Celebrating International Women’s Day: Notable women in US history since 1900

As women around the world mark International Women’s Day, the theme for this year’s celebration is Each for Equal.

“We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women’s achievements,” the website for International Women’s Day notes.

Sunday’s Google Doodle also celebrated International Women’s Day with a video on YouTube.

Since 1900, women have figured in some landmark events in U.S. history. Here are some key dates:

Oct. 16, 1916: Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the United States. Sanger’s clinic, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, was raided 10 days later as officials said it violated the Comstock Laws that forbade birth control.

April 2, 1917: Montana’s Jeannette Rankin is sworn in as the first woman elected to the House of Representatives.

May 20-21, 1932: Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman -- and second pilot after Charles Lindbergh -- to fly solo on a nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks’ refusal sparks a boycott of the public bus system in Montgomery and effectively helps launch teh civil rights movement.

June 30, 1966: Betty Friedan helps found the National Organization for Women.

Sept. 20, 1973: Women’s tennis star Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in straight sets in the much-ballyhooed “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition match at the Houston Astrodome. The prime-time match drew 90 million viewers.

July 7, 1981: Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Connor would serve on the bench for 24 years before retiring in 2016.

June 18, 1983: Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, as she was a member of the Challenger Space Shuttle.

July 12, 1984: Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale names U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his running mate, making her the first woman to be a vice presidential nominee by a major party.

March 12, 1993: Janet Reno is sworn in as the first female attorney general of the United States.

Jan. 23, 1997: Madeleine Albright is sworn in as the first female secretary of state in U.S. history.

Jan. 4, 2007: U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, becomes the first female speaker of the House of Representatives.

July 26, 2016: Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the first woman to receive a presidential nomination from a major political party as she ran on the Democratic ticket.

Oct. 19, 2016: American astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch participated in the first all-woman spacewalk as they worked outside the International Space Station for more than seven hours.

Cox Media Group