1900 In Japan, the first medical school for women is founded in Tokyo

1900 In Germany, a new civil code grants women equality with men except in areas concerning marriage and family matters

1900 In Brazil, a Federation for the Advancement of Women is founded

1902 Following New Zealand (in 1893), Australia becomes the world's second country to grant women voting rights

1902 In the U.S., Susan B. Anthony presides at the International Women's Suffrage Conference in Washington, D.C.; ten countries are represented

1903 In France, Marie Curie becomes the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize; she shares the prize in physics with her husband

1905 In Germany, Heidelberg and Freiberg Universities are the first to allow women students to matriculate

1906 In Russia, universities open up to female students

1906 Finland grants women suffrage

1913 Norway grants women suffrage

1914 Puerto Rican labor activist Luisa Capetillo is arrested in Cuba for wearing men's trousers in public and is then deported for trying to organize Cuban factory workers

1915 Denmark grants women suffrage

1916 In the U.S., Margaret Sanger opens the first family planning clinic in Brooklyn

1918 Austria, Canada, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, and Russia grant women suffrage

1918 In the United Kingdom, Constance Markiewicz becomes the first woman to be elected to Parliament; however, as a protest against British policy in her homeland of Ireland, she refuses to swear allegiance tot eh Crown and cannot take her place in the House of Commons

1919 American-born Nancy Astor is elected to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom and becomes the first woman to sit as a member of Parliament

1919 Belarus, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Ukraine grant women suffrage

1920 Russian women become the first to get abortion on request

1920 In the U.S., the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution grants women the right to vote; women in Albania and Czechoslovakia also gained suffrage

1921 In Canada, Agnes MacPhail becomes the first woman elected to Parliament

1921 In the United Kingdom, Marie Stopes opens the first Mother's Clinic for Birth Control in London; initially only married women are admitted

1921 Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Lithuania grant women suffrage

1923 In Turkey, President Mustafa Kemal bans the custom requiring women to veil their faces

1924 Kazakhstan and Tajikistan grant women suffrage

1927 Turkmenistan grants women suffrage

1928 Great Britain grants voting rights to women over 21; women over age 30 had the right to vote since 1918

1928 Ecuador, Ireland, and the United Kingdom grant all adult women the right to vote in any major election; in 1918 Ireland and the U.K. had granted some women suffrage

1929 In India, the Child Marriage Restraint Act is passed, with the aim of ending the practice of forced marriages of young girls

1930 In Italy, women are granted the right to vote and run for office

1930 In India, Muthulakshimi Reddi, by way of the All-India Women’s Conference, pushes through the Child Marriage Restraint Act

1930 Turkey grants women suffrage

1931 Chile, Spain, and Sri Lanka grant women suffrage

1932 Brazil, Thailand, and Uraguay grant women suffrage

1932 In the United States, Amelia Earhart sets the aviation record for women at 171 mph in Lockheed Vega

1933 In South Africa, Mabel Malherbe is the first elected member of Parliament

1933 In the United States, Frances Perkins becomes the first American woman to attain Cabinet rank when she is named President Roosevelt’s Secretary for Labor

1934 China bans the ancient practice of binding women's feet

1937 Cuba grants women suffrage

1934 Russia holds its first public fashion show

1935 Myanmar and Puerto Rico grant all women suffrage; in 1929 Puerto Rico had granted some women suffrage

1936 In Brazil, Bertha Lutz becomes a member of Parliament

1937 Philippines grants women suffrage

1937 In India, Vijaya Pandit becomes the first female Minister for Local Government and Health

1937 American Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean

1938 Uzbekistan grants women suffrage

1939 In Haiti, women are first admitted to universities

1939 El Salvador grants women suffrage

1942 Dominican Republic grants women suffrage

1943 Yugoslavia grants women suffrage

1944 Bulgaria, France, and Jamaica grant women suffrage

1945 Croatia, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Senegal, and Slovenia grant women suffrage

1946 Cameroon, Guatemala, North Korea, Liberia, Macedonia, Panama, Romania, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Vietnam grant women suffrage

1946 In Argentina Eva Peron ("Evita") is influential in championing women's rights and advocating women's suffrage, which is won in 1947

1947 Bangladesh, Mexico, Pakistan, and Singapore also grant women suffrage

1947 Japan's new constitution takes effect that includes equal rights for women and men; after 60 years of campaigning, suffrage is won

1948 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights is adopted

1948 Belgium, Israel, South Korea, and Niger grant women suffrage

1949 China's constitution abolishes the feudal system and officially gives women equality with men in all spheres of life: political, economic, cultural, social, and personal

1949 Bosnia-Herzegovina, China, Costa Rica, and Greece grant women suffrage

1950 India's constitution grants women social and political equality with men, including voting rights for all men and women over age 21; Haiti also grants women suffrage

1951 Nepal grants women suffrage

1952 Bolivia and Lebanon grant women suffrage

1953 Mexican women gain the right to stand for office in national elections

1953 Syria grants all women suffrage; some women were granted suffrage in 1949

1953 Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit becomes the first woman elected president of the United Nations General Assembly

1953 In Russia, Stalin's successor Nikita Khrushchev lifts the ban on divorce and abortion; he also creates the Soviet Women's Committee, a nongovernmental organization with the stated purpose of promoting women's participation in the labor force

1954 Polygamy is outlawed in India

1954 Ghana grants women suffrage

1955 Cambodia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Peru grant women suffrage

1956 Benin, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, Mali, Somalia, Togo, and Tunisia grant women suffrage

1957 Women in southern Nigeria, Colombia, the Honduras, Malaysia, and Zimbabwe are granted suffrage

1958 Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, and Laos grant women suffrage

1959 Madagascar, Morocco, and Tanzania grant women suffrage

1960 In the U.S. the first birth control pill, Enovid, is approved for use and goes on the market

1960 Zaire grants women suffrage

1961 The Bahamas, Burundi, Malawi, Mauritania, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone grant women suffrage; the Bahamas becomes the last North American country to grant women suffrage

1962 Algeria, Paraguay, Uganda, and Zambia grant women suffrage; Paraguay is the last South American country to grant women suffrage

1963 Valentina Tereschkova, a Soviet woman, becomes the first woman in space

1963 Congo and Iran grant women suffrage

1964 Afghanistan and Libya grant women suffrage

1965 Sudan grants all women suffrage; some women were granted suffrage in 1953

1966 In Australia, married women are no longer barred from working as permanent employees in public service jobs

1966 In India, Indira Gandhi becomes the nation's first woman prime minister

1967 France legalizes contraception

1967 In the United Kingdom a new Abortion Act overturns a 1861 law outlawing abortion under all circumstances; abortion is now legal if 2 doctors find that pregnancy would imperil the physical or mental health of the woman

1969 In Israel, Golda Meir becomes the nation's first woman prime minister

1970 Yemen grants all women suffrage; some women were granted suffrage in 1967

1970 In Italy divorce is permitted for the first time

1971 Switzerland grants women suffrage

1971 In India women win the right to abortion

1972 The United Kingdom founds its first shelter for battered women

1972 In the U.S., Title IX of the Education Amendments is passed, prohibiting sex discrimination in several areas, including student admissions, employee hiring, and student athletics

1972 Jeanne Martin Cisse of Guinea becomes the first permanent woman delegate to the United Nations. Later in the year she is appointed thefirst woman president of the U.N. Security Council

1973 The U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe vs. Wade, overturns state laws forbidding abortion during the first trimester

1973 Three Portuguese women publish a book of feminist poems, essays, and letters and are charged with offending public morals. They are acquitted in 1974 and immediately begin work on a women’s movement in Portugal

1974 Jordan grants women suffrage

1974 In France, the Ligue du Droit des Femmes (Women's Rights League) is founded

1975 Angola and Mozambique grant women suffrage

1975 Junko Tabei, a Japanese woman, becomes the first woman to climb Mt. Everest

1975 The First United Nations Conference on Women is held in Mexico City; unfortunately, it is attended mostly by men

1975 The United Nations observes International Year of the Woman and proclaims 1976-1985 the Decade for Women "to promote equality between men and women"

1975 Austria passes a woman’s rights bill that gives married women the right to retain their birth names, choose a place to live, decide to work outside the home, and receive financial subsidies for the management of the family. Italy passes a similar law.

1976 Portugal grants all women suffrage; some women were granted suffrage in 1931

1976 West Germany establishes its first shelter for battered women (in West Berlin)

1976 Women in Iceland hold a daylong strike to show their importance to the economy, virtually shutting down the country.

1977 In Canada, a law is passed establishing the principle of equal pay for work of equal value

1977 In Brazil divorce is legalized, but with a limit of one per lifetime (a condition rescinded in 1988)

1977 In Belgium, Antoinette Spaak becomes the first woman to head a political party when she is elected chair of the Front Democratique des Francophones

1978 Moldova and Nigeria grant all women suffrage; Nigeria granted some women suffrage in 1957

1978 In Italy, abortion is legalized, allowing abortion on demand during the first 90 days of pregnancy for all women aged 18 and over

1978 Naomi James, a New Zealander, becomes the first woman to sail around the world alone

1978 In the U.S., NASA accepts women for astronaut training

1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) requires that all countries bring their domestic codes in line with the United Nations standards of human rights

1979 In Iran, the edict of 1975 ordering all women to wear the chador (Muslim head covering) in public is repealed. Thousands of Iranian women marched in Teheran to protest the government’s restrictions of their rights

1979 In the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman elected prime minister of a European country

1979 In Egypt, family law is codified, giving women the right to seek divorce, gain custody of their children, and retain the family residence

1980 The Second United Nations Conference on Women takes place in Copenhagen

1980 Iraq grants women suffrage

1980 The Canadian Human Rights Commission "in a precedent-setting decision" rules that six female nurses merit the same pay as male technicians who work with them and perform the same tasks.

1981 In the U.S., Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court

1981 Gro Harlem Brundtland is appointed the first woman premier of Norway

1982 Kenya bans female genital mutilation

1983 In Bangladesh, a new law institutes the death penalty for anyone found guilty of committing a dowry death (the killing of a bride for insufficient dowry)

1984 Liechtenstein becomes the last European country to grant women suffrage

1984 Australia’s federal cabinet approves new nonsexist language for its national anthem, "Advance Australia Fair"

1984 Women runners from 20 countries win a sex bias suit against the International Olympic Committee to include longer races for women. For the first time, the Olympics include a woman’s marathon and 3,000-meter race.

1985 The Third United Nations Conference on Women takes place in Nairobi

1985 Wilma Mankiller becomes the first woman in history to lead a major Native American tribe when she is named the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma

1986 The Central African Republic grants women suffrage

1986 In Argentina the ban on public distribution of contraceptives is lifted

1986 The Second World Whores’ Congress, organized by a retired prostitute, is held in Brussels. Topics include the importance of using condoms, legalization of prostitution, and violence against women

1988 Women in Black, a group of peace activists, begins weekly vigils to protest violence and occupation in the Middle East. The concept is eventually picked up around the world by women in such places as Serbia, Australia, and the United States

1989 In Romania, two of the new government's first acts are (1) a repeal of the ban on abortion and (2) an easing of access to contraception

1990 The Women’s Library and Information Center opens in Istanbul—the first independent library for feminist scholarship and activism in Turkey. The center’s mission is to compile data and research papers on women, and coordinate women’s organizations throughout the country

1991 In Botswana, Lawyer Unity Dow wins the first sex discrimination case under a new charter

1991 In Brazil, feminist activism succeeds when the Superior Justice Tribunal rules that men may no longer claim "defense of honor" as a justification for killing their allegedly unfaithful partners

1992 The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) succeeds in their effort to pass the Law Protecting Women's Rights and Interests; this law prohibits (1) drowning, forsaking, cruelly injuring, or killing baby girls and (2) discriminating against or abusing women who give birth to baby girls or bear no children

1992 In Japan, female students are first allowed to take entrance exams for military academies. Also, the first sexual harassment case in the history of Japan is won.

1993 Canada becomes the first country to grant political asylum to women facing domestic violence if forced to return to their homelands

1993 In Russia, the first registered rape victims' center opens in Moscow

1994 South Africa, by granting voting rights to all Africans (women and men), becomes the last country on the continent to grant women suffrage

1995 The Fourth United Nations Conference on Women takes place in Beijing; 50,000 participants have a caucus on discrimination against women

1995 In Egypt, a new law allows women and men to negotiate the terms of their marriage contract, including the wife's right to work

1995 In Iran, for the first time women are allowed to attain the rank of judge

1995 Ireland becomes the last major European nation to lift its ban on divorce

1996 The South African Parliament replaces the Abortion and Sterilization Act of 1975 (a restrictive abortion law) with one of the world's most liberal abortion laws

1996 In Egypt, the Ministry of Health officially bans female genital mutilation

1997 Peru repeals a 1924 law that allowed rapists to avoid criminal prosecution if they married their victims

2000 In June, 'Beijing +5' takes place, in which progress since the 1995 conference is reviewed