US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the history-making jurist, has died, aged 87.

Ginsburg became only the second woman ever to serve as a justice on the nation's highest court.

 She struggled against blatant sexism throughout her career as she climbed to the pinnacle of her profession.

 A lifelong advocate of gender equality, she was fond of joking that there would be enough women on the nine-seat Supreme Court "when there are nine". She did not let up in her twilight years, remaining a scathing dissenter on a conservative-tilting bench, even while her periodic health scares left liberal America on edge. Despite maintaining a modest public profile, like most top judges, Ginsburg inadvertently became not just a celebrity, but a pop-culture heroine. 

 She may have stood an impish 5ft, but Ginsburg will be remembered as a legal colossus.

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