Women Who Changed the World

Women Who Changed the World

Continue on for photos of six women who changed the world and inspired others to reach for the stars.

Frida Kahlo | 1907 - 1954


Frida Kahlo is a Mexican painter best known for her striking portraits that explored gender, class and race. She became a feminist and LGBTQ icon.

Photography: Nickolas Muray

Rosa Parks | 1913 - 2005


In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the bus for a white person, thus sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks helped lead the fight against segregation with her timeless demonstration of courage. Here, she's fingerprinted by Deputy Sheriff D.H. Lackey.

Hedy Lamarr | 1914 - 2000


This Golden Age actress did more than just wow audiences on the big screen. At the start of World War II, Lamarr helped develop a radio guidance system, also known as a “secret communications system.” Allied forces used the technology for torpedo defense. The technology has since been incorporated into Bluetooth and older versions of Wi-Fi. Lamarr was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

Marie Curie | 1867 - 1934


Marie Curie was a chemist and physicist who made history many times over. She founded the science of radioactivity, advanced the science of cancer treatment, became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and became the first person to win the Nobel Prize multiple times.

Katherine Johnson | 1918


Mathematician Katherine Johnson's helped the U.S. send a man to the moon In 1969. The movie “Hidden Figures” shines a light on the brilliant calculations that she performed at NASA.

Amelia Earhart | 1897 - 1937


Amelia Earhart broke the women’s altitude record when she was only 24 years old, and 11 years later she became the first woman to complete a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. A few years later she became the first aviator to fly solo from Honolulu to Oakland, California. Unfortunately, she went missing in 1937 during an attempt to become the first person to fly solo from the Red Sea to India.

Photography: NASA

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