Lise Meitner (n. Elise Meitner) achieved two major results in nuclear physics, the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. In 1966, she, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman were awarded the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s Enrico Fermi Prize for their contribution to the discovery of nuclear fission.
In 1922, Amelia Earhart received her pilot’s license making her one of about a dozen licensed women fliers in the world. She became the first woman, and the second person after Charles Lindbergh to complete a solo nonstop transatlantic flight. On July 24, 1936 Earhart would take possession of the airplane she’d use to make her round-the-world flight which would turn out to be her last.
Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 and mobilized poor women to plant nearly 30 million trees. She was the first woman from Africa honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and the first woman in East and Central African to earn a doctorate degree.
The 1950s marked the beginning of a time described as a space race between the U.S. and Russia. On July 16, 1963 aboard Vosktok 6, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space, completing 48 orbits around Earth. She became president of the Soviet Women’s Committee and addressed the Women’s International Democratic Federation.
Considered one of the greatest writers in the United States, Maya Angelou was the first African-American to work on the streetcars in San Francisco. She was the first African-American woman to recite her poetry at a U.S. presidential inauguration, the first African-American women to make the non-fiction bestseller’s list, the first African-American woman to have an original screenplay produced for the movie Georgia, Georgia in 1972.
