These women might not be household names
but they sure made history.
Welcome to MsMojo and today
we'll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Badass Historical Women you've probably never heard of.
Daughter of sultans, Noor was born for great things.
For this list, we're looking at women who are famous in their own right for their impressive achievements
but that have probably slipped under your radar.
If you can't find a woman who you think should be on this list,
be sure to check out our video on the Top 10 Female Warriors in History.
She made the best of the war and the war made the best of her. I mean they got a lot from Nancy Wang.
Number 10, Katharine McCormick.
She's not the most well known American heiress but her impact on women's rights is priceless.
From her youth, McCormick knew the importance of education and equality.
While most of her female peers were discouraged from attending college, she earned a Biology degree
from MIT in 1904.
She gave money to build a dormitory for women. The first tower in McCormick Hall
and eventually she doubled it and it became twice the size.
She later became a prominent suffragette and was the first vice president of The League of Women Voters.
After her husband died in 1947, McCormick earned a $35 million inheritance, giving her the chance
to achieve her lifelong goals.
She went on to donate money towards MIT's first on-site female dorm
and funded research that lead to the first birth-control pill.
Philanthropist and pioneer, McCormick has helped improve women's lives throughout America and the world.
Number 9, Rosalind Franklin.
She replies that she would be of little use in anything but science.
While scientist duo Watson and Crick are associated with DNA's double helix structure,
Franklin was also a big part of this influencial discovery.
A chemist and x-ray crystallographer,
Franklin was a researcher at King's College in London.
In 1952, she and her student took photos of DNA
including the pivotal photo 51.
The A form gives us far the most detail so first we do the ... on the A form.
We'll get to the B form all in good time.
Without her knowledge, Franklin's colleague, Maurice Wilkins showed photo 51 to Watson.
Watson and Crick used the x-ray image to support
their own research
while Franklin's own research was downplayed.
Franklin died of ovarian cancer at only 37
and never lived to see the growing recognition of her work.
With awards, buildings, and even a play in her honor,
Franklin's contributions to science will always be remembered.
For Rosalind Franklin, the joy of science was in the work itself and it's ultimate reward, the betterment of human kind.
Number 8, Nancy Wake.
This tough-as-nail spy started out as a freelance journalist
and ended up as a French resistance hero.
In the mid-30's, Wake visited Vienna and saw Nazis assaulting Jews in the streets.
From then on, she knew she had to stop them.
You do not need to be french to see Hitler for what he is. The man's insane!
When Germany invaded France in 1940,
Wake joined the resistance as a courier and guide for allied soldiers and refugees.
Trained in England, she strengthened ties
between Britain and the resistance.
And her efforts led to many guerrilla victories.
Yes there were deaths, yes there were tears but love and laughter.
She just you know she was a flower that bloomed in wartime.
Always on her tail, the Gestapo could never catch
the woman they called 'The White Mouse'.
Wake passed away in 2011 at the age of 98
and is one of the most decorated service women of World War II.
I stood there and i thought oh that's dreadful, i couldn't rip a cat.
Number 7, Noor Inayat Khan.
Not only was this brave woman a British spy,
she was also a Sufi princess.
Khan was a children's author in Paris
when the war broke out, and fled to England in 1940.
She became a radio operator for British intelligence
shortly thereafter
and was next sent to Paris to work for the French resistance.
To her fellow trainees, Noor was a mystery. A petite woman with a muslim name, a refugee from german occupied France
While many members of her network were arrested,
Khan continued to work while trying to evade capture.
In October 1943, a colleague betrayed her
and Khan was in prisoned in Paris by the SS.
Even though she faced horrible conditions,
Khan defied her captors until the end.
It must have been her faith. Only that faith could have carried her through.
She was executed at Dachau, Germany in 1944
and has since earned her place among Britain's wartime heroes.
Perfect qualities for a spy with a history of resistance. Her ancestors fought the British but Noor would fight with them.
Driven by a hatred of fascism.
Number 6, Khutulun.
Before the WWE divas, there was Khutulun,
a beautiful Mongol princess who happened to love wrestling.
Do you wrestle in Venice?
Of course.
Show me.
A descendant of Genghis Khan,
she was a skilled warrior who often joined her father in battle.
When she wasn't killing it at the front,
she could be found wrestling opponent after opponent.
Khutulun could wrestle anyone she wanted
and she didn't just do it for kicks.
If Khutulun won,
she'd get 100 horses.
If she lost,
she'd marry her opponent.
Needless to say,
Khutulun ended up with a lot of horses.
She allegedly married someone she met outside
her lucrative hobby
and died in 1306.
Largely unknown outside of Mongolia until recently,
this unbeatable princess wrestled her way into history.
Khutulun has grown more fierce with age, and more beautiful.
Number 5, Wu Zetain
She was the only female emperor to reign in her own right in Chinese history
and a polarizing figure to boot.
Depending on the sources,
Wu Zetian was either a ruthless woman
who wasn't above having her own relatives killed
to take the throne
or a highly effective leader who improved the lives
of commoners.
The truth lies somewhere in between.
Wu purged a lot of the competition to become Emperor.
But also managed to purge corruption,
expand the civil service system,
and make Buddhism more prominent.
Wu Zetain wanted to embed herself into Buddhism, the religion of her empire.
She even headed a brand new dynasty for 15 years
which ended upon her abdication and death in 705.
Despite her controversial reign,
or maybe because of it,
Wu continues to captivate us, centuries later.
Number 4, Hatshepsut.
Hatshepsut was one of the most famous female figures of ancient Egypt
1400 years before Cleopatra,
another female pharaoh ruled over ancient Egypt.
After her husband, Thutmose II, died, Hatshepsut ruled
alongside her step-son, Thutmose III,
eventually becoming a pharaoh in her own right.
Hatshepsut was usually depicted with feminine features
along with the King's false beard to show her power.
She needed to relinquish her femininity, don the short kilt worn by kings,
put on a false beard, and wear the pharaoh's crown.
Her 20 year reign was mostly peaceful and prosperous.
Hatshepsut built many monuments
and embarked on a landmark trade expedition to the land of Punt.
20 years after her death,
traces of her memory were destroyed
with some believing that her step-son,
Thutmose III was to blame.
You have to use science to be sure that this is true or not.
While later research casts doubts on this theory,
we're fortunate that enough has survived from her reign
so that Hatshepsut won't be forgotten anytime soon.
Number 3, Ching Shih
Mistress Ching
This former prostitute became one of the most feared
and successful pirates of the south China coast.
Her husband, Cheng I, was already known as the commander of the Red Flag Fleet.
After he died in 1807, Ching took the helm.
By 1810, she oversaw a fleet of up to 80,000 pirates.
No small feat.
She also set up a strict code-of-conduct to keep them in line
unless they wanted to lose their heads.
Whether it was Chinese officials, the Portuguese, or the British,
nobody could defeat the Red Flag Fleet.
When the government offered amnesty to the pirates,
Ching retired, keeping her loot, and running a gambling house.
By land or sea, Ching was unstoppable.
Number 2, Jeanne de Clison aka Lioness of Brittany
This Britain noble woman's third husband was executed
for treason during the Hundred Years war.
Jeanne then swore revenge on France.
She sold her belongings to fund a small army.
Fighting on land before becoming a pirate in the English channel.
She and her children reached England
where Edward III is said to have given her 3 ships.
Along with her forces,
Jeanne supposedly beheaded French nobles herself,
always sparing a few to report to the French king.
Sources differ on her pirating days.
She was at sea anywhere from 5 months to 13 years
but they ended when she married an English military deputy.
Well, much of her life is the stuff of legends,
her resolve was all too real.
Before we unveil our number 1 badass historical woman,
here are some honorable mentions.
Number 1, the Mirabal Sisters.
Well last I heard, women weren't allowed to study law.
Last you heard, your hadn't heard of Minerva Mirabal
These Dominican sisters, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa
fought the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo.
Through their resistance group,
'The Movement of The 14th of June',
they issued, and anti-Trujillo pamphlets and planned revolts.
Minerva and Maria Teresa were arrested
but were freed after the organization of American states intervened.
Their freedom was short-lived, however.
On November 25th, 1960,
the sisters were driving home from visiting Minerva and Maria Teresa's jailed husbands,
when Trujillo's henchmen beat them to death.
Trujillo was assassinated six months later
and the Mirabal's surviving sister, Dedé, dedicated her life
to preserving the women's memory.
To commemorate the sisters,
November 25th is the international day for the elimination
of violence against women.
These sisters were not only badass,
they are national heroes.
Do you agree with our list?
Who's your favorite badass historical woman?
For more remarkable Top 10s published daily,
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The legend says that this statue actually is modeled on her face.
She want to ah make this ah a statement ah of her power.