today in women's herstory

March 21
This Day in Women's History




1152: Marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Louis VII of France was annulled

1470/74: Angela Merici born: founded Order of Ursulines in 1535, canonized May 24, 1807

1617: Pocahontas (Mataoka) buried: born about 1595, died March 1617

1801: Maria Theresa of Austria born: named for the Empress Maria Theresa, her double great grandmother, she was Queen of Sardinia after she married

1857: Alice Henry born: journalist, women's suffrage activist, author: The Trade Union Woman; she was a member of the Women and Unions - Women's Trade Union League

1866: Antonia Maury born: astronomer

1905: Phyllis McGinley born: writer, poet; winner of 1961 Pulitzer Prize

1943: Cornelia Fort, military pilot, died when another plane on the same air ferry mission clipped her plane's wing, crashing her plane; she was the first female pilot in America to die on active duty, a member of the precurser of WASP

1962: Rosie O'Donnell born: comedian, actor, talk show personality

1969: Radical group Redstockings organized a public hearing on abortion, called an abortion speak-out, to air women's views on abortion

1972: Equal Rights Amendment sent by Congress to the States for ratification.

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/03calendar/a/0321calendar.htm