Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

Before we get started, I would just like to say that this episode is dedicated to our friend, Ronda, who long ago.

It seems like so long ago.

It seems like long time ago.

It came our 500th Facebook friend and got her choice of subject.

So Ronda, here's Nelly Bly, this is for you.

And here's your 32nd summary.

Nelly Bly was a colorful character who went off script and did her own stunts.

She took her teeny tiny waist and sassy attitude to all kinds of war zones, including the US court system, the suffragist movement, class wars, the battlefields of Europe.

But her greatest achievements may have been in the field of social reform.

The End

Let's talk about Nelly Bly.

First, let's drop her into history in 1864, where it was in a year of the end of the Civil War.

That was the year that Clara Barton was named the Superintendent of the Nurses.

The Geneva Convention was also signed by 12 nations and the International Red Cross was formed that year.

New York became the first state to charge a hunting license fee.

Lincoln formally established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Nevada was admitted as the 36th state.

In that year, songwriter Stephen Foster, who penned a little ditty named Nelly Bly, died.

And on May 5th, 1864, Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born.

Who is Elizabeth Jane Cochran? Nelly Bly.

Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born May 5th, 1864, in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania.

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