First in the World: Important Male & Female Category Wise The First in the World topic is an important part of Static GK for WBCS , WBPSC, UPSC, SSC, Railway, Banking, Police and other competitive examinations
This comprehensive list covers important First in the World GK facts from space exploration, geography, politics, science, sports, awards, aviation, technology, international organizations and other important fields. Additional exam-relevant facts added beyond commonly available basic lists are shown in bold.
First in the World — Exploration & Geography Achievement First Person / Place First person to reach the South Pole Roald Amundsen (Norway) First person to reach the North Pole Robert Peary (USA) First people to reach the summit of Mount Everest Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay First woman to climb Mount Everest Junko Tabei (Japan) First blind person to climb Mount Everest Erik Weihenmayer (USA) First woman to reach the North Pole Ann Bancroft (USA) First woman to reach the South Pole Ann Bancroft (USA) First woman to reach Antarctica Caroline Mikkelsen (Denmark) First person to circumnavigate the globe Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition First person to reach both the North and South Poles Roald Amundsen First European to reach China by land and describe it extensively Marco Polo First European to reach India by sea from Europe Vasco da Gama First person to cross the Atlantic Ocean by solo flight Charles Lindbergh First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean Amelia Earhart
First in the World — Space Exploration Achievement First Person / Object First artificial satellite Sputnik 1 (USSR) First person in space Yuri Gagarin (USSR) First woman in space Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) First man to walk in space Alexei Leonov (USSR) First person to reach the Moon’s vicinity Apollo 8 crew First human to walk on the Moon Neil Armstrong (USA) Second person to walk on the Moon Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin First spacecraft to land on the Moon Luna 2 (USSR) First woman to command a Space Shuttle mission Eileen Collins (USA) First space tourist Dennis Tito (USA) First female space tourist Anousheh Ansari First privately funded spaceflight SpaceShipOne First reusable spacecraft to reach orbit Space Shuttle Columbia First human-made object to reach interstellar space Voyager 1
First in the World — Politics & Government Achievement First Person / Country First President of the United States George Washington First Prime Minister of Great Britain Robert Walpole First woman Prime Minister of a country Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka) First woman President of a country Isabel Martínez de Perón (Argentina) First woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher First woman Prime Minister of a Muslim-majority country Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan) First woman President of an African country Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia) First woman Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel First woman President of the United Nations General Assembly Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (India) First elected woman head of state in the modern era Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (Iceland) First woman elected President of a country through universal suffrage Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (Iceland) First Black President of South Africa Nelson Mandela
First in the World — Science & Nobel Prizes Achievement First Person First Nobel Prize winner Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen First Nobel Prize in Physics Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen First Nobel Prize in Chemistry Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff First Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Emil Adolf von Behring First Nobel Prize in Literature Sully Prudhomme First Nobel Peace Prize Frédéric Passy and Henry Dunant First Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen First woman to win a Nobel Prize Marie Curie First person to win two Nobel Prizes Marie Curie First person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields Marie Curie First person to win three Nobel Prizes No individual has won three Nobel Prizes First woman to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry Marie Curie
First in the World — Medicine & Biology Achievement First Person First person to use vaccination successfully against smallpox Edward Jenner First successful human heart transplant Christiaan Barnard First person to clone a mammal from an adult somatic cell Ian Wilmut and team First test-tube baby Louise Brown First woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Medicine Gerty Cori First successful human-to-human blood transfusion using blood groups Karl Landsteiner’s work established the ABO blood groups First woman to receive a medical degree in the United States Elizabeth Blackwell
First in the World — Inventions & Technology Achievement First Person / Invention First practical telephone Alexander Graham Bell First successful powered airplane Wright Brothers First practical incandescent electric lamp Thomas Edison First computer programmer Ada Lovelace First general-purpose electronic computer ENIAC First mechanical television demonstration John Logie Baird First successful steam locomotive George Stephenson First practical automobile Karl Benz First successful printing press in Europe Johannes Gutenberg First commercially successful personal computer Apple II First mobile phone call Martin Cooper First World Wide Web website CERN
First in the World — Aviation Achievement First Person First powered flight Orville and Wilbur Wright First solo nonstop transatlantic flight Charles Lindbergh First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Amelia Earhart First woman to receive a pilot’s licence Raymonde de Laroche (France) First person to fly around the world solo Wiley Post First person to fly supersonically Chuck Yeager First woman to pilot a supersonic aircraft Jacqueline Cochran First nonstop flight around the world without refuelling Voyager team led by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager
First in the World — Oceans & Underwater Exploration Achievement First Person / Vehicle First person to reach the deepest known point of the ocean Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh First woman to reach the Challenger Deep Kathryn Sullivan First successful submarine David Bushnell’s Turtle First nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus First person to cross the Atlantic Ocean by solo flight Charles Lindbergh First woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by solo flight Amelia Earhart
First in the World — Sports Achievement First Person / Country First modern Olympic Games Athens, Greece — 1896 First country to host the modern Olympic Games Greece First FIFA World Cup winner Uruguay First FIFA World Cup Uruguay, 1930 First country to win the Cricket World Cup West Indies First player to score a century in a Cricket World Cup final Clive Lloyd First person to run the mile in under four minutes Roger Bannister First woman to run a mile in under five minutes Diane Leather First woman to win an Olympic gold medal Charlotte Cooper First woman to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event Charlotte Cooper First woman to win an Olympic swimming gold medal Marguerite Steedman? First person to win eight Olympic gold medals at a single Games Michael Phelps First athlete to win Olympic gold medals in five different editions of the Games Clara Hughes
First in the World — Mount Everest & Adventure Achievement First Person First people to summit Mount Everest Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay First woman to climb Mount Everest Junko Tabei First person to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen Reinhold Messner First person to climb Everest twice Nawang Gombu First woman to climb Everest twice Santosh Yadav First blind person to climb Everest Erik Weihenmayer First person to ski down Mount Everest Davo Karničar First woman to ski down Mount Everest Kit DesLauriers
First in the World — Awards & Honours Achievement First Person First Nobel laureate Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen First woman Nobel laureate Marie Curie First person to win two Nobel Prizes Marie Curie First person to win Nobel Prizes in two sciences Marie Curie First woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize Bertha von Suttner First woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature Selma Lagerlöf First woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics Marie Curie First woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry Marie Curie First woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Gerty Cori
First in the World — Literature & Arts Achievement First Person First Nobel Prize in Literature winner Sully Prudhomme First woman Nobel laureate in Literature Selma Lagerlöf First woman to win the Pulitzer Prize Margaret A. Deland First woman to win the Booker Prize Bernice Rubens First African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature Wole Soyinka First Asian Nobel laureate in Literature Rabindranath Tagore
First in the World — Cinema Achievement First Person / Film First motion picture Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory First feature-length narrative film The Story of the Kelly Gang First sound film The Jazz Singer First Academy Awards ceremony 1929 First woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director Kathryn Bigelow First non-English-language film to win Best Picture Parasite First animated feature film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture No animated film has won Best Picture
First in the World — Women Achievers Achievement First Woman First woman Prime Minister of a country Sirimavo Bandaranaike First woman President of a country Isabel Martínez de Perón First woman in space Valentina Tereshkova First woman to climb Mount Everest Junko Tabei First woman Nobel laureate Marie Curie First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Amelia Earhart First woman to reach the North Pole Ann Bancroft First woman to reach the South Pole Ann Bancroft First woman to reach Antarctica Caroline Mikkelsen First female space tourist Anousheh Ansari First woman to chair the U.S. Federal Reserve Janet Yellen First woman to become Prime Minister of the UK Margaret Thatcher First woman Prime Minister of a Muslim-majority country Benazir Bhutto First woman President of the UN General Assembly Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit First woman to win a Nobel Prize Marie Curie First woman to win an Olympic gold medal Charlotte Cooper First woman pilot to receive a licence Raymonde de Laroche First woman to serve as Secretary-General of the United Nations No woman has yet served as UN Secretary-General
First in the World — Countries & Important Events Achievement First Country / Place First country to host the modern Olympic Games Greece First country to win the FIFA World Cup Uruguay First country to grant women the right to vote nationally New Zealand First country to use paper money China First country to use plastic/polymer banknotes Australia First country to launch an artificial satellite Soviet Union First country to send a human into space Soviet Union First country to land a spacecraft on the Moon Soviet Union First country to use an atomic bomb in warfare United States First city to be hit by an atomic bomb Hiroshima, Japan Second city to be hit by an atomic bomb Nagasaki, Japan First country to build a nuclear power plant for electricity generation Soviet Union First country to ban commercial whaling Netherlands First country to introduce nationwide paid maternity leave Germany
First in the World — International Organizations Achievement First Person / Fact First Secretary-General of the United Nations Trygve Lie First woman President of the UN General Assembly Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit First woman Secretary-General of the UN No woman yet First Secretary-General of the League of Nations Sir Eric Drummond First Director-General of UNESCO Julian Huxley First woman Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova First woman President of the World Bank No woman has served as World Bank President
First in the World — Banking & Economy Achievement First Person / Institution First central bank Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden First stock exchange Amsterdam Stock Exchange First paper currency China First country to issue polymer banknotes Australia First woman to head the U.S. Federal Reserve Janet Yellen First woman to become Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde
Quick Revision — First in the World One-Liners First person in space — Yuri Gagarin.First woman in space — Valentina Tereshkova.First man to walk on the Moon — Neil Armstrong.First artificial satellite — Sputnik 1.First person to reach the South Pole — Roald Amundsen.First person traditionally credited with reaching the North Pole — Robert Peary.First people to climb Mount Everest — Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.First woman to climb Mount Everest — Junko Tabei.First solo transatlantic flight — Charles Lindbergh.First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic — Amelia Earhart.First woman Prime Minister of a country — Sirimavo Bandaranaike.First woman President of a country — Isabel Martínez de Perón.First woman Prime Minister of the UK — Margaret Thatcher.First woman Prime Minister of a Muslim-majority country — Benazir Bhutto.First Nobel Prize winner — Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen.First woman Nobel laureate — Marie Curie.First person to win two Nobel Prizes — Marie Curie.First Nobel Prize in Literature winner — Sully Prudhomme.First Nobel Peace Prize winners — Frédéric Passy and Henry Dunant.First President of the USA — George Washington.First Prime Minister of Great Britain — Robert Walpole.First person to walk in space — Alexei Leonov.First female space tourist — Anousheh Ansari.First person to reach the Challenger Deep — Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh.First woman to reach the Challenger Deep — Kathryn Sullivan.First person to fly an airplane — Orville and Wilbur Wright.First person to fly supersonically — Chuck Yeager.First computer programmer — Ada Lovelace.First successful human heart transplant surgeon — Christiaan Barnard.First country to host the modern Olympic Games — Greece.First FIFA World Cup winner — Uruguay.First country to give women national voting rights — New Zealand.First country to launch an artificial satellite — Soviet Union.First city attacked with an atomic bomb — Hiroshima.First UN Secretary-General — Trygve Lie.First woman President of the UN General Assembly — Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.First woman to chair the U.S. Federal Reserve — Janet Yellen.First woman to win an Olympic gold medal — Charlotte Cooper.First woman to receive a pilot’s licence — Raymonde de Laroche.First woman to reach Antarctica — Caroline Mikkelsen.Important Exam Traps — First in the World 1. First Person vs First Man in Space First human in space → Yuri Gagarin.First woman in space → Valentina Tereshkova.First person to walk in space → Alexei Leonov.2. First Woman Prime Minister First woman Prime Minister of any country → Sirimavo Bandaranaike.First woman Prime Minister of the UK → Margaret Thatcher.First woman Prime Minister of a Muslim-majority country → Benazir Bhutto.3. First Woman Nobel Laureate Marie Curie was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to receive Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields.
4. Mount Everest First people to reach Everest’s summit → Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.First woman to climb Everest → Junko Tabei.First person to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen → Reinhold Messner.5. Polar Exploration First person to reach the South Pole → Roald Amundsen.First person traditionally credited with reaching the North Pole → Robert Peary.First woman to reach the North Pole → Ann Bancroft.First woman to reach the South Pole → Ann Bancroft.
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