Nellie Bly

Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran, she became famous under the pen name Nellie Bly as one of the most daring reporters of the late 19th century. She wrote for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and became widely known for going undercover inside a New York asylum, then exposing the abuse and neglect she found there.

She also captured the public imagination in 1889 and 1890 by racing around the globe in 72 days, inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. The trip made her an international celebrity and showed how reporting could be adventurous, personal, and wildly popular at the same time.

Later in life, she spent time in business and eventually returned to journalism. Today she is remembered as a pioneer of investigative reporting and as a writer whose courage opened new possibilities for women in the press.