1. Jill Lannan
   Deanna M. Burt
2. Anna Mae Hays
   Grace Hopper

Nicknamed "Amazing Grace," Grace Murray Hopper earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale University and worked as a professor of mathematics before enlisting in the Navy Reserves during World War II. Once there, she worked on the Bureau of Ordinance Computation Project, programmed the Harvard Mark I, invented one of the first linkers and made grand innovations on machine-independent programming languages. She's one of the few women admirals in U.S. Navy history.

1. 1850
   1917
2. 1975
   1901

While women had served as nurses and illegally entered services for years, in 1917, Loretta Walsh became the first woman to oficially enlist in the U.S. military. In 1948, the government passed a law that made women a permanent part of the armed forces.

1. Messene
   Joan of Arc
2. Queen Tomyris
   Cyanane

Born in 1412, St. Jeanne d'Arc believed God instructed her to take the reigns of the French army and lead it to victory — and that she did. During the war's Lancastrian phase, Joan of Arc's leadership broke the siege in the city of Orleans in just nine days. Charles the Victorious then appointed her as a military adviser, which resulted in her leading the French army's capture of Reims and Troyes. The English eventually apprehended and executed her, but her legend lives on.

1. Rosanne Bailey
   Nina M. Armagno
2. Opha May Johnson
   Mary E. Clark

During World War I, Johnson was first in the line of the more than 300 women who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Women's Reserve. She worked as a clerk at Headquarters before being promoted to Sergeant in 1918, making her the highest-ranking women in the Corps during her time of service.

1. Deborah Sampson
   Sarah Emma Edmonds
2. Nancy Wake
   Ann E. Dunwoody

New Zealand-born, Australia-raised Nancy Wake worked as a journalist before she married a Frenchman and moved to Marseille. When Germany invaded France, she joined the resistance, helping hide and smuggle men out of France, falsifying documents and importing contraband. She then joined Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) and trained with weapons and parachutes. The SOE then airdropped her in France, where she shot down Nazis, blew up buildings and killed an SS sentry with her bare hands.

1. She helped recruit more than 1,000 troops to the Union military in the Civil War.
   She served as a nurse on the front lines, helping treat thousands.
2. She disguised herself as a man and battled on the front lines during the Civil War.
   She formed a vast espionage ring for the Union during the Civil War.

After escaping slavery in 1849, Harriet Tubman devoted herself to the Civil War effort, serving as a cook, nurse, spy and military leader. In fact, most view her as the first woman in U.S. history to lead a military expedition. One of her most dangerous feats involved helping Colonel James Montgomery successfully execute a raid to free slaves in South Carolina. Thanks to clandestine information she obtained and her shrewd leadership, their troop freed about 750 people.

1. Vibia Sabina
   Artemisia I of Caria
2. Queen Boudicca
   Caecilia Attica

Tired of the greed of the Roman Empire, Queen Boudicca became a warrior for the Celtic Iceni tribe in East Anglia. She led the Iceni to a momentous victory of the Legions of Rome in present-day Colchester and defeated and burned Londinium (present-day London). Her strength nearly caused Roman emperor Nero to leave Britain, but unfortunately, she died at an inopportune moment.

1. Lyudmila Pavlichenko
   Susan Travers
2. Anna Mae Hays
   Lerona Barros

English woman Susan Travers worked as a driver to Syria and North Africa for the French Free Forces. When Rommel's Afrika Corps besieged her unit, she refused to evacuate with the other women. They hid for 15 days until Travers staged a nighttime getaway. Driving the lead vehicle, she led 2,500 troops to safety amid machine gunfire. Afterward, the French Free Forces promoted her to General, and she served in Italy, Germany and France. She was then accepted to the French Foreign Legion and garnered several awards for her time in the First Indo-China War.

1. Sandra E. Adams
   Elsie Ott
2. Raquel C. Bono
   Linda J. Bird

Second Lieutenant Elsie Ott received the U.S. Air Medal for her courage and intellect in devising a plan to evacuate injured soldiers from the front line in India during World War II. Assigned the flight with only 24 hours' notice, Ott had zero previous flying experience and was equipped with only a first aid kit. She not only successfully rescued them, but she also treated them with help from her nursing background.

1. Jin Xing
   Fu Hao
2. Hazel Ying Lee
   Lai Choi San

A wife of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty, Lady Hao broke convention at the time by serving as a military general, ultimately becoming the most powerful Shang general of her time. The Tu-Fang fought against the Shang dynasty for generations before Hao finally defeated them in a single battle. She also campaigned against the Yi, Qiang and Ba, the last of which is known as the earliest large-scale ambush in Chinese history.

1. Queen Artemisia I of Caria
   Robin Braun
2. Queen Elizabeth I
   Sarah Emma Edmonds

After her ascension to the throne in 1558, Queen Elizabeth I escaped the Catholic Church, which made her many enemies near and far. To combat external opposition, she enacted a number of vast improvements in marine combat in particular.

1. Around 5,000
   Less than 100,000
2. More than 400,000
   Around 50,000

While often depicted as boosting morale on the home front, more than 400,000 women enlisted to serve in the U.S. military across the U.S., Europe and Asia during World War II. They worked as pilots, nurses, administrators and ambulance drivers in particular.

1. Queen Atusa Shahbanu
   Queen Liliuokalani
2. Queen Phoolan Devi
   Queen Artemisia I of Caria

Queen of ancient Halicarnassus in 5th century B.C., Artemisia allied with Xerxes I and singlehandedly commanded the Persian naval fleet against the Greeks. She was widely praised for her tactical intelligence and natural leadership abilities.

1. Lori Reynolds
   Margaret A. Brewer
2. Sarah Emma Edmonds
   Robin Braun

Born in Canada in 1841, Edmonds escaped a forced and abusive marriage by fleeing to Flint, Michigan in 1856. Out of a sense of duty, she joined the 2nd Michigan Infantry as a male field nurse. In addition to treating soldiers in some of the bloodiest battles like Antietam, many say she also served as a Union spy.

1. Colonel Laura J. Richardson
   Colonel Robin L. Fontes
2. Colonel Ruby Bradley
   Colonel Linda J. Bird

During her military service from 1934 through1963, Ruby Bradley earned 34 medals and citations of bravery. She joined the U.S. Army as a surgical nurse in 1934 but was taken captive by Japanese forces in 1941. During her four years in captivity, she continued to care for fellow prisoners, assisting in 230 major operations and 13 baby deliveries. Bradley also stole food to feed starving children and smuggled surgical equipment inside. She later served as Chief Nurse for the Eighth Army and was promoted to colonel in 1958.

1. Rani Velu Nachiyar
   Krystyna Skarbek
2. Patricia Horoho
   Lilya Litvak

Polish woman Krystyna Skarbek was living with her diplomat husband in Ethiopia at the onset of World War II. She then signed up with Britain's Section D in an attempt to return to Poland via Hungary and communicate with the Allies. Impressed by the plan of the "flaming Polish patriot," as they called her, the British intelligence agents agreed to her plan. She then organized several Polish resistance groups and smuggled Polish pilots out of the nation. When arrested by the Gestapo in 1941, she faked TB by biting her tongue until it bled. They released her.

1. Patricia Horoho
   Noor Inayat Khan
2. Lilya Litvak
   Rani Velu Nachiyar

Khan's mother was an American woman related to the founder of Christian Science, her father was Indian Sufi master Inayat Khan and her great-great-grandfather ruled the Kingdom of Mysore. She was born in Russia but held a British passport. Khan joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and served as a wireless operator for the British intelligence agency SOE in 1943, refusing to quit even as other agents were imprisoned. The Germans eventually arrested her, though, and she fought back so intensely that they classified her as an "extremely dangerous prisoner." She escaped briefly but then was caught and executed.

1. Patricia Horoho
   Rani Velu Nachiyar
2. Mary F. Hall
   Michelle J. Howard

Trained as a child to employ weapons, practice martial arts, and fight on horseback, Nachiyar was poised to fight when the British attacked her home kingdom, the Ramnad Kingdom of South India. She formed an army upon their 1772 arrival and indisputably defeated them by 1780. Historians say she's the first military leader to use a "human bomb" in combat.

1. Christina M. Alvarado
   Patricia Horoho
2. Lilya Litvak
   Robin Braun

Born in 1960, Horoho served as the 43rd Army Surgeon General and Commanding General of the Medical Command. In 1994, she served as the head nurse of the Womack Army Medical Center, treating wounded soldiers from the Green Ramp Disaster. In 2002, the American Red Cross recognized her as a Nurse Hero for her role during the September 11 attacks, in which she ran from her desk to provide first-aid to 75 people.

1. Senior Lieutenant Lilya Litvak
   Tomoe Gozen
2. Commander Margaret H. Woodward
   Rear Admiral Kathleen K. Paige

Litvak served as a Senior Lieutenant for the Soviet air force from 1941 to 1943, during which time she triumphed over German aircraft an estimated 12 times without any assistance. Nicknamed "The White Rose of Stalingrad," she was ultimately shot down and died in 1943.

1. Thao Suranari
   Begum Samru
2. Tomoe Gozen
   Yim Wing Chun

In the 12th century, Tomoe Gozen fought fiercely for general Kiso Yoshinaka in the Genpei War. She was known to kill any rival that came his way; in one instance, even chopping off an opposing samurai's head.

1. She campaigned against the war while also saving thousands of lives as a military nurse.
   She became the first female commander in British military history.
2. She's remembered for disguising herself as a man and fighting on the front lines in World War I.
   She's known as the founder of modern nursing.

Florence Nightingale rose to prominence during the Crimean War, during which time she served as a nurse manager and trainer. She eventually instilled hygienic practices, reduced death rates and drastically improved living conditions in army hospitals.

1. Rose Lacombe
   Gabriela Silang
2. Velu Nachiyar
   Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua

In 1780, Puyucahua joined her husband Tupac Amaru in rebelling against Spanish invaders. She served as a "logistics chief" during warfare, devising strategies to defend rebel strongholds and attack Spanish forces. She also ran the rebel camp, recruited new fighters, mobilized soldiers and personally carried out punishments like executions against the enemy. "Both rebels and loyalists feared her wrath," historian Charles F. Walker wrote of Puyucahua.

1. Margaret H. Woodward
   Manuela Beltran
2. Ghaliyaa al-Wahhabiyya
   Fran McKee

Former major general in the U.S. Air Force Margaret H. Woodward commanded the 17th Air Force and led all U.S. air actions in Africa. In 2011, she commanded the U.S.' role in Libya's no-fly zone sanctioned by the United Nations.

1. Yaa Asantewaa
   Rani Lakshmibai
2. Triệu Thị Trinh
   Yaeko Yamamoto

At age 20, Lady Triệu garnered a following of 1,000 to rebel against Chinese invaders during 3rd century B.C. Despite her brother's protests, she eventually convinced him to join her. Wearing a yellow robe and a sword in each hand, she successfully liberated her territory in a series of 30 advances. Eventually, though, Chinese forces took over.

1. Kathleen Paige
   Michelle Howard
2. Deborah Loewer
   Eleanor Mariano

In addition to commanding the USS Rushmore, Retired U.S. Navy officer Michelle Howard also was the first female graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy that attained flag rank. She also boasts several more 'firsts,' including being the first woman to become a four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy and the first African-American woman to serve as Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

1. General Janet C. Wolfenbarger
   Lieutenant Judith Fedder
2. Commander Darlene Iskra
   Commander Eleanor Mariano

Of her achievement during the Gulf War, Iskra said, "I hadn't realized what a big deal being the first woman to command a ship would be until I arrived in Naples, and on my desk was a stack of congratulatory cards and letters from people I didn't even know!" Iskra served 21 years in the Navy.

1. An all-female branch of the U.S. military
   A rebel group in Somalia
2. An elite all-female fighting force in the West African state of Dahomey
   A guerrilla force of predominantly women in the Ecuadorian-Peruvian war

Armed with knives, clubs and three-foot-long razors, the Dahomey Amazon soldiers fought for their kingdom from the 17th to 19th century. They were trained intensely, wore uniforms, and numbered somewhere between 1,000 and 6,000 women.

1. Patricia Rose
   Leslie F. Kenne
2. Anne E. Dunwoody
   Cathay Williams

Under the alias William Cathay, Cathay Williams enrolled in the U.S. Army in 1866. After heroically fighting with an all-African American unit in several battles, she unfortunately contracted smallpox and was discharged when the surgeon discovered she was a woman.

1. The first woman to join the British armed forces
   The founder of modern military nursing
2. The first female lieutenant in U.S. military history
   The first woman in U.S. military history to receive a Purple Heart

In 1941, Annie G. Fox served as Head Nurse of Hickman Field, Hawaii's Station Hospital, treating hundreds of those wounded in Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. Although they revoked her Purple Heart shortly after awarding it due to a change in award criteria (which now required that the service member be injured), she received a Bronze Star Medal in October 1944.

1. World War I
   World War II
2. Gulf War
   Iraq War

Hester became the first woman to receive the Silver Star award since World War II for her leadership on March 20, 2005, during an enemy ambush on a convoy in Iraq. She safely led her squad through the kill zone before assaulting the line with grenades, ultimately taking down two trenches. She then shot and killed three more insurgents.

1. 1945
   1999
2. 2013
   1977

Although women served in the military for generations, they were effectively barred from combat roles until former Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta lifted the ban in January 2013.

1. A key Soviet spy and strategist
   The first woman to join the British armed forces
2. The first female major in U.S. military history
   One of the Red Army's first volunteers at the start of War War I who made an astonishing number of kills during her time in combat

Major Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a sharpshooter who joined the Soviet army at the start of World War I. During a single year of combat she made 309 confirmed kills. Afterward, she became a sharpshooting instructor and goodwill ambassador for other Allied nations.

1. Margaret A. Brewer
   Jeannie Leavitt
2. Jill Lannan
   Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

One of only eight civilians ever to receive the award, Walker earned it in 1865 for her efforts in the Civil War. During this period, she worked as a contract surgeon for Union Forces and was held captive by the Confederacy.

1. Alyona
   Khutulun
2. Estri
   Yim Wing Chun

Born around 1260, Khutulun was the daughter of Central Asia's most powerful ruler of the time, Kaidu, and the great-great-granddaughter of Ghengis Khan. She wrestled in public competitions and accounts state that no man could ever beat her. On the battlefield, she fiercely defended western Mongolia and Kazakhstan against Kublai Khan. Marco Polo described her capturing enemy soldiers "as deftly as a hawk pounces on a bird."