By Tim Lambert
This is a list of women who were the first to achieve certain things. It includes the first women to gain certain qualifications or to do a certain job.
In 583, Yohl Ik’nal became the first recorded female Mayan ruler.
In 690, Empress Wu Zetian became the first woman to rule China
In 1553, Queen Mary became the first woman to rule the whole of England.
Francesca Caccini was born in 1587. She was the first woman to compose an opera.
In 1637, Amye Everard Ball became the first woman in England to be granted a patent (for making tinctures from flowers).
In 1660, Margaret Hughes performed on stage as Desdemona in Othello. She was the first recorded actress in England. Before then, women’s parts were played by boys.
In 1678, Elena Piscopia became the first woman in the world to gain a PhD.
In 1725, Catherine I became the first woman to rule Russia.
In 1731, Laura Bassi is appointed professor of Anatomy at Bologna University. She is the first female professor.
In 1748, Eva Ekeblad became the first woman member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences.
In 1784, Elisabeth Thible became the first woman to fly in an untethered balloon
In 1809, Mary Dixon Kies became the first woman in the USA to be granted a patent (for a method of weaving silk, straw, and thread).
In 1816, Sophie Germain became the first woman to be awarded a gold medal by the Paris Academy of Sciences.
The first known photograph taken by a woman was a photo of a leaf taken by Sarah Anne Bright in 1839.
In 1842, Anna Atkins became the first woman to publish a book illustrated with photos instead of drawings.
In 1848, Maria Mitchell became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the USA to qualify as a doctor.
In 1865, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first woman in Britain to qualify as a doctor.
In 1866, Lucy B. Hobbs became the first woman in the USA to qualify as a dentist.
In 1878, Emma Nutt became the first female telephone operator.
In 1883, Susan Hayhurst became the first woman in the USA to graduate from a Pharmacy college.
In 1887, Emily Valentine became the first recorded female rugby player.
In 1893, Kate Hall became the first female museum curator in Britain. (She was curator of Whitechapel Museum).
In 1895, Lilian Lindsay became the first woman in Britain to qualify as a dentist.
In 1896, Alice Guy-Blaché became the first woman film director. She directed a film called La Fée aux Choux (The Cabbage Fairy).
In 1898, Ethel Charles became the first woman in Britain to qualify as an architect.
In 1899, Hertha Ayrton became the first woman member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
In 1903, Marie Curie was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. She was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
In 1906, in the USA, Nora Stanton Blatch Barney became the first woman member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In 1908, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was elected the first woman mayor in Britain. She was the mayor of Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
In 1909, Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to fly solo.
In 1910, Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to gain a pilot’s licence.
In 1910, Mrs Alice Stebbin Wells became the first policewoman with full powers of arrest. (It was in Los Angeles).
In 1911, Eleanor Davies-Colley became the first woman fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
In 1911, Harriet Quimby became the first woman in the USA to gain a pilot’s licence (1911)
In 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
In 1912, Anita Loos became the first female scriptwriter in Hollywood.
In 1914, Beatrice Page became the first woman tram driver in Britain.
In 1916, Jeanette Rankin became the first woman elected to the US Congress.
In 1919, Edith Clarke gained a degree in electrical engineering. She was the first woman electrical engineer in the USA.
In 1919, Nancy Astor was elected MP for Plymouth. She was the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons.
In 1920, Ivy Williams became the first woman in Britain to qualify as a barrister.
In 1920, Mary Harris Smith became the first woman chartered accountant in Britain.
In 1921, Agnes Macphail became the first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons.
In 1925, Florence R. Sabin became the first woman elected to the US National Academy of Sciences.
In 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman governor of a US state (Wyoming).
In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
In 1929, Jane Archer became the first female MI5 officer.
In 1929, Margaret Bondfield became the first woman cabinet minister in Britain.
In 1930, Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly from Britain to Australia.
In 1930, Ellen Church became the first air hostess.
In 1932, Hattie Ophelia Caraway became the first woman elected to the US Senate.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the USA, coast to coast (she flew from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey)
In 1933, Elizabeth McCombs became the first woman to be elected to the New Zealand Parliament.
In 1933, Frances Perkins was appointed Secretary of Labor. She was the first woman member of a US cabinet.
In 1936, Elizabeth Cowell became the first female TV announcer.
In 1939, In 1939, Dorothy Garrod became the first woman to be a professor at Cambridge University.
In 1945, Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau became the first woman member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
In 1946, Lilian Lindsay became the first woman president of the British Dental Association.
1949 Orapin Chaiyakan became the first female member of Thailand’s parliament.
In 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than sound.
In 1955, Louise Arner Boyd became the first woman to fly over the North Pole in 1955.
In 1955, Barbara Mandell became the first woman to read the news on British TV.
In 1956, Rose Heilbron became the first woman judge in Britain.
In 1957, Rawya Ateya became an MP in Egypt. She was the first female MP in the Arab world.
In 1957, Anne Burns became the first woman to fly a glider across the English Channel.
In 1958, Hilda Harding became the first woman bank manager in Britain.
In 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the world’s first female prime minister. She was the PM of Sri Lanka.
In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
In 1964, Dorothea Hodgkin became the first British woman to win a Nobel Prize.
In 1964, Geraldine Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world.
In 1967, Sharon Sites Adams became the first woman to sail across the Pacific Ocean solo.
In 1967, Muriel Siebert became the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1972, Rose Heilbron became the first woman judge at the Old Bailey (a famous court in London).
In 1974, Jill Viner became the first woman licensed to drive a London Transport bus.
In 1974, Isabel Peron became president of Argentina (she was vice president, but the president was dying). She is the first woman president in the world.
In 1975, Junko Tabei became the first woman to climb Mount Everest
In 1976, Mary Langdon became the first woman firefighter in Britain.
In 1977, Nancy Goorey became the first woman president of the American Dental Association.
In 1978, Naomi James became the first woman to sail around the world single-handed.
In 1978, Karen Harrison became the first woman train driver in Britain.
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first woman prime minister of Britain.
In 1978, Ann Dadds became the first woman to drive a train on the London Underground.
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first woman prime minister of Britain.
In 1980, Vigdis Finnbogadóttir became president of Iceland. She was the first elected female president in the world.
In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman US Supreme Court Justice.
In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.
In 1983, Mary Donaldson became the first woman Lord Mayor of London.
In 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to spacewalk.
In 1986, Wanda Rutkiewicz became the first woman to climb K2, the second-highest mountain in the world.
In 1986, Corazon Aquino became the first female president of the Philippines.
In 1988, Kay Cottee became the first woman to sail around the world solo and non-stop.
In 1991, Stella Rimington became the first female head of MI5 (British Intelligence).
1993, Rebecca Stephens became the first British woman to climb Mount Everest.
In 1995, Pauline Clare became the first female chief constable in Britain.
In 1995, Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle.
In 1999, Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.
In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as president of Liberia. She was the first woman to be elected head of state of an African country.
In 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
In 2014, Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal (given every four years for outstanding contributions to mathematics).
