For many women, July brings memories of hot summers, family vacations and cookouts. However, many women don’t realize that historically, July has been a big month of “firsts” for women.

Back on July 25, 1975, women conquered the great unknown when Russian astronaut Svetlana Savitskaya made history as the first woman to walk in space and the first woman to make more than one space voyage. Before becoming an accomplished astronaut, Savitskaya took on many adventurous activities such as parachute jumping. By the time she was 17, she logged 450 jumps.

Since the time of the women’s suffrage movement, American women have been working to reach equality in the political area. A major break through came on July 12, 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to be selected as a vice-presidential candidate. Ferraro ran on the ticket with Democratic nominee Walter Mondale against incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush. Although Mondale and Ferraro were defeated in the election, Ferraro continued to help advance women in politics. She founded the Americans Concerned for Tomorrow political action committee with the mission of getting 10 female candidates elected in the 1986 Congressional elections and successfully helped eight get elected. Ferraro was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994, an institution that is celebrating its 42nd anniversary during July.

Located in Seneca Falls, New York,-also known as the birthplace of women’s rights- the National Women’s Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to serve as a permanent home to the contributions women have made throughout history. Women from a variety of fields such as arts, athletics, business education and government have been inducted since its founding. For a complete listing of inductees, visit www.greatwomen.org.

During this July and all that will follow, remember to take a moment to be thankful for all we have and those who made it possible.