International Women’s Day takes place every year on 8th March. We asked our young journalists to think of some women throughout history who have inspired and empowered them.

Science and Medicine

Greta Thunberg became a household name after her ‘School Strikes for Climate’ in 2018. Since then, she has become an influential figure in Eco-activism, and inspired millions of young people across the globe to make positive changes to our planet.

Florence Nightingale is most famous for establishing nursing as we know it during the Crimean War in the 1850s. She significantly reduced death rates due to her nursing and hygiene standards, which were unheard of at the time. After the war, she founded the first nursing school in London.

Mary Jane Seacole was also a nurse during the Crimean war, and she became the first woman of African descent to publish an autobiography in the UK.

Rosalind Franklin was a chemist and X-Ray crystallographer who was key to understanding the structure of DNA, before James Watson and Francis Crick made their discoveries. Her work was never recognised in her lifetime.

Marie Curie discovered radium could kill cancer cells, which is where we get the name ‘Radiography’ today. She played a vital role in World War One by implementing 200 X-Ray machines into French hospitals. She is the only person to have won a Nobel Prize in both Chemistry and Physics.

Historical Figures

Anne Frank‘s Diary is probably the most famous pieces of work about the Holocaust. Anne and her family hid in an attic in Amsterdam for over two years, avoiding the Nazi regime. After her death, her father published her diary and it has since sold over 30 million copies.

Queen Elizabeth II was the UK’s longest reigning Monarch. Her 70-year reign lasted through post-war Britain, an Olympics, 15 Prime Ministers, the Brexit Referendum and the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Harriet Tubman was a pioneer in helping the Underground Railroad to free slaves and send them safely to States in America where slavery had been abolished. After escaping slavery herself she went back and saved her family.

Frida Khalo was a Mexican artist who specialised in personal and revolutionary paintings. Her self portraits are an icon of female creativity and self determination.

Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the first Suffragettes, and founded the Woman’s Political Social Movement in 1889, which allowed married women to vote in local elections for the first time. Her tireless and ruthless campaigning finally gave women the right to vote.

Modern Day Figures

Taylor Swift is the only musician to win Album of the Year at the Grammys four times. Her Eras Tour is the highest-grossing tour of all time, which made a profit of over £1 billion. Her music transcends genres, and her lyrics reach millions of fans all over the world.

Malala Yousafzai became the young person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after her tireless campaigning for the right to education. When she was 15, she was shot in the head by the Taliban on her way to school. Since then, her campaigning has taken her all over the world, including a speech at the United Nations when she was only 16 years old.

Michelle Obama was the first African-American woman to become First Lady of the United States. Prior to becoming First Lady, she worked as a lawyer and in Public Service. After Obama’s presidency, she has continued to campaign for young people and military families, and works with the Obama Foundation in Chicago.

Emily Maitlis is a journalist who worked for the BBC for nearly 20 years and now is part of the daily podcast The News Agents. In 2019, she interviewed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The interview essentially ended Mountbatten-Windsor’s career and was key to helping Epstein’s victims see justice.

Greta Gerwig is a filmmaker best known for her 2023 film Barbie, which was the highest grossing film of that year, making over $1billion at the box office. All three of her films have been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and she became only the fifth woman to be nominated for Best Director.

This was created by young people as part of the Headliners Young Journalist programme. This project was made possible by the Million Hours Fund.