ten things tuesday...

In honor of International Women's Day, here are ten facts about women:

1) More American women work in the education, health services, and social assistance industries than in any other industry. These three industries employ nearly one-third of all female workers.

2) Women in the U.S. labor force currently earn just over 77 cents for every one dollar men earn.

3) Approximately 14% of active members in the U.S. armed forces today are women. In 1950, women comprised less than 2% of the U.S. military.

4) The first woman to run for U.S. president was Victoria Woodhull, who campaigned for the office in 1872 under the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. While women would not be granted the right to vote by a constitutional amendment for nearly 50 years, there were no laws prohibiting a woman from running for the chief executive position.

5) The first female governor of a U.S. state was Wyoming governor Nellie Tayloe Ross, elected in 1924. Wyoming was also the first state to give women the right to vote, enacting women’s suffrage in 1869.

6) The first country to grant women the right to vote in the modern era was New Zealand in 1893.

7) According to a 2007 Census Bureau report, one-third of American women aged 25 to 29 have earned a bachelor’s or advanced college degree.

8) In the U.S., Congress established a national week of recognition for women’s history in 1981. This recognition, held during the second week of March, was later expanded into a full month by a congressional resolution in 1987. The month of March is now designated as National Women’s History Month.

9) The first Mother’s Day was held on May 10, 1908, and was organized by Anna Jarvis in West Virginia and Philadelphia. As the event gained popularity throughout the country, Congress designated the second Sunday in May as a national day of recognition for mothers in 1914.

10) In almost every country worldwide, the life expectancy for women is higher than for men.

Statistics culled from a variety of sources.