Women have made remarkable achievements around the world from breaking barriers in science, politics and businesses to becoming pioneers who have led the way in exploring new territories and technologies.
In this blog post we’ll highlight 5 female pioneers who have made significant contributions across different fields.
1. Valentina Tereshkova
– First Woman in Space
Valentina Tereshkova from Russia became the first woman in space making history in 1963, before her flight she was a textile factory worker and an amateur skydiver. After the flight of Yuri Gagarin in 1961(the first person in space).
Valentina was recruited into the cosmonaut program because of her exceptional skydiving skills at 26 years old. On June 16th 1963 Tereshkova reached outer space after a flawless liftoff.
She orbited the earth 48 times in just 3 days making her the first and only woman to solo in space. She stayed on at the Soviet Space program as an instructor then she went on to join the Air Force and retired in 1997.
Image Credit: Space.com
2. Marie Curie
– First Woman to receive a Nobel Prize
Marie Curie from Poland was a brilliant physicist and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, she was also the first person to receive 2 Nobel prizes in two different fields: Nobel Prize in Physics in the year 1903 and Nobel prize in chemistry in 1911.
These achievements are more incredible since few women were scientists during her lifetime. She conducted pioneering research on Radioactivity, She also discovered 2 new elements: polonium and radium. She became the first woman to earn a doctoral degree in France.
During World War I she created portable x-ray machines that could be used to examine injured soldiers immediately on the battlefield. Marie Curie’s discoveries have led to many of today’s technologies.
Image Credit: BBC Science Focus
3. Lola Baldwin
– First Woman to join the Police Force
Lola Baldwin from the United States of America was the first woman to join the police force. In 1905 she moved to Portland with her family where she was hired to supervise women’s movements in the city.
Later, In 1908 she was sworn in by the city of Portland as superintendent of the Women’s auxiliary to the police department for the protection of girls.
Throughout her policing career Baldwin strengthened crime prevention and favoured reform over incarceration, she promoted laws to protect women, advised other jurisdictions about women’s law enforcement issues and demonstrated by example that women could be effective police officers.
Image Credit: Oregon public broadcasting
4. Bertha Benz
– First Woman to drive a vehicle over a long distance
Bertha Benz became the first person in history to drive a vehicle over a long distance. In 1886, her husband Karl Benz was awarded the patent for what is now recognized as the world’s first powered gasoline vehicle.
On August 5th 1988 she drove the prototype to her parents house a 207 kilometres away obviously, with no gas station she planned a route that will allow her purchase a cleaning solvent at local pharmacies to use as fuel.
During her journey she noticed the wooden brakes weren’t reliable hence led her to design a new one with the help of a cobbler. The prototype along with Bertha and her sons arrived safely to her parents house making a statement to the world on that day.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
5. Vigdis Finnbogadottir
– First Woman to be democratically elected as president
Vigdis Finnbogadottir was inaugurated as the president of Iceland on August 1st,1980, she became the world’s first democratic elected female president. Vigdis was narrowly elected with 33.6% of the National votes over her three male opponents.
She was subsequently re-elected three times serving as the president of Iceland from 1980 till 1996. After her retirement in 1996 she became the founding chair of the council of Women’s World Leaders.
Before her appointment as president she was a teacher, politician and cultural ambassador, she presented French classes and cultural programming on Iceland State television which enhanced her national reputation and popularity.
Images Credit: Britannica
These women pioneers will forever be recognized and celebrated for their extraordinary accomplishments and they will go down in history as living proof that a world where every woman can achieve her full potential is possible.
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