Women’s History Month is the perfect opportunity to fill your kids’ days with facts about all of the amazing, trailblazing women who have contributed to the fields of science, politics, sports, the arts, and so much more! These women have paved the way for all the women and girls who have and will come after them and their stories are sure to inspire all of your kids to follow their dreams and ambitions. Let’s dive in and find out more about these pioneering women who have changed the world!
Pioneering Women in History
1. Women’s History Month is celebrated in March in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, but it’s in October in Canada.
Learn More: CNN
2. The celebration began as “Women’s History Week” in 1980 in the United States.
Learn More: People
3. Women’s History Month was officially recognized by Congress and the President of the United States in 1987.
Learn More: Time
4. Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave, helped others gain their freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Learn More: National Park Service
5. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were pioneers in the women’s suffrage movement, which fought for women’s right to vote.
Learn More: PBS
6. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Learn More: NASA
7. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win in two different scientific fields: physics and chemistry.
Learn More: Open Culture
8. Rosa Parks played a pivotal role in the American Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person.
Learn More: DW
9. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space in 1963.
Learn More: Space
Women in Modern Times
10. Sally Ride became the first American woman to go into space on June 19th, 1983.
Learn More: ABC7
11. In 1999, Carly Fiorina became the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 company, Hewlett-Packard.
Learn More: The Edge Leaders
12. In 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Learn More: The Nation
13. In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party.
Learn More: NBC News
14. Kamala Harris made history in 2021 as the first female, first black woman, and first Asian-American Vice President of the United States.
Learn More: Al Jazeera
15. Mary Barra became the first female CEO of a major global automaker, General Motors, in 2014.
Learn More: The Guardian
16. Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education, is the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate, winning at the age of 17 in 2014.
Learn More: Vogue
Women in Sports
17. Babe Didrikson Zaharias was a pioneering female athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, and track and field.
Learn More: CNN
18. Billie Jean King is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player who fought for gender equality in sports.
Learn More: NY Times
19. The U.S. Women’s Soccer team has won four Women’s World Cup titles, more than any other team as of 2022.
Learn More: Olympics
20. In 2018, Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam tennis title.
Learn More: VOA Learning English
21. In 2020, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to ever play in a Power Five college football game.
Learn More: ABC News
Contributions to Arts and Literature
22. Jane Austen, a famous English novelist, was best known for her six major novels including “Pride and Prejudice”.
Learn More: The Collector
23. Maya Angelou, a renowned writer and poet, read her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.
Learn More: YouTube
24. Frida Kahlo was a famous Mexican painter known for her bold self-portraits and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico.
25. J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, was the first person to become a billionaire by writing books.
Learn More: Twitter
26. Oprah Winfrey, a prominent television host, is also known for her influential book club which has boosted the sales of many novels.
Learn More: Founders Today
Inventions and Innovations
27. Mary Anderson patented her invention, the windshield wiper, in 1903.
Learn More: Investor’s Business Daily
28. Josephine Cochrane invented the first commercially successful automatic dishwasher in the 1880s.
Learn More: This Is Capitalism
29. Stephanie Kwolek, a chemist, invented the synthetic fiber Kevlar, which is five times stronger than steel.
Learn More: NPR
30. Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr co-invented a frequency-hopping spread spectrum, a technology used in modern Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology.
Learn More: Spark Fun Electronics
Advocacy and Activism
31. Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist who led the suffragette movement that helped women win the right to vote.
Learn More: Independent
32. Mother Teresa, known for her humanitarian work, was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 2016.
Learn More: USA Today
33. Betty Friedan was a feminist activist and writer, known for her book “The Feminine Mystique”, which sparked the second wave of feminism as it challenged the stereotypical roles expected of women.
Learn More: History
34. Wangari Maathai was an environmental political activist and the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Learn More: Thought Co
35. Previously mentioned Malala Yousafzai advocates for female education and women’s rights, especially in her native Pakistan.
Learn More: Atlantic Council
Women in World Cultures
36. In ancient Egypt, women enjoyed many of the same legal and economic rights as men.
Learn More: World Atlas
37. In the Viking Age, women in Scandinavia had a relatively free and powerful position in society.
Learn More: Life In Norway
38. In the Matrilineal Society of the Mosuo people in China, women are the heads of the house, and the property is passed down through the female line.
Learn More: National Geographic
39. The Ainu people in Japan have a tradition where women are artisans who create elaborate textiles and jewelry.
Learn More: Local Style
40. In precolonial Igbo culture in Nigeria, women could hold positions of leadership and power.
Learn More: Prime Business Africa
Women’s Suffrage and Legal Milestones
41. The women’s suffrage movement in the U.S. began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention.
Learn More: Britannica
42. New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1893.
Learn More: Twitter
43. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote, was ratified on August 18, 1920.
Learn More: National Park Service
44. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 aimed to abolish wage disparity based on sex in the United States.
Learn More: Investopedia
45. Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity.
Learn More: History
Education and Knowledge
46. Sarah Pierce established one of the first schools for girls in 1792.
Learn More: Hidden In Plain Sight
47. Elena Cornaro Piscopia, an Italian mathematician and theologian, was the first woman to receive a doctoral degree, in 1678.
Learn More: India Today
48. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator, developed the Montessori method of education that emphasizes hands-on learning and collaborative play. This method is still popular in schools today!
Learn More: Association Montessori Internationale
Health and Wellness
49. Florence Nightingale, known as the founder of modern nursing, revolutionized healthcare with her sanitation methods.
Learn More: The Conversation
50. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, in 1849.
Learn More: Lifetime
51. Virginia Apgar, an American obstetrical anesthetist, developed the Apgar Score, a quick test to assess the health of newborns at birth.
Learn More: Quartz
Women in Politics and Leadership
52. Golda Meir became the first female Prime Minister of Israel in 1969.
Learn More: Thought Co
53. Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany in 2005, and she served for 16 years.
Learn More: DW
54. Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, as mentioned before, was the world’s first female prime minister in 1960.
Learn More: India Today
55. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, elected in 2006, is the first elected female head of state in Africa, serving as the President of Liberia.
Learn More: BBC
56. Queen Elizabeth II, crowned in 1953, is the longest-reigning female monarch. She reigned for 70 years before she died in 2022.
Learn More: NBC News
Women in Science and Exploration
57. Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman to travel to space in 1992.
Learn More: The African History
58. Mary Anning was a self-taught paleontologist who made significant fossil discoveries, such as the plesiosaur, in the early 19th century in England.
Learn More: Smithsonian Mag
59. Chien-Shiung Wu was a renowned experimental physicist known for her work on the Manhattan Project and disproving the Law of Conservation of Parity.
Learn More: Business Insider
60. Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer and was the first woman to become chief scientist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Learn More: Time
Representation in Media
61. Katharine Graham was the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, The Washington Post.
Learn More: Britannica
62. Oprah Winfrey was the first woman to own and produce her own talk show.
Learn More: CW39 Houston
63. Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American woman to win an Oscar in 1940 for her role in “Gone with the Wind”.
Learn More: Golden Valley High School
Cultural and Societal Milestones
64. Coco Chanel, a French fashion designer, revolutionized women’s fashion by introducing the idea of casual chic as the feminine standard in the 20th century.
Learn More: History How Stuff Works
65. The Girl Scouts, founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, was established to empower young girls through various activities and community service.
Learn More: Diane Rehm
66. The Women’s March in 2017, after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, is believed to be the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.
Learn More: CNBC
67. The #MeToo movement, started by Tarana Burke in 2006 and popularized in 2017, brought attention to the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and assault.
Learn More: Vox
Women in Business
68. Madam C.J. Walker, born in the late 19th century, is regarded as the first self-made female millionaire in the U.S. for her successful line of beauty and haircare products.
Learn More: Vanity Fair
69. Indra Nooyi, born in India, served as the CEO of PepsiCo, making her one of the top female leaders in the corporate world.
Learn More: Global Indian
70. Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, wrote the best-selling book “Lean In,” discussing women’s representation in business and leadership roles.
Learn More: Business Insider
Miscellaneous Facts
71. International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th every year worldwide.
Learn More: Good Housekeeping
72. The Venus symbol often represents femininity and is derived from the symbol for the planet Venus.
Learn More: Labyrinthos
73. The color white is often associated with the women’s suffrage movement, symbolizing purity, and it’s often worn by female politicians to honor the suffragists.
Learn More: Teen Vogue
74. According to the United Nations, there are more girls in school today than at any other time in history.
Learn More: World Bank
75. Women serve as heads of state or government in only 26 countries as of September 2023.
Learn More: Context News
76. In the U.S., more women than men have earned bachelor’s degrees every year since 1982.
Learn More: Vox
77. The “Radium Girls” were female factory workers in the early 20th century who raised awareness about workplace health hazards after being exposed to radioactive material.
Learn More: Reddit
28 Thanksgiving-Themed Food Experiments for Kids