A fresh compilation honoring women who shaped history has been posted, urging people to honor their legacies today. Drawing from the Instagram handle historywithwomen, the list spans nurses, astronauts, inventors and suffragettes, along with a bit of celebrity. Its purpose is straightforward: allow these women’s sacrifices to inspire you to create change in your own life.
Familiar names sit alongside lesser-known figures on this list, joined by a few oddities that reward close reading. Here is what jumps out.
WASPs and Nurses First
The opening entry concerns the Woman Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, who trained with B-17 Flying Fortresses in Ohio around 1944. These women served as civilians during World War II, primarily ferrying aircraft between locations. That detail about their status as civilians is noted in the caption and establishes the plain biographical style that runs through the rest of the list.
The next person to be discussed is Susie King Taylor, who served as the first Black nurse during the American Civil War. Her image appears in 1902. Her position in the war made her a trailblazer even with the restrictions placed upon her at that time.
Rosa May Billinghurst comes into view next. She was known as the “cripple suffragette,” a woman who took part in protests demanding the vote for women while using crutches positioned on either side of her tricycle. The picture is striking, and the nickname alone says all there is to say about her dedication.
Agnodice and the Legend Question
In the 4th century BC, Agnodice became the first recorded midwife. According to History Hit, she practiced gynecology at a time when Greek women were forbidden from doing so. To study under a key medical practitioner of her era, she cut her hair and disguised herself as a man, because only men had access to those fields.
The story was often quoted in the 18th and 19th centuries, at the peak of women’s struggle, to encourage midwives and gynecologists to practice. The list admits it is unclear whether Agnodice’s story is fact or fiction, but her legend has become a symbol of female equality, intelligence, and determination.
Agnodice was the first known midwife in the 4th century BC.
The willingness to admit doubt here is welcome. Far too many such lists treat old legends as fixed truth. What makes this one stand out is its honest recognition of how little we truly know, even as it honors the legend’s enduring appeal.
Curie, Monroe and Chisholm
After seeing the need for radiological centers close to the front lines to aid surgeons, Marie Curie is shown in a mobile military hospital X-Ray unit circa 1915. Around the same time, Marilyn Monroe appears in 1944, working at the Radioplane Company, a munitions factory in Van Nuys.
This trio is completed by Shirley Chisholm, who examined political statistics in 1965 and became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress in 1968, a position she held for seven terms until 1983.
Juana Ramírez de Asbaje
Juana Ramírez de Asbaje was born in the 17th century and thirsted for knowledge. She had little access to formal education as a girl. When her family sent her to live with relatives in Mexico City, her intelligence drew the attention of the viceroy, Antonio Sebastián de Toledo, who tested her knowledge with the help of 40 scholars.
She rejected marriage and instead chose to enter a convent where she became a nun. Once there, she built up a vast personal collection of books, musical and scientific instruments, and produced poetry, plays, and scholarly works. Her advocacy for women’s rights turned her into an emblem of Mexico, and her former place of residence has since been transformed into an educational institution, which appears upon currency.
Truther, Queen Victoria, Tubman and Lamar
Sojourner Truth’s carte de visite from 1864 is reproduced, showing her selling it to raise funds with the line “I sell the shadow to support the substance.” The wording reads like a caption from an earlier era, and it sits strangely alongside the earnest work of the suffrage movement.
A Diamond Jubilee photograph from 1893 has been given to Queen Victoria, commemorating her rule over the United Kingdom.
The photograph of Harriet Tubman shows her seated in a chair at her home in Auburn, New York, taken when she was 89 years old, in 1911.
Born in Austria-Hungary, Hedy Lamar went on to become an Austrian-American actress, film producer, and inventor. Her acting career began in her native country, though she left for London in 1937, seeking to escape her then-husband. While there, she caught the attention of Louis B. Mayer, the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, who offered her a movie contract and promoted her as “the world’s most beautiful woman.” She reached stardom with her very first American film, ‘Algiers’ (1938), and later received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Voting Rights Around the World
Not all nations gave women the vote at the same moment as men. The Pew Research Center reports that many countries extended suffrage to women only after significant cultural or governmental changes.
Universal suffrage for women arrived in around 80% African countries during a period of quick European decolonization, spanning roughly 1950 through 1975. Yet in certain places, the franchise was taken away from women shortly after being granted, including Afghanistan, where severe changes in government cut off women’s participation in elections more than once.
Katharine Graham and Emmeline Pankhurst
Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, appears at a meeting of the Dutch Newspaper Press in 1975.
A photograph shows Emmeline Pankhurst in prison, dressed in the uniform required of inmates, around 1911. Her own account of that initial confinement was “like a human be.”
The Astronauts and the Jenner Moment
A lineup of the first six women chosen by the United States to serve as astronauts is shown in 1980, standing beside a “rescue ball” at the Johnson Space Centre. Reading from left to right, the group includes Margaret Seddon, Kathryn Sullivan, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride, Anna Fisher, and Shannon Lucid.
One entry on the list remarks that the woman second from left resembles the older Bruce Jenner. This observation reflects how the mind perceives likenesses, and such a comment is precisely the sort of personal aside that lends the entire undertaking a distinctly human touch.
Key Facts Box
- Agnodice lived circa 4th century BC
- Marie Curie in mobile military hospital X-Ray unit, circa 1915
- Shirley Chisholm served seven terms in Congress, 1968–1983
- Kate Sheppard collected 32,000 signatures for suffrage
- New Zealand granted women’s suffrage in 1893
- Around 80% of African countries gave women universal suffrage, 1950–1975
- Hedy Lamar starred in ‘Algiers’ (1938)
What the List Gets Right
Biographical details carry the most weight in the list, letting the subjects speak for themselves. Including the legend of Agnodice, with the note that its status remains unknown, counts as a modest but significant step toward honesty. The WASPs, Curie, Chisholm, and the astronauts all deserve their moment in the spotlight, and the pictures help readers put names to faces.
When the list wanders into cultural trivia or personal observation, its strength wanes. The note about Bruce Jenner, the stray line about Truth selling her shadow, and the thin sourcing all come across as unfinished thoughts rather than polished reporting. None of that lessens the subjects, but it does weaken the professionalism of the project.
Many of the entries draw on outside material from History Hit, NZ History, and the Pew Research Center, though not all of them credit their sources directly. It is a small weakness, but it forces readers to rely on the curators’ judgment instead of checking the facts for themselves.
Final Word
The list does a fine job of both celebrating its subjects and educating readers about them. The women featured here are truly remarkable, and their stories certainly merit repeated telling. Some rough edges remain — including a Jenner moment, odd captions, and thin sourcing — but they are easy to overlook when the main content is so solid.
This is a solid starting point if you want a quick reminder of what women have achieved. You can safely skip over the sections that read like unfinished notes to yourself.
Source material: “76 Women Who Made An Impact In History And We Must Celebrate Today,” Bored Panda.
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