Author: Jeffrey Inman

  • Mary Dixon Kies

    Mary Dixon Kies

    Mary Dixon Kies deserves more than a Women’s History Month trivia mention. In 1809, she became the first woman widely recognized as receiving a U.S. patent in her own name, for a process of weaving straw with silk or thread to make hats and bonnets. That may sound quaint until you remember hats were an…

  • Mary Anderson

    Mary Anderson

    In 1902, Mary Anderson watched a streetcar driver lean his face into a sleet storm because he could not see through the glass.

  • Ada Yonath

    Ada Yonath

    Ada Yonath, a trailblazing scientist, dedicated her career to mapping the ribosome, a critical cellular machine. Despite encountering skepticism and adversity, she pioneered techniques like cryo-bio-crystallography, significantly advancing structural biology. Her groundbreaking work earned her the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009, highlighting the importance of women in scientific discovery.

  • Anita Garibaldi

    Anita Garibaldi

    Anita Garibaldi rode out of an enemy encirclement twelve days after giving birth, with the infant on her saddle. A bullet went through her hat.

  • Peggy LeMaux

    Peggy LeMaux

    Peggy Lemaux, initially steered away from math by a high school counselor, defied early limitations to become a pioneering figure in biotechnology, contributing to vital advancements in genetically engineered crops. Despite her significant achievements, many projects were never commercialized due to market constraints and public resistance, yet she continues to pursue impactful research on drought-resistant…

  • Jane Addams & Ellen Gates Starr

    Jane Addams & Ellen Gates Starr

    Hull House, founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889, became a pivotal social reform hub in Chicago, addressing issues like poverty, child labor, and labor conditions. It empowered women reformers such as Florence Kelley and Julia Lathrop, transforming community needs into policies while advocating dignity and rights for marginalized populations.

  • Relish the History: A Hot Dog’s Journey Across America 🌭

    Relish the History: A Hot Dog’s Journey Across America 🌭

    Did you know that in the US on July 4, Americans collectively consume 150,000,000 hot dogs?

  • Jocelyn Bell Burnell

    Jocelyn Bell Burnell

    Jocelyn Bell Burnell: The Nobel She Didn’t Win, and Says She Didn’t Deserve Picture ninety-six feet of paper. Every single night, another ninety-six feet. That is what a chart recorder spat out at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory outside Cambridge in 1967, and a twenty-four-year-old graduate student named Jocelyn Bell read all of it. By…

  • Ona Judge

    Ona Judge

    In 1796, a 22-year-old woman named Ona Judge walked out of the President’s House in Philadelphia while George and Martha Washington ate dinner.

  • The Women of ENIAC

    The Women of ENIAC

    The story of the six women who programmed the ENIAC, often overlooked in history, highlights their vital contributions to early computing. Despite their groundbreaking work, they were often misidentified as mere models. The narrative surrounding them raises awareness about the ongoing erasure of women’s contributions in technology and the importance of acknowledging all contributors.