Things We Forget

In 1888, Bertha Benz completed the first long-distance automobile trip in history, proving her husband’s invention (the Benz Patent Motorwagen) could actually work.

Stephanie Kwolek was the first person to create a fiber five times stronger than steel — now used in body armor and aerospace

In 1993, she became the first person of Hispanic heritage to operate the robotic arm in space, pioneering robotic science on the Space Shuttle Discovery.

As lead software engineer for NASA’s Apollo program, she was the first person to design the onboard flight software that helped humans land on the Moon.

she became the first person to uncover the process by which the human body converts glycogen into energy, earning her a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Cori became the first person to uncover the process by which the human body converts glycogen into energy, earning her a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In 1889, Bly became the first person to travel around the world in under 80 days, completing the journey in just 72. Her daring trip inspired global journalism.

In 1926, she became the first person to swim across the English Channel faster than any man before her. She beat the male record by nearly two hours.

In 1916, she became the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, before women even had the right to vote nationwide. Her courage redefined what leadership looked like.

In 2010, she became the first person to win an Academy Award for Best Director for a war film (The Hurt Locker), shattering Hollywood’s glass ceiling.