Hillary Clinton is arguably the most famous woman politician in U.S. history. Today she gave her farewell speech in the Senate, as she prepares to take on the role of Secretary of State for the incoming administration.

She made history in 2008 during her run for the Democratic nomination for president of this country. No woman candidate had ever won a U.S. primary. She won the first one in New Hampshire, and went on to win 20 more.

She garnered half a million more votes than the selected nominee, but because of DNC machinations, the votes of two early primary states, Florida and MIchigan, were denied her, and with them the delegates that would have changed the face of the primary from male to female.

She ended the primary season with a wave of landslide primary wins, solidifying in the minds of millions the esteem that her supporters held her in.

She campaigned tirelessly for the nominee, including calling for a unanimous vote in favor of him on the floor of the Democratic Convention which ended the traditional roll call vote, giving up the right of the delegate votes cast for her to be read and recorded as they were legally meant to be. She did this in the name of party unity.

She gave a competent and confident performance in the Senate hearing two days ago as part of the process of confirming her as incoming Secretary of State. Senator Clinton will be the third female Secretary of State for the U.S. A.

Throughout her career, she has been a staunch advocate for women and children. As First Lady, she spoke in Beijing at the 4th World Conference on Women in 1995, where she said:

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely — and the right to be heard.

As a New Yorker, I have been proud to have her represent my state in the U.S. Senate. I believe she will do a wonderful job representing this country on the international stage.

Uma Singh was cremated on Tuesday in Janakpur, Southern Nepal. Thousands of people turned out to mourn the 26 year old who was hacked to death on Sunday night by a group of fifteen men.

Uma Singh, 26, worked as a journalist in a region beset by violence as dozens of groups fight for regional autonomy. She had spoken out in the past about the death threats meted out to journalists by various factions if their stories were not given top priority. Her writings were often critical of gender and caste discrimination, especially the dowry system.

One witness, who heard the commotion form her apartment on Sunday night, quotes one of the killers as saying “This is for writing so much.”

Alice Paul

January 11, 1885-July 9, 1977

Alice Paul was a major force in securing the right of U.S . women to vote. She planned and lead the campaign for passage of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. Borrowing techniques from British suffragettes, Paul and her friends began suffrage watches, picketing, parades, demonstrations, and strikes. These actions caught media attention and brought the issue of women’s suffrage onto the national stage.

She founded the National Women’s Party and staged the first political protest to picket at the White House. The “Silent Sentinels” picketed the White House from January until July 1917, when they were arrested for “obstructing traffic”. Paul and others were locked up in the Occoquan Workhouse and the D. C. Jail. At one time, during a hunger strike, Paul was force fed raw eggs.

All that for having the audacity to want to vote!

In 1918, Wilson finally decided women’s suffrage was needed as a “war measure’, and urged it be voted upon by Congress. It came down to one vote, that of the state of Tennessee, for the 19th Amendment to be ratified.

She drafted the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923, but an incarnation of it didn’t make it to the Senate until 1972. Unfortunately, approval by 38 states is required and it only received 35. Paul’s work remains unfinished in 2009.

Paul saw the danger of linking abortion with women’s rights, and refused to put abortion and birth control language into the ERA. She knew it was political suicide, and she said that even if women did want to do many things that she wished they would not do with their freedom, it was not her business to tell them what to do with it, but to see that they had it.”

Happy Birthday, Alice!