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These Incredible Photos Capture the Bravest Women Who Changed History Forever

Throughout history, women have shown courage in moments that demanded strength, resilience, and defiance. Their bravery often appeared in places where danger, hardship, or strict rules stood in the way of progress. These acts were not small gestures. They were choices that risked safety, reputation, and sometimes life itself.

In times of war, women stood on frontlines and behind them. Some picked up arms and joined resistance movements. Others carried out dangerous missions or worked as nurses in combat zones. They faced the same risks as soldiers, often without recognition or equal status. Their efforts saved lives, delivered messages, and kept hope alive in some of the darkest periods of history.

Beyond battlefields, courage was shown in daily life under oppressive systems. Women fought for the right to vote, work, and live freely. Protests were met with arrests and violence, but they continued to march and speak. These movements were not comfortable or safe. Standing in public to demand equality often meant imprisonment or humiliation, yet they refused to step back.

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Bravery also appeared in acts of personal defiance. Some women broke into male-dominated professions, proving their skills under intense scrutiny. Pilots, engineers, athletes, and scientists took opportunities where failure was not an option because critics were ready to doubt them. They pushed through rules meant to keep them out, and their success changed entire industries.

Acts of compassion required equal strength. Protecting neighbors during persecution, sheltering families during war, or even sharing food during famine placed women in constant danger. These choices were deliberate and costly, yet they prioritized humanity over fear.

In times of social restriction, women challenged norms that controlled appearance and behavior. They wore clothes that were considered scandalous, entered sports that banned them, and spoke openly when silence was expected. Every decision invited criticism, but these women valued freedom over approval.

Even in moments of disaster, women displayed remarkable resolve. They stood firm amid bombings, cared for children in ruined cities, and rebuilt homes from rubble. They held their communities together while enduring the same hardships themselves.

#1 Jeanne Manford marches with her gay son during a Pride Parade; Jeanne went on to found the rights group “Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays”, 1972.

#2 Margaret Hamilton, lead software engineer of the Apollo Project, stands next to the code she wrote by hand and that was used to take humanity to the moon, 1969.

#3 A Dutch woman refuses to leave her husband, a German soldier, after Allied soldiers capture him; she followed him into captivity, 1944.

#4 Anna Fisher, an American astronaut and “the first mother in space,” 1984.

#5 Some of the first women sworn into the US Marine Corps, 1918.

#6 Female pilots leaving their B-17, “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” 1940s.

#7 Two women show uncovered legs in public for the first time in Toronto, 1937.

#8 A Swedish woman hitting a neo-Nazi protester with her handbag; the woman was reportedly a concentration camp survivor, 1985.

#9 A woman suffrage activist protesting after ‘The Night of Terror,’ when 33 suffrage activists had been arrested for ‘obstructing traffic’ and were badly beaten by prison guards, 1917.

#10 A Muslim woman covers the yellow star of her Jewish neighbor with her veil to protect her from prosecution in Sarajevo, 1941.

#11 Maud Wagner, the first well know female tattooist in the United States, 1907.

#12 Simone Segouin, an 18 year old French Résistance fighter, during the liberation of Paris, 1944.

#13 Sarla Thakral became the first Indian woman to earn a pilot license at 21 years old, 1936.

#14 Kathrine Switzer becomes the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, despite attempts by the marathon organizer to stop her, 1967.

#15 Afghan women at a public library before the Taliban seized power, 1950s.

#16 Annette Kellerman posing in a swimsuit that got her arrested for indecency, 1907.

#17 The first women’s basketball team from Smith College, 1902.

#18 An 106-year old Armenian woman protecting her home with an AK-47, 1990.

#19 Girls deliver heavy blocks of ice after male workers were conscripted, 1918.

#20 Komako Kimura, a prominent Japanese suffragist at a march in New York, 1917.

#21 Margaret Bourke-White, a photographer, climbing the Chrysler Building, 1934.

#22 Elspeth Beard during her attempt to become the first Englishwoman to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle, 1980s.

#23 A woman drinking tea in the aftermath of a German bombing raid during the London Blitz, 1940.

#24 Sabiha Gökçen of Turkey poses with her plane; in 1937 she became the first female fighter pilot.

#25 Volunteers learn how to fight fires at Pearl Harbor, 1940s.

#27 Ellen O’Neal, one of the first professional female skaters, 1976.

#28 Parisian mothers shield their children from German sniper fire, 1944.

#29 Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel, 1926.

#30 Aviator Amelia Earhart after becoming the first woman to fly an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, 1928.

#32 A British sergeant training members of the ‘mum’s army’ Women’s Home Defence Corps during the Battle of Britain, 1940.

#33 The iconic photo of a concerned pea-picker and mother of seven children during the Dust Bowl, 1936.

#34 A Los Angeles Police Officer looks after an abandoned baby in the drawer of her desk, 1971.

#35 A mother shows a picture of her son to returning prisoners of war in an attempt to find him, Vienna, 1947.

#36 Leola N. King, America’s first female traffic cop, Washington D.C., 1918.

#37 Erika, a 15-year-old Hungarian fighter who fought for freedom against the Soviet Union, 1956.

#39 A Red Cross nurse takes down the last words of a British soldier, 1917.

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Written by Sarah Johnson

Sarah Johnson is a freelance writer and photographer with a passion for exploring the world. Her writing is both informative and engaging, offering unique perspectives on travel, food, and lifestyle.

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