10 Most Influential Women in History

Marie Curie comes in at No. 1 and Rosa Parks No. 2 in 'BBC History Magazine' poll
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 9, 2018 12:30 PM CDT
10 Most Influential Women in History
In this Feb. 22, 1956, file photo, Rosa Parks is fingerprinted by police Lt. D.H. Lackey in Montgomery, Ala., after refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger on Dec. 1, 1955.   (AP Photo/Gene Herrick, File)

BBC History Magazine recently tapped experts in 10 different fields to winnow down the world's greatest female contributors over the centuries into a favorites list. The magazine then took those results and asked its readers to send in their votes for the most influential women throughout history. Writers, aviators, princesses, and even Mary, the mother of Jesus, all got a nod. Here, the 10 leading ladies, as well as what they're best known for:

  1. Marie Curie, physicist and chemist
  2. Rosa Parks, activist
  3. Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of UK suffragette movement
  4. Ada Lovelace, mathematician
  5. Rosalind Franklin, chemist
  6. Margaret Thatcher, UK's first female prime minister
  7. Angela Burdett-Coutts, philanthropist
  8. Mary Wollstonecraft, writer and philosopher
  9. Florence Nightingale, nurse
  10. Marie Stopes, women's right activist
Check the list for other notable women over the years. (The 10 best, worst states for women's equality.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X