On
this date in 1964, Nyasaland became independent of the United Kingdom
(Britain). The first order of business was changing the name of the
country to Malawi.
Even
though Malawi is a really small, landlocked nation with little
economic development, low life expectancy, and high infant mortality,
it beat the U.S. in having a woman president. Joyce Banda became
president in April of this year, following the sudden heart attack
and death of the elected president, Bingu wa Mutharika.
Some
other nations that have beat the U.S. in having female heads-of-state
include Argentina, India, Israel, Great Britain, Iceland,
Philippines, Germany, Nicaragua, Ireland, Iceland, Sri Lanka,
Switzerland, Burundi, Liberia, Chile—and, well, the list goes on
and on. Even Muslim-majority nations such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh have elected women leaders into the top spots (president
or prime minister). As a matter of fact, it's easy to find examples
of nations that have or have had female presidents (or prime
ministers)--what's not so easy is finding a nation that has never had
a female in the top governmental position. After a lot of digging,
I've discovered three examples of nations that have never had a woman
as a leader: the U.S., Japan, and Italy.
Hopefully
that will have changed within the next few decades!
Also
on this date:
