#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

"Women are the equals of men before the law, and are equal in all their rights."

#OnThisDay, 10 May 1872, Victoria Woodhull was nominated to run for US president by the Equal Rights Party. Her nomination was ratified on June 6, 1872, making her the first woman candidate.

Woodhall had co-founded, with her sister, both a Wall Street brokerage and a newspaper. She was also an anti-abortionist and eugenics supporter.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #VotesForWomen #AmericanHistory #OTD

“I feel that if I have to answer for the deeds done in my body just as much as a man, I have a right to have as much as a man.”

#OnThisDay, 9 May 1867, Sojourner Truth addresses the American Equal Rights Association, arguing for equal rights for Black women.

Read a brief history of Truth’s life: https://wams.nyhistory.org/a-nation-divided/antebellum/sojourner-truth/

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #EqualRights #BlackAmericanHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 8 May 1946, Estonian teens Aili Jürgenson and Ageeda Paavel blew up a Soviet war memorial in response to Soviet destruction of Estonian war memorials. They served eight years in the gulag as punishment. In 1988 they were awarded the Estonian Order of the Cross of the Eagle to recognise their fight.

We only have a photo of Aili Jürgenson.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #EuropeanHistory

Very early #OnThisDay, 6 May 1944, Marguerite 'Peggy' Knight parachutes into occupied France to be a courier for the Special Operations Executive. The British SOE supported the French resistance.

Knight fought her way out of an attempted capture, and returned to the UK in September 1944.

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

"The mentality in the 1960s was that women weren't smart or strong enough to be jockeys. But I proved that a woman could do the job."

#OnThisDay, 2 May 1970, Diane Crump becomes the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory