On this day in 1919, socialite Lady Nancy Langhorne Astor (1879–1964), a woman of unmistakable strength and spark, became the first woman in British history to sit in Parliament. Her very presence in the House of Commons challenged tradition and widened the possibilities of political life.

“People who talk about peace are very often the most quarrelsome,” she observed with her trademark wit. Astor’s tongue could be sharp, but beneath lived a steady belief that politics should serve real people, not just party lines.

A staunch conservative who championed women’s rights and progressive education, she held her seat until 1945. “Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer, into a selflessness which links us with all humanity,” she said, insisting that learning must enlarge the heart, not just the mind.

Born into a wealthy family in Greenwood, Virginia, she moved to England following her divorce and later married Waldorf Astor. “The only thing I like about rich people is their money,” she quipped. When her husband left the Commons to succeed his father as viscount, it was Nancy who stepped forward to claim the seat and the work.

Earning respect for her passionate advocacy for women and child welfare, Astor was repeatedly re-elected and served in Parliament until the end of World War II. She could be polarizing, but she was never timid about standing up for what she believed.

“I knew what kept me going—I was an ardent feminist,” she explained. “I always knew we had more moral strength. I once said in the House: ‘We’ve got moral strength and you’ve got immoral strength.’” For her, feminism meant moral courage, not just personal ambition.

Outspoken and strong-willed, Astor became a good friend to writer George Bernard Shaw and a social magnet for royalty, politicians, and artists of her time. She was famous for trading barbed remarks with Winston Churchill, yet she supported him as Prime Minister when it mattered most.

She once said, “The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything or nothing.” In her own way, Nancy Astor stood stubbornly in the middle: determined to change enough to open doors, while holding fast to the values she believed should never be lost.