History is filled with remarkable women.
Unfortunately, many of them don’t receive nearly as much attention as they deserve.
Some ruled kingdoms. Some changed science forever. Some led armies into battle. Some completely ignored society’s expectations and did whatever they wanted anyway.
Marie Curie
Some people become experts in one field. Marie Curie won Nobel Prizes in two.
Her contributions to science fundamentally changed our understanding of radioactivity and paved the way for countless medical and scientific advancements.
What makes her achievements even more remarkable is the environment she worked in. Science during her lifetime was overwhelmingly dominated by men, yet Marie Curie’s brilliance became impossible to ignore.
She devoted her life to discovery, often working under incredibly difficult conditions.
Tragically, the very research that made her famous ultimately contributed to her death.
Even today, her notebooks remain radioactive.
Ada Lovelace
Imagine helping create the foundations of computer programming before modern computers even existed. That’s exactly what Ada Lovelace did.
Working alongside Charles Babbage, she recognised possibilities for computing that many of her contemporaries couldn’t even imagine.
While others viewed Babbage’s Analytical Engine as a sophisticated calculator, Ada saw something much bigger. She understood that machines might one day process information, create music and perform tasks far beyond mathematics.
In many ways, she was envisioning aspects of modern computing over a century before technology caught up with her ideas.
Harriet Tubman
After escaping slavery herself, she repeatedly returned to dangerous territory in order to help others escape as well. Again, and again, and again.
She became one of the most important conductors of the Underground Railroad, helping countless people find freedom.
What amazes me most is her determination. Many people would have focused solely on their own survival after escaping.
Harriet chose to risk everything to help others. That level of bravery is difficult to comprehend.
Boudica
Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe in ancient Britain during the Roman occupation. After the death of her husband, Roman officials attempted to seize control of her kingdom and reportedly subjected her and her daughters to horrific treatment.
She united multiple tribes and launched an uprising so devastating that entire Roman settlements were destroyed. At one point, she commanded an army that may have numbered over one hundred thousand people.
Although the rebellion was eventually defeated, Boudica became a symbol of resistance and courage.
Florence Nightingale
Most people know Florence Nightingale as “The Lady with the Lamp.” The reality is that she was far more impressive than that nickname suggests.
During the Crimean War, Florence witnessed appalling conditions in military hospitals. Soldiers were often more likely to die from infection and disease than from their actual injuries.
Rather than simply accepting this, she transformed hospital care through organisation, cleanliness and data collection.
What fascinates me most is that Florence wasn’t just a nurse. She was also a statistician and reformer who used evidence to challenge the way healthcare operated.
Millions of people have benefited from changes that can be traced back to her work. Which is an incredible legacy for one person to leave behind.
Cleopatra
Popular culture often reduces her story to beauty and romance. In reality, she was an extraordinarily intelligent ruler.
Cleopatra spoke multiple languages, managed a complex kingdom and navigated one of the most politically dangerous periods in ancient history.
She ruled Egypt while the Roman Republic was tearing itself apart and somehow managed to remain a major political player throughout it all.
Malala Yousafzai
As a teenager, Malala spoke publicly about girls’ right to education despite living under constant threat from extremists who wanted to silence her. In 2012, she survived an assassination attempt that could easily have ended her life. Instead of retreating from the public eye, she continued her activism.
She went on to become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and remains one of the most recognisable advocates for education in the world.
Sacagawea
History often remembers explorers while forgetting the people who helped make exploration possible. Sacagawea deserves far more recognition than she usually receives.
As a young Shoshone woman, she accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition across North America, acting as a guide, translator and vital source of knowledge.
What makes her story even more remarkable is that she completed much of this journey while caring for her infant son. Imagine travelling thousands of miles through unfamiliar and often dangerous terrain while carrying a baby.
Honestly, that alone deserves recognition.
Nellie Bly
If investigative journalism had a patron saint, it would probably be Nellie Bly.
In the late nineteenth century, she became famous for exposing abuse within a mental institution by pretending to be a patient and secretly reporting on conditions from the inside.
The risks involved were enormous. If nobody believed her, she could have remained trapped there indefinitely.
Instead, her reporting sparked major public outrage and helped bring about reform.
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, she later travelled around the world in just seventy-two days, breaking records and proving that women could accomplish things society insisted they couldn’t.
The Everything Journal 
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