1. Ella Baker
   Harriet Tubman
2. Rosa Parks
   Dorothy Height

In 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American woman from Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat on the bus to let a white person sit down. Police arrested her for civil disobedience. Her protest served as a catalyst for the civil rights movement, which fought for equal rights for black Americans and took place primarily during the 1950s and '60s.

1. Maria Goeppert-Mayer
   Marie Curie
2. Margaret Mead
   Alice Ball

Polish-French physicist Marie Curie established the science of radioactivity, which was used to create effective cancer treatments. She also helped discover radium and polonium. For her incredible achievements, Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (in 1903) and the first person ever to win a second Nobel Prize (in 1911).

1. The first female pastor
   A long-reigning queen
2. Religious figurehead, military strategist, Roman Catholic saint
   A social reformer and founder of modern nursing

At just 17, Joan of Arc convinced French King Charles VII that she saw visions of a religious nature telling her to support him. As a result, the military sent her to the Siege of Orléans. When the siege was lifted, the French offensive hailed her a religious leader and she helped advise on military strategy and secure French victories. The Burgundians eventually captured her and put her in English custody, where she was burned at the stake for heresy. In 1920, she was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint.

1. For revolutionizing nursing care for U.S. troops
   For commanding a U.S. military plane during a dangerous air raid in World War I
2. For her pioneering triumphs in aviation
   For earning a record number of Olympic gold medals

In 1922, Amelia Earhart broke the women's altitude record at age 25, just one year after taking up aviation. Ten years later, she became the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic and broke several flying and speed records. In 1937, she commenced a round-the-world flight and became the first person to ever fly from the Red Sea to India. She then went missing and was declared dead by absentia in 1939.

1. Volcanologist
   Astronomer
2. Civil aviator
   Professor of mathematics

In 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first American woman with an international pilot's license. Since racial discrimination barred her from American schools, she earned her license in France. However, back in the U.S., race and gender biases still prevented her from becoming a commercial pilot. Instead, she became a stunt flyer, staging the first public flight by an African American woman in the U.S. in 1922. She drew enormous crowds and refused to perform in front of segregated audiences; she also raised money to create a black aviation school.

1. Her dedication to philanthropy
   Her scientific discoveries
2. Her literary achievements
   Her political victories

Jane Austen remains one of Britain's most famous figures for her renowned novels, which include "Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility, "Emma" and "Mansfield Park," all of which were published between 1811 and 1816. Her work is known for its acute sense of humor laced with irony and realism.

1. She established the science of radioactivity.
   She is considered the founder of modern nursing.
2. She wrote the controversial and briefly-banned novel, "The Awakening,"
   She discovered DNA's double-helix struture.

During the Crimean War in 1853 to 1856, Florence Nightingale led British military nurses to Turkey. Nightingale served as a powerful leader, tending to the ill as well as explaining to army services how to prevent avoidable deaths. After the war, Nightingale was essential to the establishment of a permanent military nursing service and many of its subsequent improvements.

1. Leonora Carrington
   Theodora
2. Frida Kahlo
   Cleopatra

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo's colorful, distinctive paintings recall themes of class, gender and identity as well as the cultural landscape of Mexico. An accident Kahlo suffered at age 18 caused her enduring pain and medical complications, which in part fueled her artistic creations. She was a part of the Mexican Communist Party and is often revered as an icon of Mexican heritage, feminism, LGBTQ rights and disability rights.

1. Saving the life of Colonist John Smith
   Her role as an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
2. Arranging the first Thanksgiving meal
   Helping pilgrims navigate the Oregon trail

From 1804 to 1806, Lemhi Shoshone woman Sacagawea served as a fundamental part of Lewis and Clark's expedition. Along the way, she served as an interpreter and made connections with various Native American tribes. In 2003, the U.S. inducted her into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

1. A series of award-winning works on astronomy
   Her work on the Special Operations Executive, a branch of British Military Intelligence
2. Her work campaigning for British welfare
   Her political essays and books on topics like totalitarianism and revolution

In the 1930s, skilled linguist Vera Atkins joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which was an intelligence branch that helped train agents and send them overseas. She quickly rose to become an intelligence officer in the SOE's French unit. After World War II, Atkins found what happened to 117 of the 118 SOE agents who didn't make it home. For her efforts, she received the Croix de Guerre in 1948 and was made a Commandant of the Legion of Honor in 1987.

1. "Middlemarch"
   "Frankenstein"
2. "Jane Eyre"
   "Wuthering Heights"

Mary Shelley published the literary classic "Frankenstein," alternatively titled "The Modern Prometheus" in 1818. The Gothic novel's combination of the grotesque and heartfelt has earned it an enduring spot in the history of English literature. Her mother was famous feminist writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft and her father was philosopher William Godwin.

1. Empress Elisabeth of Russia
   Mary of Modena
2. Catherine the Great
   Electress Sophia von Hanover

Catherine the Great remained the Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, which makes her the nation's longest-ruling female leader. She is remembered as one of Russia's most influential rulers, in part for her position as an advocate for education and a patron of the arts.

1. She revolutionized nursing care for British troops.
   She campaigned against child prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual double-standards.
2. She was the first woman to win the coveted Fields medal in mathematics.
   She composed a famous song that became the suffrage movement's anthem.

Josephine Butler successfully campaigned for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts in Britain, which required the compulsory, regular medical examination of women thought to be prostitutes, but not the men that saw them. She also fought against child prostitution and international sex trafficking.

1. Africa's Songhai Empire
   Egypt's Land of Punt
2. Africa's Mali Empire
   Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty

While Cleopatra VII Philopator is often remembered for her beauty, she was first and foremost an intelligent and formidable ruler. Though she was a native speaker of Koine Greek, she became the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn Egyptian and also knew more than a dozen languages. She was highly educated and led her people through a myriad of challenges.

1. She was a renowned academic and feminist writer.
   She helped women obtain the right to vote in Edwardian Britain.
2. She discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
   She was a groundbreaking mathematician.

In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union in attempt to garner the parliamentary vote for women. The campaign's motto was "Deeds, not words." She encouraged women to demand, rather than to ask, for their democratic right to move. Though police imprisoned her 13 times, she remained vigilant.

1. Bertila of Spoleto, Queen of Italy
   Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni Tribe
2. Judith of Bavaria, Queen of the Franks
   Richilde of Provence, Queen of the West Franks

In 60 or 61 A.D., Boudicca, Queen of the eastern Britain tribe Iceni, unified different tribes across the region in order to stage a Celtic uprising against Roman rule. Commanding an army of about 100,000, Boudicca successfully drove the Romans out of modern Colchester. As a result, Nero briefly considered withdrawing from Britain, but then Roman governor Paullinus finally defeated her.

1. Phryne
   Anyte
2. Telesilla
   Hypatia

Hypatia was an Alexandrian mathematician, philosopher and astronomer who taught at the Neoplatonic school in Alexandria some time around 400 A.D. Her murder at the hands of a mob of Christians in 414 A.D. led to her being known as a martyr for philosophy. She is one of the first female mathematicians of which historians have decent accounts.

1. For the publication of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," which helped advance women's rights in Britain
   Being a famous X-ray crystallographer that helped unveil the double-helix structure of DNA
2. Being a beloved First Lady of the U.S.
   For groundbreaking discoveries in immunization research

English crystallographer and chemist Rosalind Franklin's work was integral to understanding the molecular structure of DNA, RNA, viruses, graphite and coal. Franklin laid the groundwork for mapping the human genome, genetic engineering and in-vitro fertilization.

1. A French feminist writer
   A British military leader
2. A prominent birth control advocate and sex educator
   Europe's first female professor

In 1918, Marie Stopes wrote the immensely popular book "Married Love" and another called 'Wise Parenthood," which explained the importance of contraception. The birth control advocate and sex educator helped set up London's first birth control clinic in 1921.

1. A famous politician
   An acclaimed writer, philosopher and political activist
2. A renowned neurobiologist
   An award-winning economist

Simone de Beauvoir's 1949 publication of "The Second Sex," which discussed the oppression of women, strongly influenced post-war feminist theory. In part, the book argued that "one is not born but becomes a woman," a statement still discussed in gender theory today. She also wrote numerous essays, biographies and novels.

1. Surgeon
   Novelist
2. Neuroscientist
   Paleontologist

In the early 19th century, Mary Anning dug large Jurassic skeletons from Britain's cliffs of Lyme Regis that drastically shifted Victorian scientists' views on evolution. Though she had little education, Anning became one of the nation's leading experts on prehistoric life.

1. Her espionage work
   Her literary works
2. Her political activism
   Her philanthropic contributions

English writer Virginia Woolf is best known for acclaimed works including "Mrs. Dalloway," "A Room of One's Own" and "To the Lighthouse." She is remembered as one of the most important 20th century authors, due in part to her implementation of the stream of consciousness style, a novel literary technique.

1. A renowned astronomer
   An award-winning novelist
2. A famous environmental activist
   A famous freedom fighter

Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, which helped fight for tree planting, environmental conservation and women's equality. She was the first woman in Eastern and Central Africa to receive a doctorate degree. She was then elected to parliament and served as assistant minister for Environment and Natural Resources from 2003 to 2005. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her work toward peace, democracy and sustainability.

1. Her influential essays on art, philosophy and sexuality
   Successfully campaigning to make U.S. prison conditions more humane
2. Being a pioneering journalist and setting the world record for length of time to travel around the globe
   Being a prolific inventor of more than 100 machines, including a vacuum freezer

Even when women were largely confined to writing about topics like fashion, Nellie Bly wrote essential stories about the poor and oppressed. She lived in Mexico and wrote about conditions there; she also pretended to be insane to expose inadequate conditions in mental asylums. Then, she set a new record by traveling the world in 72 days and wrote a book about it.

1. Literature
   Philosophy
2. Astronomy
   Computer science

In 1934, Grace Hopper became the first woman to receive a PhD in mathematics from Yale University. At Harvard and then in the U.S. Navy, she worked on the world's earliest computers and helped develop COBOL, a programming language that led to major military innovations and revolutionized commercial industries.

1. An undercover journalist during World War I
   A Russian oligarch
2. A Russian army officer during World War I
   A British soldier who led a World War I battalion

Records indicate that about 1,000 women joined the Russian army in World War I, but most disguised their gender. Bochkareva did not. After the first Russian revolution in 1917, she became the commander of Russia's first all-female Battalion of Death during a time when no other nations allowed women in combat. Her battalion succeeded in securing German trenches on the Eastern front.

1. George Eliot
   A.M. Barnard
2. Harper Lee
   Acton Bell

In order to have her work taken seriously, Mary Anne Evans decided to use a male pen name. She published seven successful novels, including "Middlemarch, "Slias Marner" and "Adam Bede." Her books covered topics like religion, industrialization and marriage and were renowned for their psychological insight.

1. "The Queen of the Sciences"
   "The Queen of the Arts"
2. "The Grandmother of Europe"
   "The Widow of Windsor"

Scottish woman Mary Somerville was a renowned science writer and polymath during the early 19th century. Her work was found in the Royal Society's prestigious research journal and her rendition of complex French astronomy became the new standard. She also communicated a number of complicated discoveries to the public.

1. Being considered the world's first computer programmer
   Her artistic innovations
2. Her extensive philanthropy
   Her written works on gender equality

The daughter of Lord Byron and Lady Byron, Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace, was a mathematician responsible for some of the most important discoveries in the early history of the computer. Obsessed with math and science at a young age, she found that Charles Babbage's theoretical Analytical Engine possessed capabilities beyond simple calculation, and created the first algorithm that could be carried out by such a computer.

1. An integral philosopher
   A foundational naturalist and entomologist
2. An important physicist
   A ground-breaking inventor

German-born Maria Merian defied conventional expectations for women in the 17th century by leaving her unhappy marriage and starting her own business. She sold intricate images that she created that depicted the life cycles of insects and plants. Though women had few opportunities to travel or study science, she traveled to South America to record exotic wildlife. For generations afterward, scientists studied her incredible works.

1. Helping make fundamental advances in computational mathematics
   Being a famous political activist, poet and politician
2. Writing a controversial book on sexuality and gender equality
   Being a famous writer and historian

Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian woman to serve as president of the Indian National Congress and to become an Indian state governor. In 1917, she founded the Women's India Association and later would play a fundamental role in colonial India's civil disobedience movement.

1. She helped expose Sri Lanka's government for genocide against the Tamils.
   She successfully led a revolution during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
2. She was the first female head of government in the world.
   She was the first female pastor in the world.

Socialist Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the globe's first female government head in 1960. She served from 1960 through '65, '70 to '77, and '94 to 2000. She served as an important role model for many aspiring female politicians across the world.

1. Human rights campaigner
   Volcanologist
2. Poet and diplomat
   Colombian ambassador

Gabriela Mistral was a Chilean diplomat and writer who wrote about topics like morality, Latin American identity and motherhood. She became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. Today, she appears on the 5,000 Chilean peso bank note.

1. Her integral work for NASA
   Her contribution to feminist philosophy
2. Her contribution to 20th century economics
   Her political and artistic achievements

Joan Robinson is known as one of the most important economists of the 20th century due to her role in shifting the understanding of labor markets. Robinson pointed out that by finding flaws in markets, one can address low wages and hidden unemployment. In 1979, King's College named her an honorary fellow, the first woman with that title.

1. Eleanor of Aquitaine
   Margaret I of Denmark
2. Empress Matilda
   Isabella of France

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the richest, most powerful women in the Middle Ages after she married Louis VII of France. Then, she divorced him and married the future Henry II of England. As such, she plays an integral role in medieval history of both nations.

1. Writing "The Pillow Book"
   Being an Empress of Japan
2. Writing the novel "The Tale of Genji"
   Being a defiant oligarch

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting during the nation's Heian period. She wrote the novel "The Tale of Genji," which was written some time between 1000 and 1012 and is revered today as a masterpiece of literature. It is Japan's oldest novel and possibly the first novel still recorded in the history of the world.

1. The discovery of the element "radon"
   The discovery of "gap genes"
2. The invention of the first CCTV
   The invention of central heating

In 1966, African-American nurse Marie Van Brittan Brown filed a patent for the first Closed Circuit Television. Exhausted by police negligence in her high crime rate neighborhood of Queens, New York, she hoped the invention would help promote safety.

1. She was Europe's first known female pastor.
   She was Europe's first female professor.
2. She helped British prisoners attain better conditions.
   She was the first female ambassador in Europe.

In 1732, this Italian physicist and academic became the first woman to become a professor in Europe. She specialized in the exciting new field of electricity and managed to negotiate a top salary at the school.

1. Empress Go-Sakuramachi
   Empress Meishō
2. Empress Consort Wu
   Empress Cixi

Once a concubine for Xianfeng Emperor, Dowager Empress Cixi would become one of the most powerful women in the history of China. After giving birth to the son of the Xianfgeng Emperor, she became the Empress Dowager after his death. She ousted a group of regents to obtain regency and maintained control of China for nearly 50 years. Though she instated economic and military reforms that helped China become a more modern power, she is also known for overseeing political murders.

1. She discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
   She wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."
2. She was the first woman accepted to Harvard Law School.
   She wrote the controversial and briefly-banned novel, "The Awakening."

Mary Wollstonecraft's 1792 book is widely viewed as one of feminism's earliest fundamental texts. The English writer and philosopher argued that men and women should have equality. In particular, she said that women should have the right to education and that spouses should be "companions" rather than the wife serving a subordinate role.