March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day where female innovation is celebrated and explored. Why not recognise some of the achievements made by women through out time, not discriminating on their age or race, shining the spotlight on the women I’ve found to be inspiring, gutsy, revolutionary and slightly, unconventional.
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was once one of the biggest stars of the silver screen. Often billed as the most beautiful woman on the planet, Lamarr hailed from Austria, emigrating to the United States to launch a career in Hollywood. Her biggest contribution to culture, though, is much more pervasive than her films. In fact, you’re probably using it right now! During World War II, Lamarr and her friend and neighbour George Anthiel invented technology that would help scramble the radio messages used to control torpedoes; that would later be used to develop Wi-Fi, cellular technology and Bluetooth.
Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace was a computer programmer well before computers had programs. The daughter of the poet Lord Byron and a British countess, Ada Lovelace’s translation of Italian engineer Luigi Menabrea’s work on an early computer known as the analytical engine is widely recognised as the first computer program aka birth of algorithm. Though her work was completed in 1843, it took a century for the machine to actually be built. In her time, however, Ada Lovelace accurately predicted that computers could be used for much more than just the mathematics that they had originally been built for.
Nellie Bly
To say that Nellie Bly broke ground for women — and men — in journalism would be a massive understatement. She pioneered investigative reporting, going undercover in an insane asylum, a woman’s jail, a factory, and a tenement, and posing as both a prospective baby-buyer and a potential lobbying client, just to name a few. She also attempted to travel around the world in fewer than 80 days — cutting that down to 72, and, during World War I, became the first female war correspondent in history. After years of celebrity, Bly became more and more involved in her husband’s manufacturing business and eventually took over after his death — becoming the most prominent female industrialist of her time.
J.K. Rowling
Before authoring the “Harry Potter” series, J.K. Rowling was a divorced mother struggling to scratch out a living on government assistance. Today she has been called one of the most powerful women in the United Kingdom. She has used her fortune and influence to become a notable philanthropist, supporting charities like Comic Relief, One Parent Families, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain.
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel became one of the biggest names in the history of fashion, credited with liberating women from the constraints of the “corseted silhouette” and popularising the acceptance of casual chic as the feminine standard.
Her early years, however, were far from glamorous. After her mother, a laundrywoman, died at the age of 12, Coco was placed in an orphanage by her father, who worked as a traveling salesman. She was eventually raised by nuns, who taught her how to sew — the skill that would eventually lead to her life’s work.
Florence Nightingale
Nightingale was beautiful and well-to-do, but she was determined to be her own woman. In 1853, she revolutionised nursing in the face of the Crimean War. However, it was this little known fact that surprised me – she pioneered data analysis and her “rose diagram” was communicated to the public on how to improve the conditions of wounded soldiers.
Marie Sklodowska Curie
Marie Curie’s life as a scientist was one which flourished because of her ability to observe, deduce and predict, earning her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1903 and 1911. She is arguably the first woman to make such a significant contribution to science and is remembered for her discovery of radium and polonium as well as her huge contribution to the fight against cancer. Interestingly, Curie’s daughter and grand-daughter continued her legacy in science and research, earning her daughter a Nobel Peace Prize in 1935.
Milunka Savic
She’s the single most-decorated female soldier in world military history, a grizzled seven-year veteran of three wars, Balkan Wars and World War I, fought across two continents, was a two-time recipient of her country’s highest award for military bravery and a poor farm girl who single-handedly captured at least fifty enemy combatants and two enemy trenches during her career, yet there’s not a whole lot of digital ink dedicated to Sergeant Milunka Savic – but there should be.
This list could be much longer, but consider this just an entree size of inspiration. Which female innovator, mover and shaker, do you look to for inspiration?