Kathrine Switzer was the first officially registered woman to run the Boston Marathon. A representative of the organizers tried to stop her.

1

Irina Rodnina is the most successful pair skater who is a champion of 3 successive Olympic Games and 10 World Championships. In childhood, she had pneumonia 11 times.

2

Lella Lombardi is the only woman who scored points in the Formula One World Championship.

3

Kay D’Arcy had worked all her life as a nurse. At 69 years old, she decided to fulfill her dream to go to Hollywood. She was offered the main role in the Agent 88 series 10 years later.

4

Smaranda Brăescu is an aviation and parachuting pioneer. She was one of the first women in the world who got a parachuting license.

5

Laura Bassi was the first female professor at a university and officially allowed to teach.

6

Julie Creffield was told that she was too fat to run. Now she is a marathon runner, writer, and motivational speaker.

7

Sofia Kovalevskaya, a female pioneer in mathematics, entered into a bogus marriage in order to go abroad and study at a university.

8

Joy Mangano, a divorced mother of 3 children, created more than 100 inventions. The most famous of them is the Miracle Mop. Her life was shown in the well-known film Joy, with Jennifer Lawrence playing this great woman.

9

Ruby Bridges became the first African-American child to attend an all-white school. She was guarded by US Marshals, put in place by President Dwight Eisenhower.

10

Sophia Amoruso founded the online fashion retailer, Nasty Gal, and became one of the world’s richest self-made women in 2016. A TV series was even filmed based on her autobiography. In childhood, she was diagnosed with ADHD and depression.

11

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in the US to receive a medical degree. She promoted the medical education of women and her contribution is celebrated by the annual presentation of the Elizabeth Blackwell medal.

12

Annie Smith Peck, a founding member of the American Alpine Club, was a mountaineer who climbed mountains even at the age of 82. In 1895, her climbing costume triggered a debate in the press since women couldn’t wear trousers in public.

13

Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, worked with an office supply company. Her experiments and perseverance with pantyhose have contributed to the fact that in 2014 she took 93rd place on the Forbes list of most powerful women.

14

Nellie Bly feigned madness to get into a female mental hospital. She spent 10 days there and wrote an exposé article about the inhumane treatment of mental patients. She also traveled around the world in 72 days.

15

Rosa Parks was an activist in the civil rights movement in America. She was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger in the “colored section” of the bus.

16