Who Was the First Woman to . . . ? Quiz

Answer: Queen Victoria

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

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!

Answer: Queen Isabella of Spain

Queen Isabella of Spain appeared on a US postage stamp in 1893 and was not only the first Queen to do so, but the first woman! Her patronage of Christopher Columbus made his discovery of the 'New World' possible.

Answer: Mary Walker

In 1865, Mary Walker became the first woman to be awarded the US Medal of Honour. She was a surgeon during the Civil War, but, believe it or not, the US Army wanted to cut down on unwarranted awards in 1916 and rescinded her medal! Sixty years later the medal was reinstated! Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the US (1849). Ann Franklin was the first female editor of a US newspaper, The Newport Mercury, Rhode Island (1762). Lucy Hobbs Taylor was the first woman in the US to graduate from Dental School at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery (1867).

Answer: Bette Davis

Bette Davis was the first female to win this Award in 1977. It is regarded as the highest honour given to any performer for a career in film.

Answer: Shirley Booth

The first woman to win a Tony and an Oscar in the same year, was Shirley Booth in 1953. She won an Oscar for 'Come Back, Little Sheba', and a Tony for 'The Time of the Cuckoo'. She was followed by Audrey Hepburn in 1954, for 'Roman Holiday' (Oscar) and 'Ondine' (Tony).

Then came Ellen Burstyn in 1975, the Tony was for her role in the play 'Same Time, Next Year' and the Oscar was for the film, 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'. She didn't attend the Academy Awards to accept the Best Actress Oscar as she was certain she would win and couldn't handle the pressure - she has said she regrets that now, though!

Answer: Sirimavo Bandaranaike

In 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (Ceylon), she served until 1965, was re-elected in 1970 serving until 1977 then again re-elected in 1994 and served until 2000! In 1966, Indira Ghandi was elected as Prime Minister of India, she served until 1977 and was re-elected in 1980 and served until 1984.

In 1969, Golda Meir was elected as Prime Minister of Israel, being the first Jewish woman elected as a head of state, she served until 1974. Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990.

Answer: Go over Niagara Falls in a barrel

In October 1901, Annie Edson Taylor, a school teacher from Michigan, became not only the first woman, but the first person, to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel!

Answer: Edith Cowan

Edith Cowan was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1921, becoming Australia's first woman Parliamentarian. New Zealand was the first country in the world to give the vote to women in 1893 and South Australia led the world in 1894 by making women eligible to sit in Parliament.

Answer: Roma Mitchell

Roma Mitchell was a 'female first' at many things in Australia. She was Australia's first female Queen's Counsel, the first female Supreme Court Judge and first female Governor, of South Australia.