Dale Messick is the first female cartoonist with her comic strip Brenda Starr, Reporter.
Judy Garland is an entertainer whose career spans many years. As a child star in the now famous film The Wizard of Oz, she receives a special Academy Award for her portrayal of Dorothy. Garland sings, dances, and acts in more than thirty films and another thirty television specials.
May Arbuthnot coauthors the Dick and Jane series, which teaches millions of children how to read.
Sculptor Louise Nevelson has her first one-woman show.
Hattie McDaniel, a movie actress, singer, and radio and television personality, is the first African American to win an Academy Award for her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.
Comedienne Minnie Pearl joins country music’s Grand Ole Opry as its only female member.
Margaret Chase Smith is first elected as a U.S. representative from Maine. After serving four terms in the House, she wins election to the U.S. Senate in 1948, becoming the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. She is the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency by either major party. She serves four terms in the Senate and a total of thirty-two years in Congress.
On December 7, the Japanese bomb American planes and battleships in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This unprovoked attack, with its staggering death toll, causes the United States to enter World War II. The war will provide unprecedented employment opportunities for millions of American women.
Fictional character Wonder Woman is introduced as a comic book heroine. With Superman and Batman, she is part of DC Comics’ “Big Three.” Wonder Woman achieves later popularity on television when Lynda Carter plays the role in the early 1970s.