Welcome to the history tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely

coincidental. And here's your 30-second summary. On the surface, Bertha Palmer looked like she had it all.

She was born into wealth and married into even more with a man who loved and appreciated her.

She used her position,

personality, and vast circle of friends to not only affect change within her own home city,

but also to showcase women's achievements on a global scale. She influenced art, helped develop a city, and you know what? Even though she did make some missteps along the way,

and who of us hasn't, Bertha did have it all. And then some. It was an extraordinary life.

The end. Let's talk about Bertha Palmer. But first, let's drop her into history. In 1855, the first bridge to

span the Mississippi River connecting Minneapolis and St. Anthony, Minnesota, opened. A little more

than three months later, a tornado damaged the bridge so badly it had to be rebuilt. Known as

Alexander the Liberator for his reforms to abolish serfdom in the country,

Alexander II became Tsar of Russia. The Antwerp Rotterdam Railway connecting Belgium to the Netherlands

officially opened its first route. Florence Nightingale was working as the superintendent of female nurses

during the Crimean War.

Castle Garden Immigrant Depot, American's first immigration receiving center, opened at the

southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. 35 years later, after over 8 million immigrants had come

through, it was replaced by Ellis Island. Businessman and inventor of the safety

razor, King Gillette, and philanthropist and extremely wealthy man, Andrew Mellon, were both born.

Charlotte Bronte died, and in 1855, a young girl from the South moved to the small frontier town

of Chicago, Illinois, a town that would become her hometown for

the rest of her life, and a town that she will have a historic impact on.

Bertha Matilda Honoré was born on May 22, 1849 on her grandpapa's property just outside

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