Famous Firsts

1. Which Olympic first occurred at the 1900 Summer Olympic Games held in Paris?

Women took part in the Olympics for the first time.

2. Who was the first recorded person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aids?

Captain Matthew Webb

3. Who was the first billion-dollar author, earning one billion US dollars (or their currency equivalent) from their books and related merchandise?

J.K. Rowling

4. Who was the first female to complete a solo transatlantic flight, journeying from Newfoundland to Ireland in 1932?

Amelia Earhart

5. Which famous first was achieved by Trygve Lie of Norway in 1946?

He became the first Secretary-General of the United Nations

6. Who became the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988 and hence the first female Prime Minister of a Muslim country?

Benazir Bhutto

7. Which famous first was achieved by Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager, retired brigadier general of the United States Air Force, in 1947?

First pilot to exceed the speed of sound

8. Which UK girl band launched the new UK Channel 5 at 6pm on March 30th 1997?

Spice Girls

9. What was Cliff Richard’s first UK number one single?

Living Doll

10. Who was the first African American US Secretary of State?

Colin Powell

1. Which country won the first ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1956?

Switzerland

2. Which band was the first ever to perform on Top of the Pops?

Rolling Stones

3. Who was the first Queen of England in her own right?

Mary I

4. Who became the first Prime Minister of Australia in 1901?

Sir Edmund Barton

5. George Washington was the first ever President of the U.S.A – what was the first name of the first ‘First Lady’?

Martha

6. Who was the first person to be awarded the FWA Footballer of the Year award?

Stanley Matthews (1947/48 season)

7. Who was the first person to own a Facebook account?

Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook)

8. Which famous first did Lewis Washkansky receive on December 3rd, 1967?

First human heart transplant

9. In which year did Coronation Street first appear on UK screens?

1960

10. In which country did the first ever football World Cup take place in July 1930?

Uruguay

1. What was the name of the first dog in Space?

Laika

2. Who was the first man to officially run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds?

Jim Hines

3. Valentina Tereshkova is famous for achieving what famous first?

Becoming the first woman in space

4. Louise Brown was the first ‘test-tube baby’ – in which year was she born?

1978

5. What was the name of the first single on which the Beatles performed?

‘My Bonnie’ (Although ‘Love Me Do’ was their first own single, they performed as the backing band for Tony Sheridan on this track in 1961)

6.What was the name of the first car that the Ford Motor Company made available to the public?

Ford Model T

7. Who was the first person to be seen on Channel 4?

Richard Whiteley

8. In which city was the world’s first underground railway?

London

9. In which country was the first CD made?

Germany

10. Who was the first person to win a million pounds on the UK ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’?

Judith Keppel