This is in no order and there are SO many more incredible women who helped shaped history as we know today, but I didn’t want this to be 10,000 words long. Most of these women may have not gotten the acknowledgments they deserved during their time because of the different way of life back when they made these power moves. Unfortunately, we still see this inequality today, but there have been huge accomplishments that we must keep striving for. So, here are seven influential women you may have not heard about in your high school history classes.

1. Empress Wu Zetian (624-705)

The one and ONLY empress of China. Empress Wu Zetian joined the palace at age 14. Later she began her ruling by ridding of her opposers for a punishment of treason. She founded her own dynasty declaring herself the Empress of China. She gained much loyalty of the men she recruited. She recruited them for their talents, not just because of their birth-rights. She only ruled for 15 years but positively expanded China both globally and socially. She was known to be a ruthless ruler, but a very powerful woman who knew EXACTLY what she wanted. (p.19)*

2. Khutulun (1260-1306)

Khutulun was a powerful and undefeated wrestler of suitors in Mongolia. Women of her culture at the time were trained to participate in battles, mainly using horseback and archery. When she became princess, she challenged every suitor to a wrestling match bet on 100 horses, and the promise of her hand in marriage. But here’s the kicker, no one ever defeated her. (p.22)*

3. Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919)

Madam C.J. Walker (the ORIGINAL Girl Boss) became the first female self-made millionaire. She was orphaned and widowed before the age of 20. She worked for less than $2.00 a day, while at the same time also facing some of the worst discrimination from Jim Crow Laws. Over time she developed a condition that made her start losing hair, but this ultimately led to her success. She met a woman (Annie Malone) who sold cosmetic products for African American women, one of which was a product to help grow hair quicker. She worked for Malone for some time, eventually starting her own successful hair-care business, which grew quickly due to her amazing marketing skills. She became the first large employer of African American women, as well as leaving two-thirds of future net profit to charity. (p.84)*

4. Valentina Tereshkova (1937-)

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to ever go into space. Talk about out-of-this-world! She pursued her passion of skydiving through joining an aviation club, completing 126 parachute jumps. After over 2 1/2 years of training, and at 26 years old, she passed all the tests to take the Soviet ship Vostok 6 into space. She orbited the earth 48 times and spent over 70 hours in space. When she returned home, she became a national hero and enjoyed many successes as a Soviet Union politician. (p.182)*

5. Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist best known for her book Silent Spring. She dedicated her time in her field to researching how synthetic pesticides leave damaging impacts on the environment, especially after the widespread use of them during World War II. She received a lot of criticism for her work from chemical manufacturing companies who publicly ridiculed her on television. Because of her book Silent Spring, the Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1970, which helps to keep these pesticides from being used widespread. Unfortunately, she passed right before any of these changes were being made so she could not see her progress, but the impact she left due to her research still lives on. (p.126)*

6. Belva Lockwood (1830-1917)

Belva Lockwood became known for being the first female lawyer to argue in front of the Supreme Court. At 22 years old, she was widowed and a single mother. Lockwood decided to go to law school at age 41 at the National University Law School. Although when it came time to get her diploma, she was denied because she was a woman. Lockwood went directly to the president of the United States at the time to help retrieve her rightly earned diploma. She became the second woman to pass the bar exam (a test to determine if a person is qualified to practice law), then a few years after that she helped to pass a legislation allowing female lawyers to appear before the Supreme Court. Lockwood became the first woman to be admitted to the Supreme Court, and she even ran as the first female presidential candidate. Although she did not win, she dedicated her life to improve the rights of people who deserved them just as much as the next. (p.71)*

7. Malala Yousafzai (1997-)

Malala Yousafzai was raised in Pakistan under an increasing Taliban rule that included the banning of girls from going to school. She was passionate about equal access to education which helped earn her a Noble Peace Prize at age 17. When she was 11 she wrote a blog, disguising her name, about her life under the Taliban occupation, and in 2012 her story got featured in a New York Times documentary. Her identity got revealed and became a target of those who were against her words. There was an assassination attempt against her on October 9, 2012, which she luckily survived. After recovering, she became an international advocate for children’s rights to education. The UN also passed a petition in her name that led to Pakistan approving its first Right to Education Bill. She started the Malala Fund, a non-profit that provides access to education and encourages many to stand up for their beliefs. Using the money from the non-profit, she also opened a school in Lebanon for Syrian refugees when she turned 18. She proves that although she is young, you can accomplish anything by speaking up for what you believe in. (p.209)*

Of course there is SO MUCH more about these amazing ladies that I didn't mention, (the book I read to find out about them is sourced below). In school, I personally never learned about many of the women in this book, but as you can see they are relevant to what we learn in school, even though they aren’t even mentioned with what we are being taught. Hopefully that’s changed or will begin to change.

Source: Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World by Ann Shen

*Page numbers to where you can find more information about the women from the book are at the end of each paragraph!