Velu Nachiyar (1730-1796) The Mom Who Made a Bomb With a dead husband and a hostile foreign country on her hands, this Indian queen did the unthinkable - turned her loyal servants into some of the first suicide bombers in recorded history.
Trinidad Tecson (1848-1928) Mother of the Philippine Red Cross Turned into a revolutionary in middle age, this mother became one of the Philippines most heralded women.
Savitribai Phule (1831-1897) The Mother Who Fought the Caste System In fighting the bias of the caste system to spread education, this woman brought knowledge to girls across India.
Pailadzo Captanian (1882-1968) The Mother Who Invented Rice-A-Roni After escaping the Armenian Genocide (by walking across the Syrian desert while pregnant), this woman went back into Armenia to rescue her sons, then made her way to America -- where she invented the recipe for Rice-a-Roni.
Olympias of Macedon (c.375-316 BCE) The Mom Who Made Alexander Great The much-maligned woman fought tooth and nail to position her son, Alexander, to become "the Great" - and herself in the process.
Marie Equi (1872-1952) The Mom Who Broke Every Taboo She Could Once upon a time, there was a lesbian Wild West abortion doctor. She once horsewhipped a guy in the face and was tossed in San Quentin Prison for sedition. To the surprise of no one, she lived in Portland.
Juana Azurduy de Padilla (1780-1862) The Mother of Bolivian Independence This revolutionary (and mother of five) should have been the namesake of Bolivia - and that's the opinion of Simon Bolivar, the actual namesake of Bolivia!
Irena Sendler (1910-2008) Mother of the Children of the Holocaust This Polish nurse sacrificed her safety, her marriage, her very family to save 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (1900-1978) The Mom Who Deposed a King Through years of unrelenting protest, this Nigerian teacher felled a king, won women the right to vote, and taught all of Africa how to protest.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) The Mother Who Marched This uneducated, impoverished activist suffered unbelievable abuse in her journey to be able to vote -- but that did not stop her.