School textbooks often present a narrow view of history, focusing on a handful of well-known figures and events. However, there are countless unsung heroes who have made significant contributions to society, but are often overlooked. Let’s take a look at 21 history-changing people who didn’t get the recognition they deserved.
- Hatshepsut: The first female pharaoh of ancient Egypt who ruled during the 18th dynasty and expanded trade and construction projects in the region.
- Ching Shih: A female pirate who terrorized the China Sea during the 19th century, commanding a fleet of over 300 ships and amassing great wealth.
- Mansa Musa: An African king from the Mali Empire, Mansa Musa was one of the richest people in history and is known for his pilgrimage to Mecca, during which he distributed vast amounts of gold, establishing Mali’s reputation as a center of wealth and learning.
- Ida B. Wells: A fearless journalist and civil rights activist, Ida B. Wells was a prominent voice in the fight against lynching in the late 1800s.
- Chien-Shiung Wu: Dubbed “the First Lady of Physics,” Chien-Shiung Wu’s research on beta decay helped confirm the laws of conservation of parity in physics.
- Bayard Rustin: A key figure in the Civil Rights Movement, Bayard Rustin was the organizer behind the historic March on Washington and a lifelong advocate for human rights.
- Rosalind Franklin: Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray crystallography work was critical to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, but she was not credited for her contributions during her lifetime.
- Hedy Lamarr: Best known as a Hollywood actress, Hedy Lamarr also made significant contributions to the field of wireless communications through her invention of frequency hopping spread spectrum technology.
- Alan Turing: An English mathematician and computer scientist, Alan Turing was instrumental in cracking the German Enigma code during World War II, but was later persecuted for his homosexuality.
- Srinivasa Ramanujan: A self-taught mathematician from India, Srinivasa Ramanujan made groundbreaking contributions to number theory and worked closely with G.H. Hardy at Cambridge University.
- Mary Anning: A fossil collector and paleontologist in the 19th century, Mary Anning made significant discoveries in the field of paleontology and contributed to the understanding of extinct species.
- Wangari Maathai: An environmental and political activist from Kenya, Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement and was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
- John Harrison: A carpenter and clockmaker, John Harrison’s inventions allowed for the accurate measurement of longitude at sea, revolutionizing navigation in the 18th century.
- Mary Eliza Mahoney: The first African American to earn a nursing degree, Mary Eliza Mahoney fought for the rights of black nurses and was a pioneer in the field of healthcare.
- Hypatia of Alexandria: A mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer in ancient Greece, Hypatia was a highly respected scholar who was tragically killed for her beliefs.
- Claudette Colvin: A pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement, Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks, but her story was largely overlooked by history.
- Grace Hopper: A pioneer in computer programming, Grace Hopper invented the first compiler and was instrumental in the development of COBOL, one of the earliest programming languages.
- Septima Clark: A civil rights activist and educator, Septima Clark established citizenship schools to teach African Americans about their rights and helped to register thousands of voters in the South.
- Bessie Coleman: The first African American woman to hold a pilot’s license, Bessie Coleman broke barriers in the aviation industry and inspired generations of women to pursue their dreams.
- Charles Drew: A physician and researcher, Charles Drew pioneered methods for the long-term preservation of blood plasma, leading to the creation of the first blood bank.
- Josephine Baker: A renowned dancer and singer, Josephine Baker was also a spy for the French Resistance during World War II and a lifelong advocate for civil rights.