Milestones in women’s history from the year you were born

Bettmann // Getty Images The feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s reminded the world that women have always played important historical roles, despite often being overlooked. But even in the 21st century, many popular history books are written by and about men–usually covering war heroes, generals, and the country’s founding fathers. Studies of U.S. history and social studies classes also find that state education standards focus on men and gloss over the roles of women outside of the home. Though many people today proudly proclaim to be feminists, women around the world are still paid less for the same work, live in fear of physical violence and sexual assault, and lack rights and representation across industries. Through decades of activism and organizing, women have made hard-won gains across social, economic, political, and cultural spectrums. Observing milestones in women’s history also reminds us of the steps still required to achieve true gender equality. Stacker dug through historical records and selected inspirational or important moments in women’s history every year from 1919 to 2021. Women have left marks on everything from politics to entertainment and music to space exploration, athletics, and technology. Each passing year and new milestone makes it clear both how recent this history-making is in relation to the past, as well as how far we still need to go. The resulting timeline shows that women are constantly making history worthy of best-selling biographies and classroom textbooks; someone just needs to write about them. Scroll through to find out when women in the U.S. and around the world won rights, the names of women who shattered the glass ceiling, and which country’s women banded together to end a civil war. You may also like: When women got the right to vote in 50 countries 1919: National Women’s Party sparks ‘Watchfires of Freedom’ Harris & Ewing LOC // Wikimedia Commons Members of Congress introduced a constitutional amendment enshrining women’s right to vote in 1878, but it would take decades of protest for it to become the law of the land. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson started supporting women’s suffrage, but members of the National Women’s Party thought he wasn’t using his influence to sway the last two senators needed for an amendment to pass. In January 1919, activists started burning Wilson’s speeches outside public buildings, implying he was a hypocrite for not doing more. The amendment passed a few months later. 1920: The 19th Amendment becomes law Missouri Historical Society // Wikimedia Commons After the 19th Amendment passed through Congress, it was turned over to the states; two-thirds (or 36) had to ratify the amendment before it could become law. Seven states rejected the amendment outright. The decisive vote came from Tennessee after a young representative’s mother convinced him to vote in support of suffrage, breaking a tie in that state’s legislature. The amendment was certified on Aug. 26, 1920, and women in every state could vote in elections that November. 1921: Edith Wharton wins the Pulitzer Prize Library of Congress // Wikimedia Commons In 1921, Edith Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (then called the Novel Prize), becoming the first woman in the award’s four-year history to do so. She was honored for her 12th novel, “The Age of Innocence,” which explores the upper-class 1870s New York society in which Wharton grew up. Her win was controversial, but not because of her gender; the committee originally decided to give the prize to the novel, “Main Street,” a decision that was changed for political reasons. 1922: First woman serves in the Senate National Photo Company Collection LOC // Wikimedia Commons The first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate held her role for only two days. Rebecca Ann Felton of Georgia was appointed to fill a vacancy and served from Nov. 21-21, 1922. Her short appointment was largely ceremonial, honoring her long career in journalism and state politics. It would take another decade before another woman was elected to a Senate seat. 1923: Equal Rights Amendment is first proposed The Atlanta Constitution // Wikimedia Commons Even after women won the right to vote, Alice Paul–a women’s rights activist and founder of the National Woman’s Party–realized the U.S. still had a long way to go before it reached true equality. She fought for the Equal Rights Amendment, which, if added to the Constitution, would make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex. The amendment was proposed in every Congress from 1923 to 1972 when it finally passed, but it fell three states short of being officially added to the Constitution. You may also like: Scientific breakthroughs from the year you were born 1924: First woman diplomat gets to work Bain Collection LOC // Wikimedia Commons Revolutionary Marxist Alexandra Kollontai joined the new Russian government formed after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution as the People’s Commissar of Social Welfare. In that capacity, she founded a Women’s Department that fought to improve the lives of women in the Soviet Union. After a few years, she was asked to tackle diplomatic work, and in 1924, Kollontai was promoted to second-in-command of the Soviet Union’s Norwegian embassy, which officially added her to the diplomatic corps. She continued working in Sweden, Finland, and Mexico until her retirement in the 1940s. 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman governor in the U.S. Public Domain // Wikimedia Commons One month after her husband, Gov. William B. Ross, died of appendicitis, Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected to fill his seat. Through her victory, Wyoming, the first state to give women the right to vote, became the first to elect a woman to a state’s highest office. Ross was inaugurated in January 1925, but lost reelection in 1926. She had a long career in politics after her term, and remains the only woman governor in Wyoming’s history. 1926: Gertrude Ederle swims the English Channel Bain News Service LOC // Wikimedia Commons Gertrude “Queen of the Waves” Ederle did what only five men had done before her when she swam the 35-mile length of the English Channel on Aug. 6, 1926. An Olympic gold medalist, Erdele first attempted the swim between England and France in 1925, but she didn’t let her failure prevent a second try. Covered in grease and wearing a more practical self-designed suit, Erdele beat the men’s record by over two hours, at a time when women’s sports were just coming into the spotlight. 1927: Women petition to become ‘persons’ in Canada Eugene M. Finn // Wikimedia Commons Five Canadian women’s rights activists, dubbed the “Famous Five,” brought a case before the country’s Supreme Court in 1927 arguing that women had the right to be appointed to the Senate. In 1928, the Court ruled that women were not considered “persons” according to the Canadian constitution and therefore ineligible for Senate seats. An appeal reversed the ruling, opening up new opportunities for women in Canada. 1928: Britain’s Equal Franchise Act becomes law LSE Library // Wikimedia Commons British women technically won the right to vote before Americans, but it took 10 years for them to achieve the same voting rights men already had. The 1918 Representation of the People Act allowed all men over 21 to vote, but only female householders or those married to householders, female university grads over 21, or women over 30 could vote. The Equal Franchise Act of 1928 removed all those restrictions; any British citizen over 21 was now free to vote. You may also like: 50 endangered species that only live in the Amazon Rainforest 1929: Nigeria’s Women’s War wins rights Unknown // Wikimedia Commons Through the late 1920s, British colonial rule in Nigeria wildly changed how the country was governed. The native Igbo women, who had an important political role in their communities, found themselves increasingly undermined by new leaders. These women used their powerful communication networks to stage a nonviolent protest against their mistreatment. The British didn’t understand the cause of the protests, and the campaign ended after just over one year when the British turned to violence–but not before Nigerian women won important protections for their rights and regained some of their political power. [Pictured: Community of men, women, and children standing in front of the Akaniobio Church, Old Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria, sometime between 1900-1930.] 1930: Frances Marion writes Oscar-winning ‘The Big House’ Mary Pickford Company / United Artists // Wikimedia Commons As movies transitioned from silent black-and-white affairs into talkies and Technicolor, screenwriter Frances Marion and actress Mary Pickford became some of early Hollywood’s biggest names. The two worked together to adapt dozens of novels and stories into films, from classics like “Anne of Green Gables,” to “The Big House,” which won Marion her first Oscar (Adapted Screenplay). By the end of her career, Marion had written over 100 scripts. You may also like: Hollywood history from the year you were born 1931: Jackie Mitchell strikes out two of baseball’s best Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics // Getty Images Jackie Mitchell, a 17-year-old pitcher, took the mound against the New York Yankees in an early season exhibition game. One of the first female pitchers in the league with a contract, Mitchell managed to strike out legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But then a few days later, her contract was revoked amid claims that the occupation was dangerous for women. Some modern historians believe that Mitchell’s history-making pitches were staged to get more people in the stands, but many still see her achievement as important, either way. 1932: Amelia Earhart’s first solo flight across the Atlantic NASA // Wikimedia Commons Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean when she traveled from Newfoundland to Ireland on May 21, 1932. Earhart had already completed a similar feat a few years earlier as part of a three-person crew, and her fame only grew after flying solo–just like Charles Lindbergh, who had completed the feat five years before. Earhart, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Congress, infamously disappeared a few years later while attempting to fly around the world. 1933: First female Cabinet member is appointed Harris & Ewing LOC // Wikimedia Commons Frances Perkins spent the early days of her career working to improve the lives of disadvantaged people living in New York City, making her well suited to the position of U.S. secretary of labor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to the post during the height of the Great Depression in 1933. As the first female member of a presidential cabinet, she pushed for the New Deal and spearheaded the creation of the Social Security program, one of Roosevelt’s most important legislative achievements. You may also like: Bizarre slang words and phrases from every state 1934: First woman serves on board of directors of a major corporation George Rinhart/Corbis // Getty Images Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans married a wealthy man who struck a deal with the brand new Coca-Cola company to bottle their syrupy-sweet product. Her husband died young, leaving Evans to take over his share of the bottling empire, where she expanded her own wealth as well as the company’s success. When her branch of the company was bought out, she was appointed to the board of directors, a position she would hold for nearly 20 years. Lettie ultimately used her fortune to create a scholarship foundation. 1935: National Council of Negro Women is founded Carl van Vechten LOC // Wikimedia Commons Disappointed by the lack of communication and cohesiveness between groups advocating for African American women’s rights, educator and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women. In the decades since, the Council has grown to represent more than 25 national organizations, and more than 4 million women have been associated with the organization. 1936: Wallis Simpson is Time’s first female Person of the Year National Science and Media Museum // Flickr Time’s Person of the Year award has been given to an individual woman only five times. Wallis Simpson, an American socialite, was the first. Her relationship with King Edward VIII took the world by storm, and the 1930s press was obsessed with their movements. Edward, who caused a scandal by courting Simpson while she was still married to her second husband, was told he couldn’t marry her and keep the throne. He became the only British monarch to voluntarily give up the throne; the two married and lived out the rest of their years together. 1937: First woman climbs the Adirondack High Peaks Yinan Chen // Wikimedia Commons Born and raised in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, Grace Dolbeck Leach Hudowalski became the ninth person and first woman to climb all 46 peaks in the mountain range between 1922 and 1937. She went on to start the Adirondack 46ers club alongside her husband, promoting the high peaks she loved and keeping track of others who managed to climb them. In 2014, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially renamed one of the peaks in her honor. [Pictured: A view of some of the Adirondack Mountains high peaks.] 1938: First woman wins the Nobel Prize in Literature Arnold Genthe LOC // Wikimedia Commons Pearl S. Buck used her experience growing up in China with her missionary parents to fuel much of her writing career, which focused on the life of the peasant class in the country. Her most notable work was a family trilogy: “The Good Earth” (1931), “Sons” (1932), and “A House Divided” (1935), which propelled her to become the first female Nobel laureate in Literature. You may also like: The women who have won the Nobel Prize 1939: Kitty O’Brien Joyner is NASA’s first woman engineer NACA // Wikimedia Commons Kitty O’Brien Joyner broke ground twice in 1939. After suing to be admitted into the University of Virginia’s engineering program, she was the first woman to graduate from the program that year. The electrical engineering knowledge she gained let her blaze a new trail several months later when NACA, the predecessor to NASA, hired her. She worked there for decades, eventually becoming branch head, before retiring in 1971. 1940: First African American woman wins an Oscar Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) It took 12 years for the Academy Awards to acknowledge a nonwhite performer. Even when Hattie McDaniel won for her supporting role as Mammy in “Gone with the Wind”–making her the first Black person to win any Oscar–she was seated at a separate table from her costars, and the show’s organizers had to fight for her to be allowed inside the venue. Though later audiences would take issue with McDaniel’s stereotypical character, her win was still historic; another Black actor would not win an Oscar until 1964, and diversity in the Academy remains an issue. 1941: Wonder Woman debuts Silver Screen Collection // Getty Images Wonder Woman wasn’t the first female superhero to grace the racks of comic book shops across America, but her appearance in 1941 sparked an obsession that’s lasted just as long as Batman and Superman. Created by a psychologist, the Amazon woman was heavily influenced by feminism. In 2017, her enduring popularity made her the first female superhero to earn her own movie, which smashed records and gender barriers alike. [Pictured: One of many iterations of Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, portraying Wonder Woman in the television series in 1975.] 1942: First woman is awarded Purple Heart medal U.S. National Archives On Dec. 7, 1941, Annie G. Fox found herself organizing the response to the chaos and numerous injuries caused by the attack on Pearl Harbor. The first lieutenant and head nurse of Hickam Field Hospital was awarded the Purple Heart for her work on Oct. 26, 1942, alongside several other army nurses. When the criteria of the award later changed to apply only to those injured in the line of duty, Fox was awarded the equally prestigious Bronze Star in place of the Purple Heart in 1944. 1943: Women’s Army Corps is created US National Archives // Wikimedia Commons The U.S. entered World War II at the end of 1941, and quickly found itself in need of soldiers. Women, who had served as nurses and in other unofficial military roles in prior wars, were formally recruited for behind-the-scenes roles through the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps. By 1943, Congress decided to drop Auxiliary from the name, and female non-combatants finally received the same benefits as their male counterparts. Men and women would remain in separate military units long after World War II, though, before finally integrating in 1978. You may also like: 87 top rated charities to support military members and their families 1944: French women win the right to vote Bibliothèque nationale de France // Wikimedia Commons France fell behind many of its European counterparts in granting women the right to vote. Sixteen years after Britain finally enshrined equal rights at the ballot box, the newly liberated French government signed a law allowing women to cast votes. French women still struggle to see themselves represented in the federal government, though numbers have started trending up after recent elections. 1945: Ireland’s laundry workers go on strike National Library of Ireland // Wikimedia Commons After years of mistreatment, Ireland’s laundry workers (who were almost entirely women) decided they were done putting up with the long hours and harsh conditions. The Irish Women’s Worker Union went on strike, and after 14 weeks, they won the right to a second week of holidays every year for all Irish workers. 1946: UN establishes the Commission on the Status of Women US National Archives // Wikimedia Commons Soon after the United Nations was founded, it established the Commission on the Status of Women, the first intergovernmental body with the sole purpose of promoting the rights of women around the world. The Commission’s 15 female representatives first met in New York, and until 1962, they focused on setting global standards for women’s rights, changing discriminatory language in different documents, and bringing awareness to women’s issues to a worldwide audience. 1947: First woman wins a Nobel Prize in medicine Smithsonian Institution // Wikimedia Commons Alongside her husband, Gerty Cori became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in medicine, and only the third woman in history to win the award in any category. The couple won for developing the Cori cycle, which explained how energy moves through different parts of the body. Though colleagues warned her she could hold back her husband’s career, Cori and her husband continued working together and went on to make further important biological discoveries. 1948: UN Declaration of Human Rights debuts US National Archives The United Nation’s historic Declaration of Human Rights was the first international document to explicitly state that both men and women should have their “dignity and worth of [their] human person” protected. The Commission on the Status of Women was integral in the fight to make sure gender-neutral language was inserted into the document, which was adopted by the General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948. You may also like: U.S. Navy history from the year you were born 1949: ‘The Second Sex’ is published JEAN MEUNIER/AFP // Getty In 1949, French essayist, political theorist, and intellectual Simone de Beauvoir published her most famous and influential work on the oppression of women. De Beauvoir attempted to explain why women are oppressed in society and argued that political advancements like the right to vote meant nothing to women who don’t have the means to support themselves in other ways. Its English translation (published in 1953) was long considered deeply flawed, but that didn’t stop the work from becoming required reading for feminists and scholars around the world. 1950: First girl plays Little League baseball Debrocke/ClassicStock // Getty Images At 13, Kay Johnston wanted nothing more than to play Little League baseball. So she decided to sign up as a boy named Tubby. Even after revealing her identity, she played a successful season as a member of a team. After that year, the “Tubby Rule” was put into place, barring girls from playing Little League under any circumstances. The rule was abolished in 1974, and since then, 18 girls have made it all the way to the Little League World Series. [Pictured: A Little League baseball player sliding into home base safe.] 1951: Rosalind Franklin makes crucial DNA discoveries MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology // Wikimedia Commons James Watson and Francis Crick were credited with the discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, which won them a Nobel Prize in 1962, but they would not have been able to do so without the help of a pioneering female scientist. Rosalind Franklin’s expertise in X-ray diffraction techniques allowed her to take clear pictures of DNA’s structure. A male colleague who often disagreed with Franklin gave her photographs to Watson and Crick, and they formed the basis of their eventual model. Franklin never knew her work had been so integral to their discovery, as she died in 1958. 1952: Grace Hopper revolutionizes computers Smithsonian Institution // Wikimedia Commons A trailblazer throughout her life, mathematician and U.S. Navy Admiral Grace Hopper revolutionized the way we use computers. After working on the Mark I computer during World War II, she moved into private industry, where she and her team developed the compiler. This device allowed software developers to write code in humanlike language–instead of 1s and 0s–and was a precursor to the widely used COBOL programming language. 1953: First woman breaks the sound barrier SDASM Archives // Flickr Jacqueline Cochran worked her way out of poverty to become one of the most successful female aviators of the 20th century. After obtaining her pilot’s license in three weeks while working as a cosmetics saleswoman, she took the aviation world by storm and set record after record. Her most notable feat might be flying faster than the speed of sound (761.2 miles per hour), a speed she later doubled in 1964. You may also like: Major cities most at risk of rising sea levels 1954: UN Convention on the Political Rights of Women goes into force sanjitbakshi// Flickr The Convention on the Political Rights of Women became the first piece of international law explicitly formed to protect and expand women’s political rights. A total of 122 United Nations member states and the state of Palestine have since signed onto the document, parts of which formed the basis of later, more comprehensive treaties protecting women’s rights. 1955: Rosa Parks sparks Montgomery Bus Boycott Library of Congress // Wikimedia Commons Rosa Parks’ decision not to give up her seat to a white man on an Alabama bus changed the course of American history. The same day Parks was convicted of violating segregation laws, black community leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., organized a boycott of the Montgomery bus system. It would not end until the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation laws were unconstitutional. Parks subsequently became a symbol of the civil rights movement and continued her work as an activist against inequality. 1956: Women march on Pretoria Central Press/Hulton Archive // Getty Images In the 1950s, South Africa’s government passed new laws to limit the movement of African women in the country, with the goal of further entrenching the deep racial separation, also known as apartheid. Thousands of women from across South Africa marched on the capital city in protest of these laws, including several who would later become key figures in the apartheid resistance movement. When the prime minister wouldn’t meet with them, the women stood in complete silence for 30 minutes before singing songs of protest and female empowerment. [Pictured: A group of South Africans demonstrates in Pretoria, South Africa.] 1957: First television show built around a female protagonist airs Official Films “Decoy: Police Woman” might be an all-but-forgotten relic from the early days of television, but it was groundbreaking as the first show to feature a female police officer and a female protagonist. If not for “Decoy,” the powerful female characters in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Law and Order” might not exist. Shot on location in New York (another first), Casey Jones went undercover as a ballerina, model, and other aliases to catch criminals, doing her job without any discrimination from her male colleagues. 1958: First woman wins multiple Grammys William P. Gottlieb LOC // Wikimedia Commons Ella Fitzgerald became a household name when she made her debut on the stage of New York’s famous Apollo Theater in 1934. “The First Lady of Song” went on to become a jazz icon, and at the first Grammy Awards, she took home Best Female Vocal Performance and Best Individual Jazz Performance. She’d go on to win 13 awards over her 40-year career, capping off her Grammy success by becoming the first woman to win a Lifetime Achievement award. You may also like: Space discoveries that will blow your mind 1959: Tibetan Women’s Uprising commences Associated Press // Wikimedia Commons The long struggle for Tibet to gain independence from China came to a head in the late 1950s, ultimately forcing the Dalai Lama to flee to India in exile. Tibetan women made their voices heard when they took part in a protest against the Chinese government on March 12, 1959. The women surrounded the Dalai Lama’s home but were later arrested; many were beaten and executed. 1960: Sri Lanka elects world’s first female prime minister United Press International LOC // Wikimedia Commons When Sirimavo Bandaranaike won Sri Lanka’s 1960 election, she became the first woman head of state to hold the title without inheriting the position due to her birth. She was elected after her husband was assassinated the year before and continued implementing his socialist economic policies and promotion of Buddhist cultural practices in the country (then called Ceylon). Bandaranaike stepped down in 1965, but returned in the 1970s to serve two more terms before retiring for good at 84. 1961: India bans dowries Canva Dowries were a common custom in Indian culture hailing from its days as a British colony; a bride’s parents would give money or other gifts to help their daughter start a new life, but the practice soon became more of a payment to the groom’s family at the time of marriage, as an incentive for the union. Unfortunately, the custom also led to violence against the women it hoped to protect. Sometimes a woman’s husband or in-laws would attack her in hopes of getting a higher bride price. The 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act aimed to stop this violence against women by getting rid of the tradition, but it’s been difficult to enforce and is often misused. 1962: Katherine Johnson helps send a man to space NASA // Wikimedia Commons In NASA’s early days, African American women often worked as human computers, doing the necessary calculations for different projects by hand. In 1953, Katherine Johnson became one of them. By the 1960s, she was working on flight trajectory calculations and often double-checking the work done by electronic computers. Astronauts like John Glenn relied on her calculations to ensure a safe landing, contributions that were immortalized in the 2016 movie “Hidden Figures.” You may also like: Space discoveries from the year you were born 1963: Betty Friedan publishes ‘The Feminine Mystique’ Fred Palumbo LOC // Wikimedia Commons People often describe feminism as coming in several waves and historians often credit Betty Friedan’s seminal book, “The Feminine Mystique,” with helping spark the second wave. While far from a perfect book, the tome sold nearly 3 million copies, which allowed more women to think about, discuss, and discover the “problem with no name” shaping their lives for the first time. Friedan’s writing gave a voice to the anger and repression many women were feeling.   1964: First woman of color elected to Congress Robert Leroy Knudsen LOC // Wikimedia Commons Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first woman of color elected to Congress when she won one of Hawaii’s seats in the House of Representatives in 1964. She served until 1977, advocating for the rights of women, immigrants, and children. Mink also worked hard to pass Title IX, which increased opportunities for women in education. 1965: Dolores Huerta directs a five-year strike Cathy Murphy // Getty Images Working alongside fellow labor activist Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers Union in 1965 and quickly took the lead in negotiating contracts between the Coachella Valley grape growers and their employers. Five years later, she won a historic victory when 26 grape growers agreed to sign fairer contracts. Huerta continued to fight for the rights of farmworkers–as well as women and other Mexican Americans–and she continues to be an active, influential figure in those communities today. 1966: National Organization for Women is founded Elvert Barnes // Wikimedia Commons On June 30, 1966, Catherine Conroy put a $5 bill on the table in Betty Friedan’s hotel room and told the 15 other activists in the room to “Put your money down and sign your name.” The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded at that moment, and it originally aimed to figure out how to enforce the Title VII section of the Civil Rights Act. NOW has grown over the past half-century, but still uses grassroots power to advocate for women’s economic, political, and social equality. 1967: First woman runs the Boston Marathon Recuerdos de Pandora // Flickr At 19, Kathrine Switzer–who was unofficially competing with Syracuse University’s men’s cross-country team–told her coach she wanted to run the Boston Marathon. After proving she could complete the 26-mile race, she registered for the marathon, which didn’t technically have gender limitations. Though officials tried to pull her out of the race once she started, Switzer ultimately completed the run and spent years advocating for women to be officially allowed to enter. 1968: Miss America ignites ‘bra burning’ protests Bev Grant // Getty Images Contrary to popular belief, no bras were burned during this Sept. 7, 1968, protest outside the Miss America beauty pageant. But 400 feminists did throw symbols of what they thought society used to oppress them–including bras–into a “freedom trash can” in protest of the pageant’s support of what they saw as unattainable beauty standards. You may also like: States sending the most young people to the military 1969: Nation’s first ‘no fault’ divorce law passes Canva California’s no-fault divorce law, adopted in some form by every other state by 2010, made it much easier to obtain a divorce. Instead of couples having to prove that their spouse wronged them in some way, one person’s desire to leave a relationship became grounds for ending unhappy marriages. Advocates believed that with this law in place, women were able to leave relationships they did not find fulfilling in a safer, fairer way. 1970: First woman plays American football Frank Lennon/Toronto Star // Getty Images Patricia Palinkas joined the Orlando Panthers alongside her kicker husband, beginning a short, but historic career as the first woman signed to a professional football team. As a holder for her husband, Palinkas only played a few games before deciding she’d rather do something other than hold the ball for someone else. Still, her short career impacted a generation of female athletes, who wouldn’t see another woman in professional football until Katie Hnida in 2010. [Pictured: Football players in 1971.] 1971: Reed v. Reed is decided Kencf0618 // Wikimedia Commons Reed v. Reed was a Supreme Court case that invalidated an Idaho law requiring a man to be chosen when an equally qualified man and woman were arguing over who should execute a will. As such, it is a consequential case for the legal rights of American women. For the first time, the Supreme Court ruled that the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment applied to discrimination against women. This established a stricter standard for sex discrimination and set a precedent for others–like future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg–to argue more cases on gender discrimination. 1972: Title IX goes into effect Birch Bayh Senate Office // Wikimedia Commons Title IX is part of a larger education reform act that requires gender equality for boys and girls in any education program that receives funding from the federal government. This applies to college athletics, sexual assault and harassment, employment, financial aid, and more. Title IX has been subject to a number of controversies since it was passed, most recently around issues of sexual assault, even as schools continue to work toward gender equity. 1973: Roe v. Wade is decided Lorie Shaull // Wikimedia Commons One of the most well-known and controversial Supreme Court decisions, Roe v. Wade established a woman’s right to an abortion at any time during the first three months of her pregnancy, and, with some restrictions, in later trimesters as well. In the decade since the decision, the battle over abortion and reproductive rights has been among the most heated in American politics. You may also like: U.S. Army by the numbers 1974: Women earn the right to open their own credit cards Canva Before Congress passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, banks made men co-sign when a single, widowed, or divorced woman wanted to open a credit card, no matter how much she made. The new law made it illegal to discriminate based on gender, race, or national origin when issuing credit cards, giving women more independent access to money. Studies today still find that women are paying more for their credit cards. 1975: Icelandic women go on strike Bettmann // Getty Images The women of Iceland were tired of being paid less than men and not seeing women in government. So on Oct. 24, 1975, 90% of Icelandic women didn’t go to work, take care of their children, or do any housework; instead, 25,000 marched in the streets of the capital city. The rousing turnout led to some changes, and Iceland’s first female president was elected five years later. Iceland, the country where political representation of women is highest in the world, is now considered one of the best places in the world for women, and it is currently working on ending its persistent pay gap within five years.  [Pictured: Iceland’s first female president, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, in 1980.] 1976: First class of women enters West Point U.S. National Archives // Wikimedia Commons American women worked alongside men in wars throughout the country’s history, but on July 7, 1976, 119 female cadets first entered the service academy at West Point. Sixty-two would graduate in the class of 1980, completing their training as future military officers. You may also like: Women who broke barriers throughout military history 1977: First woman wins an EGOT Lisafie // Wikimedia Commons Actress Helen Hayes–the first woman to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award–started on the stage at age 8, and went on to have a Tony-winning Broadway career spanning decades. She also picked up an Oscar in 1931 for her performance in “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” during a brief stint in Hollywood. After discovering an allergy to theater dust in the 1970s, she went on to star in several TV shows and took home a Grammy in 1977 to finish her sweep. 1978: Pregnancy Discrimination Act passes Canva Prior to the passage of this law, some employers refused to hire a woman if she was pregnant, while others commonly refused to promote or give raises to pregnant women for fear they’d soon quit and stay home with their families. The law protected the rights of women who also wanted to have children, but working mothers are still not treated equally compared to their male counterparts; studies have found the gender wage gap increases when women start families. 1979: UN adopts the Women’s Bill of Rights Patrick Gruban // Wikimedia Commons The United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women netted another huge win for women’s rights when the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Dec. 18, 1978. The most comprehensive document the office has produced to date, the treaty defines equality, lays out clear steps on how to achieve it, and requires countries that sign CEDAW to actively work for women’s rights.   1980: First democratically elected female president takes office Rob C. Croes // Wikimedia Commons Five years after a women’s strike ground Icelandic society to a halt, citizens elected their first female president, the first democratically elected female president in the world. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir’s 16-year-long presidency put her in a mostly ceremonial role, but she enjoyed actively promoting her country abroad. After her victory, Icelandic women’s representation in their government shot up to the highest levels of any country without a quota system, and Iceland is now one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. 1981: First woman is appointed to the Supreme Court US National Archives // Wikimedia Commons Even though Sandra Day O’Connor graduated third in her class (and a year early) from Stanford Law School, the Texas-born lawyer struggled to overcome gender discrimination and find work in her field. She eventually earned her way into the courtroom, then began a career in Texas state politics. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated her to the Supreme Court, and she was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. Before her retirement in 2006, O’Connor was known for defending women’s rights from the bench, even blocking a case that would have overturned Roe v. Wade. 1982: First African American principal ballerina leads a U.S. company Gregg DeGuire/WireImage // Getty Images When Debra Austin joined the Pennsylvania Ballet as its principal dancer, she became the first African American woman to lead a major American ballet company. Others have attributed the title to Lauren Anderson, who rose to the same position in Houston the same year Austin retired in Pennsylvania. In an art form that has long struggled with racism, both women were history-makers and positive influences for aspiring ballerinas today. [Pictured: Ballet Dancer Lauren Anderson, arriving at ABC’s “Scandal” 100th Episode Celebration on April 8, 2017, in West Hollywood, California.] 1983: Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space US National Archives // Wikimedia Commons The U.S. might have won the Space Race by putting a man on the moon, but the Soviet Union put the first woman in space in 1963, two decades before the Americans managed the feat. Of course, that doesn’t make Sally Ride’s trip to the stars any less monumental. As the first American woman and youngest astronaut to go to space, Ride inspired generations of girls and worked to promote women in science long after she hung up the space suit for good. You may also like: What the world was like when your grandparents were born 1984: First woman is sele