History That's More Than 2-Dimensional.

Story: Upbeat

August 24, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Syeda Ghulam Fatima

The Modern Harriet Tubman

Syeda Ghulam Fatima is the General Secretary of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan, an organization devoted to eliminating bonded labor and economic exploitation of workers. So far she has helped free over 80,000 people.

August 19, 2015 in Modern Worthies

“Grandma” Emma Gatewood

The Grandma Who Walked Away From Domestic Abuse - And Then Kept On Walking

The first woman to hike alone across the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail was a 67-year-old who told her kids she was going for a walk.

August 12, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Dame Stephanie “Steve” Shirley

The Computer Revolution Mogul Who Employed Only Female Programmers

In the 60s, this pioneering businesswoman fought - and won - endless battles to carve out a living for her 300+ female programmer employees.

August 7, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Yevdokiya Zavaliy

Frau Black Death

Yevdokiya Zavaliy joined World War II while underage, and eventually rose to commander of her own platoon. She and her platoon terrified the Nazis so much that they gave her the nickname Frau Black Death.

August 5, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Alice Ball

The unsung black chemist who fought leprosy

For decades, the world's best leprosy treatment was the work of an unknown black chemist - whose work was stolen by her successor.

July 29, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Eulalia Perez

The woman who owned Pasadena

This working-class Mexican woman once owned a huge chunk of the greater Los Angeles area -- until she was cheated out of the deed.

July 24, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Alia Muhammad Baker

The Librarian of Basra

When war and looting swept up Basra, she smuggled thirty thousand books from her library to save them from destruction.

July 23, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Shemika Charles

Limbo Queen

Shemika Charles has broken world records for limbo--the latest for limboing under a car.

July 22, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Mary Sherman Morgan

America's First Female Rocket Scientist

A lack of a college degree and a child born out of wedlock couldn't stop this woman from saving the US Space Race with her custom rocket fuel.

July 6, 2015 in Modern Worthies

Chien-Shiung Wu

The First Lady of Physics

She performed the experiment that overturned the law of conservation of parity and helped lead to the Standard Model of particle physics, while two men got the Nobel Prize for it.