First in the World - Men and Women Questions and Answers

Correct answer: Option B (Gro Harlem Brundtland). She took over from Japan's Hiroshi Nakajima in July 1998 and served one five-year term, which makes her the first woman ever to head the agency. Why the other options are wrong: Option A (Margaret Chan): A physician from Hong Kong, she became Director-General only in 2007, well after Brundtland had broken the barrier. Option C (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus): The former Ethiopian health and foreign minister has led WHO since 2017 and is the first African in the role. Option D (Halfdan Mahler): This Danish doctor ran WHO between 1973 and 1988 and championed the Alma-Ata declaration of 1978 on primary care. Remember: think of Brundtland whenever WHO and first woman appear together.

Correct answer: Option D (Marie Curie). She received the 1903 Physics prize, shared with her husband Pierre and with Henri Becquerel, and then the 1911 Chemistry prize on her own for discovering two new elements and isolating pure radium. No one had collected two Nobel Prizes before her, which is why she is called the first. Why the other options are wrong: Option A (Albert Einstein): He won a single prize, the Physics award of 1921, given for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Option B (Linus Pauling): The American chemist did win twice, Chemistry in 1954 and Peace in 1962, but that came half a century after Curie's double. Option C (Pierre Curie): He shared only the 1903 Physics prize and died in a street accident in 1906, so a second award was impossible. Remember: Curie doubled up in 1903 and 1911, in two different sciences.

Correct answer: Option A (Sally Ride). She flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-7 mission, launched on 18 June 1983, and at 32 she was then the youngest American to have gone into space. The six-day flight let Ride operate the robotic arm to release and retrieve a satellite. Why the other options are wrong: Option B (Christa McAuliffe): The New Hampshire teacher was chosen for NASA's Teacher in Space project but died when Challenger broke apart in January 1986, before completing any flight. Option C (Kalpana Chawla): Born in Karnal, India, she flew on Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist, some fourteen years after Ride. Option D (Eileen Collins): She piloted a shuttle for the first time in 1995 and commanded one in 1999, which are later milestones. Remember: link Ride with STS-7 and 1983.

Correct answer: Option C (Mae Jemison). She flew as a science mission specialist on Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-47, which lifted off on 12 September 1992 and lasted about eight days. That made her the first Black woman to travel into space. Why the other options are wrong: Option A (Kalpana Chawla): She was the first woman of Indian origin in space, flying on Columbia in 1997, and she is not linked with this distinction. Option B (Sally Ride): She was the first American woman in space in 1983, nine years before Jemison. Option D (Guion Bluford): The engineer and Air Force pilot became the first African American in space aboard Challenger on 30 August 1983, but he is a man. Remember: Jemison, Endeavour and 1992 belong together.

Correct answer: Option B (James Connolly). Connolly, an American from a poor Boston family, won the triple jump on 6 April 1896, the opening day of athletics. That made him the first Olympic champion in roughly fifteen centuries. Why the other options are wrong: Option A (Spyridon Louis): Louis, a Greek water-carrier, won the marathon on 10 April and became a national hero, but that was days after Connolly's title. Option C (Thomas Burke): Burke, a sprinter from the Boston Athletic Association, took the 100 metres and 400 metres, and he is remembered for sprinting rather than for winning the first title. Option D (Alfréd Hajós): Hajós, a Hungarian swimmer, won the 100 metres and 1,200 metres freestyle races in the open sea, days after athletics had started. Remember: Connolly is the name to link with 1896, the triple jump and the very first title.

Correct answer: Option C (Charlotte Cooper). Cooper won the women's singles tennis title at the Paris Games in July 1900, which makes her the first woman to become an individual Olympic champion. Cooper also won the mixed doubles that year, partnering Reginald Doherty. Why the other options are wrong: Option A (Hélène de Pourtalès): Pourtalès, a Swiss sailor, won gold in 1900 as part of a mixed crew, so she counts as the first woman champion in a team event, not an individual one. Option B (Fanny Blankers-Koen): Blankers-Koen, the Dutch sprinter, won four golds at London in 1948, nearly half a century later. Option D (Wilma Rudolph): Rudolph, the American sprinter, won three golds at Rome in 1960, also far later. Remember: the word individual is what points to Cooper rather than Pourtalès.

Correct answer: Option D (Jerrie Mock). Mock took off from Columbus on 19 March 1964 and touched down there again on 17 April, after roughly 29,000 miles of flying around the globe. That solo circuit made Mock the first woman to fly around the world. Why the other options are wrong: Option A (Amelia Earhart): Earhart vanished over the Pacific in July 1937 during her own attempt to circle the globe, so she never completed a round-the-world flight. Option B (Jacqueline Cochran): Cochran was a record-setting American pilot who became the first woman to break the sound barrier in 1953, an achievement of speed rather than circumnavigation. Option C (Beryl Markham): Markham, a British-Kenyan aviator, flew the Atlantic from east to west in 1936, a notable crossing but not a world circuit. Remember: solo circuit of the globe, 1964, Ohio: Mock.

Correct Answer: Option C — Amelia Earhart Amelia Earhart is the correct answer because completed her solo transatlantic flight in May 1932. Why the other options are incorrect: - Option A — Marie Curie: Marie Curie is instead associated with the fact that shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and later won Chemistry in 1911. - Option B — Sirimavo Bandaranaike: Sirimavo Bandaranaike is instead associated with the fact that became Prime Minister of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, in 1960. - Option D — Gro Harlem Brundtland: Gro Harlem Brundtland is instead associated with the fact that became WHO Director-General in 1998. Exam Takeaway: Link Amelia Earhart with “the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean” and remember the associated event or year.

Correct Answer: Option D — Charles Lindbergh Charles Lindbergh is the correct answer because flew from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Why the other options are incorrect: - Option A — Marie Curie: Marie Curie is instead associated with the fact that won Nobel Prizes in Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. - Option B — Svetlana Savitskaya: Svetlana Savitskaya is instead associated with the fact that conducted a spacewalk outside Salyut 7 on 25 July 1984. - Option C — Karen Uhlenbeck: Karen Uhlenbeck is instead associated with the fact that won the 2019 Abel Prize for pioneering work in geometric analysis and gauge theory. Exam Takeaway: Link Charles Lindbergh with “the first person to complete a solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean” and remember the associated event or year.

Correct Answer: Option A — Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Ederle is the correct answer because crossed the Channel in August 1926 and improved the existing men's record time. Why the other options are incorrect: - Option B — Sally Ride: Sally Ride is instead associated with the fact that flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-7 in June 1983. - Option C — Alexei Leonov: Alexei Leonov is instead associated with the fact that left Voskhod 2 for the first extravehicular activity in March 1965. - Option D — Maryam Mirzakhani: Maryam Mirzakhani is instead associated with the fact that received the Fields Medal in 2014 for work in geometry and dynamical systems. Exam Takeaway: Link Gertrude Ederle with “the first woman to swim across the English Channel” and remember the associated event or year.