Historical Firsts Trivia

1. What was the first toothbrush made of?

From Quiz Don't Forget Your Toothbrush!

Answer: A stick frayed at the end

Text show that as early as 3000 BCE the Egyptians first used a stick frayed at the end to make it soft and rubbed it against the gum and tooth. Assyrian Cuneiform text also mentioned this form. Toothpicks dating back to this time have been found in some sites in Mesopotamia. Around the 1400's, the Chinese designed them with bamboo with wild boar bristles, but eventually began to use horsehair. It was not until 1937 that DuPont invented the first toothbrush made with nylon.

From Quiz Women Firsts Through the Ages

Answer: Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart did this the 1920s. Later, in 1937, while attempting flying across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to circumnavigate the world, she mysteriously disappeared. Although it is widely accepted that her plane fell, there is also a conspiracy theory about her being a U.S. spy.

From Quiz Ladies First!

Answer: Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Are you surprised? Sirimavo Bandaranaike is certainly not a household name, but she should be! Bandaranaike was elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960, after the assassination of her husband in 1959. She led the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to victory and served as Prime Minister three times: 1960-65, 1970-1977, 1994-2000. Sadly, although she preceded the famous women above, most people don't know her name (it may be long, bit it's worth remembering). I certainly don't want to diminish the achievements of the other three: Indira Gandhi - 4th Prime Minister of India, Golda Meir - 4th Prime Minister of Israel and Benizir Bhutto - 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan.

From Quiz Left Up to Women: Famous Firsts

Answer: Hannah Slater

In 1793, Hannah Slater invented a type of cotton sewing thread that could be used to help her husband Samuel Slater's textile business. Samuel Slater was named as "The Father of the American Industrial Revolution" by Andrew Jackson.

From Quiz A Mixed Collection of Firsts by Women

Answer: Kathrine Switzer

Switzer accomplished this first in 1967 by registering using her initials - K.V. Switzer. She was issued a race number (261) and began the race. In a famous incident, a race official tried to pull her out of the race, but Switzer's football player boyfriend knocked him aside and she continued. It definitely caused a stir, but five years later women were finally allowed to enter the Boston Marathon.

From Quiz 15 Firsts By Women

Answer: Marie Curie

Marie Sklodowska Curie won the Prize in 1903, only two years after the Nobel Foundation was established. Later on in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Irene Curie (Daughter of Marie Curie) won the Nobel Prize for her work in Chemistry in the year 1935. Maria Mayer was the second woman to win Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963.

From Quiz Not First Place, Not Second Place, But Dead Last

Answer: The last official gladiatorial games

In 404 AD a monk jumped into the Colosseum to separate the two gladiators and was stoned to death by the crowd. Emperor Honorius then banned the games, though they continued illegally outside of Rome. Criminals still were condemned to death by combat. The last recorded animal games were in the year 523.

From Quiz Notable Historical First

Answer: Alexei Leonov

Soviet cosmonaut Leonov performed the first space walk during the Voskhad II mission on March 18, 1965. He made this historic space walk as he flew over Siberia. The first American to perform a space walk was Edward White in June of 1965. He flew in the Gemini IV mission along with James McDivitt. White began his space walk while his craft flew over the Indian Ocean and concluded his walk as he flew over the Pacific Ocean. source: www.vibrationdata.com/space/eva.htm

From Quiz First and Last

Answer: Los Angeles

On day one Alice was given a gamewell key, a book of rules, a first aid book and a 'man's badge'. Later this was changed to a 'woman's badge'. She was given the dubious honour of designing her own uniform. Thanks to her pioneering efforts, by 1916 seventeen police departments in the U.S. were employing women.

From Quiz Famous Firsts

Answer: Charles Elwood Yeager

Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier. On October 14, 1947, while flying the experimental Bell X-1, he hit mach 1.07 at an altitude of 13,700m (45,000 ft). Yeager accomplished this event over the skies of Muroc Air Force Base, California. Interestingly, Yeager was able to break the sound barrier while nursing two broken ribs (when he fell off a horse two days earlier), having a broom handle as an extra lever to close the aircraft door secure (as he was in so much pain he couldn't close it unassisted); and shampoo rubbed over the canopy of the aircraft. To prevent the windshield from frosting over, Yeager's crew chief, Jack Russell, rubbed the rocket aircraft's canopy with Drene shampoo. Mach 1, the speed of sound, is 758 mph (1,220 kph) at sea level. It decreases with altitude.

From Quiz Who or What Came First?

Answer: Person: Amelia Earhart is born

Amelia Earhart was born in 1897. The paper clip was invented in 1901. President McKinley was assassinated in 1901. "The Call of the Wild" was published in 1903.

From Quiz Who Was the First Woman to . . . ?

Answer: Queen Victoria

From 1837, Queen Victoria lived in Buckingham Palace and was the first English monarch, male or female, to do so.

From Quiz World Firsts

Answer: 1811

On 9 January 1811 in a small Scottish town, the first ever Women's Golf Tournament took place between local players! It is believed that Mary, Queen of Scots, played at the same course at Musselburgh in 1567!

From Quiz Who Was the First to...?

Answer: Djoser

The Step Pyramid of Djoser was built during the reign of the third Dynasty (ca. 2800 B.C.) in Saqqara, Egypt. It was the first pyramid in the history of architecture. Its creator was an architect named Imhotep.

From Quiz Millenium Milestones: Fourth Edition

Answer: Benz Patent Motor Car

The Benz Patent Motor Car first came out in 1886. Its top speed was only ten miles per hour.

From Quiz Millenium Milestones: Third Edition

Answer: China

The population of China in 1800 was 295,752,000.

From Quiz Which Came First in History?

Answer: John Quincy Adams

Adams (1825-1829), Jackson (1829-1837), Taylor (1849-1850), Buchanan (1857-1861)

From Quiz Don't Forget Your Toothbrush!

Answer: 2700 BCE

According to Wikipedia, evidence in Ayurveda medicine in Ancient India and in Chinese medicine indicates the of mouthwash/mouth freshener c. 2700 BCE. The Greeks used donkey milk. The Romans soon discovered ammonia was good against bacteria but the only known source was human urine. The first antiseptic mouthwash to be sold commercially was Listerine in 1893.

From Quiz Women Firsts Through the Ages

Answer: Marie Curie

The two Nobels Marie Curie earned were in Physics and Chemistry. Marie Curie was the main factor behind the discovery of the chemical elements radium and polonium, with the latter being named after her native country, Poland, which was under Russian occupation at the time of her childhood.

From Quiz Left Up to Women: Famous Firsts

Answer: Elizabeth Blackwell

Although she originally worked as a teacher, Elizabeth Blackwell began seeking admission to medical schools in 1847. She was turned down by all of them except for Geneva Medical College in New York, and graduated at the top of her class in 1849. She became the founder of the New York Infirmary for Women & Children.

From Quiz Famous Female Firsts

Answer: Tennis

Charlotte Cooper represented Britain at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, France. This was the first modern Olympic Games where women participated (Athens in 1896 was open to males only). She not only took the gold medal for the singles tournament, but also won the mixed doubles with her partner Reginald Dougherty. Cooper had a very successful tennis career, making eight consecutive singles finals at Wimbledon (a record that was held until 1990) and winning five of them.

From Quiz A Mixed Collection of Firsts by Women

Answer: Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton was the 2016 presidential candidate of the Democratic Party in the United States. Although winning the majority of the popular vote, she lost the election in the Electoral College, which is where the winner of a U.S. presidential election is determined. Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro were vice-presidential nominees for the Republican and the Democratic parties in previous years. Jill Stein was a presidential nominee in 2016 but for the Green Party, a minor U.S. party.

From Quiz 15 Firsts By Women

Answer: Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton's novel "The Age of Innocence" (1920) won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.

From Quiz Not First Place, Not Second Place, But Dead Last

Answer: Mauritius

The Dutch were the first people to see the flightless bird in 1581. Around a hundred years later, the dodo, which had no real natural enemies, was extinct. Human encroachment, rats, dogs, and loss of habitat contributed to the death of the species.

From Quiz Notable Historical First

Answer: Louis Washkansky

The transplant was performed at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Capetown, South Africa. Washkansky was a 55 year old wholesale grocer who suffered from progressive heart failure. The donor heart came from Denise Ann Darvall, a 25 year old automobile accident victim. The 30 member transplant surgical team was lead by heart specialist Dr. Christiaan Barnard. Washkansky survived the five hour surgery but died 18 days later after falling victim to pneumonia. source: www.trivia-library.com/a/first-human-heart-transplant.htm

From Quiz Famous Firsts

Answer: Betrand Piccard and Brian Jones

On March 20, 1999, Betrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of England became the first balloonists to successfully circumnavigate the earth on a non-stop, non-refuelled flight. It took them 19 days, in a balloon named the Breitling Orbiter 3, to fly from the Swiz Alps to Mauritania, North Africa. However, on July 2, 2002, Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo around the world in a hot air balloon.

From Quiz Who or What Came First?

Answer: Event: Brooklyn Bridge Opens

The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883. "The Importance of Being Earnest" was published in 1895. Groucho Marx was born in 1890. The zipper was invented in 1891.

From Quiz Who Was the First Woman to . . . ?

Answer: Vida Goldstein

Vida Goldstein ran for the Australian Senate in 1902 after Australian women had been given the vote in all Federal Elections. Alice Wells was the first female US police officer in 1910. Jeanette Rankin was the first US woman elected to Congress in 1916 (she voted against both WWI and WWII). Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for President of the US in 1872, running on the People's Party ticket with Frederick Douglass as her running mate!

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