On this day in 1972, Rose Heilbron became the UK’s first female judge at the Old Bailey

On this day in 1972, Rose Heilbron became the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales. The British barrister was a woman of many firsts, including first woman to achieve a first class honours degree in law at the University of Liverpool, one of the first two women to be appointed King’s Counsel in England, and the first woman to lead in a murder case.

Also on this day 04 January

In 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman in US history to be elected speaker of the House of Representatives. She made history again in January 2019 when she regained her position second-in-line to the presidency, the first person to do so in more than six decades.

Read more about women’s achievements through history here