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.
Helen Keller lost her vision and became mute February 1882. She worked on behalf of the blind, campaigning that the major cause of blindness in infants was a condition called ophthalma neonatarum.
The Bronze Age is a prehistoric period dated to approximately 3300 BC to 1200 BC. It arose following the Chalcolithic period, in which early metals of copper and gold were crafted, as well as the first alloys of copper and tin, from which bronze is derived.
Cleopatra ruled an empire that included Egypt, Cyprus, part of modern-day Libya and other territories in the Middle East. She first ascended the throne in 51 B.C. with her brother Ptolemy XIII as co-monarch. Following her return to Alexandria at 21-years-old, her surviving half-brother, Ptolemy XIV, was elevated to the position of pharaoh at about age 12. She was the first Ptolemaic queen with her head and name minted on coins.
