Seven dated records offer a beginning. These are short, sourced milestones rather than complete biographies. Read the entries together with their evidence; a publication, an honour and a first are different kinds of event.
Maria Sibylla Merian
1705 · A life observed. Publishes Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, bringing insects and their habitats onto the same page.
Ada Lovelace
1843 · More than calculation. Her translation and extensive Notes on the Analytical Engine appear in Scientific Memoirs.
Elizabeth Blackwell
1849 · An institution opens. Receives an MD from Geneva Medical College: the first woman to earn the degree from an American medical school.
Marie Curie
1903 · Recognition, shared. Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. A milestone, not a solitary achievement.
Henrietta Swan Leavitt
1912 · A measure of distance. Her work on 25 variable stars establishes the Cepheid period–luminosity relationship more firmly, following her 1908 observations.
Amelia Earhart
1932 · Across an ocean, alone. Becomes the first woman to fly nonstop and solo across the Atlantic, on 20–21 May.
Valentina Tereshkova
1963 · Beyond the atmosphere. Becomes the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6, launched on 16 June.
Beyond the entry
For each life, ask what preparation made the event possible, who shared the work, and how later readers understood it. These seven starting points are not an exhaustive or representative history of women’s work.
Follow a field or read how a first is qualified.