Shakuntala Devi, an Indian mental calculator,was asked to give the 23rd root of a 201-digit number; she answered in 50 seconds. Her answer was confirmed by calculations done at the US Bureau of Standards for which a special program had to be written to perform such a large calculation.
She was also one of the early pioneers of gay rights in India and published a book on homosexuality way back in 1977 calling for the full acceptance and decriminalization of homosexuality. This was after her marriage broke up, due to her husband being a gay man. https://gayrightsindia.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/remembering-shakuntala-devi-the-human-computer-and-the-pioneer-of-gay-rights/amp/
Imaan Hammam by Camilla Akrans for Porter Magazine #24 Winter Escape 2017
