Women's History

The funeral of James Idle in the village of Hullavington, on August 29, 1914

“The Grave Looked So Miserable”

A likeness of Madame Restell, published in the National Police Gazette, 1847

Madame Restell: The Abortionist of Fifth Avenue

Without benefit of medical training, Madame Restell spent 40 years as a "female physician"

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The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism

Their seances with the departed launched a mass religious movement—and then one of them confessed that "it was common delusion"

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Sophie Blanchard – The High Flying Frenchwoman Who Revealed the Thrill and Danger of Ballooning

Blanchard was said to be afraid of riding in a carriage, but she became one of the great promoters of human flight

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What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?

The true story behind the myth of Mrs. O'Leary and her cow

In a new study, scientists evaluated female job applicants as less competent and hireable than males, even though their credentials were identical.

Are Scientists Sexist? New Study Identifies a Gender Bias

A new study indicates that the gatekeepers of science, whether male or female, are less likely to hire female applicants to work in labs

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The Demonization of Empress Wu

"She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother," the chronicles say. But is the empress unfairly maligned?

Fanny Blanker-Koen crosses the finish line to become the first triple champion of the 14th Olympic Games.

How Fanny Blankers-Koen Became the 'Flying Housewife' of the 1948 London Games

Voted female athlete of the 20th century, the runner won four gold medals while pregnant with her third child

Countess Markievicz in uniform with a gun, circa 1915

Daughters of Wealth, Sisters in Revolt

Gore-Booth sisters, Constance and Eva, forsook their places amid Ireland's Protestant gentry to fight for the rights of the disenfranchised and the poor

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The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon

John D. Rockefeller Sr. epitomized Gilded Age capitalism. Ida Tarbell was one of the few willing to hold him accountable

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The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance

A Bolivian donkey of the 1850s. From Herndon and Gibbon, Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon (1854).

Run Out of Town on an Ass

According to legend, Queen Victoria, informed of an early president's angry insult to her ambassador, struck Bolivia off the map. But is it true?

Etta Shiber

“I Was Looking Forward to a Quiet Old Age”

Instead, Etta Shiber, a widow and former Manhattan housewife, helped smuggle stranded Allied soldiers out of Nazi-occupied in Paris

Indian soldiers in the service of the East India Company-who outnumbered British troops in India five to one–loading cartridges.

Pass it on: The Secret that Preceded the Indian Rebellion of 1857

British officials were alarmed at the rapid distribution of mysterious Indian breads across much of the Raj

Hedy Lamarr in a 1942 publicity photo

Team Hollywood’s Secret Weapons System

Polly Adler and a friend

The House that Polly Adler Built

She entered the brothel business without apology and set out to become the best madam in America

Now celebrating its 100-year history, the Girl Scouts is the largest educational organization for girls in the world, with 3.3 million current members.

The Very First Troop Leader

A new biography tells the story of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts

Coya Knutson campaigning for Congress

Friends in the House, Hostility at Home

Coya Knutson won a seat in the U.S. House in 1954 but was undone by a secret she brought to Washington

Violette Szabo was awarded the British George Cross and the French Croix de Guerre.

Behind Enemy Lines With Violette Szabo

She was young, married and a mother. But after her husband died in battle against the Nazis, she became a secret agent for the British

Philippa Fawcett. When she placed first in the Cambridge mathematical tripos in 1890, she forced a reassessment of nineteenth-century belief in the inferiority of the "weaker sex."

The Woman Who Bested the Men at Math

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