Google is marking International Women’s Day with its latest Doodle, which highlights the importance of role models in inspiring the next generation.

While International Women’s Day is very much about looking to the future and what women are striving to achieve globally, it is worth looking back at those who laid the groundwork as pioneers for diversity.

That job has been put in the hands of the latest Google Doodle, which turns back the clock to highlight 13 women who have made their mark in various fields, from astronomy and physics to sport and art.

The Doodle slideshow illustrates a grandmother telling her granddaughter a bedtime story that features these important women. The young girl then uses her imagination to visit each one on a journey that spans centuries.

The 13 remarkable women are:

Ida Wells

Suffragist, journalist and civil rights activist

Lotfia El Nadi

Egypt’s first woman pilot

Lina Bo Bardi

Italian-born Brazilian architect

Olga Skorokhodova

Soviet scientist working in deaf and blind communication

Miriam Makeba

South African singer and civil rights activist

Sally Ride

American astronaut and STEM advocate

Halet Çambel

The first Muslim woman to compete at the Olympics for Turkey

Ada Lovelace

The world’s first computer programmer

Rukmini Devi Arundale

Indian choreographer credited with reviving Indian dance

Cecilia Grierson

First woman in Argentina to receive a medical degree

Lee Tai-young

South Korea’s first female judge and lawyer

Suzanne Lenglen

French tennis champion who ushered in a new age for the sport

Frida Kahlo

Mexican painter and activist

Making their mark

“Although some of the women showcased in today’s Doodle aren’t household names, each made a mark in her own way,” Google said of its selection.

“They pursued a range of professions and passions and hailed from an array of backgrounds and countries. In fact, all of these women have been featured in individual Doodles in the past, but often only in their countries of origin.

“So today we’re taking the opportunity to share their stories with everyone.”