13 Women of World War II

13 Women of World War II

1.  Astrid Løken  -  Norway  -  April 14, 1911 - January 19, 2008 Astrid looks like my friend's grandma and was a student at the University of Oslo back in the day, where she studied bumblebees. So what does that have to do with the war? Well, Astrid was also a spy for the Norwegian resistance and worked under the code name "Eva." Appearing as an ordinary student riding around on her little bicycle taking photographs, Astrid wasn't much of a concern to the Germans during their 2-month occupation of Norway. How were they to know that she was actually snapping shots of their installments, or that she had incendiary bombs, grenades and slept with a cyanide capsule under her pillow?2.  Corrie ten Boom  -  Netherlands  -  April 15, 1892 - April 15, 1983 In addition to looking like someone who likely bakes delicious cookies, Corrie and her family harbored several refugees during the Holocaust. Eventually, she and her family were arrested...
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13 Mothers of Invention

13 Mothers of Invention

1.  Sybilla Masters - d.1720 Sybilla was an American colonist back in the day. Now and then, the native population would give the colonists the gift of corn - you know, as opposed to baking them pies. Sybilla invented a mill that would clean and grind the corn, which allowed the colonists to use it for various food and clothing products. Sybilla's husband Thomas was granted a patent for the mill in 1715 by the British courts. Thomas Masters actually held two patents on behalf of his wife, since women and minorities had no right to own a patent, because who in the fuck did they think they were, anyway? Sybilla was the first American woman inventor in documented history, but it's a pretty safe bet that women have been inventing and getting shafted on the credit since the beginning of time. 2.  Mary Dixon Kies - 19th CenturyIn 1809, Mary was issued a patent for inventing a process for weaving straw...
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13 Women of Literature & Poetry

13 Women of Literature & Poetry

1.  Sappho - c. 625 B.C.E. - Greece Sappho was a lyric poet who studied the arts on the Greek isle of Lesbos. Her poems were written to be accompanied with some nice backing tracks of lyre music. Sappho had refined her style and composed her own music, eventually leading to what is referred to as "sapphic meter."  Many works of Sappho are well-known because of the fact that not only were they written from her own view point, rather than those of the Gods, but also because the target of her affections were usually women.  Not only was Sappho the ancient Greek equivalent of a fucking rock star, but she was also, like Xena: Warrior Princess, an awesome lesbian icon.2.  Ban Zhao c.45-116 - China Ban Zhao was the very first female historian in China. The daughter of a historian and author, Ban Zhao finished her father's encyclopedic work, The Book of Han after he was imprisoned and executed. Ban Zhao...
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13 More Warrior Women

13 More Warrior Women

Ok...I've done a list like this one before.  However, there's a significant difference this time - these women aren't fictional characters.  These women are actual historical figures & didn't have any stunt doubles.1.  Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae - Massagetae, now eastern Iran - c.550 B.C. When the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great attempted to invade the Iranic Massagetae of Central Asia, his army was beaten & forced to retreat.  Cyrus' boys then persuaded him to trick the enemy into getting drunk on wine because they were hash smokers & likely to be lightweights when it came to booze.  It worked - while the opposing army was shitfaced, the Persians came in & slaughtered them.  Tomyris' son was at the head of the drunken army.  When he sobered up, he killed himself.  When Tomyris got the news, she sent a message to Cyrus telling him what a rat bastard he was & called him out to another fight.  Another battle ensued,...
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