Alice Ball Helped Cure Leprosy

Women have often been sidelined throughout history to give men the full spotlight. Countless women, however, have made scientific discoveries, contributed to war efforts, and changed the world. Yet, they still lack recognition. Here are 20 women forgotten by history. 

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1. Sybil Ludington

Sometimes referred to as the "female Paul Revere", Ludington rode roughly 40 miles at only 16 years old to warn colonial militia forces of a British attack in 1777. She rode twice as long as Revere through more dangerous terrain, but is still overshadowed by her male counterpart.

Anthony22 on Wikimedia

2. Alice Ball

Ball was a pioneering African American chemist who developed the first treatment for leprosy. She tragically died at only 24 years old, and her work was initially credited to a man. It took decades for her contributions to be acknowledged, even though her method saved countless lives. 

AnonymousUnknown author on Wikimedia3. Lisa Meitner

Meitner was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who co-discovered nuclear fission. This breakthrough resulted in nuclear powers and weapons. However, her collaborator won the Nobel Prize in 1944. Einstein called her the "German Marie Curie". 

Smithsonian Institution on Wikimedia

4. Noor Inayat Khan

Khan was a British spy of Indian descent during WWII. She served as a wireless operator in France, one of the most dangerous jobs in the Special Operations Executive. She never revealed any intel to the enemy force and was eventually executed in Dachau in 1944. 

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5. Mary Anning

Anning was a self-taught fossil collector from England who discovered the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton that shaped paleontology. Her contributions were dismissed because of her gender and class, and many male scientists built their careers on her work and discoveries. 

Simon Harriyott from Uckfield, England on Wikimedia

6. Ching Shih

Shih becomes one of the most successful pirates in history, commanding over 300 ships and 70,000 pirates in the South China Sea. She outmaneuvered the Chinese navy and European forces. Upon capture, she negotiated an amnesty deal that let her retire rich and respected. 

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7. Rosalind Franklin

Franklin's X-ray diffraction of DNA helped discover its double helix structure. The credit for her discoveries went to three men who received the Nobel Prize in 1962. Her meticulous research was pivotal but downplayed for decades. 

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology on Wikimedia

8. Ida B. Wells

Wells was an African American journalist and early civil rights leader. She bravely exposed lynching in the U.S. at her own risk, and went on to co-found the NAACP and fought for suffrage. 

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9. Grace O'Malley

O'Malley was the "Pirate Queen of Ireland", commanding fleets and defending Irish territories against the English. She even negotiated directly with Queen Elizabeth I, while refusing to bow to her. Her leadership defied the expectations of women at the time, yet her legacy was minimized. 

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10. Sophie Scholl

Scholl was a member of the White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany. She distributed anti-Nazi leaflets at her university, only to be eventually arrested and executed by guillotine. Her refusal to remain silent was exemplary. 

Unknown german police officer on Wikimedia

11. Mary Seacole

Seacole was a Jamaican-born nurse who travelled on her own dime to the Crimean War after Florence Nightingale rejected her application. She set up the "British Hotel" near the battlefield and cared for wounded soldiers. Her contributions were mostly overshadowed by those of Nightingale. 

Nanoxyde on Wikimedia

12. Hedy Lamarr

Lamarr was a famous Hollywood actress and also a brilliant inventor. She co-created a frequency-hopping communication system to guide torpedoes without detection. Her work became the foundation for modern technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. 

Employee(s) of MGM on Wikimedia

13. Annie Jump Cannon

Cannon was an influential and pioneering astronomer who developed the classification system for stars that is still in use. She cataloged over 350,000 stars and was one of the first women elected to the American Astronomical Society. 

Smithsonian Institution from United States on Wikimedia

14. Claudette Colvin

Nine months before Rosa Parks' famous protest, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery. She was arrested and briefly became a symbol of the civil rights movement. Unfortunately, civil rights leaders chose not to highlight her bravery and contributions due to her age and circumstances. 

The Visibility Project, Claudette Colvin on Wikimedia

15. Dorothy Vaughan

Vaughan was an African American mathematician at NASA and one of the "hidden figures". Her work in computing and programming helped the U.S. win the space race. Only recently were her accomplishments brought to light and celebrated. 

NASA on Wikimedia

16. Nzinga Mbande

Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba, which is present-day Angola, was an important and fierce leader who resisted Portuguese colonization. She was a skilled diplomat whose alliances and military tactics helped defend her people. 

Achille Devéria on Wikimedia

17. Margaret Hamilton

Hamilton was a computer scientist at NASA who led the team that developed onboard flight software for the Apollo missions. Her coding was responsible for saving Apollo 11's moon landing after an error threatened the mission.

NASA on Wikimedia

18. Bessie Coleman

The first African American and Native American to earn a pilot's license, Coleman was forced to train in France because she was banned from U.S. schools due to her gender and race. She performed bold airshows and inspired generations. Tragically, she died young in a plane crash, and her legacy has largely been overshadowed. 

National Air and Space Museum on Wikimedia

19. Catherine Littlefield Greene

The wife of Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene, Littlefield Greene, significantly influenced the invention of the cotton gin, which is typically credited solely to Eli Whitney. Certain historical accounts suggest that she helped conceptualize the machine. 

Attributed to James Frothingham on Wikimedia

20. Nettie Stevens

Stevens was a geneticist who discovered that sex is determined by chromosomes. She identified the XY system that is imperative to biology. Despite her efforts and accomplishments, her work was largely ignored, and male scientists with lesser careers received far greater recognition. 

Bryn Mawr College Special Collections on Wikimedia