Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – disappeared July 2, 1937, declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.
Unfortunately, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean after July 2, 1937. There are tons of theories as to what happened to cause their disappearance, as well as what happened to Amelia. It’s a really interesting rabbit hole to fall into!
Marie Skłodowska Curie (November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. She was the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris in 1906. All in all , the Curie family was awarded 5 Nobel Prizes.
She married French physicist Pierre Curie in 1895, and shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with him and physicist Henri Becquerel for their pioneering work developing the theory of “radioactivity”—a term she coined. Marie won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium, using techniques she invented for isolating radioactive isotopes.
This is an interesting article about her unfortunate death. It has pictures of her actual notebooks too!
Marie is one of my heroes, for sure.
Stitch notes! The original pattern has 5 books on the shelf, but I didn’t have room so I made 3 in colors I chose. I changed the glass color on the large beaker to match the other beakers and used rayon thread for the radioactive stuff. It’s difficult to work with super slippery and gets knotty so I did a little weaving in there and I love it! Much easier than cross stitching with that stuff.
She wrote many books, mostly humorous while being open and caring about various issues. She was like a friend to so many people, whether they knew her in person or not.
Carrie Fisher was a bad ass, plain and simple! She was an advocate for several causes, including women’s advocacy, animal rights, and LGBT causes. She was open about her experiences caring for friends who suffered from AIDS, contributing financially to various AIDS and HIV organizations. She was also open about her fight with addiction and how she lived with BPD. Carrie was never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for anyone who needed a champion.
In her later years, Fisher had an emotional support animal, a French Bulldog named Gary, who accompanied her to lots of appearances and interviews. Following her death, Gary is living with her daughter, Billie Lourd.
Maya is one of my heroes for her activism and heartfelt poetry and writings. Read more here and read all her works that you can!
I’ll leave this here because it’s especially poignant in 2020 for me:
Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may tread me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wellsPumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?Don’t you take it awful hard’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold minesDiggin’ in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I’ve got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shameI riseUp from a past that’s rooted in painI riseI’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that’s wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.
I am using 14 count aida fabric from Garabaldi’s Needlework in the Pineapple Upside-down Cake colorway.
Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) wasn’t just the First Lady to the 32nd president FDR. She was a civil rights activist, mother of 6, politician, diplomat, and someone who spoke her mind. She even publicly disagreed with FDR at times during his presidency, which was a no-no at the time. You know, women were supposed to stay home and bake cookies or whatever and just agree and smile all the time. She was a very public person who advocated for a lot of people, especially children. She was even buddies with Amelia Earhart! There is a lot to say about her, so check out more here!
