Google Tells The Story of 13 Pioneering Women Who Fought For Women’s Rights

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Google published a doodle that looks at the stories of 13 female pioneers who have helped women get where they are today. Happy International Women's Day!

According to Cnet, it all began at the beginning of the 20th century. Frustrated by the oppression and inequality, in 1908, a group of women marched through New York City’s street and demanded better pay, shorter working hours, and voting rights. Google’s doodle shows a grandmother telling a story of 13 remarkable women to her little girl. All of these women made remarkable contributions and advancement around the world towards women’s rights. 

Independent takes a look at all 13 women separately. Idea Wells was an African-American journalist that wrote on the fights for women’s suffrage as well as the struggle for civil rights. Lotfia El Nadi was Egypt’s first female pilot. Her father expected her to marry and have a family. However, she worked as a secretary and telephone operator at a flying school in exchange for flying lessons.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter and activist whose work was celebrated internationally. Lina Bo Bardi was a Brazilian architect who devoted her life to the promotion of the social and cultural potential of architecture and design. Olga Skorkhodova was a soviet scientist that has lost her vision and hearing at the age of five. She overcame these difficulties and became a researcher in the field of communication and created a number of scientific works concerning the development of education of deaf-blind children.

Miriam Makeba was a South African singer and civil right activist. She was forced to marry at the age of 17 before she was discovered as a singer of jazz and African melody. Sally Ride was an American astronaut and physicist. She became the first American woman to ever go into space in 1983 at the age of 32. Halet Cambel was a Turkish archaeologist who became the first Muslim women to compete in the Olympics in the 1936 Berlin games as a fencer. Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician who became the world’s first computer programmer. Rukmini Devi was an Indian dancer who worked to re-establish traditional Indian arts and crafts. She was also an animal rights activist. Cecilia Grierson was an Argentine physician who became the first woman in Argentina to receive a medical degree.

Lee Tai-Young was Korea’s first female lawyer and judge in what is now North Korea. She was also an activist who founded the country’s first legal aid center. Suzanne Lenglen was a French tennis champion who dominated the women’s sport for over a decade. At the age of 15, she became the youngest ever winner of a major championship. She did that while being plagued with ill health including chronic asthma. Perhaps today’s focus on female pioneers of the past will inspire all women around the world to help shape our future.