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Did you know Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet astronaut, was the first human in space, or that New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote? Some events, and some people, have been the first in the world. Thus, these events, inventions, and people have transformed our history and paved the way forward. This blog covers some of the most groundbreaking inventions and events that have been the first in the world, changing world history for the greater good. Learn about the global firsts- sports, science, inventions, art, and more, one by one.
Table of Contents
First in World – Countries
These countries have become the first in the world and set a standard for the rest of the world to follow-
| S.No. | Milestone | First Country in World |
| 1 | Which was the 1st country in the world? | Egypt (c. 3100 BCE) |
| 2 | First country in the world to allow women to vote | New Zealand (1893) |
| 3 | First country in the world to eliminate leprosy | Jordan (2024) |
| 4 | First country in the world to reach Mars | Soviet Union (1971) |
| 5 | First country in the world to celebrate the New Year | Kiribati (Line Islands) |
| 6 | First country in the world to see the sunrise | New Zealand (Gisborne) |
| 7 | First country in the world to gain independence | United States (1776) |
| 8 | First country in the world to legalise euthanasia | Netherlands (2002) |
| 9 | First country in the world to abolish slavery | Haiti (1804) |
| 10 | First country in the world to legalise abortion | Soviet Union (1920) |
| 11 | First country to ever legalise gay marriage | Netherlands (2001) |
| 12 | First country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender | El Salvador (2021) |
| 13 | First country in the world population | China |
| 14 | First country in the world to legalize weed | Uruguay (2013) |
| 15 | First cashless country in the world | Sweden (2023) |
| 16 | First country in the world to generate hydroelectricity | United States (1882) |
| 17 | The first country in the world to make education compulsory is | Prussia (Germany) (1763) |
| 18 | First country in the world to launch a satellite into space | Soviet Union (1957) |
| 19 | The first country to use nuclear weapons | United States (1945) |
| 20 | First country in the world to launch a malaria vaccine for children | Ghana (2021) |
| 21 | Which was the first country in the world to levy the general income tax? | United Kingdom (1799) |
| 22 | Which was the first country to use paper money? | China (7th century) |
| 23 | Which was the first country to host the Asian Games? | India (1951) |
| 24 | Which was the first country to use money? | Lydia (modern-day Turkey) |
| 25 | Which was the first country to host the modern Olympics? | Greece (1896) |
| 26 | Which was the first country to implement GST? | France (1954) |
| 27 | Which was the first country to land on the moon? | United States (1969) |
| 28 | Which was the first country to gain independence from Britain? | United States (1776) |
| 29 | Which was the first country to make a COVID vaccine? | Russia (2020) |
| 30 | Which was the first country to make a constitution? | United States (1787) |
| 31 | Which was the first country to make wine? | Georgia (c. 6000 BCE) |
| 32 | Which is the 1st best country in the world? | Subjective |
| 33 | Which is the 1st richest country in the world? | Luxembourg (GDP per capita) |
| 34 | Which is the 1st happiest country in the world? | Finland |
| 35. | First country in the world to make CSR mandatory | India |
Also Read: Fun Facts About the World’s Smallest Countries
First in World in Discoveries
Several discoveries can be labelled as first in the world. Below we have listed some of the most popular discoveries.
| S.No | Discovery/Invention | First in World |
| 1 | Who discovered the telephone? | Alexander Graham Bell (1876) |
| 2 | Who discovered the cell? | Robert Hooke (1665) |
| 3 | Who discovered the New World? | Christopher Columbus (1492) |
| 4 | Who discovered America before Columbus? | Leif Erikson (c. 1000 AD) |
| 5 | Who invented the printing press? | Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1440) |
| 6 | Who invented penicillin? | Alexander Fleming (1928) |
| 7 | Who invented the steam engine? | James Watt (improved design in 1765) |
| 8 | Who invented money? | Concept evolved over time; earliest coins by Lydians (c. 7th century BCE) |
| 9 | First in the world to invent the lightbulb | Thomas Edison (practical version in 1879) |
| 10 | Who discovered that the Earth is round? | Eratosthenes (calculated the Earth’s circumference in 240 BCE) |
| 11 | Who invented the water frame? | Richard Arkwright (patented in 1769) |
| 12 | Who invented exams? | Imperial China (civil service exams); modern exams evolved over time |
| 13 | Who discovered the electron? | J.J. Thomson (1897) |
| 14 | Who discovered the proton? | Ernest Rutherford (1917) |
| 15 | Who discovered that the Earth revolves around the Sun? | Nicolaus Copernicus (published in 1543) |
| 16 | Who discovered that plants have life? | Jagadish Chandra Bose (early 1900s) |
| 17 | Who discovered that the universe is expanding? | Edwin Hubble (1929) |
| 18 | Who discovered that tuberculosis is an infection? | Robert Koch (1882) |
| 19 | Who discovered bacteria? | Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1676) |
| 20 | Who discovered the bacterium that causes anthrax disease? | Robert Koch (1876) |
| 21 | Who discovered how cells read DNA? | Marshall Nirenberg and Heinrich Matthaei (1961) |
| 22 | Who discovered how fast light travels? | Ole Rømer (1676) |
| 23 | Who discovered how old the Earth is? | James Hutton (late 1700s); modern dating methods refined estimate |
| 24 | Who discovered the photoelectric effect? | Albert Einstein (1905) |
| 25 | Who discovered zero? | Ancient Indian mathematicians; Brahmagupta (7th century) formalized its use |
| 26 | Who discovered how to split the atom? | Ernest Rutherford (1917) |
| 27 | Who discovered how to make glass? | Ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians (c. 3500 BCE) |
| 28 | Who discovered how to make kerosene from crude oil? | Abraham Gesner (1846) |
| 29 | Who discovered the cure for COVID-19? | Multiple teams, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, developed effective vaccines (2020) |
| 30 | Who discovered the cure for cancer? | No single cure; treatments developed over time by various researchers |
| 31 | Who discovered the cure for malaria? | Artemisinin was discovered by Tu Youyou (1972) |
| 32 | Who discovered the cure for tuberculosis? | Streptomycin was discovered by Selman Waksman (1943) |
| 33 | Who discovered the diesel engine? | Rudolf Diesel (1897) |
| 34 | Who discovered the first antibiotic? | Alexander Fleming (penicillin, 1928) |
Also Read: Difference Between Invention and Discovery with Examples
First in World – Adventure Sports Discoveries
Here is a list of the first in the world adventure discoveries that you may not know about
| S.No | Milestone | First in World |
| 1 | First person to climb Mount Everest | Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) & Tenzing Norgay (Nepal), 1953 |
| 2 | First person to reach the South Pole | Roald Amundsen (Norway), 1911 |
| 3 | First person to sail solo around the world | Joshua Slocum (Canada/USA), 1895–1898 |
| 4 | First person to dive to the Mariana Trench | Jacques Piccard (Switzerland) & Don Walsh (USA), 1960 |
| 5 | First person to fly across the Atlantic solo non-stop | Charles Lindbergh (USA), 1927 |
| 6 | First woman to swim the English Channel | Gertrude Ederle (USA), 1926 |
| 7 | First person to complete a solo unsupported trek to the South Pole | Børge Ousland (Norway), 1996-1997 |
| 8 | First person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders peaks | Reinhold Messner (Italy), 1986 |
| 9 | First in world to BASE jump (from a fixed object, generally cited) | Michael Pelkey, Brian Schubert, Kent Lane (USA), 1966 (El Capitan) |
| 10 | First person to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon | Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, Larry Newman (USA), 1978 |
| 11 | First person to free solo El Capitan (Freerider route) | Alex Honnold (USA), 2017 |
| 12 | First person to complete an Ironman triathlon (first race winner) | Gordon Haller (USA), 1978 |
| 13 | First person to complete a solo unsupported ski crossing of Antarctica | Børge Ousland (Norway), 1996-1997 |
| 14 | First person to swim the Amazon River | Martin Strel (Slovenia), 2007 |
| 15 | First person to hot air balloon around the world (non-stop) | Bertrand Piccard (Switzerland) & Brian Jones (UK), 1999 |
| 16 | First human in the world to cycle to the South Pole | Maria Leijerstam (UK), 2013 |
| 17 | First person to cross Australia on foot, unsupported | Jon Muir (Australia), 2001 |
| 18 | First person to row solo across the Indian Ocean | Anders Svedlund (Sweden), 1971 |
| 19 | First person to complete a human-powered circumnavigation (unsupported) | Erden Eruç (Turkey/USA), 2007-2012 |
| 20 | First person to paraglide off Mount Everest (from near the summit) | Jean-Marc Boivin (France), 1988 |
| 21 | First person to cross the Patagonian Ice Cap unsupported | Børge Ousland (Norway) & Thomas Ulrich (Switzerland), 2003 |
| 22 | First person to achieve a supersonic freefall | Felix Baumgartner (Austria), 2012 |
| 23 | First person to fly around the world in a helicopter | Ross and Dick Smith (Australia), 1982-1983 |
| 24 | First person to complete a spacewalk | Alexei Leonov (USSR), 1965 |
| 25 | First person to descend the deepest known underwater cave (Hranice Abyss) | Krzysztof Starnawski (Poland), 2016 |
| 26 | First person to row across the Pacific Ocean (double-handed) | John Fairfax (UK) & Sylvia Cook (UK/Australia), 1971-1972 |
| 27 | First person to cross the Sahara desert by camel solo (modern era, notable) | Jeremy Curl (UK), 2008 |
| 28 | First person to complete a solo unsupported row across the Atlantic | Gérard d’Aboville (France), 1980 |
| 29 | First woman to climb Mount Everest | Junko Tabei (Japan), 1975 |
| 30 | First person to reach the North Pole (by airship) | Roald Amundsen (Norway), Umberto Nobile (Italy), Lincoln Ellsworth (USA), 1926 |
| 31 | First in the world to complete a solo kayak circumnavigation of Australia | Paul Caffyn (New Zealand), 1981-1982 |
| 32 | First person to swim the English Channel underwater | Fred Baldasare (USA), 1962 |
| 33 | First person to complete a solo unsupported crossing of Greenland (ski) | Fridtjof Nansen (Norway), 1888 |
| 34 | First person to navigate the entire Amazon River by kayak/raft (source to sea) | Piotr Chmielinski (Poland/USA), 1985-1986 |
| 35 | First person to achieve a sub-3 hour marathon (in a recognised race, early) | Thomas Hicks won the first Olympic marathon in 1908 with a time over three hours, distinct from the later milestone of the first sub-2 hour 30 minute marathon run by Alexis Ahlgren in 1913. |
| 35 | First person to run a marathon under 2 hours and 30 minutes | Alexis Ahlgren (Sweden), 1913 |
Also Read: Longest Rivers in the World
First in World and India
These were the people who were first in India and the world.
| S.No | Milestone | First in World |
| 1 | First person to climb Mount Everest (World) | Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) & Tenzing Norgay (Nepal), 1953 |
| 2 | First person to reach the South Pole (World) | Roald Amundsen (Norway), 1911 |
| 3 | First person to walk on the Moon (World) | Neil Armstrong (USA), 1969 |
| 4 | First man in space (World) | Yuri Gagarin (USSR), 1961 |
| 5 | First woman in space (World) | Valentina Tereshkova (USSR), 1963 |
| 6 | First woman prime minister in the World | Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka), 1960 |
| 7 | First European to reach India by sea | Vasco da Gama (Portugal), 1498 |
| 8 | First Governor-General of British India | Warren Hastings (British), 1774 |
| 9 | First Governor-General of independent India | Lord Louis Mountbatten (British), 1947 |
| 10 | First President of India | Dr. Rajendra Prasad (India), 1950 |
| 11 | First Prime Minister of India | Jawaharlal Nehru (India), 1947 |
| 12 | First woman Prime Minister of India | Indira Gandhi (India), 1966 |
| 13 | First Indian in space | Rakesh Sharma (India), 1984 |
| 14 | First Indian to climb Mount Everest | Lt. Cdr. Avatar Singh Cheema (India), 1965 |
| 15 | First Indian woman to climb Mount Everest | Bachendri Pal (India), 1984 |
| 16 | First Indian Nobel Laureate | Rabindranath Tagore (India), 1913 |
| 17 | First person to sail solo around the world (World) | Joshua Slocum (Canada/USA), 1895–1898 |
| 18 | First Indian to swim the English Channel | Mihir Sen (India), 1958 |
| 19 | First woman to swim the English Channel (World) | Gertrude Ederle (USA), 1926 |
| 20 | First person to break the sound barrier (World) | Chuck Yeager (USA), 1947 |
| 21 | First artificial satellite (World) | Sputnik 1 (USSR), 1957 |
| 22 | First Indian satellite | Aryabhata (India), 1975 |
| 23 | First Test Tube Baby (World) | Louise Brown (UK), 1978 |
| 24 | First Test Tube Baby in India | Durga (Kanupriya Agarwal) (India), 1978 |
| 25 | First successfully cloned mammal (World) | Dolly the Sheep (UK), 1996 |
| 26 | First successful human organ transplant (World – Kidney) | Richard Herrick (Recipient) & Ronald Herrick (Donor) (USA), 1954 |
| 27 | First successful heart transplant (World) | Louis Washkansky (Recipient) & Christiaan Barnard (Surgeon) (South Africa), 1967 |
| 28 | First Indian to win an individual Olympic Gold Medal | Abhinav Bindra (India), 2008 |
| 29 | First woman President of India | Pratibha Patil (India), 2007 |
| 30 | First Indian to win an Academy Award (Oscar) | Bhanu Athaiya (India), 1983 |
| 31 | First Indian to win a Grammy Award | Pandit Ravi Shankar (India), 1968 |
| 32 | First Indian to win the Pulitzer Prize | Gobind Behari Lal (India), 1937 |
| 33 | First Indian to win the Booker Prize | Arundhati Roy (India), 1997 |
| 34 | First Indian to win the World Amateur Billiards Title | Wilson Jones (India), 1958 |
| 35 | First Indian to win the All England Badminton Championship | Prakash Padukone (India), 1980 |
Also Read – List of First in India: PDF with Answers [Download]
Men Who Were First in World
These are men who were the first in the world to break records in different fields.
| S.No | Milestone | Male Achiever & Year |
| 1 | First person to reach the South Pole | Roald Amundsen (Norway), 1911 |
| 2 | First person to climb Mount Everest | Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) & Tenzing Norgay (Nepal), 1953 |
| 3 | First person to walk on the Moon | Neil Armstrong (USA), 1969 |
| 4 | First man in space | Yuri Gagarin (USSR), 1961 |
| 5 | First person to sail solo around the world | Joshua Slocum (Canada/USA), 1895–1898 |
| 6 | First person to break the sound barrier | Chuck Yeager (USA), 1947 |
| 7 | First person to swim the English Channel | Matthew Webb (UK), 1875 |
| 8 | First person to reach the North Pole (by proven surface means) | Robert Peary (USA), 1909 |
| 9 | First person to fly across the Atlantic solo non-stop | Charles Lindbergh (USA), 1927 |
| 10 | First person to descend to the deepest point in the ocean (Challenger Deep) | Jacques Piccard (Switzerland) & Don Walsh (USA), 1960 |
| 11 | First person to fly a controlled, sustained heavier-than-air powered flight | Orville Wright (USA), 1903 (with Wilbur Wright) |
| 12 | First person to invent the practical incandescent light bulb | Thomas Edison (USA), 1879 |
| 13 | First person to invent the telephone | Alexander Graham Bell (USA), 1876 |
| 14 | First person to formulate the theory of relativity | Albert Einstein (Germany/Switzerland/USA), early 20th century |
| 15 | First person to discover penicillin | Alexander Fleming (UK), 1928 |
| 16 | First person to design the first successful automobile | Carl Benz (Germany), 1886 |
| 17 | First person to invent the printing press (in Europe) | Johannes Gutenberg (Germany), around 1440 |
| 18 | First person to win the Nobel Peace Prize | Jean Henry Dunant (Switzerland), 1901 |
| 19 | First person to describe universal gravity | Isaac Newton (England), 17th century |
| 20 | First person to compose the first opera | Jacopo Peri (Italy), 1597 |
| 21 | First person to fly a jet aircraft | Erich Warsitz (Germany), 1939 |
| 22 | First person to walk in space | Alexei Leonov (USSR), 1965 |
| 23 | First person to develop the polio vaccine (first effective inactivated) | Jonas Salk (USA), 1955 |
| 24 | First person to direct the first image of a black hole (Event Horizon Telescope) | Shepard Doeleman (USA), 2019 (Representing the collaboration) |
| 25 | First person to conduct a controlled nuclear chain reaction | Enrico Fermi (Italy/USA), 1942 |
| 26 | First person to invent the World Wide Web | Tim Berners-Lee (UK), 1989 |
| 27 | First person to develop the first widely recognized personal computer (kit) | Ed Roberts (USA), 1975 (Altair 8800) |
| 28 | First person to propose the theory of evolution by natural selection | Charles Darwin (UK), 1859 |
| 29 | First to determine the structure of DNA (double helix) | James Watson (USA) & Francis Crick (UK), 1953 |
| 30 | First in the world to perform a successful human-to-human blood transfusion | James Blundell (UK), 1818 |
| 31 | First person to develop antiseptic surgery | Joseph Lister (UK), 1860s |
| 32 | First person to discover X-rays | Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (Germany), 1895 |
| 33 | First person to invent the radio (practical wireless telegraphy) | Guglielmo Marconi (Italy), 1896 |
| 34 | First person to invent television (mechanical) | John Logie Baird (Scotland), 1926 |
| 35 | First in the world to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff (Netherlands), 1901 |
Also Read: Psychology Facts About Men
Women Who Were First in the World
These were the first women in the world to break barriers.
| S.No | Milestone | Female Achiever & Year |
| 1 | First woman in space | Valentina Tereshkova (USSR), 1963 |
| 2 | First woman to climb Mount Everest | Junko Tabei (Japan), 1975 |
| 3 | First woman to swim the English Channel | Gertrude Ederle (USA), 1926 |
| 4 | First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic | Amelia Earhart (USA), 1932 |
| 5 | First woman Prime Minister of a country | Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka), 1960 |
| 6 | First woman to win a Nobel Prize | Marie Curie (Poland/France), 1903 (Physics) |
| 7 | First woman to break the sound barrier | Jacqueline Cochran (USA), 1953 |
| 8 | First woman to reach the North Pole (by surface) | Ann Bancroft (USA), 1986 |
| 9 | First in world-woman elected head of state (with universal suffrage) | Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (Iceland), 1980 |
| 10 | First woman to orbit the Earth (and first woman in space) | Valentina Tereshkova (USSR), 1963 |
| 11 | First woman to complete a solo flight around the world | Jerrie Mock (USA), 1964 |
| 12 | First woman to serve as head of government (Prime Minister) | Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka), 1960 |
| 13 | First woman to chair a major central bank (Federal Reserve) | Janet Yellen (USA), 2014 |
| 14 | First woman to win an Olympic gold medal (in modern Olympics) | Charlotte Cooper (UK), 1900 (Tennis) |
| 15 | First woman to conduct a major symphony orchestra | Nadia Boulanger ,1938 |
| 16 | First woman to win a Pulitzer Prize | Edith Wharton (USA), 1921 (for Fiction) |
| 17 | First woman to win the Booker Prize | Bernice Rubens (UK), 1970 |
| 18 | First woman to be elected to a national legislature | Jeannette Rankin of the United States |
| 19 | First woman appointed as an ambassador | Alexandra Kollontai (Russia), 1924 |
| 20 | First woman to serve on the Supreme Court | Florence Ellinwood Allen (USA), 1922 (Ohio Supreme Court) |
| 21 | First woman to officially run a marathon (modern era) | Katherine Switzer (USA), 1967 (in the Boston Marathon, despite attempts to stop her) |
| 22 | First woman to descend to the deepest point in the ocean (Challenger Deep) | Kathryn Sullivan (USA), 2020 |
| 23 | First woman to complete a solo unsupported trek to the South Pole | Preet Chandi (UK), 2022 |
| 24 | First woman to cross Antarctica unsupported | Felicity Aston (UK), 2012 |
| 25 | First woman to command an International Space Station mission | Peggy Whitson (USA), 2007 |
| 26 | First woman to photograph a black hole (Event Horizon Telescope) | Katie Bouman (USA), 2019 (as part of a collaboration) |
| 27 | First woman to win an individual Olympic gold in a combat sport | Nicola Adams of Great Britain. |
| 28 | First woman to develop a widely used programming language | Grace Hopper (USA), 1950s (FLOW-MATIC, influenced COBOL) |
| 29 | First woman to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Marie Curie (Poland/France), 1911 |
| 30 | First woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics | Marie Curie (Poland/France), 1903 |
| 31 | First woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature | Selma Lagerlöf (Sweden), 1909 |
| 32 | First woman to win a Pritzker Architecture Prize | Zaha Hadid (Iraq/UK), 2004 |
| 33 | First woman to qualify for the Boston Marathon | Kathrine Switzer in 1967 |
| 34 | First woman to fly a jet aircraft | Jacqueline Cochran (USA), 1953 |
| 35 | First woman to be inducted into a major national baseball Hall of Fame (as a player) | Effa Manle (2006) |
Also Read: Psychological Facts about Women You Didn’t Know
FAQs
What is the meaning of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd world countries?
The first world used to mean the industrialised capitalist countries of the world. That is. USA and its western allies like Canada, Australia, etc. On the other hand, the Second World countries refer to the communist countries, and Third World means the rest of the world or the countries that are not aligned with either bloc. The good news is that we don’t use these terms anymore.
Who is first on the India list?
The first president of India was Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The first prime minister of India was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The first woman prime minister of India was Smt. Indira Gandhi. The first Indian to go to space was Rakesh Sharma.
Is India a First World?
No. India is classified as a third-world country. When India became independent, its GDP was 2.7 lakh crore. However, it has grown to $3.75 trillion. Currently, India is the 6th largest economy.
Is India a developed country?
No. India is not a developed country. It is a developing country. It is classified as a ‘lower middle income country’ by the World Bank.
Who ruled India first?
Chandragupta Maurya was the first emperor of India. He was born in 340 BC and ascended the throne in 321 BC. He established the Maurya Empire around 321 BC.
Related Reads
These were the people, countries, and inventions that were the first in world. If you find it fascinating and wish to read more such interesting facts, then stay tuned to the General Knowledge page of Leverage Edu.
