World / women 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 Copied 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: Marie Curie, physicist and chemist Rosa Parks, activist Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of UK suffragette movement Ada Lovelace, mathematician Rosalind Franklin, chemist Margaret Thatcher, UK's first female prime minister Angela Burdett-Coutts, philanthropist Mary Wollstonecraft, writer and philosopher Florence Nightingale, nurse 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.) Report an error