Army General Ann Elizabeth Dunwoody is the first woman to become a four-star officer in any branch of the service. Earlier, she was also the Army’s top-ranking female when she was promoted to lieutenant general (three stars) and served as the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff.
Race car driver and team co-owner Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win an Indy race. Her finish as third in the 2009 Indy 500 is her personal best and the highest finish to date in that race for a woman race car driver.
The New Hampshire State Senate becomes the first senate with a majority of female senators: thirteen of the twenty-four senators are women.
Legislation is signed by President Obama awarding the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) the Congressional Gold Medal. It recognizes the more than 1,000 women who flew American military aircraft in noncombat military missions during World War II.
Poet, novelist, and journalist Margarita Engle becomes the first Hispanic author to receive a Newbery honor for her 2008 novel, The Surrender Tree. The novel, written in verse, is about Cuba’s struggle for independence.
Sonia Maria Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court Justice and the third woman appointed to the country’s highest court.