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Women who broke barriers from the year you were born
Keri Wiginton
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NASA on the Commons // Wikimedia Commons
Women who broke barriers from the year you were born
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1920 to give women the right to vote. Since then, women have been elected to government roles in increasing numbers, culminating in 2021 with the first woman sworn in as vice president of the United States.
Politics isn t the only field where women have broken through barriers, of course. In 1944, Ann Baumgartner Carl became the first female test pilot. In 1953, aviator Jacqueline Cochran was the first woman to break the sound barrier. And in 1999, Lt. Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman astronaut to pilot and command a NASA space shuttle mission. Women also have been appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and directed big-budget, award-winning Hollywood films.