July 25, 2018 in Modern Worthies Jess Wade Academic Who Writes Wikipedia Pages for Female Scientists She wrote 270 Wikipedia articles in a single year -- “I had a target for doing one a day, but sometimes I get too excited and do three.”
Comics Toregene Khatun (?-1246) Empress of the Mongols Although her tribe was destroyed and she was forced into an unwanted marriage, this indomitable woman came to run the world's largest empire - with a woman as her companion.
May 7, 2018 in Modern Worthies Maureen Mancuso The Teen Who Shattered a Running Record Without training, this 13-year-old shattered world records for running in 1967 -- unfortunately, it happened shortly after Kathrine Switzer's headline-making Boston marathon entry, and Mancuso's feat was all but forgotten.
Comics Virginia Hall (1906-1982) The Most Dangerous Spy of All This "most dangerous of all spies" staged daring mountaintop escapes, prison breaks, and railway bombings -- all on her trusty wooden leg, codenamed "Cuthbert."
March 24, 2018 in Modern Worthies Franca Viola The Survivor Who Refused to Marry Her Rapist In the 60s, an Italian woman was abducted and raped - and then pressured to marry her rapist. She instead took him to court and got him tossed into jail.
March 19, 2018 in Modern Worthies Marielle Franco Brazil's Anti-Police-Brutality Martyr Activist When she was assassinated for her critiques of the police, protests broke out across Brazil.
January 3, 2018 in Modern Worthies Suzelle Poole 77-Year-Old Ballerina "Life is too short not to do what you want to do... It's never too late. So start doing what you love doing now."
December 28, 2017 Woman finishes final while in labor While this is a dystopian nightmare that should never have happened, her fortitude is still stunning.
December 12, 2017 in Modern Worthies Amla Ruia The Grandmother Who Built Dams This nonagenerian entrepreneur helps out villages across Rajasthan, India, by building dams.
Comics Ani Pachen (1933-2002) Tibetan Warrior Nun When China invaded her native land, this would-be monk put down her pacifist dreams and took up arms.