Bulgaria elects its first female president
Acting President Iliana Yotova won Sunday's runoff to become Bulgaria's first elected female head of state, taking 57.6% of the vote to 39.5% for former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, according to the Central Election Commission. Turnout was low. Yotova, an ally of Prime Minister Rumen Radev, said she would work for national consensus in the largely ceremonial post. Read at AP News →
Irene rules Byzantium alone
What happened then
In 797 the Empress Irene took sole power over the Eastern Roman Empire, the first woman to rule it in her own right rather than as a regent or an emperor's wife. In some of her official documents she was styled basileus, the masculine title for emperor.
What caused it
Irene had governed as regent for her young son Constantine VI since her husband Leo IV died in 780, and she presided over the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which restored the veneration of icons. When Constantine grew up, mother and son fought over power. In 797 her supporters seized him and had him blinded, and he likely died soon after, though his fate is uncertain.
How it was resolved
Her reign was short. In 802 a palace coup led by her finance minister, Nikephoros, deposed her. She was exiled to the island of Lesbos and died there the next year.
How it turned out
Her rule had consequences far beyond Constantinople. In the West, some, such as the writer of the Annals of Lorsch, argued that the imperial title was effectively vacant while a woman held it, one justification offered when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor on Christmas Day 800. Europe would have two rival 'Roman' emperors for centuries.
Sources: Wikipedia: Irene of Athens · Wikipedia: Nikephoros I · Wikipedia: Annals of Lorsch
Further reading: Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium by Judith Herrin