girls change the world...
Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James Blake's demand that she relinquish her seat to a white man.
Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes first woman in space.
Okay, so the Russians beat her to space, but who "walked on the moon" just three years after JFK's famous declaration about space exploration? Astronaut Barbie®!
We believe in science.
Indira Gandhi becomes first woman Prime Minister of India.
Nadia Comaneci gets the first perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event.
The first 12-inch Olympic athlete to do so, Barbie® competes in four different Gold Medal events in the 1976 games. We believe in sports.
Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman justice to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro of New York is chosen as the vice-presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket.
In 1992, little girls everywhere join the race to the White House as Barbie® campaigns for President for the first of three times. In the '04 campaign, Barbie® leads the pack with a dot-com-based campaign. We believe in leaders.
Lynn Hill becomes the first person ever to free-climb The Nose, a famous route on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
Eight-year-old cubist artist Alexandra Nechita, the "Petite Picasso," and future United Nations representative, has her first solo art exhibition in Whittier, CA.
Led by Art Teacher™ Barbie®, the Mattel Children's Foundation promotes the importance of art education in schools. We believe in art.
Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai is awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, the first African woman to win.
Michelle Wie, 16-year-old golfer, turns pro.
Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Click a year or graphic above for more information.
The ability of girls and women to change the world is surpassed perhaps only by their determination to do so. Although the world has been sometimes more supportive of these efforts and at other times less, history still tells a tale of success. Here is a look at some milestones in the last 50 years or so of girl and woman history. We believe in keeping doors — and minds — open because you never know what a girl will do next to make the world a better place.
did you know?
Not only did Ruth Handler create the Barbie® doll, in 1975 she also created "Nearly Me," the first natural-feeling prosthesis for breast cancer survivors. Read her story 
