The women you don't know - yet

The women you don't know - yet
 Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, CNN 

I found a really interesting read on CNN that highlights notable women whose names, for one reason or another, have, for the most part, remained widely unknown. Stories of women's invaluable presence in history has largely gone unrecorded and unrecognized.

-- A survey of U.S. history textbooks found that only 10% of the individuals identified in the texts were women.
-- Less than 8% of the 2,560 national historic landmarks chronicle the achievements of women.
-- Of the 210 statues in the U.S. Capitol, only 15 are of female leaders.

And their absence is certainly not because they haven't accomplished much to be admired.

Did you know that the "frequency hopping" technology that is vital to much of our military technology and helps keep your cell phone and your GPS devices secure was developed and patented by a famous female movie star?

Did you know that there was an amazing 16-year-old female patriot who outdid Paul Revere, riding 45 miles in the pouring rain to warn New York colonial militias that "the British are coming"?

Did you know that there was a secret agent, code named "355," who worked for George Washington's band of spies, the Culper Ring? The agent supplied key intelligence on British activities during the Revolutionary War, and she was so good at keeping a secret that we still don't know her real name.

A bipartisan coalition of Congresswomen are collaborating to push for the creation of the National Women's History Museum in Washington to recognize women like these. Check out the link to the article above for more on the initiative.