 1915

Billie Holiday was born. Billie Holiday was an American Jazz singer, songwriter, and actress.

April

April 20, 1939

Billie Holiday records the Civil Rights song "Strange Fruit" a poem written by Abel Meeropool exposing American racism and lynching.

April

April 1, 1895

Alberta Hunter, American blues singer and songwriter was born

1920s

April 28, 1924

Blossom Dearie American jazz singer and pianist was born.

June

June 24, 1916

Mary Pickford becomes the first movie star to sign a million dollar contract.

November

November 4, 1924

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyomig is eleced as the first female governor in the United States.

Black History

November 5, 1968

Shirley Chisholm becomes the first black woman elected to Congress.

Birthdays

November 3, 1905

Lois Mailou Jones American artist and educator was born.

Birthdays

June 13, 1879

Lois Weber silent film actress was born.

Birthdays

November 5, 1857

Ida Tarbell journalist is born.

Birthdays

March 26, 1942

Erica Jong American author was born.

Birthdays

November 9, 1936

Mary Travers Singer-Songwriter was born.

Birthdays

November 13, 1938

Georgia O' Keeffe, innovative painter was born.

October

October 28, 2007

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina.

October

October 10, 2014

Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Birthdays

March 25, 1942

Aretha Franklin, singersongwriter and pianist was born.

September

September 25, 1981

Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn into the United States Supreme Court.

Birthdays

July 9, 1794

Ann Radcliffe, English novelist is born. She was the pioneer of the Gothic novel and is credited with helping to make it respectable.

Birthdays

June 6, 1898

Dame Ninette de Valois was born. Dame de Valois was an Irish dancer, choreographer and director, founder of The Royal Ballet the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the Royal Ballet of School in Great Britain.

Black History

February 27, 1872

Charlotte E. Ray becomes the first woman to graduate from Howard University.

Black History

June 22, 1909

“I used to want the words ‘She tried’ on my tombstone. Now I want ‘She did it.'” Katherine Dunham Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and activist is born. […]

Black History

June 15, 1921

“The air is the only place free from prejudice.” Bessie Coleman Bessie Coleman receives her pilot’s license after graduating from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. She is the first black woman […]

February

February 25, 1842

Idawalley Zorada Lewis, "The Bravest Woman in America" American lighthouse keeper and heroine was born.

April

April 26, 1777

Sybil Ludington rides during the night to warn American colonial forces of the arrival of the British army and the burning of Danbury Connecticut. Sybil Ludington – Associated Links Britannica.com: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sybil-Ludington […]

November