6 things we can thank black women for

The movie Hidden Figures is cleaning up during awards season (raking in $119 million in box office sales, according to ComScore), and critics have applauded the cast’s portrayal of the brilliant African-American women who helped launch astronauts into space in the early '60s.

The film is based on a true story, but you probably never heard about it at school. Unfortunately, the women who inspired Hidden Figures aren’t alone - there are many black women who contributed substantially to history and yet never got the widespread credit they deserved.

Here are just a few advances in modern history that we owe to black women:

The Right To Vote: Ida B. Wells

We often associate the names Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony with women getting the right to vote, but the contributions of Ida B. Wells shouldn't be overlooked.

Best known for her work in the early civil rights movement, Ida also started the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago, which was the first African-American women’s suffrage organization, according to the Washington Post. In 1913 she attended the Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., despite white organizers telling her and other black women to march at the back of the line.

She refused, and pushed her way to march at the front of her state’s delegation.

Home Security: Marie Van Brittan Brown

We take it for granted that we can spy on our pets while we’re at work and check out who’s ringing the door without stepping outside, but all of that became possible thanks to the inventiveness of Marie Van Brittan Brown.

According to the New York Times, the nurse created a patented home surveillance device with her electrician husband in 1969.

Their design enabled cameras to send images from peepholes to a single monitor so people could see who was outside the house. It became the basis for modern security systems.

Integrated Schools: Ruby Bridges

Ruby rose to fame in 1960 at the age of 6 when she became the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South.

Ruby was born the year that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to end racial segregation in public schools (via Brown v. the Board of Education), but southern states - including Louisiana, where Ruby went to school - refused to integrate, the National Women’s History Museum reports.

Ruby had to be escorted by four federal marshals to school every day that year, walking past crowds that screamed at her.

Ruby’s family suffered as a result - her dad lost his job and grocery stores wouldn’t sell to her mom, but she inspired other black children to enroll in all-white schools and help end segregated education.

Maxi Pads: Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner

Mary was an inventor who is most famously known for coming up with the idea of the sanitary belt, the precursor to menstrual pads.

In the ‘50s, when Mary came up with the belt, women could either use tampons (which were considered “indecent”) or a cloth to soak up blood, Mashable reports, but obviously the latter was inconvenient and kind of gross.

Mary’s invention helped make menstrual hygiene easier for millions of women.

Warm Homes: Alice H. Parker

Like most of us, Alice didn’t like freezing in her house, so she decided to do something about it.

The Jersey native invented a gas-heating furnace that’s credited for inspiring modern home heating systems.

According to the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, she was awarded a patent for her invention in 1919.

Speedy Service On Airplanes: Miriam E. Benjamin

Did the guy next to you on your flight just puke all over you?

Thank schoolteacher and inventor Miriam E. Benjamin for the ability to instantly summon someone to your aid. Miriam submitted a patent in 1888 for her “gong and signal chair” which she designed to help speed up service at restaurants.

The person sitting in the chair would press a button to send a signal to a waiting server.

She lobbied to have her system adopted by the United States House of Representatives for their chairs (although a more advanced version was eventually installed), and her chairs became the precursor for what we use on planes to flag down busy flight attendants, according to the History, Art, and Archives of the House of Representatives.