Feature
Famous Women in History
By Cael Javier
Volume 3 Issue 4
May 18, 2023
Image provided by Cael Javier
Many women have made a difference in the world. In this article, I will go over women who have made a change in different categories. Women have made a difference in many different places. The people I will be going over have made a change in entertainment, science, and politics.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist. Her earliest known writings are mainly imitations, especially of dramas. In her six full-length novels, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey, she created the comedy of style of middle-class English life in her time. Her writing is well-known for its wit, realism, and brilliant prose style. Through her behavior toward ordinary people in everyday life, she was the first to give the novel its distinctly modern feel. She published her novels anonymously. They usually cover plots about marriage, status, and social sensibility with a distinctive irony. Her works have been used many times in entertainment.
“It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” Jane Austen Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II was the queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022. She became heir, most likely when her uncle, Edward VIII, stepped down and her father became king, as George VI. In 1947 she married her distant cousin Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she had four children. She became queen after her father died in 1952. She believed court life to be simpler and took an informed interest in government business. In the 1990s, the monarchy was troubled by the well-known combative difficulties of two of the queen’s sons and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2002, her mother and sister died within two months of each other. Elizabeth became the longest-reigning monarch in British history in 2015, and she celebrated 70 years as a queen with a “Platinum Jubilee” in 2022. “We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return.” Queen Elizabeth II
Betty White
Betty White was an actress, author, animal rights activist, and comedian. She also served as a producer and is one of the pioneers of American television who played an important role during the early days of American television history. She received the title of ‘Mayor of Hollywood’ for being the first female to produce a sitcom. She received many awards for her performances on television. She became famous for her role in game shows and was nicknamed the “First Lady of Game Shows.” She was a singer, actor, host, and producer for 80 years, making her the longest-serving female in entertainment. Her interest in acting started during her school days, except she became a writer. She went on to become a very important entertainment personality in the U.S.
“Doing drama is, in a sense, easier. If you don’t get that laugh in comedy, there’s something wrong.”
Betty White Marie Curie Marie Curie was a Polish-born French physical chemist. Since 1891, she has studied at the Sorbonne. She found radioactivity in the thorium. In 1895 she married physicist, Pierre Curie. They discovered the elements polonium and radium. They are known for discovering alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. For their work on radioactivity, they shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics with Becquerel. This leans, Marie became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize. After Pierre died, Marie was asked for his professorship and became the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. In 1911 she won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry for finding polonium and isolating pure radium, becoming the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. She passed away due to prolonged exposure to radioactivity. She became the first woman whose achievements earned her the honor of having her ashes laid out in the Pantheon in Paris.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” Marie Curie Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey was an American television talk-show host and actress. After a rough childhood, she became a news anchor for a local C.B.S. T.V. station in Tennessee when she was 19. After graduating from Tennessee State University, she was a television reporter in Baltimore, where she cohosted her first talk show. In 1984 she moved to Chicago to host A.M. Chicago, which became that city’s highest-rated morning show. The name was changed to The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1985. Oprah Winfrey became the first African American woman to host a successful national daytime talk show. The top-rated show was well-known for its uplifting tone. In 1986 she also formed her own television production company, Harpo Productions, and in 2000 she released O, the Oprah Magazine. In 2011 the Oprah Winfrey Network was out on cable television, and later that year, the finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired. She acted in The Color Purple and Beloved. “You look at yourself, and you accept yourself for who you are, and once you accept yourself for who you are, you become a better person.” Oprah Winfrey
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a U.S. jurist. She graduated at the top of her class at Columbia Law School, but she was turned down for multiple jobs because she was a woman. She taught at Columbia from 1972 to 1980, where she became the first tenured female professor. She was the director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. She argued six landmark cases on gender equality before the United States Supreme Court. She was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, and in 1993 she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Supreme Court as its second female justice. She then became a feminist folk hero. Her followers called her “Notorious R.B.G.,” a play on “Notorious B.I.G.,” an American rapper.
“Fight for the things you care about but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg These are just a few of the many ways women have changed the world. As you can see, they come from a variety of backgrounds. They are all passionate and talented women. A role model inspired many to do what they did.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Betty-White
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-II
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Austen