On February 14

On this day in ...
... 1920 (90 years ago today), in Chicago, the League of Women Voters was founded. This brought to life a proposal made the year before by Carrie Chapman Catt (left), President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, for the creation of a league of women voters to "finish the fight" and aid in the reconstruction of the nation. (photo credit) "The fight," of course, was for the vote, which would be extended to U.S. women on August 26, 1920, the date on which, as we've posted, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect. As for the nonpartisan League, it is still in existence; in the words of its Chicago chapter, "[m]embership is open to all citizens, women and men, ages 18 and older."
... 2007 (3 years ago today), this blog was soft-launched by means of the following wee post, entitled IntLawGrrls' Hearfelt Hello:

Our world is a jumble of peoples, a mix of culture and custom, a marketplace of markets as well as ideas. We come together in amazing ways, yet clash in ways that bring destruction and dismay. Women now have a hand in our world’s affairs: think Albright and Arbour, del Ponte and Higgins, Ginsburg and Rice. Yet our voices remain faint, in backrooms and in the blogosphere. IntLawGrrls – women who teach and work in international law, policy and practice – hope to change all that. We embrace foremothers' names to encourage crisp commentary, delivered at times with a dash of sass. We welcome replies, and we look forward to fresh dialogue on the matters of the day.
It's our world, after all.

In gestation beginning February 14, 2007
Due date March 3, 2007 – Grrls’ Day in Japan

(Prior February 14 posts are here, here, and here.)

On this day

On March 23, ...
... 1568 (440 years ago today), the Peace of Longjumeau, which ended Second French Religious War, was concluded. France's teenaged King Charles IX and his Queen Regent mother, the Florence-born Catherine de Medici (right), both Roman Catholics, signed the pact, which made promises of religious freedom for the Protestant Huguenots. The agreement was short-lived: the Third Religious War began a scant 6 months later.
... 1977, Lucy Wilson Benson became the 1st woman to serve as Under Secretary of State. When appointed Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science, and Technology, a post she held until January 5, 1980, Benson (left) was the top-ranking woman in the U.S. State Department. From 1968-74, Benson had been President of the League of Women Voters.