139) Peseshet Doctor from 4th Dynasty Egypt Lived and Died around -2500 BC- She was given many titles including “Overseer of Women Physicians.” We know of her because she is mentioned in her son’s tomb—named Akhet-Hetep, she is—at present—the earliest known female physician who held a directorial position. The first known female physician overall is…
138) Merit Ptah First Known Female Doctor AND Female Scientist in World History Lived and Died around -c2700 BC- Her name means “Beloved of Ptah” Merit Ptah served as Chief Physician, meaning she was in charge of all doctors’ male and female. She is named on the necropolis surrounding the step-pyramid at Saqqara that was…
135) Janet Guthrie Retired Professional Race Car Driver Born: 7 March 1938, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America In 1977 she became the first woman to qualify for and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Before becoming a race car driver Janet was a flight instructor, aerospace engineer, technical editor,…
131) Rebecca Skloot Author of the New York Times Bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks—which introduced the world at large to the extraordinary woman and story behind the HeLa cells that have saved thousands of lives Born: 19 September 1972, Springfield, Illinois, United States of America Rebecca writes on a wide array of scientific…
“The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” 110) Margaret Thatcher Former British Prime Minister—The United Kingdom’s First Woman to Serve in That Capacity Born: 13 October 1925, Grantham, United Kingdom Died: 8 April 2013, London, United Kingdom She attained the office in 1979 after becoming head of the…
81) Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Advocate Born: 3 April 1934, London, United Kingdom Jane is an anthropologist and primatologist Her life changed forever when she was twenty-six and visited what is now Tanzania for the first time. In 1960, she discovered that chimpanzees use tools much the way primitive humans used to, a complete breakthrough in…
72) Marissa Mayer The 20th employee to be hired by Google and their first female software engineer Born: 30 May 1975, Wausau Wisconsin, United States of America Marissa spent thirteen years with Google and amassed most of her personal net worth—estimated at $620 Million by Forbes in 2019, while working there. While at Google she…
60) Salima Ikram Egyptologist and Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo Born: 1965, Lahore, Pakistan She has worked in archaeology in Greece, the United States, Egypt, the Sudan, and Turkey. Salima holds a PhD in Egyptian Archaeology from Cambridge University. Her several digs and archaeology bids in Egypt include the Animal Mummy…
59) Sarah Parcak She makes satellite technology look cool Born: 1979, Bangor, Maine, United States of America Archaeologist, Egyptologist and Professor at the University of Alabama Birmingham’s Department of Anthropology. Sarah holds her PhD in Egyptian Archaeology from Cambridge University. She is a National Geographic Society Research Fellow. Sarah and her husband worked together on…
58) Tatiana Proskouriakoff. Archaeologist who was one of the first to become known for Maya studies in Mexico and Central America. Born: 23 January 1909, Tomsk, Russia Died: 30 August 1985, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America Tatiana was also instrumental in decoding Mayan hieroglyphs. She would become linked to Piedras Negras one of the…