In the echelons of society, men, unlike women, have always received the recognition they deserve. Often, women are never mentioned – due to the misogynistic nature of history writers. Unknown to most, women are the authors of history and have done remarkable things that have plunged the world forward.
For example, Rosa Parks pioneered the Montgomery bus boycott, igniting a nationwide civil rights movement. Other notable women include Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman, who stood the test of time while alive and deserved to be part of history.
Women have been instrumental in propelling societies forward, although often, they do not receive recognition. Here, we highlight unsung female heroes globally.
Top 10 Forgotten Female Figures
Sophie Scholl
Sophie Scholl, a figure who tops the list of remarkable unknown women, was born and raised in Germany and was part of the White Rose team. She played a critical role in opposing the suppressing regime of Adolf Hitler. Scholl was born into a family that opposed Adolf’s Nazi sentiments, and from a young age, she engaged her community in the fight against the Nazis.
Sophie and Hans issued anti-Nazi flyers across Germany. The leaflets discussed Hitler’s atrocities in a bid to convince the masses to rise from the hand of oppression. At the time, rubbishing the name of the ruling party was a crime, but Sophie, unabashed, continued to educate people, even after the Holocaust war.
In 1943, Sophie, Hans, and some of the notable figures of the White Rose movement were detained while dispensing the brochures to students in the city. Even in prison, Sophie continued to fight against the oppressive regime of the day.
Tragically, Sophie’s life ended abruptly at only 21 years old when she underwent execution. However, her steadfast defiance, dignity, and grace stand as a symbol of intellectualism, integrity, and unbound courage.
Ada Lovelace
Augusta Ada Byron, broadly known as Ada Lovelace among the women who changed the world with extraordinary skills, was a great mathematician and a computer programmer. Ada was born into a family that believed in education, where her father Lord Byron, was a poet, and her mother, Annabella Milbanke, was a science and mathematics guru.
Lovelace revered Charles Babbage’s work, especially with his brainchild idea on the Analytical Engine. She translated the Italian manuscripts into English and supplemented the notes to show that computers can process data and symbols.
Given that Ada Lovelace was born when no one celebrated women’s skills, her dazing knowledge of computers and vision of the world of computers make her a computing pioneer.
Nellie Bly
Nellie Bly took fact-finding journalism to a new level at a time when journalism was male-dominated. However, she etched her name in history accounts with her fearless journalism skills.
As one of the remarkable unknown women, one of her most applauded works was her undercover piece on the devastating living conditions of the women’s lunatic asylum in New York. Since the asylum’s management did not give filming permits, Nellie pretended to be insane to get admission. Once she released the photos of the deplorable living conditions of the women, the public threw a fit to change the mental health care system.
Additionally, Bly traveled the world for 72 days, a move that was inspired by the novel Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. During this adventure, she captured the social injustices that governments subjected their people to. Outside journalism, Nelli Bly was an inventor and business woman whose works championed the inclusion of women in media.
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr, an Austrian-American inventor and actress, greatly impacted the tech space at a time when no one celebrated women’s impact on society. Despite being a renowned actress cast in various films, including Algiers Samson and Delilah, Lamarr was also a skillful inventor.
Hedy and George Antheil developed a frequency-hopping technology at a time when enemies would intercept calls to stay ahead of the military operations of countries. While many disregarded this technology, it played a critical role in modern wireless communication.
In 1997, her name was included in the list of women who changed the world and even added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Lamarr’s role in Hollywood and her tech creativity make her a pioneer in technology and entertainment.
Chien-Shiung Wu
Chein-Shiung Wu, one of the forgotten female figures in the physics sphere, was instrumental in nuclear physics, making the name “First Lady of Physics.” Chien was born in China but migrated to the U.S. in 1936 to study at the University of California.
After her doctorate, she joined the Manhattan Project, which developed atomic bombs by refining Uranium and reviewing radium detection.
Parity (physics) is a global concept in Physics, specifically in nuclear force. Physicists term it as a test of chirality in the physical realm because its inversion turns an object into a mirror image. All elementary particle interactions, apart from weak interactions, are symmetrical under parity laws, such as electromagnetism in molecular and atomic physics.
Shiung’s experiment laid the framework for Physicists globally, which led to her recognition by Nobel in 1957. Moreover, her impact on Physics made her an inspirational symbol in science.
Huda Sha’arawi
Huda, one of the hidden female heroes renowned globally, was born and raised in upper Egypt, where most prominent Egyptians resided. Her father, Muhammad Sultan, was wealthy, so she had a comfortable life growing up.
Once she was of age, she had to move out of her father’s house or live in a harem. Later, her cousin asked for her hand in marriage, but they separated soon after. With her newly found independence, Huda proceeded with her education, causing her to steer the feminist movement in her area by being the first woman to discard her veil.
Over time, she became a renowned figure in the fight against women’s oppression, which made her head of the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee. Although her advocacy rarely became exposed, Huda’s work steered the feminist movement in Egypt.
Lilian Bland
Lilian Bland, one of the unsung female heroes globally, was among the few women at the time to fly, build, and design an airplane. Lilian’s airplane enthusiasm was steered when her uncle, who resided in Paris, sent her a postcard. Being determined, she made a biplane glider, which she named Mayfly.
The glider worked exceptionally well, and later, she felt it could do more with a two-stroke engine. Bland’s journey was met with many inconveniences, but she never lost hope. In later years, she bought her first car and became the first agent for a Ford car dealership in Northern Ireland.
Lilian Bland’s desire to tour the world with an airplane inspired other women globally to go after what they want to achieve in life without fear.
Hamilton
In the space arena, most people are synonymous with names like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Few know Margret Hamilton, who played a critical role in the Apollo II moon landing.
Hamilton steered the Software Engineering team at MIT, which crafted the software used for the space mission. Without her software eloquence, NASA would never have landed on the moon. This critical role saw the former president of the U.S. accord her the Medal of Freedom in 2016.
After her stay at NASA, Margaret founded Hamilton Technologies, which created the universal systems language. Additionally, her name is in more than 130 published articles used as a reference tool for software engineering students.
Roza Shanina
Roza Georgiyevna Shanina, one of the forgotten female figures in history, was common in World War II. After her brother passed away, she joined the military as a frontline volunteer, a position only men were accorded.
Although Roza was not the best sniper of all time, her precision and kill on contact were admirable. In the battle of Vilnius, Shanina sharpened her doublet skills – killing two targets with one bullet.
By 1944, she was an unsung hero and even received the Order of Glory award. Unfortunately, her life was short in action, as she was killed when covering a wounded unit commander. Today, the world fondly remembers Shanina as a skilled sniper and hero at a time when militaries did not acknowledge the role of women globally.
Niloofar Rahmani
Before the U.S. and its allies joined hands in 2001 to invade Afghanistan, women were restricted from doing much in their communities. Girls over eight years old could not go to school, and women could not hold positions of power or tour the city alone.
However, after the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan ended, Niloofar, who also tops the list of lesser-known amazing women, took herself to school to become the first female aviator of the fixed-wing Air Force. Moreover, she persisted even after her family received death threats, a move that made her the first female pilot of the Afghan army.
Rahmani is a global and national name with multiple awards. For instance, the Afghan and U.S. military recognize her as a trailblazing woman. Although she is currently in the U.S. following numerous death threats in her country, Niloofar’s name continues to resonate with young girls and women globally.
Conclusion
In underscoring the significant roles of women in history, we hope that the world sees how their skills, courage, defiance, and deeper understanding of their communities have propelled the world to better heights. The article above highlights some of these inspirational unknown women whose achievements deserve recognition as they will forever be part of history.
