Just how far did Amelia Earhart fly?

Who exactly was Sojourner Truth? Why did Madam Curie win the Nobel Peace Prize? Find the answers to these questions, along with a few ways to celebrate Women's History Month locally. 

American History is filled with outstanding women, why not test your knowledge and learn more about a few of them?

1. How far did Amelia Earhart fly? This is actually a trick question! While Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as well as the first person to make a solo flight over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, she disappeared on her attempt to fly across the world. Thus, we will sadly never know exactly how far she flew. One of our nation’s great mysteries!

2. Who was Sojourner Truth? She was a woman born into slavery in the late 1700s, born Isabella Baumfree she later named herself Sojourner Truth. When she escaped slavery Truth went to court to challenge her young son being sold into slavery illegally and won! She went on to write and speak about the wrongs of slavery and the importance of freedom for all people and became one of our best known abolitionists and civil rights activists. She is perhaps best known for her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech given at the 1851 Ohio Women’s Rights Convention.

3. Why did Madame Marie Curie win the Nobel Prize? She first won half of the 1903 Nobel Prize with her husband, scientist Pierre Curie, for their research on the radiation phenomena discovered by the scientist who won the other half of the prize, Henri Becquerel. Madame Curie then won the 1911 Nobel Prize in chemistry for her discoveries and works of the elements radium and polonium. To this day she is the only woman to have won the Nobel Prize twice.

Find a list of Women’s History Month activities in the Sacramento area here.