No one believed a woman could be stronger than a man, until Katie Brumbach -- also known as Sandwina -- displayed her show-stopping feats as a circus strongwoman.

100 pounds... 200 pounds... 300 pounds! Katie Brumbach became the world's top strongwoman after she ousted Eugene Sandow by lifting hundreds of pounds over her head (which Sandow could barely lift to his shoulders). After that, she took the last name Sandwina and thrived in the circus world -- which she had been participating in since the age of two when she first performed with her family. She grew over six feet tall as she got older, but Katie never second-guessed herself, and she trained to build her muscles, always eager to test her skills and try new feats.

Katie Brumbach was born in the back of a circus wagon in the late 1800s to two Bavarian performers. After years of dazzling audiences with her jaw-dropping strength, one day in New York in 1902, Brumbach came across the World's Strongest Man, Eugene Sandow, and the two had an epic weightlifting showdown.

Brumbach definitively won when she lifted 300 pounds over her head with one hand, while Sandow barely got the weights to his chest with two hands.

Her victory proclamation? Changing her name to Katie Sandwina in honor of the man she defeated, Eugene Sandow. The Great Sandwina was born.

Sandwina inspired others by her strength and her advocacy for women. In 1912, she became the vice president of the 800-member Suffragette Ladies of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and was sometimes referred to as Sandwina the Suffragette.

Katie Sandwina lifted others, fought for women's rights, and lived a life deeply committed to equity.