+
Most Shared

17 amazing women who probably aren't in history books, but should be.

Some women won't be found in history books. Don't let them be forgotten.

True
PBS Victoria

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African-American woman elected to Congress in U.S. history. Four years later, she ran for president.

It's a bit embarrassing, but I'll admit that her name didn't immediately ring a bell to me. Growing up, even as a self-described history buff, I don't recall ever seeing Chisholm's name in a textbook. That's a problem.

But that was before I came across Rori, a cartoonist and freelance illustrator, and her "100 Days, 100 Women" project that was inspired by Chisholm's forgotten place in history.


‌Shirley Chisholm. All illustrations courtesy of Rori.‌

"She's not well known," Rori writes in an email, talking about Chisholm. "That's a shame, but really common."

"100 Days, 100 Women" is dedicated to shining a light on powerful women from history who don't get the recognition they deserve — through comics.

"People do great things and history forgets them," writes Rori. "Maybe their story is seen as a sidenote, or doesn't fit smoothly into the narrative."

She's right too. For the longest time, recorded history revolved around men — or at least that's the way it's been portrayed in books that were, almost certainly by no coincidence, written by men. Quietly, though, women have been leaving their mark on the world, and it's time they got their due.

That's where Rori comes in.

‌Sybil Ludington and Tammy Duckworth‌‌Lady Triệu and Anita Hill‌

The project is Rori's way of giving back to young girls who are searching for their own role models.

Growing up, Rori was drawn to the stories that make up our forgotten history. Sure, there have been powerful female role models to look up to, but Rori felt as though there simply weren't enough who were visible and well-known. With this spark of curiosity and purpose, she set off on learning about some of the women time forgot.

"The more I found figures that truly resonated with me, the more confident and inspired I felt!" she wrote.

‌Juana Galán and Nellie Bly‌

The parameters were simple: highlight women in history, the lesser known the better. After starting with around 50 names, the list quickly ballooned to over 150. With so many inspirational women to highlight, some of the more well-known figures (for example, Joan of Arc) wound up on the cutting room floor.

‌Wilma Mankiller and Ida B. Wells‌

Each comic is accompanied by a brief explanation of what historical contribution that woman made along with a link to some further reading. It's a bite-size history lesson perfect for parents, teachers, and students alike.

The list is a work in progress. The only names truly set are the ones that have been drawn already.

So far, Rori's put the finishing touches on around 35 portraits, including civil rights activists (such as Dolores Huerta and Ida B. Wells), the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova), pioneers in arts and music (Artemisia Gentileschi and Wendy Carlos), and politicians (former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto).

‌Josephine Baker and Lucy Gonzalez Parsons‌‌Benazir Bhutto and Hypatia‌

To keep up with Rori's ongoing list of 100 Days, 100 Women, you can follow her on social media. She posts updates to Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, and she gives special sneak peeks through her Patreon profile.

‌Kumander Guerrero and "Stagecoach" Mary Fields‌‌Rumiko Takahashi and Queen Liliʻuokalani‌

With any hope, Rori's project will inspire a renewed interest in women's history, opening up an entire new universe of role models for young minds.

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African-American woman elected to Congress in U.S. history. Four years later, she ran for president.

It's a bit embarrassing, but I'll admit that her name didn't immediately ring a bell to me. Growing up, even as a self-described history buff, I don't recall ever seeing Chisholm's name in a textbook. That's a problem.

But that was before I came across Rori, a cartoonist and freelance illustrator, and her "100 Days, 100 Women" project that was inspired by Chisholm's forgotten place in history.

‌Shirley Chisholm. All illustrations courtesy of Rori.‌

"She's not well known," Rori writes in an email, talking about Chisholm. "That's a shame, but really common."

"100 Days, 100 Women" is dedicated to shining a light on powerful women from history who don't get the recognition they deserve — through comics.

"People do great things and history forgets them," writes Rori. "Maybe their story is seen as a sidenote, or doesn't fit smoothly into the narrative."

She's right too. For the longest time, recorded history revolved around men — or at least that's the way it's been portrayed in books that were, almost certainly by no coincidence, written by men. Quietly, though, women have been leaving their mark on the world, and it's time they got their due.

That's where Rori comes in.

‌Sybil Ludington and Tammy Duckworth‌‌Lady Triệu and Anita Hill‌

The project is Rori's way of giving back to young girls who are searching for their own role models.

Growing up, Rori was drawn to the stories that make up our forgotten history. Sure, there have been powerful female role models to look up to, but Rori felt as though there simply weren't enough who were visible and well-known. With this spark of curiosity and purpose, she set off on learning about some of the women time forgot.

"The more I found figures that truly resonated with me, the more confident and inspired I felt!" she wrote.

‌Juana Galán and Nellie Bly‌

The parameters were simple: highlight women in history, the lesser known the better. After starting with around 50 names, the list quickly ballooned to over 150. With so many inspirational women to highlight, some of the more well-known figures (for example, Joan of Arc) wound up on the cutting room floor.

‌Wilma Mankiller and Ida B. Wells‌

Each comic is accompanied by a brief explanation of what historical contribution that woman made along with a link to some further reading. It's a bite-size history lesson perfect for parents, teachers, and students alike.

The list is a work in progress. The only names truly set are the ones that have been drawn already.

So far, Rori's put the finishing touches on around 35 portraits, including civil rights activists (such as Dolores Huerta and Ida B. Wells), the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova), pioneers in arts and music (Artemisia Gentileschi and Wendy Carlos), and politicians (former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto).

‌Josephine Baker and Lucy Gonzalez Parsons‌‌Benazir Bhutto and Hypatia‌

To keep up with Rori's ongoing list of 100 Days, 100 Women, you can follow her on social media. She posts updates to Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, and she gives special sneak peeks through her Patreon profile.

‌Kumander Guerrero and "Stagecoach" Mary Fields‌‌Rumiko Takahashi and Queen Liliʻuokalani‌

With any hope, Rori's project will inspire a renewed interest in women's history, opening up an entire new universe of role models for young minds.

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Egor Vikhrev on Unsplash

Let's talk about what makes people read articles.

The adage, "If it bleeds, it leads," refers to the media's tendency to headline stories involving death or violence, but it can also be used to point to people's negativity bias. Simply put, people tend to pay more attention to negative news stories than positive ones.

A new study seems to reinforce this idea. And much to our surprise, it's centered on headlines used in Upworthy stories.

Using a public archive of Upworthy headlines and traffic data from 2012 to 2015, two separate teams of researchers analyzed whether people's click tendencies changed with negative or positive words in headlines. In those olden days of Upworthy, a handful of headlines for a single story were tested on the website to see which one would receive the most clicks. The research teams analyzed those results and found that negative words in headlines led to more people clicking on a story (2.3% more), and positive words in headlines led to fewer clicks (1.0% fewer). They also found a preference for headlines that express sadness over those that express joy, fear or anger.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

Keep ReadingShow less

Samantha Moriá Reynolds's advice on sick children.

It's cold and flu seasons, folks. During this time of year, we're all on a mission to avoid the demon viruses that threaten to invade our bodies and wage Armageddon on our immune systems.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

A doctor specializing in child development shares 5 of her most surprising parenting tips

"How To Discipline Your Child So They Actually Learn" is one of her more popular videos.

via drkristynsommer / TikTok

Parenting is the most important job that most people will ever have in life. Your decisions as a parent will be some of the most important determining factors in whether your child becomes a happy and productive adult or not. It's a huge responsibility.

Parenting is a difficult and important undertaking, but many parents simply repeat the same strategies used by their parents. How often do we hear people rationalize their decisions by saying, "That's what my parents did and I came out ok."

Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

Woman was mocked online for calling an $80 purse a 'luxury item.' Her response went viral.

"I'm so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money.”

@zohtaco/TikTok

Zoe Gabriel, showing off her new purse from Charles & Keith

Insults of any kind are painful, but jabs towards someone’s financial status are their own breed.

In January 2023, Singapore-based Zoe Gabriel was on the receiving end of this particular flavor of mockery when she posted a TikTok about a purse from local retail brand Charles & Keith—a gift bought for her by her father.

In her excitement, the 17-year-old called the bag, which costs around $80, a “luxury” item as she unwrapped it. Her excitement was sadly cut short by some of the negative comments she received.

One comment seemed to stand out above the rest and prompted Gabriel to post an emotional response video.

Keep ReadingShow less