CHENNAI: You probably never heard of Nellie Bly until you saw a Google doodle dedicated to her on Tuesday. And for those who didn’t see it, just to be clear — this is not the Nellie who sang that hit single I’m Like a Bird or the other Nelly that sang Hot in Here with plenty of bootilicious women in the video. No, this Nellie, if she were alive today, would be 151 years old. But why is she on page one?
For starters, she was a crazy journalist. No seriously. The American, who’s real name is actually Elizabeth Jane Cochrane was insane enough to get doctors to believe her, in order to be admitted for it — all for an investigative piece on brutality and neglect at a Women’s Lunatic Asylum.
Oh and she also decided that she wanted to travel around the world, only with a twist. She decided she would beat Jules Verne’s track record of Around the World in 80 Days, and instead had her mission accomplished in 72! To a gutsy lady who we wish we a time machine to roll back the years and meet — we doff of hats and say: Salut!