#OnThisDay, 11 Jun 1987, Diane Abbott is elected to the British Parliament. She is the first Black woman to become an MP.

Abbott has held shadow cabinet posts in the Labour party, and is the longest serving Black MP. She is standing for re-election in the 2024 UK general election.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BritishHistory

“The simple act of walking through a schoolhouse door that had been barred to me, and all people of my color, by the governor of this state - that simple act represented an end to legal segregation in the American South.”

#OnThisDay, 11 June 1963, Vivian Malone defies the Governor of Alabama to become the first Black female student at the University of Alabama.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 10 Jun 1963, the US President signed the Equal Pay Act into law, witnessed by members of the American Association of University Women. [photo JFK Library]

Obviously, just because a law exists, doesn't mean pay is now equal.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 8 Jun 1944, Violette Szabo returns to occupied France by parachute for her second posting with the British Special Operations Executive.

She is captured two days later, after a gun battle. She's tortured and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. She is killed in Jan 1945. Her daughter Tania received the George Cross on her behalf in 1947.

Violette Szabo's story was filmed as Carve Her Name With Pride (1958).

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 8 Jun 1953, Mary Terrell wins her Supreme Court case and desegregates Washington DC's restaurants. She's 93, and celebrates with lunch in the very restaurant that she'd taken to court.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BlackHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons

Mind the gap!

#OnThisDay, 6 June 1915, Maida Vale Tube station opens in London. It is staffed by women until the end of World War 1.

#LondonHistory #TubeHistory #GoingUnderground #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 4 Jun 1972, civil rights activist Angela Davis is acquitted in a trial over her alleged involvement in the 1970 Marin County Civic Centre attack.

Davis had been prosecuted for three capital felonies, including conspiracy to murder, after guns she owned were used in the attack. The all-white jury cleared her of all charges.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons

100 years ago #OnThisDay, 3 Jun 1924, Alfonsina Strada crosses the finish line of the Giro d'Italia. She remains the only woman to have officially ridden in a Grand Tour.

At one point she had been disqualified on time grounds but was allowed to continue without the option of prizes. She finished ahead of the lantern rouge (the last cyclist to finish).

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #GiroDItalia #Cycling #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 23 May 1907, 19 women take their seats in the Finnish Parliament. They are the first women Parliamentarians in the world.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #VotesForWomen #EuropeanHistory

“Have ye come far?”
“Only from America.”

#OnThisDay, 21 May 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman - and only the second person - to fly solo and without stops across the Atlantic.

She lands unexpectedly in Ireland. There’s some wonderful images of her here: https://joecampbellart.com/2015/03/12/amelia-earhart-in-ireland-solo-atlantic-crossing-may-21st-1932/

Watch newsreel of her taking off here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-itPeJOyzI

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AviationHistory @histodons #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 18 May 1953, Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman pilot to break the sound barrier.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AviationHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 14 May 1943, Vera Leigh returns to France to work as a courier for the British Special Operations Executive.

A fashion designer, Leigh had fled France in 1942 after running escape lines for Allied airmen.

After her return, Leigh carried documents and equipment such as guns and explosives around her network's area. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1944, she was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #Histodons