July 6, 2012 - Republic Day in Malawi

On this date in 1964, Nyasaland became independent of the United Kingdom (Britain). The first order of business was changing the name of the country to Malawi.

Even though Malawi is a really small, landlocked nation with little economic development, low life expectancy, and high infant mortality, it beat the U.S. in having a woman president. Joyce Banda became president in April of this year, following the sudden heart attack and death of the elected president, Bingu wa Mutharika.

Some other nations that have beat the U.S. in having female heads-of-state include Argentina, India, Israel, Great Britain, Iceland, Philippines, Germany, Nicaragua, Ireland, Iceland, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Burundi, Liberia, Chile—and, well, the list goes on and on. Even Muslim-majority nations such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have elected women leaders into the top spots (president or prime minister). As a matter of fact, it's easy to find examples of nations that have or have had female presidents (or prime ministers)--what's not so easy is finding a nation that has never had a female in the top governmental position. After a lot of digging, I've discovered three examples of nations that have never had a woman as a leader: the U.S., Japan, and Italy.

Hopefully that will have changed within the next few decades!

Also on this date:

Anniversary of Althea Gibson's win at Wimbledon 

March 8, 2010

International Women's Day

This date is commemorated at the United Nations and is a national holiday in many countries. It is a day to honor women in our lives, to honor women who have struggled in the past for equality and peace, and to rededicate to those causes.





In Russia and many other countries, this is a day when men give flowers, chocolates, and other small gifts to the women in their family. In Italy women are traditionally given yellow mimosas. In Montevideo a group of female drummers perform in the streets each year.




The holiday began in 1909 in the U.S. and came to be associated with honoring victims of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. Although IWD is no longer widely celebrated (or even known) in America, it is commonly celebrated in former Soviet countries. This is because striking women on this date in 1917 ended up being one key to the February Revolution that overthrew Czar Nicholas II, and feminist Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Lenin to make it an official holiday in the Soviet Union.

Did that give you pause? An event in early March led to a February Revolution?

At the time, Russia was still using the Julian calendar, so March 8, 1917, for most nations was February 23, 1917, in Russia.


I find myself wondering if the holiday is no longer much recognized in the United States because it came to be linked in people's minds with communism. In some countries the holiday has political import—after all, women in various parts of the world are still fighting for equality—but it seems that most IWD celebrations seem more like a cross between Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.

NOTE: March is considered National Women's History Month in the U.S.

Women in World History.com has biographies of female heroes and rulers from around the world. For example, do you know about the Trung sisters from Vietnam, Eleanor of Aquitaine (France), or Mbande Nzinga from Angola?



My heroes tend to be scientists, and a website called “4000 Years of Women in Science” has a large selection of biographies of women scientists.














Scholastic has a U.S.-oriented page called “Women Who Changed History.”

Create a paper Solidarity “Quilt.”

Learn about some tools that were important for many women, all over the world, for much of history.One thing that has been touted as helping women achieve rights and a decent standard of living is the practice of microloans. This means making very small loans to people in third world countries to enable them to become entrepreneurs and—with hard work—lift themselves out of poverty. Go to Kiva to learn more about this and maybe to participate!

Do some jigsaw puzzles of women:

Helen Keller
Clara Barton
Anne Frank
Deborah Sampson (a Revolutionary War Soldier)

January 12, 2010 - First Woman Elected to U.S. Senate

 – 1932

On this day in 1932, Hattie Caraway became the first elected woman senator, representing the state of Arkansas.

Caraway first took office in the then-traditional way—that is, she was appointed by the Arkansas governor to temporarily fill in when her husband died. In that way, she became a senator on December 9, 1931. The state of Arkansas held a special election to fill the vacant senatorial spot the remaining months of the term, and she easily won, thus becoming the first woman actually ELECTED to such a high office.

Caraway had pretty much avoided the political and social scene at the capital while her husband was alive, and she had not been part of the woman's suffrage movement. She said that "after equal suffrage I just added voting to cooking and sewing and other household duties."Because of these things, after her term as senator ended, everybody expected her to step aside. However, she surprised Arkansas politicians, especially all those already vying for the senatorial seat, by announcing that she was running for re-election. She didn't announce it in some private Democratic Party meeting, nor in a press conference—she announced it while she presided over the Senate (at the Vice President's invitation). Caraway said, "The time has passed when a woman should be placed in a position and kept there only while someone else is being groomed for the job."

She won the primary and general election, and six years later won another term as senator.

Although Caraway's success did a lot to promote a greater public role for women, Caraway joined other southern senators in prejudice in racial matters; one of the few of Franklin Roosevelt's bills that she did NOT support was an anti-lynching bill.

World Wide Women

The U.S. has not yet elected a woman president, but many other countries have had female heads of government, including:

Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, Ceylon, Chile, Croatia, Dominica, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Guyana, Haiti, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Liberia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Moldova, Mozambique, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Transkie, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom (Great Britain), and Yugoslavia.

Whew! That's a fair few countries who have had women presidents and prime ministers! And of course lists like this exclude queens, empresses, and female pharaohs; some of these rulers have been just figureheads, but many have been extremely powerful!

Here are some of the most famous women who headed their governments—this time INCLUDING monarchs. Match the name to the country:

1.Indira Gandhi
2.Margaret Thatcher
3.Isabel Martinez de Peron (Evita)
4.Angela Merkel
5.Golda Meir
6.Elizabeth I
7.Hatshepsut
8.Catherine the Great

A. Argentina
B. Egypt
C. England
D. Germany
E. India
F. Israel
G. Russia
H. United Kingdom

ANSWERS: 1.E 2.H 3.A 4.D 5.F 6.C 7.B 8.G

Also on this day...
Happy Birthday, Jack London

This American author wrote The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, and White Fang. Although he was one of the first Americans to make a good living just from writing, he was also, according to Science Gnus, an “oyster pirate, deep-sea sailor, hobo, and Alaskan [gold] prospector...”

Check out some of London's work here...

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time."

...and on the web.
(The section called “Writings” has tons of short stories and novels available for free.)