Laurel Thatcher Ulrich famously said that “well-behaved women rarely make history”, which is true of these trailblazing and inspirational women who have made waves, pushed boundaries, and fundamentally changed the world we live in. From space exploration to computer programming, their accomplishments have shaped our world, but they also continue to inspire us to shape our future.

Born a slave in 1862, Ida B. Wells devoted her life to educating people about the horrors of discrimination and lynching. As editor and co-owner of The Memphis Free Speech, she channeled the power of the written word to awaken the nation's consciousness about the treatment of African Americans.

In the early 20th century, the ancient Indian dance form of bharatanatyam was dying out until Arundale came along. She opened several schools, including the Kalakshetra Foundation, an arts school that specialized in bharatanatyam, saving the tradition from obscurity.

Sylvia Rivera was a pioneering activist who fought tirelessly for transgender rights. An advocate for LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minorities, and the homeless, Rivera dedicated her life to helping others, also co-creating the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries organisation.

Lenglen picked up her first racket in 1910 and, in less than five years, became the sport’s youngest champion and the world’s first female tennis star. More importantly, she broke down barriers through her passionate play, non-traditional wardrobe, and outspoken stance against the sport’s formalities. With Lenglen’s influence, tennis became a sport for all.

Lina Bo Bardi was a pioneering Modernist architect who designed many iconic buildings, including The Glass House, where she lived with her husband. The São Paulo Museum of Art, an architectural masterpiece with its innovative floating gallery, was also complemented by the floating picture frames that Bo Bardi designed for the interior.

After earning her doctorate from the University of Istanbul, Cambel fought tirelessly for the advancement of archaeology and helped to preserve some of Turkey’s most important archaeological sites. She also became the first Muslim woman to compete in the Olympic Games in 1936.

Makeba found success in the US with her hit songs “Pata Pata” and “The Click Song”, and she used her newfound fame to draw attention to the suffering and oppression of South Africa under apartheid. Makeba was exiled from South Africa for over 30 years, but continually worked to improve the lives of her countrymen and women.

Lovelace is recognised as the world's first ever computer programmer. She was an English mathematician and writer who worked on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. All the way back in 1843, she imagined a machine capable of extraordinary things, nearly a century before the first modern computers were built.

When Ride blasted off aboard the NASA space shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983, she became the first American woman to fly in space. Ride's historic flight made her a symbol of the ability of women to break barriers and a hero to generations of adventurous young girls.

Protesting is a universal language. When people come together en masse to demonstrate their cause, no matter where they are in the world, it is a powerful expression of strength, unity, and a desire for change.

We take a look at a few examples from the long tradition of women's protests and marches, from the small, to the large, to the worldwide—but each as important as the next in the fight for human rights, fairness, and equality.

On March 25, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, a producer of women's blouses in Greenwich Village, New York caught fire. It was the practice of its owners to lock the doorways to the stairways and exits to prevent workers from taking breaks or stealing, and this meant that due to lack of escape routes 146 employees died—123 of them women. Widespread outrage and protest against the poor working conditions led to 100,000 people marching to commemorate the victims. This ultimately resulted in a surge in membership of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, one of the largest labour unions in the US and one of the first to have primarily female membership.

After World War II leaders Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek declared that Korea, which had previously been annnexed by Japan in 1910, was to become free and independent. However, the Allies agreed that the Soviet Union, the US, and the Republic of China would have a trusteeship over Korea in the five years leading up to this independence. Brandishing signs, including ones reading "Give Me Liberty Or Death" and "Thanks For Liberation We Want Korean Gov't Without Trusteeship", members of the Korean Women's Democratic Party gathered together in 1946 to demonstrate for immediate independence.

100 women cleaners protested their low wages by marching a third of a mile from London’s Temple Gardens to Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The women, who were members of the Civil Service Union, were being paid 34c an hour, and were protesting Sir Stafford Cripps, the Chancellor of Exchequer, for a raise to 40c. The sign they carried read “Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Women cleaners are next to starvation”. They also bought new mops to brandish for the occasion.

On August 9, a group of South African women began a march to protest against the pass laws, which were a form of internal passport designed to segregate the population—and a dominant feature of the country’s apartheid system. Led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, 20,000 women from all backgrounds marched to Pretoria’s Union Buildings to present the prime minister with a petition. The prime minister was not there to accept it, so it was handed over to his secretary as the women sang “wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo”, meaning “you strike a woman, you strike a rock”. August 9 is now celebrated as National Women’s Day in South Africa, to commemorate their courage and strength.

Protest marches against the Vietnam war were a frequent occurrence in London, as well as other major cities around the world, and often these ended violently as activists clashed with the police. One of the more peaceful protests took place on February 19, 1968, when over 400 women in London began a silent march from outside the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square to Downing Street.

Prominent disability rights activist Lesley Hall and others from the Women With Feminist Disabilities Collective bought tickets to the 1981 Miss Australia Quest beauty pageant, which was a charitable event to raise funds for the Spastics Society (now known as Scope). They smuggled in placards, then stormed the stage to protest the sexist portrayal of women and the way the fundraiser contradicted itself by stigmatizing people with disabilities through promoting specific ideals of beauty. Hall opposed the fact that women with disabilities weren’t able to enter the beauty pageant as they were not considered beautiful, and brandished a sign that read “Spastic Society oppresses women.”

AGIR, the Association of Female Indigenous Warriors from Rondônia, was formed to help combat the low participation of women in decision-making in the indigenous community of Brazil, which is made up of about 15,000 people across over 50 ethnic groups. Emerging in 2015, the members fight for their voices to be heard, holding meetings, and participating in demonstrations. One of the issues that is of biggest concern is the mining of indigenous lands: mining leads to contamination of the environment that damages resources for food and handicrafts, and also has societal implications with the increase in alcohol, drugs, and prostitution it brings.