Weird History The Coolest Female Firsts in History
List Rules Upvote the coolest female firsts achieved by these real cool gals.
Did you know the first person to win an Emmy Award was a lady?! That's right. Lots of famous women in history have achieved important female firsts, paving the way for generations of women to come. Women's history is full of awesome females who accomplished great things, and were the first woman to do so. This list of notable female firsts is full of important women in history and the modern era who have set their sights on things only men had previously accomplished.
Who was the first female to dunk or become the first female NFL official? How about the first female to conduct a symphony orchestra? Great women in history are a varied and talented bunch, making headlines for things like being the first woman to argue before the US Supreme Court and even to serve as the first female justice on the Supreme Court. These female icons inspire young women everywhere and have opened doors for many.
From female firsts in American history, world history, and more recently the 21st Century, amazing women all over the globe (and even in space!) are making great strides. Which women do you think accomplished the coolest female firsts? Cast your votes below and learn all about these awesome ladies who weren't afraid of being first.
Marie Curie
1903 - First Female Nobel Prize Winner
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice, the only person to win twice in multiple sciences, and was part of the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris, and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Panthéon in Paris. She was born Maria Salomea Skłodowska in Warsaw, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. She studied at Warsaw's clandestine Floating University and began her ...more on Wikipedia
Age: Died at 67 (1867-1934)
Birthplace: Warsaw, Second Polish Republic
Profession: Physicist, Chemist, Scientist
Also Ranked
#29 on The Most Influential People of All Time
#14 on Historical Figures You Most Want to Bring Back from the Dead
#14 on The Greatest Minds of All Time
#10 on The Most Powerful Women In The World
Valentina Tereshkova
1963 - First Female in Space
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. In order to join the Cosmonaut Corps, Tereshkova was only honorarily inducted into the Soviet Air Force and thus she also became the first civilian to fly in space. Before her recruitment as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile factory assembly worker and an amateur skydiver. After the dissolution of the first group of female cosmonauts in 1969, she became a prominent member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, holding various political offices. She remained politically active following the ...more on Wikipedia
Age: 81
Birthplace: Bolshoye Maslennikovo, Russia
Profession: Pilot, Politician, Astronaut
Also Ranked
#3 on The Most Inspiring (Non-Hollywood) Female Role Models
Amelia Earhart
1928 - First Female to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic Ocean
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this record. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Earhart joined the faculty of the Purdue University aviation department in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and help inspire others with her love for aviation. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party, and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. During an attempt to ...more on Wikipedia
Birthplace: Atchison, Kansas, United States of America
Profession: Pilot, Writer
Also Ranked
#75 on People We Wish Were Still Alive
#5 on The Most Inspiring (Non-Hollywood) Female Role Models
#12 on The Greatest Pilot Characters in Film
Elizabeth Blackwell
1849 - First Female Doctor in the United States
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, as well as the first woman on the UK Medical Register. She was the first woman to graduate from medical school, a pioneer in promoting the education of women in medicine in the United States, and a social and moral reformer in both the United States and in Britain. Her sister Emily was the third woman in the US to get a medical degree. ...more on Wikipedia
Age: Died at 89 (1821-1910)
Birthplace: Bristol, United Kingdom
Profession: Physician
