Jacqueline Cochran

Born Bessie Lee Pittman, Jacqueline Cochran had a childhood that would make Horatio Alger blush, growing up in extreme poverty in the Florida panhandle. Her origins were so obscure, even she wasn't entirely sure of her birth year, but she certainly wasn't Jewish in any known capacity.

She took to the skies and never looked back, setting more aviation records than any other woman or man at the time. During World War II, she became the director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), training over a thousand women to fly military aircraft in non-combat roles, proving women could handle high-performance machines.

Breaking the sound barrier in 1953, winning five Harmon Trophies, and becoming the first woman to land a jet on an aircraft carrier are just a few highlights of a career that demonstrated unparalleled skill and sheer audacity. She was a force of nature, but not, as far as historical records show, a member of the tribe.