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Swimming the English Channel
Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to swim the English Channel. She finished in 14 hours and 30 minutes, shattering the times of the five men who completed the swim before her. She was also the first person to swim the channel free style, the men before her had used the breast stroke to complete the task. When she returned home to Amercia a giant perade was thrown for her, and she was considered a national hero. -
Summer Olympics
In the Summer Olympics of 1928 women were allowed to compete for the first time. They were allowed to compete in the following five events: 100 meters, 800 meters, 4X100 relay, high jump, and discus throw. In the 800 meter race won by Lina Radke, a German, several women collapsed after the race. Even though this is not unlike what the men do after the 800 meter race, due to bias opinions and faulty reporting woman would not be allowed to run more then 200 meters again until 1960. -
Jackie Mitchell
On March 28, 1931 Jackie Mitchell signed a contract to officially play for the Lookouts, a Class AA minor league team. On April 2, 1931 the Chattanooga Lookouts played an exhibition game against the New York Yankees. During this game Jackie struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. A few days after the game, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided her contract and declared women unfit to play baseball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnsQY0BOSS0 -
Women's Basketball
Woman's basketball began at Wayland University in the 1940's. Harvest Queen Mill, a local grain mill still in operation, provided financial support. Hutcherson Air Service provided air trasportation for the Queens to games in Mexico in 1948, while the men traveled by bus. This is how the team becaome to be known as the fly queens. -
AAGPBL
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a womens leagued formed by Philip K. Wrigley. It started in 1943 and end in 1954. It was formed because many of the men from the men's league were overseas fighting in World War II. The league was used to keep baseball in the public eye until the war was over, and men returned to the field. -
First Balck Woman to Win Olympic Gold Medal
Alice Coachman becomes the first black women to win an Olympic gold medal. In the high jump finals of the 1948 Summer Olympics, Coachman jumped 5 ft 6 1/8 inches on her first try. -
Babe Zaharias
September 27, 1956 was a sad day for women in sports. Perhaps the best female athlete of all time died from cancer, her name was Babe Zaharias. Babe zaharias was a famed woman athlete, 1932 Olympic track & field star, basketball player, golfer, javelin thrower, hurdler, high jumper, swimmer, baseball pitcher, football halfback, billiardist, tumbler, boxer, wrestler, fencer, weight lifter, and adagio dancer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX0t25axMaE -
Boston Marathon
Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb is recognized as the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon in 1966. She had to hide in the bushes by the starting line in a hoodie, and hoped in the middle of the group when the race started. She ran in nursing shoes. In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the marathon with numbers after she registered as K. V. Switzer. She would finish despite a famous incident were Jock Semple, a race official, tried to rip off her numbers and eject her from the r -
Title IX
The Title is a United States Law that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It opened doors for women in the sports world. It read as follows; "No person in the United states shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity reciving Federal financial assistance...." -
The Battle of the Sexes
Bille Jean King was one of nine players who broke away from the tennis establishment and accepted $1 contracts to bring attention to the inequalities of men and women in the sport. The revolt led to the birth of women's professional tennis. In 1973 Bille empowered women and educated men when she defeated Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes.
