Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World: 1

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Throughout her career, she also championed ecological preservation of mountain habitats and completed a number of ‘clean-up climbs’. Dr B.R. Ambedkar (1891 – 1956) Indian political activist and social reformer who drafted Indian constitution Born in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was a political activist from a young age. In 1984 she founded an underground organisation to resist the country’s military dictatorship. Four years later, she became prime minister at only 35 years old, making her one of the youngest chief executives in the world and the first woman to serve as prime minister in an Islamic country. When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” — Malala Yousafzai 32. Edith Cowan

Commodore Grace M. Hopper photographed in 1984. / James S. Davis, United States Navy, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain Vanessa Nakate, 23, is a climate activist from Uganda and founder of the Africa-based Rise Up Movement. She campaigns internationally to highlight the impacts of climate change already occurring in Africa. She focuses particularly on how the climate crisis is exacerbating poverty, conflict and gender inequality. French volcanologist Katia travelled the world documenting volcanoes and volcanic eruptions in photos and film, often getting within feet of lava flows – and unfortunately being killed by one, along with her husband, in 1991.

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Guide: [A reason to] be proud to be a girl is that we have a strong community of women, we fight for what’s right - and we have like the power to give birth, which is really cool. [laughs]

Throughout history and across cultures, women and girls have faced innumerable challenges and injustices. We’re taking a moment to recognize 12 women who overcame adversity, broke through barriers, and changed the world. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Katharine Hepburn was a fiercely independent actress and a leader in Hollywood for over 60 years. From screwball comedy to literary drama, she received four Academy Awards for Best Actress — a world record. In 1999, she was named the greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema by the American Film Institute. When the Crimean War broke out, Jamaican-Scottish Mary was one of two outstanding nurses who tended to the wounded – alongside Florence Nightingale – drawing on her knowledge of Caribbean herbal remedies to care for fallen soldiers on the battlefield. Nina Simone possessed a unique raspy voice and had a massive impact on the jazz community, as well as the civil rights movement. In her early years, Simone changed her name from Eunice Kathleen Waymon, her birth name, to her new alias, Nina Simone, to disguise herself from her family while trying to forge her career in jazz as a pianist and singer. Between 1958 and 1974, Simone recorded more than 40 albums, leaving an indelible mark on music. Nina Simone is the voice behind "I Put a Spell on You,""Feeling Good" and "I Loves You, Porgy." Getty Images Audre Lorde (1934-1992) As a schoolgirl, Sophie Scholl joined the League of German Girls along with her peers, but later grew skeptical. While at the University of Munich, she joined the Weiße Rose (White Rose), a protest group her brother Hans had started. The rebel students wrote and distributed leaflets urging the public to resist the Nazi regime. The two Scholl siblings and one other White Rose member were caught on February 18 and arrested for treason. The three were beheaded by guillotine just four days later. But Scholl’s belief in her mission never wavered: Years later, Scholl’s cellmate recalled that before her death, Scholl said, “Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go ... What does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” —KW 111. Mary SeacoleAfter offering her services to the War Office, she was initially turned down as a result of her race, so she funded her own passage to Balaclava in the Crimea and set up a ‘British Hotel’ where veterans could coalesce. Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences (Physics and Chemistry). They also opened a medical college in 1857, which broadened opportunities for women doctors by providing training and necessary experience, as well as specialized medical care for those living in poverty. Malala Yousafzai

Sacagawea Monument in City Park, Portland, Oregon, circa 1912; statue by Alice Cooper / Library of Congress // Public Domain Give me a lighter, I’m going to burn this. May these clothes they forced us to wear be damned,” one woman screamed. 23. Antonia Novello She then went on to become a poet-diplomat and the first Latin American to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature for her emotive lyric poetry, which explored themes of morality, motherhood, love and Latin American identity. 13. Bessie Coleman (1892-1926) Franklin was a British chemist, known for her early use of X-ray diffraction. One of her photographs led to major discoveries involving DNA structure, though other scientists took credit for it.Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, human rights activist, and the first female judge in Iran. After Khomeini’s revolution in 1979, she was dismissed as a judge, but then opened a legal practice to defend people being persecuted by the authorities. In 2000, she was imprisoned for criticizing her country’s hierocracy. She won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially those of women, children, and refugees. She is the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the prize. She is currently living in exile in the UK due to increased persecution of opponents of the current regime. Benazir Bhutto