Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, for which she received the US Distinguished Flying Cross. Ms. Earhart disappeared in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe by airplane. AP/File
Saint Joan of Arc is a patron saint of France for leading the French army to victory during the Hundred Years' War. She was burned at the stake in 1431 at the age of 19. This statue stands in Orleans, France. Juan Manuel Borrero/Newscom/File
Born in Germany, Catherine the Great was empress of Russia from 1762 (after the assassination of her husband Peter III) until her death in 1796. Under her rule, Russia modernized and became a great European power. AKG-Images/Newscom/File
Englishwoman Florence Nightingale made her name as a nurse during the Crimean War. In 1860, she founded the nursing school at St. Thomas' Hospital in London. AKG-Images/Newscom/File
Susan B. Anthony (l.) started the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton (r.). The two women were instrumental in the women's rights movement that brought women's suffrage to the US. Susan B. Anthony House/AP/File
Harriet Tubman, immortalized in this Boston statue, escaped from slavery to become a major force in bringing slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Gail Oskin/AP/File
Born in Poland, Marie Skłodowska Curie was a French physicist and chemist whose work on radioactivity made her the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes. The University of Paris also made her its first female professor. AP/File
Tennis great Billie Jean King is famous for "The Battle of the Sexes" in 1973, when she defeated former Wimbledon men's singles champion Bobby Riggs. She is pictured here before giving the commencement speech at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass. in 2000. Nancy Palmieri/The Boston Globe/AP/File
Astronaut Sally Ride monitors control panels from the pilot's chair at John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 18, 1983. On that date, she became the first American woman in space as a mission specialist on Challenger STS-7. Zuma/Newscom/File
American race car driver Danica Patrick shows off her trophy after winning the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan, in 2008. She became the first female winner in IndyCar history. Shuji Kajiyama/AP/File
Multimedia impresario and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey appears during the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 6. With a net worth of $2.7 billion, she is the wealthiest African-American in the world. Mario Anzuoni/Reuters/File
Female-headed households are more likely to give to charity than male-headed households, and women are creating their own styles of giving.
When feminist writer Courtney Martin wanted to raise money to fund research into the future of online feminism, it made sense to turn to other women for funding.
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-Day-0615
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-day-06-14
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Erin-go-bragh-images-of-Ireland
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Weather-extremes-2013
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-day-06-13
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Children-s-labors
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Wildfires-2013
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-day-06-12
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Turkey-s-discontent
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Venezuela-after-Chavez
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/James-Whitey-Bulger-on-trial
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Facebook-fans-caption-Monitor-photos