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May 16, 2023 · From influencing major Supreme Court decisions or making history at the Oscars to being the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean or becoming the world’s youngest Nobel Peace...
- Lifestyle Editor
- 1 min
- Jone Johnson Lewis
- Madonna. Madonna: Which one? The singer and sometimes-actress—and very successful self-promoter and businesswoman? The mother of Jesus? The image of Mary and other saintly mothers in medieval paintings?
- Marilyn Monroe. Actress and icon Marilyn Monroe was discovered while working in a World War II defense plant. She was considered an icon and epitomized a certain image for women in the 1940s and 1950s.
- Cleopatra. Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, had infamous liaisons with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony while trying to keep Egypt out of Rome's clutches.
- Anne Frank. Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl in the Netherlands, kept a diary during the time she and her family were hiding from the Nazis. She did not survive her time in a concentration camp, but her diary still speaks of hope in the midst of war and persecution.
- Jane Austen (1775 –1817) You can thank Jane Austen for basically creating those rom-com books you love to read. In her teenage years during the early 1810s, she started writing her most famous novels, like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.
- Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) Ada Lovelace's genius was years before her time. As an English mathematician, she is credited with being the world's first computer programmer.
- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) Florence Nightingale, a.k.a. Lady with the Lamp, was a British nurse who is credited as the founder of modern-day nursing.
- Nellie Bly (1864-1922) Nellie Bly basically set the standard for investigative journalism. At a time when women writers were confined to the society pages, Bly tackled more serious topics like mental health, poverty, and corruption in politics.
- Fatima al-Fihri. In the early 9th century, in what is now Morocco, Fatima al-Fihri could have lived the rest of her life as a wealthy heiress when she inherited a fortune after her father died.
- Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou was a writer, poet, civil rights activist, dancer, and director best known for titles such as her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
- Sofonisba Anguissola. Unlike men, female artists in Renaissance Italy weren’t allowed to learn their craft by becoming masters’ apprentices. But that didn’t stop Sofonisba Anguissola from studying with other artists like Bernardino Campi, Bernardino Gatti (Il Sojaro), and even Michelangelo himself.
- Susan B. Anthony. The year 2019 year marked the 100th anniversary of (many) women gaining the right to vote in the United States—and 2020 marked the 200th birthday of one of the women who made it possible: Susan B. Anthony.
- Influential actresses and entertainers. Katharine Hepburn 1907-2003. Known for Lion In Winter, On Golden Pond and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. Marilyn Monroe, 1926-1962.
- Famous female authors. Jane Austen, 1775-1817. Author of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility and more. Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888. Author of Little Women.
- Influential women pioneers in medicine, science and math. Ann Preston, 1813-1872. American physician who worked to educate women about their bodies. Mary Edwards Walker, 1832-1919.
- Famous female politicians. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 1989-. Activist, U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district, and the youngest woman to serve in the United States Congress.
Photo-Illustration by Neil Jamieson for TIME. From Amelia Earhart to Beyoncé and Eva Perón to Malala, meet 100 women who defined the last century.
Discover 100 women in history with achievements in the arts, astronomy, exploration, sciences, performance arts, sports, politics and government. Read these 100 profiles to learn how they redefined rules, broke records, changed perceptions and more.
