March 27, 2015 in Modern Worthies Sisa Abu Daooh Egypt's best mom Finding herself a single mom, Sisa Abu Daooh, a woman "strong as ten men," began living as a man to provide for her daughter. She's continued to do so for forty years, and just won an award for "best mom."
March 24, 2015 in Modern Worthies Naziyah Mahmood Scientist, artist, poet, martial artist Scientist, artist, poet, martial artist: Naziyah Mahmood does it all.
March 20, 2015 in Modern Worthies Kitty O’Neil The fastest woman alive This strong-willed stuntwoman barreled through measles, mumps, smallpox, meningitis, deafness, and cancer to become the fastest woman alive.
March 12, 2015 in Modern Worthies Esther Okade 10-year-old math genius This 10-year-old math genius just enrolled in college, and plans on having her own bank by age 15.
March 10, 2015 in Modern Worthies 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment Tank-destroying teenage girls When Nazi tankers invaded Stalingrad in 1942, they fought shot-for-shot against unlikely opponents - a squadron of girls barely out of high school.
March 9, 2015 in Modern Worthies Şafak Pavey Turkey's first disabled politician At 19, Şafak Pavey lost her left arm and leg making sure her friend with leukemia didn't fall off a train. Her ensuing disability barely slowed her down - now a Turkish parliament member at age 38, she fights for womens' rights, minority rights, and freedom of expression.
March 2, 2015 in Modern Worthies Annie Jean Easley Engineer, mathematician, and rocket scientist Annie Easley was given literacy tests. Annie Easley was told she didn't go to a good enough school. Annie Easley became a goddamn rocket scientist. Annie Easley did not listen to the haters.
February 27, 2015 in Modern Worthies Aloha Wanderwell The World's Most Traveled Girl It's not every woman that leaves home at 16 to befriend Chinese bandits, join the Siberian army, and film indigenous Brazilians for the first time - but Aloha Wanderwell, the World's Most Traveled Girl, wasn't every woman.
February 13, 2015 in Modern Worthies Parinya Charoenphol Champion transgender kickboxer This transgender kickboxer helped revolutionize the image of LGBT people in her native country of Thailand in the best way she knew how - winning bouts.
January 29, 2015 in Modern Worthies Grace Hopper The Queen of Code Rear Admiral “Amazing” Grace Hopper was one of the first (and finest) computer programmers in history. She created the first compiler and spearheaded the creation of one of the first compiled computer languages. She was also a badass mofo.