Historical advert for a hat made with bird feathers (rspb-images.com)'Girl Power' - a phrase made popular by all-girl pop group the Spice Girls in the 1990s, and which is now used to highlight the social and economic importance and influence of young women.

But inspiring and influential women are nothing new, as celebrations for the 100th International Women's Day today show.

In fact, the existence of the RSPB is very much thanks to women.

In 1889, the fledgling 'Society for the Protection of Birds' was formed by women appalled by the killing of birds so that their feathers could be used to decorate hats. They won their battle, and since then we've grown into Europe's largest wildlife charity with over a million members, and some 200 nature reserves.

Girl power indeed!

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