People Highlight The Overlooked Women Who Made Major Contributions To History
We all learned history in school, but how much "herstory" do we know?
By that I mean the people we were taught about were almost entirely men and we know women haven't been sitting in the passenger's seat doing nothing for thousands of years. What about their stories?
One Reddit user asked:
Who are some women that often get overlooked in history but had major contributions to society?
The answers shed light on how much girl power and these Wonder Women really changed our lives.
Sandra Ford
Sandra Ford, the drug technician who first brought attention to what would become the AIDS epidemic.
She knew something was up when she began receiving unusually high numbers of requests for pentamidine, an antibiotic reserved for treating pneumocystis pneumonia in seriously ill, immuno-compromised patients. The patients it was being requested for were gay men who had been otherwise healthy.
Virginia Apgar
baby documentary GIF by SundanceNOW DocClubGiphyIn 1952 Dr. Virginia Apgar developed a quick, easy, five-point test that summarizes health of newborns and determines those needing emergency assistance.
The Apgar Score is now given to practically every newborn, and helped save countless young lives, and reduce infant mortality.
Yes! This was such an incredible advancement. I worked in a pediatrician's office which led to me reading a little more about her. Amazing how little she's mentioned but most of us are literally here because of her!
Nellie Bly
Nellie Bly.
She was a 1890's journalist who was given an assignment to investigate the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island due to accusations of the mistreatment of patients. She got in there by faking insanity and getting herself committed to the asylum.
When she was finally released, she ran an exposé in the New York World called "Ten Days In A Madhouse" that exposed the awful treatment of patients inside the asylum. This was considered a revolution in investigative journalism.
Also, she read "Around The World In 80 Days" basically decided she could do better, and went around the world in 72 days!
She was also an inventor, and was one of the primary journalists to cover the suffragette movement. She's one of my favorite historical figures who doesn't get enough attention!
Mona Hanna-Attisha
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha.
She is the Dean of Medicine at Hurley Children's Hospital in Flint, MI. She saw that children were having elevated lead levels (ELLs) outside the normal range. She contacted the Genesee Department of Health, who at first, dismissed her claim, then sent her obfuscated data to make it look like the ELLs were completely within normal trends.
She grew frustrated at this, so she called a team of epidemiologists from VT to find the source of the lead. Lo and behold, she found that the water in multiple zip codes was contaminated with lead. She informed the Genesee Department of Health Again, who brushed her off.
She then said "f*ck it" and held a major press conference where she announced on air that the water in Flint wasn't safe and to come to the hospital to get your child tested and to pick up supplies of water and liquid infant formula.
She saved thousands of children from the permanent effects of lead poisoning when her Department Of Health would not. She also helped design systems to help parents whose children were suffering from lead poisoning.
Georgeanna Seeger Jones
Dr. Georgeanna Seeger Jones
Dr. Jones singlehandedly organized the field of Gynecological Endocrinology. While at John's Hopkins with her husband, Dr. Howard Jones and Drs. Roberts and Steptoe, she devised the hypothesis of follicular hyper stimulation, which produced more than one egg per cycle.
Her later discoveries led to increases in viability of In Vitro Fertilization.- Fyrepup
Per Wikipedia : As a resident at Johns Hopkins, she discovered that the pregnancy hormone hCG was manufactured by the placenta, not the pituitary gland as originally thought. This discovery led to the development of many of the early over-the-counter pregnancy test kits currently available.
In 1949, Jones made the first description of Luteal Phase Dysfunction and is credited to be the first in using progesterone to treat women with a history of miscarriages. Her treatment allowed many of them to not only conceive, but to deliver healthy babies.
She also served as a Dean of the College of Pontifical Sciences, advising the Vatican of matters of Gynecology and Conception.
Her husband always said "She's the smarter one."
She was also a great friend.
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin Justice GIF by GIPHY Studios OriginalsGiphyClaudette Colvin.
She was actually the first person who refused to get up from her bus seat during the Jim Crows in America. But she was a 15-year-old who was pregnant out of wedlock at the time. Black leaders decided she was not a good image of an activist.
So they hand-picked Rosa Parks, a woman who was already an activist to do the same. Rosa is considered a Civil Rights hero, but it was Claudette who actually got the ball rolling.
- GovMajor
Mary Anderson
Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper in 1903.
As soon as the patent expired, it became standard in all cars.
She attempted to sell it while she had the rights to it, but most manufacturers refused to believe it was a feature of value. It is very likely that her being female was behind their lack of enthusiasm.
They said it had no value; but their actions prove they knew exactly how valuable Mary's invention was. Her patent expired 1920. Car crews and design teams immediately start talking it up the line.
1922 it was in every Cadillac. Coincidence? Or they were sitting on the idea until the patent ran out?
Oh no, they definitely waited the patent out. Why waste money and help her enforce the patent when they could just wait a few years and do it for free. I imagine this wouldn't have been unheard of in those days.
- Skevast
Henietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks.
She saved millions of lives and made a critical contribution to the world of medicine, but unless you're in the medical field — you've probably never even heard her name.
Henrietta Lacks was a young, black, mother of five when she died in 1951 after being diagnosed with an aggressive cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins.
Doctor George Gey was working at Hopkins at the time, trying to culture cells in the laboratory. Lacks' cells were among dozens sent to his lab, but they were the first to ever survive and grow. Her cells, a unique and aggressive type, were later described as "one in three billion."
Scientists called these resilient cells "HeLa" — taking first two letters of "Henrietta" and "Lacks." HeLa cells were used to test the polio vaccine, develop in vitro fertilization, and several chemotherapy drugs among hundreds of medical advances.
Grown and sold around the world, Lacks' legacy lived on in her cells: they have traveled to space, they have been embedded in a nuclear bomb. But for decades, the Lacks family had no idea.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
She was super influential to early rock musicians like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and so many more.
Johnny Cash even said that she was his favorite singer and she was also one of the first to play around with heavy distortion on her electric guitar. She's called by some "The Godmother of Rock and Roll" but I guarantee you that the average person has never heard of her.
The Noisettes wrote a song inspired by her.
- eDgAR-
Cheng I Sao
Cheng I Sao/ Ching Shih was the single most successful pirate in all of history.
She led an armada of tens of thousands of sailors and 17 separate fleets of ships. She held the most important tributary in China under siege for weeks on end. In the end she managed to give the slip to a combined force of Portuguese, Chinese, and English war ships. That's after being cornered in an inlet with 2 wounded ships and no way out - except through.
After her daring escape from the siege, she recognized that her power was beginning to wane (one of her fleets turned on her, among other things) so she decided it was better to cash out while she had the leverage. She managed to negotiate for literally all of her men to be given amnesty, be allowed to join the chinese navy, to keep the stuff they had stolen, and for her to be able to keep several ships so she could run a business in the salt trade.
She then ran a gambling house and died peacefully in her sleep.
Besides being a f*cking kickass story, she has also had some lasting consequences.
Her absolute domination over the Chinese navy showed just how much the Empire had neglected that wing of the military; and the British picked up on this. It was a big part of why they were so willing to fight a naval war across the entire planet at a time when even messages would take a year and change just to make it back.
The opium wars were fought because of this, and the treaties that resulted are called by the current Chinese government as the start of "the century of shame" and are a major touchstone in the governments image of itself. They are invoked today when negotiations with the west break down as a reason that China ought not bow to outside pressure.
She is literally still shaping policy.
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Hard as we might try, not everyone is meant to be friends with one another.
Sometimes, people have just basic compatibility issues that prevent them from ever becoming particularly close.
Which doesn't mean they necessarily dislike each other... most of the time.
In some cases, people find others so resistible that the word "hate" comes swiftly to mind.
When asked why people hate certain individuals or types of people, however, they find themselves at a loss for words as to why.
Likely owing to the fact that they don't have a single justifiable reason.
"Who do you irrationally hate for no good reason?"
...Oxymoron?...
"Nobody. I have good reasons for everyone I irrationally hate."- PrudentOwlet
You Meet All Kinds...
"People at the airport."- slapmewithabrick
Might Pose A Problem In The Office
"Sandra from HR."- Waste_Drop8898
Feedback Hr GIF by Wintershall DeaGiphyThere Were Literally Two Possible Answers!
"People that make an easy yes or no answer into a long conversation."- Gods-little-mistake
Driving Too Slowly Is Also Dangerous...
"People who walk or drive slightly slower than my preferred speed."
"Especially if they cut me off first."- Dragon_wryter
All Those Years In Bed, He Could Have Been Working...
"Grandpa Joe."
"I hate him."
"And not just because he went to the chocolate factory."
"He was an a**hole from the beginning to the literal end of that movie."
"Every chance he had not to be a d*ck, he was a d*ck."
"Smoking while your family eats cabbage water?"
"Complaining about cabbage water?"
"A kid falls into a river of chocolate or turns into a blueberry?"
"F*ck that get 'we getting all that chocolate.'"
"Got caught for stealing, and his solution is to go to Slugsworth."
"I mean everything this dude did was so f*cking selfish."
"I have been ranting about this for 20 years and can through the movie point by point."
"All the f*cking around he did and this dude NEVER found out."
"Nah he just got to live on a chocolate factory, still smoking and still rent free."
"I hate him with a burning, fiery passion."- Strange-Courage-8602
willy wonka and the chocolate factory fainting GIFGiphyIs That The Only Speed They Come In?
"People who talk really really slowly."
"No idea why but it SCRATCHES MY BRAIN to the core when someone talks slowly or takes FOREVER to get to the point of their story."
"Need a fkn fast forward button."- Kittypie01
They're Probably No Better At Wordle
"Wheel of Fortune contestants who buy the last vowel 'I’ll go ahead and buy the A'."
"Why, you dummy?"- firematika
Sidewalks Are A Shared Space
"Slow walkers or group walkers, like move you fkn idiot."
"Ppl have places to be."- Heretoconfirmrumors
Walking Boss GIF by Ariana GrandeGiphyNot A Word
"Those who say 'irregardless'."- TaxidermiedToddler
Either No Self Worth, Or Way Too Full Of Themselves
"Nearly everyone on any of these shows."
"Married at first sight."
"Love Island."
"Big Brother."
"Bachelor / Batchelorette."
"Nearly everyone called an 'influencer'."- Loose_Sun_169
Old Grudges Die Hard...
"It started a long time ago, but that doesn't matter."
"Just thinking about him still pisses me off."
"Dan from 8th grade."
"Maybe it was just his hair, or that stupid look on his face."
"I don't think we ever said one word to each other."
"Doesn't really matter."
"FU, Dan! "
"I hope your cats attack you and your dogs are all incontinent."
"I hope geese angrily flock to your every approach."
"I hope your wife likes spicier food than your soft weak midwestern palate can comfortably tolerate."
"I hope you get a mild case of food poisoning every time you travel so that you become subconsciously averse to the idea of traveling beyond whatever sad little town you call home."- PeteyMcPetey
Scream GIF by OriginalsGiphySome people are just impossible to comprehend, for reasons we just can't quite put our fingers on.
But rather than try and figure it out, sometimes it's easiest just to say "I hate them", and leave it at that.
Sometimes we can all be a little oblivious.
The signs are there, and so are the red flags.
For instance, women are brilliant at throwing out subtle hints.
I feel like it's actually an art form they've mastered, and I've studied for my own villainous choices.
But for anyone interested in getting to know a woman, Reddit has got your back.
Redditor Sleepwithsockson7 wanted all the gents and ladies to fess up to the signs they were oblivious to, so they asked:
"What was the most obvious hint a girl gave you that you missed?"
I'm bad with signs.
I always miss them.
Think Hard
Think Winnie The Pooh GIFGiphy"She said that she was feeling different about me and that she couldn't stop thinking of me."
"My answer was 'Are you mad at me?'"
NotCopernicus
No Thanks
"I was on a hiking trip with my college, you paid like $40 and they gave you all the equipment and you spent a week or so with 15+ people and a few guides. We went to a hot spring, my tent got ripped, the guides had a spare but we hadn’t set it up yet. A lady sat in the hot spring with me, at night, and decided to go naked while I was in the spring with her."
"She then asked if I wanted to stay in her tent rather that put up the spare one. I said 'nah I can put up the spare one, I’m okay.' Took me 3 months to realize that she was literally naked and asking me to sleep with her."
Woodhouse_20
Oh Rochelle
"Back in college I was working with a girl named Rochelle. We both got off work around three am. I always walked her out to her car. One night she invited me to come to her apartment for 'pancakes.' Told her I appreciated it but I wasn't hungry. I didn't understand the weird, hurt look she gave me until years later."
JacksEmptyWallet
"It's 3 am after a long shift. I wouldn't have blamed you for being kind of dumb from tiredness and just wanting to go home after that."
LazarusKing
Broken
"I had this little penis dinosaur thing a friend 3-D printed. I had a girl over for dinner and she was playing with it and broke the tail. I was like 'you broke my penis!' And she said 'if only there was another one I could play with' she finished dinner, I walked her to her car, and I went inside. The moment my head hit the pillow I realized."
peter_piper_pecked
Seriously?
Los Angeles Hello GIF by LA ClippersGiphy“'You know, I’ve never kissed a man with a beard.'”
My literal response was 'Yeah, me neither.'”
_Bearded_Dad
Wow. Really?
Perfect Loss
Let It Flow Fran Healy GIF by TravisGiphy"We were at a sleepover and she played with my hair for like an hour and I woke up in her arms."
aUwUreliyasss
Just a Smile
"She ran after me to introduce herself at the end of class. The only interaction we had before was an across the room smile. I'm such as idiot."
"Also, during my first job, the boss made me check that the restrooms were clean. Well, one of my female coworkers decides she wants to 'help' me. She entered the men's restroom with me, making sure we were alone."
"I fumbled both times. Both of them were cute too."
Avix_34
Idiot
"I used to drive this girl to school. She lived on the other side of the district. Had to go past the school to pick her up everyday. Prom was coming up. She kept ‘complaining’ that she didn’t have a date. I told her not to worry, that she was really pretty, and someone was bound to ask her. I’m an idiot."
drink-beer-and-fight
Comfort Level
"Went to her place after a night out at the bar with a big group of friends. I thought she was just being nice and offering me a place to sleep closer to the bar, as it was winter and my house was far away."
"'Are you sure you wanna sleep on the couch? My room's more comfortable.'"
"'I'm good on the couch.'"
"Stupid me..."
PreviousTea9210
Figures
"Ages ago I was looking for a rare action figure and I asked this really hot goth sales clerk if they had it. She was totally into the line of toys as well and told me they usually get one per shipment so call on their delivery day to see if they got one. We then spent like 15 minutes talking about various comic and anime things before I had to leave."
"She stopped me and said 'if you call the store you might not get me so call me directly' and gave me her phone number. This was before cell phones so it was her home number and clearly would be useless for having her check if something was in stock.
"I found the figure the next day at a different store so I never called her."
DeaddyRuxpin
It's ME!
Pick Up Hello GIF by The Drew Barrymore ShowGiphy"One day, in class, a girl I was friends with told me there was a girl in her class that was into me."
"She said if I could guess who it was, she’d tell me. I proceeded to list just about every girl in her class before she caved and said 'Me! It’s me you idiot!' Maybe a normal person would have caught on before naming the 15th girl, lol."
TheCyrcus
Oh people. Open your eyes!
Have you ever missed a super obvious hint? Let us know in the comments below.
People are crazy on dates.
The words I have heard uttered could send shivers down a dead person's spine.
Which is so mind-boggling.
Shouldn't we be putting our best foot forward?
Or maybe it's best when they just give you the whole crazy upfront to weed people out.
Is there such a thing as being too comfortable too soon anymore?
Redditor batmanstitty asked:
"What’s the worst thing a person has said to you while on a date?"
I once had a guy tell me he owned me.
Because of a Cosmo and a steak.
It wasn't even the temp I wanted.
You Know
Brits GIF by BRIT AwardsGiphy"'I don't mind that you're... you know.' Waves hand vaguely at my body."
StrangersWithAndi
Flawed
"'I can tell you are an only child because you have major personality flaws.'"
OliveVizsla
"OH MAN. My parents had just the 1 kid. But to some ppl, I guess that marks me as some kind of socially demented freak. I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that is the very start of the very social problem they're talking about--and those vain pieces of trash are welcome to stay out of my orbit."
myflippinggoodness
Just 2?
"Wistfully after 2 wines... 'God, you are so amazing, such a shame you look like that.'"
bonjelascott
"I don't understand why people go on dates with people they aren't physically attracted to. Hell I don't understand why anyone stays in a relationship with someone they aren't physically attracted to."
juukkkkekr
"Blind dates, tinder dates where they don’t look like their pictures, dates where you love the personality so much that you assume over time you won’t care about physical attraction anymore."
S7WW3X
Over
"We had a fun night having a personal date and then we pull up to his house for his birthday party, where I’m about to meet his family for the first time. He turns to me and says, 'Oh btw my parents don’t like Mexicans.' I am Mexican."
"I was like, What do you want me to do with that information? He was like, just be yourself. I was like, no sh*t. I can’t be anyone else?? It was wild. They were polite but patronizing AF. Needless to say, that ended quick."
LosNava
"Been there before. Her dad looked at me like I was gonna rob the place. Didn’t last long, turns out it was just a rebound thing."
tuotone75
Maybe after dinner...
Bye Bye Peace GIF by Cappa Video ProductionsGiphy"'So, aren't you going to invite me to your place? I bought you lunch. You kind of owe me.' from a guy I met ONCE and had breath so bad I am surprised it didn't melt the fork."
randommusicfan
There is no lunch that requires payment after. Bye.
Lies
Will Smith Smh GIF by The Academy AwardsGiphy“You know that cancer is a hoax perpetuated by big pharma and the government preying on the uneducated, right!?!?' He says to me, a cancer survivor who’s life was f**king derailed by cancer."
AccomplishedCow9133
No big deal...
"First date from a dating app. I could tell he was maybe a touch too desperate based on the texts we exchanged. However, he was also whip-smart and almost finished with grad school, so I still agreed to go out. We didn’t have a spark, which I noticed immediately. On the other hand, he was oblivious to it. No big deal. Then, he suggests a walk after dinner. I agree like an idiot."
"On that walk he proceeds to tell me that his ex girlfriend cheated on him, that he thinks he’ll always love her, even though she cheated on him with his best friend, and she gave him an STD. And the worst thing I ever heard on a date was, 'But don’t worry- it’s one of the ones that clears up on its own.' NOPE."
thedivinemissemm
Trash Talk
"Not exactly a date, but at a dance when I was a teenager, I sat down for a breather after I'd been dancing for a long time. Right then a slow song started, and a couple girls came up, one of them introduced me to her friend and asked me to dance with her because nobody had asked her to dance yet."
"I felt really bad for her and said heck yeah, everybody deserves to dance. She spent the whole time talking about how I'm such a piece of garbage for sitting down when there are girls like her who haven't been asked to dance. I kept trying to change the subject, she just ignored me and kept trash talking me, so I walked away mid-dance."
ParkityParkPark
Wow, romance certainly as easy as they make it look in the movies!
Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.
People Explain What They Would Do If They Instantly Got $30,000
Many of us have come into financially hard times, especially since the pandemic hit and the economy took a turn.
"Depression food" and "suffer food" have become popular topics on social media as people attempt to do more with fewer ingredients, and that's for good reason.
It makes perfect sense that people would want to daydream about what they would buy or invest in if they suddenly came into some money.
Pondering, Redditor positive-oceans asked:
"What would you do with $30,000 cash right now?"
Feel the Relief
"Get eight full hours of sleep."
- iDrGonzo
Looking Forward to That Taco Bell Order
"Pay off my credit card loans and maybe go get fast food for the first time in five years."
- Cautious-Marker-3131
Care for a Mother
"I'd help my mom out so she wouldn't be losing her home."
- Randyh524
A Slight Indulgence
"Buy 30,000 worth of bean burritos."
- Disastrous-Purpose-8
Back in Order
"Sadly, erase all my debt and move to a cheaper rental house. Yeah, that's pretty much all it would take to set everything back in order."
- SuperJohnBravo
Finally Debt-Free
"I have roughly 30k in debt between my car and student loans so that amount would be pretty awesome for me. I’d be debt free for the first time in my adult life."
- silverr90
Beat Cancer
"Get a reliable vehicle, stock up on stuff for the house, and not worry for a bit while I beat cancer."
- sugarandspice27
A Perfect Balance
"$15,000 on my mortgage, $10,000 into my savings, $5,000 on petty indulgences."
"Invest, save, treat yourself. A perfect balance."
- TheMightyGoatMan
Private Home Care
"Pay off my house and pay for a nurse for my dad who is dying on a ventilator so he can come home."
- DickeTittenn
Keep It Simple
"Save it."
- ZiggyStardustEP
Time to Downsize
"I'd put new windows and siding on my very large, 100-year-old house, sell it and buy a much smaller house. I live alone in this place and I never even go in half the rooms."
- OrwellWasRight101
Financial Security
"Pay off my debt and put 5K in savings so that I can finally be financially comfortable and never make the same financial mistakes (that I made in my twenties) ever again."
- DrewDiggles
Providing for Children
"Give it to my son so he can pay off his debts. The kid never had a break and he deserves it."
- Jealous_Resort_8190
Dental Makeover
"Get a dental makeover, had an accident as a kid and broke several grown teeth and while I don’t look too bad I still feel self-conscious about smiling."
"The current crowns that I have were put on in Guatemala, I know that traveling to Latinoamérica is cheaper but it’s hard especially when you have two little ones and a full-time job. Maybe when the little ones are older and more independent, I will give it another go in Guatemala, funny enough the dentist I saw there was a USC graduate."
- PauPauMoe
While it's fun to talking about winning the lottery and buying a million-dollar mansion, most of our needs and wants are far simpler.
Based on this thread, people just desperately want some financial security, less debt, a little more sleep at night, and maybe some occasional tacos or burgers.