Who are Shiphrah and Puah?

Shiphrah and Puah are the midwives that disobeyed Pharaoh's order to kill all the sons born to Jews in Egypt. As noted by Rabbi Telushkin, these women may have committed the first recorded acts of Civil Disobedience. He further notes that the Torah provides the names of these two courageous women, and not the name of the Pharaoh whose murderous order was ignored.