RETROBITUARIES

Rockfleet Castle, which Grace O’Malley used as a base

Grace O'Malley, the Fearless 16th-Century Irish Pirate Queen Who Stood Up to the English

She debated with Queen Elizabeth I, sat at the head of a prosperous pirate empire, and told the English where to go.

Carl Van Vechten, Wikimedia // Public Domain

Zora Neale Hurston, Genius of the Harlem Renaissance

Despite being a star in her day, writer Zora Neale Hurston—who is best known for her novel 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'—was almost forgotten.

Clarence Birdseye, the Father of the Frozen Foods Industry

Thank him for making tasty frozen pizza a reality.

Photo Illustration by Lucy Quintanilla. Badge: Gift of Dr. Patricia Heaston; Tin: Gift from Dawn Simon Spears and Alvin Spears, Sr.; Sign, Photograph of Walker Agents: Gift of A’Lelia Bundles / Madam Walker Family Archives. All from the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Background/photo border, iStock

Madam C.J. Walker, the First Self-Made Female Millionaire in the U.S.

Her hair care company brought her prosperity—and left an indelible mark on black entrepreneurship.

Lady Death: Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the Greatest Female Sniper of All Time

With 309 confirmed kills, she became a heroic figure to the Soviets—but the American media didn't know what to make of her.

Mary Frith, 17th-Century London's Smoking, Thieving, Foul-Mouthed "Roaring Girl"

She was known on the streets as Moll Cutpurse, for the purse strings she slashed.

Madelyn Pugh Davis, the “Girl Writer” Behind I Love Lucy

She tested most of the slapstick herself.

Bernarr Macfadden: Bodybuilder, Publisher, and Eccentric Prophet of Physical Culture

He helped launch the American obsession with diet and exercise—and the first true confession magazine.

Wellcome Collection // CC BY 4.0 (cropped)

Sushruta, Ancient Indian Surgeon and Father of the Nose Job

He was practicing plastic surgery thousands of years before European surgeons were even washing their hands.

Willem van Haecht. 'The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest, 1628.' Found in the Collection of Rubenshuis.

John Tradescant, Royal Gardener and Forefather of the Natural History Museum

He created a "world of wonders in one closet shut."

March of Dimes/Library of Congress via Wikimedia // Public Domain

Virginia Apgar, the Woman Whose Name Saves Newborns

The Apgar test has rescued countless infants, but people are often surprised to discover Virginia Apgar was a real person.

Laura de Force Gordon (center) and Susan B. Anthony being escorted to the stage.

Laura de Force Gordon, Pioneering Newspaper Publisher, Lawyer, and Suffragist

When she didn't like how men covered her campaign for Senate, she started her own paper.

The only known photograph of Caroline Weldon (seated), taken in 1915 with her friend Aline Estoppey

Caroline Weldon, 19th Century Indigenous Rights Advocate and Sitting Bull's Secretary

Her courage is reflected in her Sioux nickname, “Woman Walking Ahead."

Christine Granville, World War II Special Agent

The fearless Polish countess became Britain's first female special agent during World War II.

Brooklyn Museum, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Emily Warren Roebling, the Woman Who Helped Build the Brooklyn Bridge

With her husband bedridden, Emily Roebling helped keep the dream of the Brooklyn Bridge alive.

Photo illustration by Lucy Quintanilla, Mental Floss. Trains, iStock. Portrait, Project Gutenberg // Public Domain

Leon Ray Livingston, America's Most Famous Hobo

He was the self-proclaimed "King of the Hobos."

Courtesy of the George C. Marshall Library, Lexington, Virginia

Elizebeth Friedman, America's Unsung Wartime Codebreaker

She cracked some of the biggest espionage cases of the 20th century, but the press preferred to write about her husband.

A pair of Watts-Freeman lobotomy instruments circa 1950

Walter Jackson Freeman, Father of the Lobotomy

He felt the lobotomy was “only a little more dangerous than an operation to remove an infected tooth."

Haruo Nakajima (second from left) during the filming of Godzilla Raids Again (1955).

Haruo Nakajima, the Original Actor Beneath the Godzilla Suit

He prepared for his role by visiting the zoo.

Queen Christina, Who Ruled as a King

This learned, opinionated Renaissance monarch caused a sensation throughout Europe.

Retrobituaries: Buffalo Calf Road Woman, Custer's Final Foe

She may have been the last person to see George Armstrong Custer alive.

Karen Wetterhahn, the Chemist Whose Poisoning Death Changed Safety Standards

She followed the safety protocol, but the mother of two was dead within a year.

Franz Anton Mesmer, the Man Who Invented Hypnotism

He's one of the few people to have a verb—mesmerize—named for him.

Emperor Norton, San Francisco’s Most Beloved 19th-Century Eccentric

Joshua Norton declared himself "Emperor of These United States"—and San Francisco loved him for it.

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