Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom, ruling over Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. She adopted the additional title of Empress of India on 1 May 1876. She ruled the United Kingdom for 63 years, being the second-longest reign in the country’s history (the longest belonging her great-great-granddaughter and current ruler, Queen Elizabeth II).
The Victorian era was named after the Queen. Under her rule, slavery was abolished throughout all British colonies and voting rights granted to most British men. She also made reforms in labor conditions and presided over significant cultural, political, and military changes in her Empire.
3 thoughts on “10 of the Most Powerful Women in History”
If we don’t want to reduce the number to 10, I’d also include Harriet Tubman.
I’d replace Diana with Elizabeth I.
On the basis of Lincoln calling her “the little lady who started the big war” and because “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was a worldwide bestseller that sold more copies world wide in English and in translations, I would also include Harriet Beecher Stowe. And because Hanna Arendt included her in her book “Men in Dark Times,” I would also include Rosa Luxemberg. And what about Florence Nightingale and Margaret Sanger?