Amelia Earhart. Queen Elizabeth. Jane Austen. Marie Curie. We’ve all heard the names. And we probably even remember their stories. Here’s a tribute to all the women whose names we don’t know but whose impact on history has been immeasurable.

1473–1458 B.C.
Hatshepsut
Ancient Egypt is ahead of its time when it comes to equal rights for its citizens—women can own property, seek employment outside the home, and even adopt children. And female rulers govern Egypt on and off for centuries. But when Hatshepsut ascends to the throne, she doesn’t settle for just being a queen—she declares herself pharaoh, the king of Egypt and a divine being. For 20 years she rules one of the most advanced and powerful empires in history.

ca. 810 B.C.
Sammuramat, the Queen of Assyria, is lauded for her military conquests and creation of the original hanging gardens of Babylon.

ca. 600 B.C.
Theano
Anyone who has taken geometry has heard of the Pythagorean theorem—or should have. But have you heard about the woman beside the man? Pythagoras, the famous Greek mathematician, has a promising young female student named Theano whom he eventually marries. Together they create a school for mathematics that both men and women can attend. Theano also becomes an influential mathematician in her own right and is credited with discovering her own mathematical rule that creates the foundations for others who come after her.

332 B.C.
Candace, Empress of Ethiopia, protects her people from Alexander the Great.

ca. 300 B.C.
Agnodice illegally practices medicine in ancient Greece.

A.D. 40
The Trung Sisters
Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, young daughters of a Vietnamese lord, lead a revolution against the Chinese who had invaded and conquered their country. They form and train their own army, which eventually grows to around 80,000 warriors. Many of the army’s generals—one of whom is their own mother—are women. The rebellion does not overthrow the Chinese tyranny, but the women are still celebrated every year in Vietnam with their own national holiday.

ca. 60
Boudicca, Celtic queen, leads a revolt against the Roman Empire.

ca. 1000
Lady Murasaki, Japanese author, writes The Tale of Genji, one of the earliest novels in recorded history.

ca. 1004
Erik the Red’s daughter-in-law, Gudridur Thorbjarnarsdottir, gives birth to the first European child in the New World.

ca. 1090
Trotula of Salerno
In southern Italy, Trotula gains fame as a physician and healer during an era when some European women who practiced medicine are considered witches. She writes several important medical treatises including Passionibus Mulierum Curandorum, or The Diseases of Women. Many of her recommendations are controversial. For instance, she advocates giving women opiates during childbirth to alleviate their pain.

ca. 1500
A Rajput princess, Mirabai composes songs and writes poems that are still sung in Indian temples today.

ca. 1600
Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi is the first female painter to become a member of the Accademia dell’ Arte del Disegno, the first drawing academy in Europe.

1778
Deborah Sampson, disguised as a man, fights in the Revolutionary War.

1872
Victoria Claflin Woodhull
Victoria spends her unusual childhood traveling the country with her family and telling fortunes, selling elixirs, and showing off her psychic powers. When she finally settles in New York, her business savvy—and some influential clients—help her start the first female-owned brokerage firm on Wall Street. She also creates and publishes a weekly journal. Then in 1872, Victoria becomes the first woman to run for president of the United States—at a time when most women can’t even vote.

1879
Mary Baker Eddy founds the Christian Science church.

1881
Clara Barton establishes the American Red Cross.

1953
Rosalind Elsie Franklin
By age 15, this young British girl knows she wants to be a scientist and pursues a higher education despite pressure from her family. During the 1950s, while working in a research lab in England, Rosalind uses x-ray techniques she learned in Paris and discovers the double-helix pattern of the DNA molecule. Her data is shared with other biochemists who take this information, add it to their own, and publish the material. Four years after Rosalind’s death, Wilkins, Watson, and Crick receive the Nobel Prize for their work on DNA. To this day the debate continues on how much credit should have gone to this instrumental scientist.

1981
Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first female justice in the United States Supreme Court.

2003
Iranian Shirin Ebadi, women’s and children’s advocate, wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

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