#OnThisDay, 23 May 1944, Madeleine Lavigne parachutes back into occupied France as a wireless operator for the British Special Operations Executive. She'd previously worked for the resistance as a forger and courier.
Radio operators ran the greatest risk of detection, as their position could be triangulated when they were on air.
She died in Paris of an embolism.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #EuropeanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 5 Jun 1988, Aussie Kay Cottee sails back into Sydney, Australia. She is the first woman to complete a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe without any assistance.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AustralianHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 23 May 1907, 19 women take their seats in the Finnish Parliament. They are the first women Parliamentarians in the world.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #VotesForWomen #EuropeanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 23 May 1941 Giliana Balmaceda (Gillian Gerson) lands in occupied France. She is the first woman to be a Special Operations Executive agent in France, and scouts out escape lines and collects documents to be forged.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #EuropeanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 5 Jun 1833, Ada Lovelace meets Charles Babbage, triggering their collaboration on the Analytical Engine and writing the first published program.
Image by Sydney Padua
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WomenInSTEM #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 24 May 1976, at least 400 women walk out on strike at the Trica factory in London, demanding equal pay with their male colleagues. Around 100 men come out on strike in support of the women.
The strike lasts 21 weeks before the American owners of the factory agree to all demands.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BritishHistory #TradeUnionHistory #Histodons
“The simple act of walking through a schoolhouse door that had been barred to me, and all people of my color, by the governor of this state - that simple act represented an end to legal segregation in the American South.”
#OnThisDay, 11 June 1963, Vivian Malone defies the Governor of Alabama to become the first Black female student at the University of Alabama.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 28 May 1944, Sonia Butt parachutes into occupied France as an explosives expert for the British Special Operations Executive. She'd turned 20 two weeks earlier.
She trained the maquis and coordinated sabotage operations. She was never captured.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #Histodons
1/2
#OnThisDay, 28 May 1990, Maiden, captained by Tracy Edwards, crosses the finishing line to become the first all-woman crew to complete the Round the World yacht race.
"You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much, for we won't take more than our pint'll hold."
#OnThisDay, 29 May 1851, Sojourner Truth addresses the Woman's Rights Convention in Ohio.
Her speech is commonly known as 'ain't I a woman' although that comes from a dubious transcript that uses racial tropes.
Read more about that at https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-the-speeches/
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 11 Jun 1987, Diane Abbott is elected to the British Parliament. She is the first Black woman to become an MP.
Abbott has held shadow cabinet posts in the Labour party, and is the longest serving Black MP. She currently holds the title "Mother of the House", given to the female MP with the longest uninterrupted service in the House of Commons.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BritishHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 12 Jun 1948, the Womens Armed Services Integration Act is signed by US President Truman, allowing women to serve in the military outside wartime.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory
#OnThisDay, 14 Jun 1939, Ethel Waters stars in The Ethel Waters Show on NBC, becoming the first black person to have their own show on US TV.
Photo is from her radio show.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BlackHistory #Histodons
"The air is the only place free of prejudices."
#OnThisDay, 15 Jun 1921, Bessie Coleman gained her pilot's license, becoming the first civilian African-American pilot in the world. And the first of Native American descent.
Read more about her in our NEW blogpost! https://carvehername.org.uk/bessie-coleman-and-other-early-american-aviators/
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BlackHistory #AviationHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 16 June 1963, Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space, orbiting Earth 48 times in Vostok 6.
She is currently a member of the Russian State Duma (lower house), and supporter of Putin.
#WomenInSpace #SpaceHistory #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons
"You have trampled under foot every vital principle of our government. My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are all alike ignored."
#OnThisDay, 17 Jun 1873, Susan B Anthony is tried for illegally voting in the 1872 US Presidential election.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #VotesForWomen #AmericanHistory #Histodons
1/2
#OnThisDay, 18 Jun 1983, Sally Ride is the first woman to be a US astronaut, on board the Challenger shuttle.
A new documentary, 'Sally' (2025, Cristina Costantini) explores her achievements and why she felt she had to hide her sexuality.
#WomenInSpace #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 22 June 1812, Canadian Laura Secord is said to have walked 19 miles to warn British forces of an impending American attack in the War of 1812.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #CanadianHistory
#OnThisDay, 23 June 1972, US President Nixon signs into law Title IX, prohibiting sexual discrimination in federally funded education programs/activities.
The image is from 1979, as obviously women still had to fight to get the law followed.
#AmericanHistory #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 24 June 1916, Mary Pickford becomes the first Hollywood star to sign a million-dollar contract.
This is Pickford, who was a queen of PR as well as the screen.
At the time, standard studio contracts were for a year. She signed a *two-year* contract as both an actor *and* a producer. That bumped its value across the $1m barrier and got her the headlines.
#ReclaimTheFrame #HollywoodHistory #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 26 Jun 1949, all Belgian women are able to vote in Parliamentary elections for the first time.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #VotesForWomen #EuropeanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 27 Jun 1833, Prudence Crandall stands trial for running a school to educate African-American girls in Canterbury, Connecticut. She spends the night in County Jail until bail is posted, and pursues her case as far as the Supreme Court.
Read more: http://ow.ly/eGQj30kF35C
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 30 June 1966 Pauli Murray, Betty Friedan and 26 others founded the National Organisation for Women (NOW) in the USA.
NOW are currently campaigning for abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, racial and economic justice and the end to violence against women and girls.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons
#OnThisDay, 2 Jul 1928, the UK's Representation of the People Act comes into effect, finally giving women equal voting rights to men. It increases the number of women eligible to vote to 15 million.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #VotesForWomen #Histodons
