Nina Simone possessed a unique raspy voice and had a massive impact on the jazz community, as well as the civil rights movement. In her early years, Simone changed her name from Eunice Kathleen Waymon, her birth name, to her new alias, Nina Simone, to disguise herself from her family while trying to forge her career in jazz as a pianist and singer. Between 1958 and 1974, Simone recorded more than 40 albums, leaving an indelible mark on music. Nina Simone is the voice behind "I Put a Spell on You,""Feeling Good" and "I Loves You, Porgy." Getty Images Audre Lorde (1934-1992) Austen is the Georgian era author of classic works such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma. These social commentary novels depict Austen’s unmatched ability to combine romance and realism. And don’t forget her wit; her revered female characters aren’t afraid to speak their minds. Guide: [A reason to] be proud to be a girl is that we have a strong community of women, we fight for what’s right - and we have like the power to give birth, which is really cool. [laughs] Mary Seacole was a natural born healer. Though she’s often referred to as the first nurse practitioner, she had no formal training in nursing—because she lived in a time where no formal institutions for such education existed. Even if they had, it’s doubtful that Seacole, who was born in Jamaica in 1805, would have been welcome; as the daughter of a Jamaican mother and a Scottish father, Seacole dealt with prejudice throughout her life because of her mixed race. But that didn’t stop her from offering a hand when she could. The Governor General shall from Time to Time, in the Queen’s Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon qualified Persons to the Senate…

Beulah founded two of her own companies and acted as a consultant for several others, and was inducted into the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame in 2006. 12. Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957)

10. Alice Milliat (1884-1957)

Emily Murphy (1868–1933) The first woman magistrate in the British Empire. In 1927 she joined forces with four other Canadian women who sought to challenge an old Canadian law that said, “women should not be counted as persons.” If men and women can work for the State side by side and represent all the different sections of the community… I cannot doubt that we should do very much better work in the community than was ever done before.” — Edith Cowan 33. Virginia Woolf That brain of mine is something more than merely mortal, as time will show.” — Ada Lovelace 7. Katharine Hepburn Japanese extraordinaire Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In fact, she was the first woman to ascend all Seven Summits, climbing the highest mountain on each continent.

Despite her incredible achievements, she received widespread criticism for leaving her young daughter at home when heading off as part of the first all-female climbing crew. Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.” — Clare Boothe Luce 12. Dorothy Thompson

Much like Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II was not born the heir presumptive. But all that changed in December 1936 with the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, and her father’s ascension to the throne. With no brothers to jump her place in the line of succession, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II upon the death of her father, George VI, in 1952. Though she was only 25 years old at the time, and largely surrounded by men who had years of political experience on her, Elizabeth managed to find her voice and hold her own against legendary leaders like Winston Churchill, who became one of her closest allies.

This woman received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923, becoming the third woman to achieve it. As poet Richard Wilbur said, “She wrote some of the best sonnets of the century.” I ain’t afraid to love a man. I ain’t afraid to shoot him either.” — Annie Oakley 47. Valentina Tereshkova Most famously, she was admitted to the Women’s Lunatic Asylum in New York to research her famous book Ten Days in a Mad-House, and later went on to achieve a world record for bringing to life author Jules Verne’s fictional trip Around the World in Eighty Days – and managing it in just 72! 9. Marie Stopes (1880-1958) When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” — Malala Yousafzai 32. Edith Cowan Luce was the first American woman to be appointed to a major ambassadorial post abroad. She was also an accomplished author, known for her 1963 play, The Women, which did not feature a single male performer.

Consent

An English writer, philosopher and women’s rights activist, Wollstonecraft is best known for her 1792 work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In it, she argued that women are not naturally inferior to men and should be treated as rational beings — an opinion that reached far ahead of her time. A patent drawing for Margaret E. Knight's paper bag machine, 1871. / National Archives and Records Administration, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.” — Anne Sullivan 2. Florence Nightingale