First let me thank my mother. Without her, there would be no quiz today.

By my observation about half of the world is women. Seems like they must have done something we’d remember (Carol, put that pot down – ouch). Excuse me, let’s look at just a few great achievements of the fairer sex:

1) One of the things that always makes me mad is when someone gets credit for someone else’s work. Watson and Crick are given credit for the discovery of the helical structure of DNA, yet many credit their assistant with doing most of the work and the actually describing DNA. Ever heard of her?

2) Her pioneering work in the field of radioactivity along with her husband in the early 20th century earned them both numerous awards. Probably most noted for isolating the element radium, who is this most prominent woman scientist?

3) From the late 1930s almost to her death in 1956, this woman broke barrier after barrier that confronted women in sports. She competed in sports as diverse as track and field, basketball and golf where she achieved her major fame. She even competed on the PGA tour, although she never won. Any idea who this incredible athlete was?

4) Speaking of athletes, this woman practically created the Women’s Tennis Tour by herself and spent much energy getting prize money equal to the Men’s tour. Yet she is probably best remembered for whipping Bobby Riggs in the much over-hyped “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. Who is she?

5) She was the first women to fly across the Atlantic, not solo, and later would lose her life trying to become the first woman to fly around the world. Remember the name of this aviation pioneer?

6) This woman has many great accomplishments to her credit. First Lady, US Senator, first truly serious female candidate for the US Presidency. Now the Secretary of State, one almost wonders what is left for this woman. Her name is?

7) Talk about getting high, few have gotten higher than this woman, America’s first female astronaut. Can you remember this space pioneer?

8) But back in the old days of the Soviet Union the very first woman in space was this woman who took a three day ride back in 1963. Who is she?

9) This woman has spent most of her life with apes and has contributed immensely to our knowledge of our closest animal relatives. Who is this great primatologist.

10) The first shot in the environmental movement was probably fired by this woman when her book “Silent Spring” was published in 1962. The book described the long range bad effects of the pesticides we were using with abandon at the time. She died shortly after its publication, yet her legacy is tremendous. Who was this pioneering environmentalist?

Well, let’s see if the wife will get me a pepsi? What, get off my own dead ass? Well it wasn’t that important.
Here are some answers, mostly correct.

1) Rosalind Franklin. She died shortly after her discoveries and Watson and Crick still get most of the credit.

2) Marie Curie, of course

3) Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias

4) Billie Jean Moffit King. Still one of my heroes.

5) Amelia Earhart

6) Hilary Rodham Clinton

7) The aptly named Sally Ride

8) Valentina Tereshkova. Hope a few remembered her.

9) Jane Goodall

10) Rachel Carson