Women peacemakers born today

• 1626 Queen Christina of Sweden born Stockholm (d. 1689). Patron of the father of international law, Hugo Grotius; major influence on Peace of Westphalia, which ended Thirty Years War, 1648; held Swedish throne, 1644-53; student of Islam.

• 1878 Marie Mattingly Meloney born Bardstown, KY (d. 1943). Editor and journalist; decorated by governments of Belgium and France for postwar relief; contributor to Why Wars Must Cease, 1935.

• 1903 Zelma Watson George born Hearn, TX (d. 1994). Musician; sociologist; African-American delegate to UN General Assembly, 1961; attendee African Ban The Bomb conference, Ghana, 1963; recipient of Dag Hammarskjöld Award, 1961; recipient of Dahlberg Peace Award, 1963; early advocate of UN.

• 1930 Dorothy Granada born Los Angeles, CA. Nonviolent Filipina/Chicana nurse; 40-day international fast for life against nuclear weapons, 1983; part of group to protest disappeared Guatemalans, 1985; "lived on the tracks" of Concord weapons depot in Nuremberg protest, 1987; awarded FOR Peace prize, 1997; decade-plus efforts for Nicaraguan women.

Women's peacemaking on this day

• 1941 Jeannette Rankin was the only member of Congress to vote against war with Japan. "As a woman I can't go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else."

• 1954 Kurdish activist Leila Zana jailed by Turkish government.

• 1977 Nine members of the Mothers of La Plaza del Mayo kidnapped and disappeared.

• 1983 Five Puget Sound Women sentenced for Boeing trespass.

• 2011 Abigail Borah interrupted conference, speaking for US, calling for climate treaty at Durban.