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.

