s. 1, ép. 1: For 191 years the U.S. Supreme Court was populated only by men. When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. A pioneer who both reflected and shaped an era, in her 25 years as justice she was the swing vote in cases about some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues—including race, gender and reproductive rights.