Influential Women in History

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical figures, events, and concepts from the lecture notes.

Marie Curie

A groundbreaking scientist born in Poland in 1867 who conducted research in France, discovered radium and polonium, became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences (physics and chemistry).

Pierre Curie

The husband of Marie Curie who conducted important experiments with her in France leading to major discoveries.

Radium and Polonium

The two elements discovered through the research of Marie Curie and Pierre Curie.

Rosa Parks

An American civil rights activist who in 1955 refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A major protest sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955 that helped launch the modern civil rights movement.

Amelia Earhart

A pioneering American aviator born in 1897 who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932 and disappeared in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world.

Frida Kahlo

A Mexican artist born in 1907 known for self-portraits exploring identity, pain, and Mexican culture, which reflected her physical and emotional struggles following a bus accident.

Malala Yousafzai

A Pakistani activist for girls' education who survived a Taliban attack in 2012 and in 2014 became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Susan B. Anthony

A 19th-century American leader in the movement for women's rights whose advocacy for suffrage played a major role in the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

19th Amendment

The United States constitutional amendment passed in 1920 that granted women the right to vote.

Cleopatra VII

The last active ruler of ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic Kingdom who became queen in 51 BCE, formed political alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and ruled until 30 BCE.

Ptolemaic Kingdom

The ancient Egyptian kingdom whose last active ruler was Cleopatra VII.

Eleanor Roosevelt

An American diplomat, activist, and former First Lady who supported social causes during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency and helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the United Nations.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

An international document for the United Nations that Eleanor Roosevelt helped draft.

Harriet Tubman

An American abolitionist born into slavery around 1822 who guided enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad and served as a spy and nurse during the American Civil War.

Underground Railroad

The network used by Harriet Tubman to guide enslaved people to freedom.

Jane Goodall

A British primatologist and conservationist who began studying chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960, discovering that they use tools and possess complex social behaviors.