March is Women's History Month!!!!

[Melissa]

Florence Nightingale - a fascinating woman!

Lena Horne - one of my favorite singers.

[The_Lady_Snow]

[Cin]

Anna Rüling
First Known Lesbian Activist

[Cin]

Lesbian rights pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon formed the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955. Together for 51 years, they became the first same-sex couple to obtain a marriage license and marry in the United States Feb 12, 2004.

[The_Lady_Snow]

[The_Lady_Snow]

[weatherboi]

About Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women

It's not often that dreams come true. In the case of the acoustic blues trio, Saffire--The Uppity Blues Women, that's just what happened. Over the course of nine recordings and thousands of gigs, the group has gone from virtual obscurity to one of the most popular, witty, and just plain satisfying acoustic blues groups on the scene today. These women tear into their material with passion, dedication, and originality. Every song they cover becomes theirs, and their originals blend seamlessly with their interpretations. They are indeed the torchbearers for the original classic uppity blues women like Bessie Smith, Sippie Wallace and Victoria Spivey.

The members of Saffire--The Uppity Blues Women are: Gaye Adegbalola, Andra Faye, and Ann Rabson.

[The_Lady_Snow]

first female to participate in an NFL-sponsored tryout

[little_ms_sunshyne]

I have a story to share because dammit I want to tell someone...

Every day I allow my 5th grade class to run a "news show". It includes a weather report, local news report, world news, and natural disaster updates (I am a science teacher after all). For Women's history month I gave my reporters the task of reporting on Women in history. They reported on Maya Angelou, Jane Austin, Sally Ride, Rosa Parks, etc. My students enjoyed hearing the daily reports. Yesterday, the last day of school before Spring Break, we are just about ready to start the news when I get an email that I have no choice but to respond to right away. I tell them to begin the news while I send the email and that I would be listening. I am completely caught up in this email when I here the voice of one of my reporters say "Ms. Copeland is my Science teacher and she is an influential women of today." My jaw drops and I can feel myself get choked up. I held it together, but sat there and listened as my student read a report she wrote on my life. You really never know who you are influencing. My heart was happy all day.

[Kobi]

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Iceland's first female Prime Minister and the world's first openly lesbian head of government on 1 February 2009.

Jóhanna is a social democrat and Iceland's longest-serving member of Parliament. In the 1990s, when she lost a bid to head the Social Democratic Party, she raised her fist and declared "Minn tími mun koma!" ("My time will come!"), a phrase that became a popular Icelandic expression. In 2009, Forbes listed her among the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. In September 2012, Jóhanna announced she would not seek re-election and would instead retire from politics.

In 2010, after her government banned strip clubs, paying for nudity in restaurants, and other means of employers profiting from employees' nudity, Jóhanna said "The Nordic countries are leading the way on women's equality, recognizing women as equal citizens rather than commodities for sale." After the decision was made she was hailed by her fellow feminists with Julie Bindel claiming Iceland has become the most feminist country in the world.

[Kobi]

c. 594
Japanese Empress Suiko encourages the spread of Buddhism and orders the construction of Buddhist temples.

600
Women in England may be publicly punished as “scolds,” a practice that will continue for 1,000 years.

632
Queen Sondok becomes the ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla. During her reign, she fights the kingdom of Paekche, sends students to China for education, and constructs Buddhist temples.

656
'A'ishah, widow of Muhammad, rebels against the caliph 'Ali in the Battle of the Camel at Basra.

c. 659
Indian Queen Vidya writes Sanskrit poetry.

721
According to legend, Princess Libuše and her husband, Premysl, found the city of Prague.

787
The second Council of Nicaea is convened by Byzantine ruler Irene to settle the question of worshipping icons. The bishops rule in favour of icon worship.

801
Charlemagne outlaws prostitution.

c. 900
The practice of binding the feet of aristocratic women becomes popular in the Chinese court.

c. 950
An anonymous Norwegian woman writes Wise Women's Prophesy, a history of the world, including prophecies for the future.

988
Vladimir I of Russia converts Russia to Christianity and marries Anne, sister of Byzantine Emperor Basil II. With this act, Byzantine culture is introduced to Russia and the Crimea.

c. 1010
Japanese author Murasaki Shikibu finishes the Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji), a masterpiece of Japanese literature.

c. 1070
Englishwomen embroider the Bayeux Tapestry, using wool thread on linen to record the events of the Norman Conquest.

c. 1118
In France, Héloïse begins her doomed romance with Peter Abelard. The relationship outrages her family, and Héloïse flees to a convent in Argenteuil, where she is later made prioress.

1147
Eleanor of Aquitaine accompanies her husband, French King Louis VII, on the Second Crusade. After their marriage collapses in 1152, she marries the future King Henry II of England.

1152
Abbess Hildegard of Bingen completes Scivias, a recollection of her visions that had been confirmed as authentic by a committee of theologians.

c. 1160
Frau Ava of Melk is one of Germany's first female poets.

1220
At the University of Paris, women are banned from practicing medicine.

1319
Chinese calligrapher and painter Guan Daosheng dies after a career that included a number of commissions for Emperor Renzong.

1350
The presence of more than 3,000 nuns in England reflects the flourishing of convents and religious orders for women in the Middle Ages.

1351
England's Treason Act considers any murder that subverts the usual hierarchies, such as a servant killing his master or a wife killing her husband, to be petty treason.

1384
Jadwiga is crowned “king” of Poland. Two years later she marries Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania, thus uniting the kingdoms.

1390
London licensing law for doctors requires a university education, thus barring women from the profession.

1390
At the University of Bologna, Dorotea Bocchi takes the chair of medicine, formerly held by her father.

1397
Under the Kalmar Union, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are united under Queen Margaret I as their sole monarch.

1405
Italian-born French scholar Christine de Pisan writes The Book of the City of Ladies, in praise of women and in defense of their virtues.

1406
In Korea plans are made for training women doctors to serve female patients who refuse to be treated by male doctors.

1429
Joan of Arc, supported by Queen Yolande, begins her military and religious campaign against the English. At the Battle of Orléans she leads the French army to victory.

c. 1436
The mystic Margery Kempe finishes dictating her autobiography, The Boke of Margery Kempe, to two clerks. The book is one of the earliest English autobiographies.

1448
Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI of England, establishes Queens' College, Cambridge.

1455
Female English silk manufacturers petition the crown to stop competition from Lombard silk manufacturers.

c. 1486
Johann Sprenger and Heinrich Kraemer publish Malleus maleficarum (“Hammer of Witches”), arguing that women, as the weaker sex, are more likely to be witches.

1492
Queen Isabella I of Spain finances Christopher Columbus's voyage of exploration to the East Indies. Columbus instead finds the West Indies.
-------------------------------------
Next up: Early modern period: 1501 to 1800