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1899
One of the first women's basketball teams.Wikimedia Commons
2 of 51
1905
Native American women on a Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana circa 1905.Denver Public Library
3 of 51
1889
Susan La Flesche, the first Native American physician, graduated medical school as the valedictorian in 1889.Wikimedia Commons
4 of 51
1907
Annette Kellerman posing in the swimsuit that got her arrested for indecency Wikimedia Commons
5 of 51
1900's
Eskimo women in Alaska Library of Congress
6 of 51
1934
Margaret Bourke-White climbs on the Chrysler Building to take a photographPinterest
7 of 51
1913
Inez Millholland Boissevain prepares to lead the suffrage parade while wearing a crown in Washington D.C. on March 3, 1913. Library of Congress
8 of 51
1914
Suffragette Emmeline Parkhurst is arrested outside of Buckingham Palace Library of Congress
9 of 51
1915
Suffrage envoys from San Francisco are greeted in New Jersey as they travel to Washington to present a petition with 500,000 signatures to CongressLibrary of Congress
10 of 51
1916
Four women attend a convention for former slaves in Washington.Washington Post Archives
11 of 51
1918
Women deliver heavy blocks of ice after male workers were drafted into World War IPublic Domain
12 of 51
1920
Officers of the National Woman's Party hold a banner outside of their headquarters in June 1920. The 19th Amendment was passed two months later.Public Domain
13 of 51
1926
Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel Wikimedia Commons
14 of 51
1928
American Elizabeth Robinson (featured) becomes the first woman in history to win Olympic gold in track-and-field during the 1928 Olympic Games, the first in which women could compete in many sports. The 16-year-old high school student was discovered by her coach as she was running to catch a train.Public Domain
15 of 51
1934
Louis Armstrong once called Valaida Snow (seen here conducting a London orchestra in 1934) the second best trumpet player in the country - after himself.YouTube
16 of 51
1930
YMCA camp for girlsNational Museum of American History
17 of 51
1936
Amelia EarhartLibrary of Congress
18 of 51
1940
Hattie McDaniel becomes the first black woman to win an Academy Award for her role in Gone With The WindPublic Domain
19 of 51
1944
Female volunteers at Pearl HarborPinterest
20 of 51
1944
Women in the NavyU.S. Navy Archives
21 of 51
1945
Female pilots during World War IIPinterest
22 of 51
1950's
British scientist Rosalind Franklin, who helped discover DNAPinterest
23 of 51
1954
National Council of Negro Women Committee National Museum of American History
24 of 51
1956
Rosa Parks is fingerprinted by Montgomery police after refusing to give up her bus seat Gene Herrick/AP/Wikimedia Commons
25 of 51
1960
An 18-year-old Aretha FranklinFrank Driggs Collection/Getty Images
26 of 51
1961
Puerto Rican-born Rita Moreno is one of only 12 people to have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards (an EGOT). She broke into stardom with her role in West Side Story.YouTube
27 of 51
1962
Rachel Carson helped found the environmentalist movement with her prophetic book Silent Spring. YouTube
28 of 51
1966
Roberta Louise "Bobbi" Gibb is the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon. After having received a letter from the race director informing her that women were not physiologically capable of running marathon distances, she had to hide in the bushes and sneak into the race. She finished ahead of two-thirds of the male runners. Pinterest
29 of 51
1969
Margaret Hamilton, lead software engineer of the Apollo Project, stands next to the code she wrote by hand and that was used to take humankind to the moonWikimedia Commons
30 of 51
1970
The Women's Strike for Equality saw more than 20,000 women gather in New York City to protest for equal rights, access to abortion and free childcare. Michael Abramson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
31 of 51
1971
Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisolm and Betty Friedan form the National Women’s Political Caucus YouTube
32 of 51
1972
Civil rights activist Angela Davis gives an interview from a California jailYouTube
33 of 51
1973
Billie Jean King makes women everywhere proud by defeating Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis matchAllsport UK/Allsport
34 of 51
1970's
Ellen O'Neal, one of the first female professional skateboarders, flies down a streetPinterest
35 of 51
1976
Ms. is the first national magazine to discuss domestic violenceMs. Magazine
36 of 51
1983
Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space Wikimedia Commons
37 of 51
1984
Elspeth Beard, the first English woman to ride a motorcycle around the world, poses next to her bike. After two years of biking (excluding trips over the ocean), she arrived back in the United Kingdom having travelled 48,000 miles.Wikimedia Commons
38 of 51
1977
Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to drive in the Indy 500. Though mechanical difficulties forced her to drop out of the race on her 1977 try, the next year she finished in ninth place (with a broken wrist, no less). YouTube
39 of 51
1981
Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court after being appointed by Ronald ReaganWikimedia Commons
40 of 51
1989
Norma McCorvey (aka Jane Roe from the landmark case Roe v. Wade) and her attorney Gloria Allred, right, celebrate as they leave the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. after sitting in while the court listened to arguments in a Missouri abortion case. Wikimedia Commons
41 of 51
1992
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Guatemalan presidential candidate Rigoberta Menchu has been a lifelong advocate for the rights of indigenous peopleJOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images
42 of 51
1993
Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. President Bill Clinton's first Supreme Court nominee, displays a book written by her grandson during her first day of confirmation hearingsJENNIFER LAW/AFP/Getty Images
43 of 51
1996
Madeleine Albright, who became the first female Secretary of State after being unanimously confirmed by a Senate vote of 99 - 0JON LEVY/AFP/Getty Images
44 of 51
1997
Ellen Degeneres becomes the first openly gay TV star by coming out in a TIME articleTIME Archives
45 of 51
2001
Oscar winner Halle Berry accepts the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming the first African-American woman to win the honorGetty Images
46 of 51
2007
Terri Gurrola is reunited with her daughter after serving in Iraq for seven monthsGetty Images
47 of 51
2008
General Ann Dunwoody's husband attaches her new shoulder boards following her promotion ceremony to the rank of four-star general. She is the first woman to hold the honor in the country.Win McNamee/Getty Images
48 of 51
2014
Malala Yousafzai, an activist for education, is the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize.
49 of 51
2016
Hillary Clinton is the first woman to be the presidential candidate of a major political party.Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images
50 of 51
2017
Protesters walk during the Women's March on Washington, the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. historyMario Tama/Getty Images
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