13 Inspirational Women Honored in Google's New Doodle

Google's doodle on March 8, 2017, celebrated 13 pioneering women, in honor of International Women's Day. (Image credit: Google)

In honor of International Women's Day, today's new Google's Doodle celebrates 13 groundbreaking women in fields ranging from journalism to tennis to archaeology.

International Women's Day was first observed in the 1900s, when women were fighting for fair pay and the right to vote. It is now a global day to remember and celebrate the achievements of women, and to advocate for gender parity. The first international rallies to celebrate International Women's Day were held in 1911, according to Google's blog post about the new Doodle.

More than a century after the holiday's inception, Google is commemorating some of history's most pioneering females today. [Female Firsts: 7 Women Who Broke Barriers in Science and Tech]

Today’s (March 8) Google Doodle begins as a bedtime story, with a grandmother telling her granddaughter about the women who paved the way.

"Although some of the women showcased in today's Doodle aren't household names, each made a mark in her own way," Google officials wrote in the company's blog post.

The slideshow begins with Ida B. Wells, an American journalist, suffragist and civil rights activist, and ends with Suzanne Lenglen, a French tennis champion. Women from the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields were also honored in the Doodle.

One such honoree is Olga Skorokhodova, a Soviet scientist who led research in the field of deaf and blind communication. Skorokhodova was deaf and blind herself, after losing her vision and hearing at a young age due to meningitis.

Astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, was also featured in the Doodle. Ride was already a decorated physicist before her spaceflight, and went on to play a role in two more defining moments in NASA history. Ride served on the accident investigation boards after the tragedies of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia.

Other famous firsts celebrated in the Doodle include English mathematician Ada Lovelace, who is recognized as the world's first computer programmer, and Cecilia Grierson, the first woman in Argentina to receive a medical degree.

The Doodle also honored Halet Çambel, an archaeologist and the first Muslim woman to compete in the Olympics; Lotfia ElNadi, Egypt's first female pilot; Frida Kahlo, painter and activist; Lina Bo Bardi, an Italian-born Brazilian architect; Miriam Makeba, a South African singer and civil rights activist; Rukmini Devi Arundale, an Indian dancer and choreographer, who is credited with reviving Indian classical dance; and Lee Tai-young, Korea's first female lawyer and judge.

Original article on Live Science.

Kacey Deamer is a journalist for Live Science, covering planet earth and innovation. She has previously reported for Mother Jones, the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, Neon Tommy and more. After completing her undergraduate degree in journalism and environmental studies at Ithaca College, Kacey pursued her master's in Specialized Journalism: Climate Change at USC Annenberg. Follow Kacey on Twitter.