These Women "Broke The Gender Barrier" Quiz

Answer: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900-1990) was an Indian diplomat and politician. She was the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. Vijaya became President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1953. Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1916-2000) was the first female to became the head of government when she became the Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1960. Jeanette Rankin (1880-1973) was the first woman to hold a national office in the United States when she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1916 by the state of Montana. Regina Jonas (1902-1944) was the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in 1935.

She was arrested by the Gestapo in November 1942 and she died in Auschwitz Concentration camp in October 1944.

Answer: Naomi James

Naomi James (née Power) was born in New Zealand in 1949. She met her husband Rob James in France and he who taught her to sail. Starting from Dartmouth (England) she sailed around the world (via Cape town) in 272 days (September 9, 1977-June 8, 1978) aboard the "Express Crusader".

She was knighted as a Dame Commander in 1979. Jeanne Barè (1740-1807) is recognised as the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. However, her voyage was a little unusual in that she disguised herself as a man and called herself Jean Baret.

She travelled on a small ship of about 300 men and her identity was discovered while in the South Pacific in 1769. Ellen MacArthur is a retired British sailor who in 2005 broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe. Denise "Dee" Caffari is a British sailor who in 2006 became the first woman to sail single-handedly around the globe "the wrong way", meaning westward against the prevailing winds and currents.

Answer: Michelle Payne

Michelle Payne is an Australian jockey who created history in 2015 as the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup in 155 years, riding Prince of Penzance. The horse started the race at the long-odds of 100-1. Her mother died when Michelle was 6 months old and her father Paddy raised their 10 children as a single parent. Julie Krone became the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race in 1993, being the Belmont Stakes on Colonial Affair. Anna Lee Aldred (1921-2006) was the first woman in the United States of America to receive a jockey's license in 1939. Charlotte Brew was the first female to ride in the Grand National at Aintree (England), in 1977.

Answer: Juliana Morell

Juliana Morell (1594-1653) was a Spanish Dominican nun and was the first woman to earn a university doctorate. Her degree was in Laws in 1608. Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646-1684) was an Italian philosopher and was the first woman in the world to receive a Ph.D. in 1678 from the University of Padua. Laura Bassi (1711-1778) was an Italian physicist and academic and became the first woman to be offered a teaching position at a university in Europe in 1732, at the University of Bologna. Sofia Kovaleskaya (1850-1891) was born in Moscow and became the first woman in the modern era to earn a doctorate in mathematics in 1874.

She achieved this from the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Answer: Junko Tabei

Junko Tabei (1939-2016) was a Japanese mountaineer and the first woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest on May 16, 1975. She was also the first woman to climb the "Seven Summits" being the highest peak on every continent. Grace Hudowalski (1906-2004) in 1937 she became the ninth person and first woman to climb all 46 peaks of the Adirondack High Peaks in the state of New York. Grace Peak in Essex County, New York is named after her. Élisabeth Thible from Lyon, France was the first woman recorded to have flown in a untethered hot air balloon.

This was achieved on June 4, 1784. Amy Johnson (1903-1941) was an English aviatrix and in 1930 became the first woman to fly alone from Britain to Australia.

Answer: Raymonde de Laroche

Raymonde de Laroche (1882- 1919) was French and was inspired by the Wilbur Wright's demonstrations of powered flight in Paris in 1908. After various instructions and test flights she was awarded her pilot's license (#36) on March 8, 1910 by the Aero-Club of France. Lilian Bland (1878-1971) was an Anglo-Irish journalist and aviator who in 1910-11 became the first woman ever to design, built and fly her own aircraft. Harriet Quimby (1875-1912) was an American screenwriter and aviator.

She became the first woman to fly across the English Channel in 1912. Marie Marvingt (1875-1963) was French and became the first woman to fly a fighter plane in combat in 1915 during WWI.

Answer: Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Ederle (1905-2003) was an American competition swimmer and became the first woman to swim across the English Channel on August 6, 1926. She had won an Olympic gold medal at the 1924 games in Paris in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay. She also won two bronze medals at the same games. Tammy van Wisse is an Australian long distance swimmer who swam the English Channel in 1993 and 1994.

However, in 2006 she broke the 81 year old record of Gertrude Ederle's record 35 mile swim from New York City to Dandy Hook. Florence Chadwick (1918-1995) was an American long distance swimmer who was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions (1950 and 1951). Amelia Gade Corson (1897-1982) was a Danish born American swimmer who was the second woman to swim the English Channel. Just three weeks after Gertrude Ederle in 1926.

Answer: Shirley Dinsdale

Shirley Dinsdale (1926-1999) was an American radio and television personality in the 1940s and early 1950s. She was a ventriloquist that specialised in children's programs She received that first ever Emmy in 1949. Arlene Francis (1907-2001) was the first woman to host a television game show "Blind Date" (1949-1952).

She was also the first woman to host a radio game show with "What's My Line" (1938). Jenny Lou Carson (1915-1978) was the first woman to write a number one country music hit with "You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often" (1945). Julie Taymor was the first woman to win a Tony Award for best director of a musical with "The Lion King" (1997).

Answer: Babe Didrikson Zaharias

Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956) was an American athlete who achieved success in golf, basketball and track and field. She won two gold medals at the 1932 Olympics before she became a professional golfer, winning 41 LPGA tournaments. She competed in the 1938 Los Angeles Open on the men's PGA Tour.

She missed the cut by shooting 81 and 84 in the event. Annika Sorenstam is a retired Swedish professional golfer. She won 90 international tournaments with 72 on the LPGA. In 2003 she became the second woman to play in a PGA event being the Bank of America Colonial tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

She also missed the cut. Mary McGee was the first female to road race motorcycles and motocross in the USA. She is a racing pioneer. Lois Fagan Farrell first female reporter to cover a professional hockey team in America.

Answer: Marie Curie

Marie Curie (1867-1934) was not only the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (1903 in Physics, jointly with two others) but also the first person to win a second Nobel Prize, which was for Chemistry in 1911. Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) was the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie and she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935 for her discovery of artificial radioactivity. Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita von Suttner (1843-1914) was a Czech-Austrian novelist and pacifist and was the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905. Being the second female recipient of a Nobel Prize after Marie Curie. Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a Swedish author and was the first female to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1909.