... 2004, Kenyan environmentalist Dr. Wangari Maathai became the 1st African woman ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. As early as 1976 she had advocated the planting of trees as part of a Green Belt Movement (about which she's written the book at left); 30 million were planted across the continent. A parliamentarian and professor, she is also an activist for women's rights.
... 1643, Jeanne Mance (right), 39, opened the Hôtel Dieu, the 1st hospital in Montréal and the 1st lay hospital anywhere in North America. Herself the continent's 1st lay nurse, Mance cared for indigenous Canadians and French settlers until her death in 1673. (photo of stained-glass window depicting Mance © Religieuses Hospitalières de Saint-Joseph and Hôtel-Dieu du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal)