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The Coolest Female Firsts in History

Amy Boal
Updated December 1, 2023 50.3K views 70 items
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Vote up 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, or the first female mayor? 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
    1

    Marie Curie

    1903 - First Female Nobel Prize Winner
    Marie Skłodowska Curie ( KEWR-ee, French: [kyʁi], Polish: [kʲiˈri]; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) 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 the Nobel prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields. She 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 in Warsaw, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. She studied at Warsaw's clandestine Flying University and began her practical scientific training in Warsaw. In 1891, aged 24, she followed her older sister Bronisława to study in Paris, where she earned her higher degrees and conducted her subsequent scientific work. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and physicist Henri Becquerel. She won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her achievements included the development of the theory of radioactivity (a term she coined), techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two elements, polonium and radium. Under her direction, the world's first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms using radioactive isotopes. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and in Warsaw, which remain major centres of medical research today. During World War I she developed mobile radiography units to provide X-ray services to field hospitals. While a French citizen, Marie Skłodowska Curie, who used both surnames, never lost her sense of Polish identity. She taught her daughters the Polish language and took them on visits to Poland. She named the first chemical element she discovered polonium, after her native country.Marie Curie died in 1934, aged 66, at a sanatorium in Sancellemoz (Haute-Savoie), France, of aplastic anemia from exposure to radiation in the course of her scientific research and in the course of her radiological work at field hospitals during World War I.
    • Age: Dec. at 66 (1867-1934)
    • Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland
    • Profession: Physicist, Chemist, Scientist
    584 votes
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  • Elizabeth Blackwell
    2

    Elizabeth Blackwell

    1849 - First Female Doctor in the United States
    Elizabeth Blackwell (February 3, 1821 – May 31, 1910) was a British physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council. Blackwell played an important role in both the United States and the United Kingdom as a social and moral reformer, and pioneered in promoting education for women in medicine. Her contributions remain celebrated with the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal, awarded annually to a woman who has made significant contribution to the promotion of women in medicine.Blackwell was initially uninterested in a career in medicine especially after her schoolteacher brought in a bull's eye to use as a teaching tool. Therefore, she became a schoolteacher in order to support her family. This occupation was seen as suitable for women during the 1800s, however, she soon found it unsuitable for her. Blackwell's interest in medicine was sparked after a friend fell ill and remarked that, had a female doctor cared for her, she might not have suffered so much. Blackwell began applying to medical schools, and immediately began to endure the prejudice against her gender that would persist throughout her career. She was rejected from each medical school she applied to, except Geneva Medical College, in which the male students voted on Blackwell's acceptance. In 1847, Blackwell became the first woman to attend medical school in the United States.Blackwell's inaugural thesis on typhoid fever, published in 1849 the Buffalo Medical Journal, shortly after she graduated, was the first medical article published by a female student from the United States. It portrayed a strong sense of empathy and sensitivity to human suffering, as well as strong advocacy for economic and social justice. This perspective was deemed by the medical community as ”feminine”.Blackwell also founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with her sister Emily in 1857, and began giving lectures to female audiences on the importance of educating girls. She also played a significant role during the American Civil War organizing nurses.
    • Age: Dec. at 89 (1821-1910)
    • Birthplace: Bristol, United Kingdom
    • Profession: Physician
    444 votes
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  • Valentina Tereshkova
    3

    Valentina Tereshkova

    1963 - First Female in Space
    Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валентина Владимировна Терешкова, IPA: [vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə] (listen); born 6 March 1937) is a member of the Russian State Duma, engineer, and former cosmonaut. She is the first and youngest woman to have flown in space with a solo mission on the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, and remains the only woman to have been on a solo space mission. Before her selection for the Soviet space program, Tereshkova was a textile factory worker and an amateur skydiver. She joined the Air Force as part of the Cosmonaut Corps and was commissioned as an officer after completing her training. After the dissolution of the first group of female cosmonauts in 1969, Tereshkova remained in the space program as a cosmonaut instructor. She later graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy and re-qualified for spaceflight but never went to space again. She retired from the Air Force in 1997 having attained the rank of major general. Tereshkova was a prominent member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, holding various political offices including being a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1974 to 1989. She remained politically active following the collapse of the Soviet Union but twice lost elections to the national State Duma in 1995 and 2003. Tereshkova was later elected in 2008 to her regional parliament, the Yaroslavl Oblast Duma. In 2011, she was elected to the national State Duma as a member of the United Russia party and re-elected in 2016.
    • Age: 87
    • Birthplace: Bolshoye Maslennikovo, Russia
    • Profession: Pilot, Politician, Astronaut
    461 votes
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  • Bessie Coleman
    4

    Bessie Coleman

    1921 - First Woman of African American and Native American Descent to Earn Her Pilot's License

    Bessie Coleman (January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926) was an early American civil aviator. She was the first woman of African-American descent, and the first of Native American descent, to hold a pilot license. She achieved her international pilot license in 1921.Born to a family of sharecroppers in Texas, Coleman went into the cotton fields at a young age while also studying in a small segregated school and went on to attend one term of college at Langston University. She developed an early interest in flying, but African Americans, Native Americans, and women had no flight training opportunities in the United States, so she saved up money and obtained sponsorships to go to France for flight school. She then became a high profile pilot in early but also dangerous air shows in the United States, and hoped to start a school for African-American fliers. She died in a plane crash in 1926 while testing a new aircraft. Her pioneering role was an inspiration to early pilots and to the African-American and Native American communities.
    • Age: Dec. at 34 (1892-1926)
    • Birthplace: Atlanta, Texas
    • Profession: Pilot
    383 votes
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  • Amelia Earhart
    5

    Amelia Earhart

    1928 - First Female to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic Ocean
    Amelia Mary Earhart (, born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 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.Born in Atchison, Kansas, Earhart developed a passion for adventure at a young age, steadily gaining flying experience from her twenties. In 1928, Earhart became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane (accompanying pilot Wilmer Stultz), for which she achieved celebrity status. In 1932, piloting a Lockheed Vega 5B, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat. She received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to women students. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.
    • Age: 128
    • Birthplace: Atchison, Kansas
    • Profession: Pilot, Writer
    484 votes
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  • Sandra Day O'Connor
    6

    Sandra Day O'Connor

    1981 - First Female US Supreme Court Justice
    Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from who served from her 1981 appointment by President Ronald Reagan to 2006. She was the first woman to serve on the Court. Before her tenure on the Court, she was a judge and an elected official in Arizona, serving as the first female Majority Leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. Samuel Alito took her seat in October 2005. A moderate Republican, O'Connor most frequently sided with the Court's conservative bloc; having the swing opinion in many decisions. She often wrote concurring opinions that limited the reach of the majority holding. During her time on the court, some publications ranked her among the most powerful women in the world. On August 12, 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
    • Age: Dec. at 93 (1930-2023)
    • Birthplace: El Paso, Texas, USA
    • Profession: Judge, Lawyer
    391 votes
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  • Jacqueline Cochran
    7

    Jacqueline Cochran

    1953 - First Female to Break the Sound Barrier in Flight
    Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and the first woman to break the sound barrier on 18 May 1953. She was a pioneer in the field of aviation and one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She was an important contributor to the formation of the wartime Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).
    • Age: Dec. at 74 (1906-1980)
    • Birthplace: USA, Florida, Muscogee
    • Profession: Pilot
    347 votes
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  • Kristen Griest & Shaye Haver
    8

    Kristen Griest & Shaye Haver

    2015 - First Females to Graduate from the US Army Ranger School
    304 votes
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  • Aretha Franklin
    9

    Aretha Franklin

    1987 - First Female Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee
    Aretha Franklin, popularly known as the Queen of Soul, was a trailblazer in the world of music. Born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, she was raised in Detroit, Michigan where her father served as a pastor and she began her singing career. Her early life was deeply rooted in gospel music, which was nurtured at her father's church. Despite not having formal training, Franklin's remarkable vocal range, spanning multiple octaves, and her ability to convey deep emotion through her voice set her apart. Franklin's professional career took off in the 1960s with Atlantic Records, where she redefined the genre of soul music with hits like Respect, Chain of Fools, and Think. Throughout her illustrious career, she released over 40 studio albums and numerous hit singles, achieving commercial success and critical acclaim. Her powerful voice and emotional delivery resonated with audiences around the globe, making her one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. Moreover, her music became an anthem for civil rights and women's rights movements, reflecting her strong commitment to equality and freedom. In 1987, Franklin made history by becoming the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, cementing her place in music history. Her legacy is marked by numerous awards and accolades, including 18 Grammy Awards, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and honorary degrees from prestigious institutions such as Harvard University. Franklin passed away on August 16, 2018, but her influence continues to reverberate in the music industry and beyond.
    • Age: Dec. at 76 (1942-2018)
    • Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, USA
    • Profession: Songwriter, Musician, Singer-songwriter, Actor, Singer
    404 votes
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  • Edith Wharton
    10

    Edith Wharton

    Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper class New York "aristocracy" to realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. She was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1921. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
    • Age: Dec. at 75 (1862-1937)
    • Birthplace: New York City, New York
    • Profession: Novelist, Designer, Writer
    317 votes
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  • Bobbi Gibb
    11

    Bobbi Gibb

    1966 - First Female to Run the Entire Boston Marathon
    Roberta Louise "Bobbi" Gibb (born November 2, 1942 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon (1966). She is recognized by the Boston Athletic Association as the pre-sanctioned era women’s winner in 1966, 1967, and 1968. At the Boston Marathon, the pre-sanctioned era comprised the years from 1966 through 1971, when women, who were banned from entering the Men's Division Race because of their gender, ran and finished the race. In 1996 the B.A.A. retroactively recognized as champions the women who finished first in the Pioneer Women's Division Marathon for the years 1966–1971. Gibb’s run in 1966 challenged prevalent prejudices and misconceptions about women's athletic capabilities. In 1967, she finished nearly an hour ahead of Kathrine Switzer, who had obtained an invalid number in the Men's Division Race, which threatened the accreditation of the race and angered officials, who tried to remove the number. In 1968 Gibb finished first among five women that ran the marathon unregistered. It was not until late 1971, pursuant to a petition to the Amateur Athletic Union by Nina Kuscsik, that the AAU changed its rules and began to sanction women's division marathons. Kuscsik won the initial AAU-sanctioned women's division race at Boston in 1972.
    • Age: 82
    276 votes
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  • Juliana Morell
    12

    Juliana Morell

    1608 - First Female to Earn a Doctorate Degree
    Juliana Morell (16 February 1594 – 26 June 1653) was a Spanish Dominican nun and intellectual child prodigy. Some sources assert that she received a doctorate in canon law in Avignon in 1608. In 1941, Sylvanus Morley traced this to an 1859 misreading by Joaquín Roca y Cornet of 17th-century Latin documents. and cited others stating that, while her father wished for her to obtain a doctorate, she refused, regarding it as incompatible with her status as a nun.
    • Age: Dec. at 58 (1594-1653)
    346 votes
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  • Admiral Michelle Howard
    13

    Admiral Michelle Howard

    2014 - First Female Four Star Admiral in the US Navy
    384 votes
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  • Jessica Meir And Christina Koch
    14

    Jessica Meir And Christina Koch

    Jessica Meir and Christina Koch completed the first all-female spacewalk outside of the Internationals Space Station on October 18, 2019. It lasted for seven hours, from 7:38am ET to 2:55pm ET. 

    Upon returning to Earth, Koch set the record for the longest female spaceflight - at 328 days in orbit. The previous record holder was astronaut Peggy Whitson, who stayed in space for 288 days between 2016 and 2017.

    • Age: 47
    • Birthplace: Caribou, Maine
    • Profession: Researcher, Astronaut
    138 votes
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  • Victoria Woodhull
    15

    Victoria Woodhull

    1872 - First Female US Presidential Candidate
    Victoria Claflin Woodhull, later Victoria Woodhull Martin (September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927), was an American leader of the women's suffrage movement. In 1872, she ran for President of the United States. While many historians and authors agree that Woodhull was the first woman to run for President of the United States, some have questioned that priority given issues with the legality of her run. They disagree with classifying it as a true candidacy because she was younger than the constitutionally mandated age of 35. (Woodhull's 35th birthday was in September 1873, seven months after the March inauguration). However, election coverage by contemporary newspapers does not suggest age was a significant issue; this may, however, be due to the fact that no one took the candidacy seriously. An activist for women's rights and labor reforms, Woodhull was also an advocate of "free love", by which she meant the freedom to marry, divorce and bear children without social restriction or government interference. "They cannot roll back the rising tide of reform," she often said. "The world moves."Woodhull twice went from rags to riches, her first fortune being made on the road as a magnetic healer before she joined the spiritualist movement in the 1870s. Authorship of many of her articles is disputed (many of her speeches on these topics were collaborations between Woodhull, her backers, and her second husband, Colonel James Blood). However, despite her ethical problems, her role as a representative of these movements was powerful. Together with her sister, Tennessee Claflin, she was the first woman to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street, making a second, and more reputable fortune. They were among the first women to found a newspaper in the United States, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, which began publication in 1870.Woodhull was politically active in the early 1870s, when she was nominated as the first woman candidate for the United States presidency. Woodhull was the candidate in 1872 from the Equal Rights Party, supporting women's suffrage and equal rights; her running mate was black abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass. A check on her activities occurred when she was arrested on obscenity charges a few days before the election. Her paper had published an account of the alleged adulterous affair between the prominent minister Henry Ward Beecher and Elizabeth Tilton which had rather more detail than was considered proper at the time. However, it all added to the sensational coverage of her candidacy.
    • Age: Dec. at 88 (1838-1927)
    • Birthplace: Homer, Burlington Township, Ohio
    • Profession: Politician
    304 votes
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  • Belva Ann Lockwood
    16

    Belva Ann Lockwood

    1873 - First Female to Argue Before the US Supreme Court
    Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was an American attorney, politician, educator, and author. She was active in working for women's rights, including women's suffrage. Lockwood overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. After college, she became a teacher and principal, working to equalize pay for women in education. She supported the movement for world peace, and was a proponent of the Temperance movement. Lockwood graduated from law school in Washington, D.C. and became one of the first female lawyers in the United States. In 1879, she successfully petitioned Congress to be allowed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the first woman attorney given this privilege. Lockwood ran for president in 1884 and 1888 on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party and was the first woman to appear on official ballots.
    • Age: Dec. at 86 (1830-1917)
    • Birthplace: Royalton, New York
    • Profession: Politician, Lawyer
    253 votes
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  • Junko Tabei
    17

    Junko Tabei

    1975 - First Female to Climb Mt. Everest
    Junko Tabei (田部井 淳子, Tabei Junko (born Ishibashi Junko), 22 September 1939 – 20 October 2016) was a Japanese mountaineer. She was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, and the first woman to ascend all Seven Summits by climbing the highest peak on every continent.
    • Age: 85
    • Birthplace: Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
    • Profession: Mountaineer
    317 votes
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  • Benazir Bhutto
    18

    Benazir Bhutto

    1988 - First Female Head of State of a Muslim Nation
    Benazir Bhutto (Sindhi: بينظير ڀُٽو‎; Urdu: [beːnəˈziːr ˈbʱʊʈ.ʈoː]; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. She was the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim majority nation. Ideologically a liberal and a secularist, she chaired or co-chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from the early 1980s until her assassination in 2007. Of mixed Sindhi and Kurdish parentage, Bhutto was born in Karachi to a politically important, wealthy aristocratic family. Her father, the PPP's founder and leader Zulfikar, was elected Prime Minister on a socialist platform in 1973. Bhutto studied at Harvard University and the University of Oxford, where she was President of the Oxford Union. She returned to Pakistan in 1977, shortly before her father was ousted in a military coup and executed. Bhutto and her mother Nusrat took control of the PPP and led the country's Movement for the Restoration of Democracy; Bhutto was repeatedly imprisoned by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's military government and then exiled to Britain in 1984. She returned in 1986 and—influenced by Thatcherite economics—transformed the PPP's platform from a socialist to a liberal one, before leading it to victory in the 1988 election. As Prime Minister, her attempts at reform were stifled by conservative and Islamist forces, including President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and the powerful military. Her administration was accused of corruption and nepotism, and dismissed by Khan in 1990. Intelligence services rigged that year's election to ensure a victory for the conservative Islamic Democratic Alliance (IJI), after which Bhutto served as the Leader of the Opposition. After the IJI government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also dismissed on corruption charges, Bhutto led the PPP to victory in the 1993 elections. Her second term oversaw economic privatisation and attempts to advance women's rights. Her government was damaged by several controversies, including the assassination of her brother Murtaza, a failed 1995 coup d'état, and a further bribery scandal involving her and her husband Asif Ali Zardari; in response to the latter, the President again dismissed her government. The PPP lost the 1997 election and in 1998 she went into self-exile in Dubai, leading her party mainly through proxies. A widening corruption inquiry culminated in a 2003 conviction in a Swiss court. Following United States-brokered negotiations with President Pervez Musharraf, she returned to Pakistan in 2007 to compete in the 2008 elections; her platform emphasised civilian oversight of the military and opposition to growing Islamist violence. After a political rally in Rawalpindi, she was assassinated. The Salafi jihadi group al-Qaeda claimed responsibility, although the involvement of the Pakistani Taliban and rogue elements of the intelligence services were widely suspected. She was buried at her family mausoleum. Bhutto was a controversial figure. She was often criticised as being politically inexperienced and corrupt, and faced much opposition from Pakistan's Islamist lobby for her secularist and modernising agenda. In the early years of her career she was nevertheless domestically popular and also attracted support from Western nations, for whom she was a champion of democracy. Posthumously, she came to be regarded as an icon for women's rights due to her political success in a male-dominated society.
    • Age: Dec. at 54 (1953-2007)
    • Birthplace: Karachi, Pakistan
    • Profession: Politician
    397 votes
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  • Jeannette Rankin
    19

    Jeannette Rankin

    1916 - First Female Elected to US House of Representatives
    Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women's rights advocate, and the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916, and again in 1940. As of 2019, she remains the only woman Montana has elected to Congress. Each of Rankin's Congressional terms coincided with initiation of U.S. military intervention in the two World Wars. A lifelong pacifist, she was one of 50 House members who opposed the declaration of war on Germany in 1917. In 1941, she was the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor. A suffragist during the Progressive Era, Rankin organized and lobbied for legislation enfranchising women in several states including Montana, New York, and North Dakota. While in Congress, she introduced legislation that eventually became the 19th Constitutional Amendment, granting unrestricted voting rights to women nationwide. She championed a multitude of diverse women's rights and civil rights causes throughout a career that spanned more than six decades.
    • Age: Dec. at 92 (1880-1973)
    • Birthplace: Missoula, Montana, USA
    • Profession: Social Worker, Social activist
    254 votes
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  • Hélène de Pourtalès
    20

    Hélène de Pourtalès

    1900 - First Female Olympic Gold Medalist
    Countess Hélène de Pourtalès (April 28, 1868 – November 2, 1945) born as Helen Barbey, was an American who became a Swiss sailor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics and becoming the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
    • Age: Dec. at 77 (1868-1945)
    • Birthplace: New York City, New York
    • Profession: Sailor
    250 votes
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  • Katie Higgins
    21

    Katie Higgins

    2015 - First Female Blue Angels Pilot
    356 votes
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  • Frances Perkins
    22

    Frances Perkins

    1933 - First Female Presidential Cabinet Member
    Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American sociologist and workers-rights advocate who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. She and Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes were the only original members of the Roosevelt cabinet to remain in office for his entire presidency. During her term as Secretary of Labor, Perkins executed many aspects of the New Deal, including the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and its successor the Federal Works Agency, and the labor portion of the National Industrial Recovery Act. With the Social Security Act she established unemployment benefits, pensions for the many uncovered elderly Americans, and welfare for the poorest Americans. She pushed to reduce workplace accidents and helped craft laws against child labor. Through the Fair Labor Standards Act, she established the first minimum wage and overtime laws for American workers, and defined the standard forty-hour work week. She formed governmental policy for working with labor unions and helped to alleviate strikes by way of the United States Conciliation Service. Perkins dealt with many labor questions during World War II, when skilled labor was vital and women were moving into formerly male jobs.
    • Age: Dec. at 85 (1880-1965)
    • Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
    261 votes
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  • Svetlana Savitskaya
    23

    Svetlana Savitskaya

    1984 - First Female to Spacewalk
    Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya (Russian: Светла́на Евге́ньевна Сави́цкая; born 8 August 1948) is a retired Soviet aviator and cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space. On her 1984 mission she became the first woman to fly to space twice, and the first woman to perform a spacewalk. She set several FAI world records as a pilot.
    • Age: 76
    • Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
    • Profession: Politician, Flight engineer, Astronaut
    251 votes
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  • An Anonymous Marine
    24

    An Anonymous Marine

    2017 - First Female Graduate of the US Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course

    197 votes
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  • Mary Davenport Engberg
    25

    Mary Davenport Engberg

    1914 - First Female to Conduct a Symphony Orchestra
    Mary Davenport Engberg, also referred to as Mary Davenport-Engberg and Madame Davenport-Engberg (15 February 1880 in Spokane – January 23, 1951 in Seattle) was an American violinist, composer and conductor. Born to George A. and Mary Cornwall in a covered wagon en route from California to Washington state she was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Santell Davenport following the death of her mother. A cousin of the pianist Ethel Newcomb, she studied in Europe for 5 years, chiefly in Copenhagen with Anton Svendsen and Christian Sandby. On August 8, 1899 she married Henry Christian Engberg of Bellingham, Washington state. She made her debut as a violinist in 1903 in Copenhagen and toured extensively in Europe. In 1904 she gave a concert in New York, and went on to perform largely on the West Coast of the USA. She made her debut as a soloist in Seattle on December 13, 1908, when she soloed with the Seattle Symphony at a Sunday afternoon pops concert at the Moore Theatre.In 1912, she returned to Bellingham to teach at the State Normal School there. Engberg went on to organize the 85-member Davenport Engberg Orchestra in Bellingham. She led its opening concert in 1914. From 1921 until 1924 she was music director of the Seattle Civic Symphony Orchestra, an orchestra she founded for the purpose of developing orchestra players for the Seattle Symphony from the ranks of local students. She also taught violin extensively. Her compositions include pieces for violin.
    • Age: Dec. at 70 (1880-1951)
    • Profession: Conductor
    229 votes
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  • Anne Bradstreet
    26

    Anne Bradstreet

    1650 - First Female Published American Author
    Anne Bradstreet (March 20, 1612 – September 16, 1672), née Dudley, was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first writer in England's North American colonies to be published. She is the first Puritan figure in American Literature and notable for her large corpus of poetry, as well as personal writings published posthumously. Born to a wealthy Puritan family in Northampton, England, Bradstreet was a well-read scholar especially affected by the works of Du Bartas. Married at 16, her parents and young family migrated at the time of the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. A mother of eight children and the wife and daughter of a public officials in New England, Bradstreet wrote poetry in addition to her other duties. Her early works read in the style of Du Bartas, but her later writings develop into her unique style of poetry which centers on her role as a mother, her struggles with the sufferings of life, and her Puritan faith. Her first collection, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, was widely read in America and England.
    • Age: Dec. at 60 (1612-1672)
    • Birthplace: Northampton, United Kingdom
    • Profession: Poet, Writer
    198 votes
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  • Katharine Graham
    27

    Katharine Graham

    1972 - First Female Fortune 500 Company CEO
    Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American publisher and the second female publisher of a major American newspaper, following Eliza Jane Nicholson's ownership of the New Orleans Daily Picayune (1876–1896). She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period: the Watergate coverage that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Her memoir, Personal History, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.
    • Age: Dec. at 84 (1917-2001)
    • Birthplace: New York City, New York
    • Profession: Publisher, Author
    241 votes
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  • Sahle-Work Zewde
    28

    Sahle-Work Zewde

    2018 - First female president of Ethiopia

    Sahle-Work Zewde, a native of Ethiopia, currently serves as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi. She was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 11 March 2011 and is the first person to hold the post at the level of Under-Secretary-General. By judgment dated 31 July 2012, the United Nations Dispute Tribunal criticized Zewde, because "she continued to lead UNON management to wallow in its disobedience and impunity". Prior to her appointment with UNON, Zewde served as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic. Previously, she also held a number of other high level positions including as Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and as Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. Besides her extensive experience at the regional and international level, Zewde is also a veteran in the Ethiopian foreign service who has served in a number of posts. From 2002 to 2006, she was Ambassador to France, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and accredited to Tunisia and Morocco. From 1993 to 2002, she was Ambassador to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the Intergovernmental Authority for Development. From 1989 to 1993, Zewde served as Ambassador to to Senegal, with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea.
    144 votes
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  • Elizabeth Cowell
    29

    Elizabeth Cowell

    1936 - First Female Television Announcer
    Elizabeth Cowell (1912–1998) was a British broadcaster and the first female television announcer. She was one of the first three BBC Television Service presenters, along with Jasmine Bligh and Leslie Mitchell. She began announcing when the Television Service started in 1936 and made her debut on Monday 31 August that year at Alexandra Palace in London. This was a few months before the official launch of BBC Television on 2 November 1936. She returned in 1946 after its nearly seven-year hiatus due to the Second World War. Cowell was the voice of 'the Woman' on the soundtrack of Paul Rotha's documentary Land of Promise (1946). When BBC television started broadcasting again in 1946 Cowell was now married to the laird of a Scottish estate and had left the BBC.
    • Age: Dec. at 86 (1912-1998)
    • Profession: Writer, Presenter
    170 votes
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  • Susanna M. Salter
    30

    Susanna M. Salter

    1887 - First Female Elected Mayor in the US
    Susanna Madora Salter (née Kinsey; March 2, 1860 – March 17, 1961) was a U.S. politician and activist. She served as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, becoming the first woman elected as mayor and one of the first women elected to any political office in the United States.
    • Age: Dec. at 101 (1860-1961)
    • Birthplace: Ohio
    175 votes
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  • Constance Markiewicz
    31

    Constance Markiewicz

    1918 - First Female Elected to British Parliament
    168 votes
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  • Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
    32

    Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

    2006 - First Female Head of State in Africa
    Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Ellen Eugenia Johnson was born in Monrovia to a Gola father and Kru-German mother. She was educated at the College of West Africa. She completed her education in the United States, where she studied at Madison Business College and Harvard University. She returned to Liberia to work in William Tolbert's government as Deputy Minister of Finance from 1971 to 1974. Later she worked again in the West, for the World Bank in the Caribbean and Latin America. Sirleaf returned to Liberia, where she was appointed to the late President Tolbert's government as deputy minister of Finance. In 1979 she received a cabinet appointment as Minister of Finance, serving to 1980. After Samuel Doe seized power that year in a coup d'état and executed Tolbert, Sirleaf fled to the United States. She worked for Citibank and then the Equator Bank. She returned to Liberia to contest a senatorial seat for Montserrado County in 1985, an election that was disputed. Sirleaf continued to be involved in politics. She finished in second place at the 1997 presidential election, which was won by Charles Taylor. She won the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006. She was re-elected in 2011. She was the first woman in Africa elected as president of her country. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, in recognition of her efforts to bring women into the peacekeeping process. She has received numerous other awards for her leadership. In June 2016, Sirleaf was elected as the Chair of the Economic Community of West African States, making her the first woman to hold the position since it was created.
    • Age: 86
    • Birthplace: Monrovia, Liberia
    • Profession: Businessperson, Politician, Economist
    207 votes
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  • Sandra Oh
    33

    Sandra Oh

    2018 - First Asian Female Emmy Nominee in a Lead Actress Category (Drama, Killing Eve)

    Sandra Oh, a Canadian-born actress of Korean descent, is known for her captivating performances in both television and film. Born on July 20, 1971, in Nepean, Ontario, Oh's journey into the world of acting began at an early age. Her passion for performing arts led her to study drama at the National Theatre School in Montreal. Upon graduating, she embarked on her professional career, rapidly making her mark in the Canadian entertainment industry. Oh's breakthrough role came in 2004 when she was cast as Dr. Cristina Yang in the critically acclaimed medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. Her performance in the series earned her a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. This role not only garnered her international recognition but also established her as a formidable talent in the industry. Beyond television, Oh has also demonstrated her versatile acting skills in film. Notable movie credits include Double Happiness, which won her the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, and Sideways, a role that brought her additional acclaim. In 2018, she returned to television with a bang in the lead role of Eve Polastri in the British drama series Killing Eve, earning her a historic win as the first woman of Asian descent to win two Golden Globe Awards.
    • Age: 53
    • Birthplace: Nepean, Ontario, Canada
    • Profession: Actor, Voice acting
    116 votes
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  • Kristen Griest
    34

    Kristen Griest

    2016 - First female infantry officer in the US Army
    177 votes
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  • Stacey Cunningham
    35

    Stacey Cunningham

    2018 - First Female CEO of the New York Stock Exchange

    121 votes
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  • Kathryn Bigelow
    36

    Kathryn Bigelow

    2010 - First Female Academy Award Winner for Best Director
    Director Kathryn Bigelow was hailed as one of the preeminent stylists of contemporary Hollywood filmmaking. After making an unusual entrance to cinema by way of the art world, Bigelow put her distinctive stamp on standard genre films like the Western-tinged vampire flick "Near Dark" (1987) and the feminist-themed cop thriller "Blue Steel" (1990). With the financial success of the surfer bank heist picture "Point Break" (1991), Bigelow enjoyed newfound status as a mainstream director with a rather artistic bent. Following a brief marriage and creative collaboration with fellow director James Cameron, she directed one of her most challenging films, the futuristic "Strange Days" (1995), which failed to catch on at the box office, but nonetheless displayed how successfully a filmmaker could marry art with narrative. Bigelow continued to turn out an impressive body of work, including the Oscar-winning war drama "The Hurt Locker" (2009) and "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012), both of which honed in on her fascination with the meaning of violence.
    • Age: 73
    • Birthplace: San Carlos, California, USA
    • Profession: Television director, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Actor, Film Director
    199 votes
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    The Best Movies Directed by Kathryn BigelowSee all
    • Point Break
      1Point Break
      20 Votes
    • Strange Days
      2Strange Days
      16 Votes
    • The Hurt Locker
      3The Hurt Locker
      23 Votes
  • Sirimavo Bandaranaike
    37

    Sirimavo Bandaranaike

    1960 - First Female Head of Government
    Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (Sinhala: සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක, Tamil: சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan stateswoman. She became the world's first non-hereditary female head of government in modern history, when she was elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She served three terms: 1960–1965, 1970–1977 and 1994–2000. Born into an aristocratic Kandyan family, Bandaranaike was educated in Catholic, English-medium schools, but remained a Buddhist and spoke Sinhala as well as English. On graduating from secondary school, she worked for various social programmes before marrying and raising a family. Playing hostess to her husband S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who was involved in politics and later became Prime Minister, she gained his trust as an informal advisor. Her social work focused on improving the lives of women and girls in rural areas of Sri Lanka. Following her husband's assassination in 1959, Sirimavo Bandaranaike entered politics and in 1960 became the first woman elected Prime Minister of a country. Bandaranaike attempted to reform the former British Colony of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalising organisations in the banking, education, industry, media and trade sectors. Changing the administrative language from English to Sinhala, she exacerbated discontent among the native Tamil population, and with the estate Tamils, who had become stateless under the Citizenship Act of 1948. During Bandaranaike's first two terms as Prime Minister, the country was plagued by high inflation and taxes, a dependence on food imports to feed the populace, high unemployment, and polarisation between the Sinhalese and Tamil populations because of her Sinhalese nationalist policies. Surviving an attempted coup d'état in 1962, as well as a 1971 insurrection of radical youths, in 1972 she oversaw the drafting of a new constitution and the formation of the Sri Lankan republic. In 1975, Bandaranaike created what would eventually become the Sri Lankan Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, also appointing the first woman to serve in the Sri Lankan Cabinet. Bandaranaike's tenure was marked by inadequate economic development at the national level. She played a large role abroad as a negotiator and a leader among the Non-Aligned Nations. Ousted from power in the 1977 elections, Bandaranaike was stripped of her civil rights in 1980 for abuses of power during her tenure and barred from government for seven years. Her successors initially improved the domestic economy, but failed to address social issues, and led the country into a protracted civil war. When she returned to party leadership in 1986, Bandaranaike opposed allowing the Indian Peace Keeping Force to intervene in the civil war, believing it violated Sri Lankan sovereignty. Failing to win the office of President in 1988, she served as Leader of the Opposition in the legislature from 1989 to 1994. When her daughter won the presidential election that year, Bandaranaike was appointed to her third term as Prime Minister and served until her retirement in 2000, two months prior to her death.
    • Age: Dec. at 84 (1916-2000)
    • Birthplace: Sri Lanka, British Ceylon
    • Profession: Politician
    195 votes
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  • Sarah Thomas
    38

    Sarah Thomas

    2015 - First Female NFL Offical
    Sarah Thomas (nee Bailey; born 1973) is an American football official from the United States, and is currently an official for the National Football League (NFL). Thomas was the first woman to officiate a major college football game, the first to officiate a bowl game, and the first to officiate in a Big Ten stadium. On April 8, 2015, Thomas was hired as the first full-time female official in NFL history, and for the 2018 NFL season, she is on the officiating crew headed by referee Ronald Torbert. She was originally assigned officiating uniform number 153 (as seen in many photos), but currently Thomas is a down judge with the NFL officiating uniform number 53, worn in past seasons by umpire Garth DeFelice, line judge Bill Reynolds, and field judge Frank Kirkland.
    • Age: 52
    • Birthplace: Pascagoula, Mississippi
    208 votes
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  • Madeleine Albright
    39

    Madeleine Albright

    1997 - First Female US Secretary of State
    Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. She was the first female secretary of state in U.S. history. Albright immigrated with her family to the United States in 1948 from Czechoslovakia. Her father, diplomat Josef Korbel, settled the family in Denver, Colorado, and she became a U.S. citizen in 1957. Albright graduated from Wellesley College in 1959 and earned a PhD from Columbia University in 1975, writing her thesis on the Prague Spring. She worked as an aide to Senator Edmund Muskie before taking a position under Zbigniew Brzezinski on the National Security Council. She served in that position until 1981, when President Jimmy Carter left office.
    • Age: 87
    • Birthplace: Czech Republic, Smíchov
    • Profession: Politician, Diplomat, Professor
    222 votes
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  • Janet Guthrie
    40

    Janet Guthrie

    1977 - First Female to Qualify for the Indy 500
    Janet Guthrie (born March 7, 1938, in Iowa City, Iowa) is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Guthrie was originally an aerospace engineer and after graduating from the University of Michigan, she worked with Republic Aviation. She began racing in 1963 on the SCCA circuit in a Jaguar XK140 and by 1972, she was racing on a full-time basis. Her sportscar racing career included two class wins in the famed 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race.In the 1976 World 600, Guthrie finished 15th, becoming the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup superspeedway race. Guthrie would go on to compete in four more races that season. The following season, she competed in her first Daytona 500, finishing 12th when her car's engine blew two cylinders with ten laps to go. For the race, though, she still earned the honor of Top Rookie. Overall, Guthrie went on to compete in 33 races in NASCAR over four seasons. Her highest finish, sixth place at Bristol in 1977, is the best finish by a woman in a top-tier NASCAR race, now currently tied with Danica Patrick in 2014.Guthrie qualified for and competed in the 1977 Indianapolis 500, but finished 29th with engine troubles. She would compete in two more Indy 500s, finishing ninth in the 1978 race while driving with a fractured wrist (injured in a charity tennis event two days earlier) she hid from race officials. Overall, she competed in 11 Indy car events with a best finish of fifth. During her unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 1976 race, many of the drivers in the male-dominated sport stated that the reason she did not qualify was mainly due to her gender. These comments angered then three-time champion A. J. Foyt to the point he lent Guthrie a back-up car to conduct a shake-down test. Her top practice lap in Foyt's car would have been adequate to qualify for the field. She was unable to obtain funding through corporate sponsorship, and was forced into retirement.Nevertheless, Guthrie's place in history was secure. In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Guthrie's name and picture. Her helmet and race suit can be found in the Smithsonian Institution and Guthrie was one of the first elected to the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006. Her 2005 autobiography, Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle, has received critical praise in such publications as Sports Illustrated.Guthrie married Warren Levine, a pilot, in 1989. He died in 2006.In 2011, Guthrie signed a petition in support of the right of women in Saudi Arabia to drive. The petition called on Saudi King Abdullah to sponsor a Saudi Women's Grand Prix. The project was the idea of human rights activist David Keyes.Qualified, an episode of ESPN 30 for 30 covering her racing career, aired on May 28, 2019. In it she is quoted "You can go back to antiquity to find women doing extraordinary things, but their history is forgotten. Or denied to have ever existed. So women keep reinventing the wheel. Women have always done these things, and they always will."In 2019, Guthrie was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for her achievements in motorsports. She is the 5th woman to be inducted.
    • Age: 86
    • Birthplace: Iowa City, Iowa
    • Profession: Race car driver
    181 votes
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  • Laura Keene
    41

    Laura Keene

    1855 - First Female Theatre Owner and Manager
    Laura Keene (20 July 1826 – 4 November 1873) was a British stage actress and theatre manager. In her twenty-year career, she became known as the first powerful female manager in New York. She is most famous for being the lead actress in the play Our American Cousin, which was attended by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., on the evening of his assassination.
    • Age: Dec. at 47 (1826-1873)
    • Birthplace: Winchester, United Kingdom
    • Profession: Actor
    159 votes
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  • Margaret Thatcher
    42

    Margaret Thatcher

    1979 - First Female Prime Minister of Britain
    Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, (née Roberts; 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013) was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold that office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her "The 'Iron Lady'", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies known as Thatcherism. She studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and worked briefly as a research chemist, before becoming a barrister. Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his Conservative government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity in her first years in office waned amid recession and rising unemployment, until victory in the 1982 Falklands War and the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her decisive re-election in 1983. She survived an assassination attempt in the Brighton hotel bombing in 1984. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her subsequent support for the Community Charge ("poll tax") was widely unpopular, and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher (of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire) which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. In 2013, she died of a stroke at the Ritz Hotel in London, at the age of 87. Although a controversial figure in British politics, she is nonetheless viewed favourably in historical rankings of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted a realignment towards neoliberal policies in the United Kingdom and debate over the complicated legacy of Thatcherism persists into the 21st century.
    • Age: Dec. at 87 (1925-2013)
    • Birthplace: Grantham, England
    • Profession: Statesman, Politician, Chemist, Barrister, Scientist
    312 votes
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  • Diane Crump
    • Photo:
    43

    Diane Crump

    1970 - First Female Jockey in the Kentucky Derby
    Diane Crump is an American jockey and horse trainer. On February 7, 1969, Crump became the first woman to ride in a professional race in the United States. Her participation in the event was so contested that she required a full police escort through the crowds at the Hialeah Park Race Track. In a 2012 interview, Crump described what arriving at the race was like: "The crowd was just swarming all over me. They were crazy, up in arms. . .The hecklers were yelling: 'Go back to the kitchen and cook dinner.' That was the mentality at the time. They thought I was going to be the downfall of the whole sport, which is such a medieval thought. I was like: 'Come on people, this is the 1960s!'" Crump ultimately finished 10th in the 12-horse race. In 1970, she became the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Crump and her horse, Fathom, came in 15th in a 17-horse race. By the time she ended her racing career in 1985, she had ridden to 235 wins. On February 1, 1989, Crump suffered a broken leg, ankle and ribs from a riding accident and was hospitalized for ten days.
    • Age: 77
    176 votes
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  • Janet Gaynor
    44

    Janet Gaynor

    1929 - First Female Academy Award Winner
    A petite, wholesome screen star, Janet Gaynor hit it big just as silent films were coming to an end and continued as one of the screen's most popular stars of the 1930s. Gaynor got her start in films through her sister, a secretary for Hal Roach. In 1925-26, she appeared in a number of shorts (including several Glenn Tryon Westerns) and as an extra in features. Her first break was a supporting role in "The Johnstown Flood" (1926), which began her long association with Fox.
    • Age: Dec. at 77 (1906-1984)
    • Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
    • Profession: Painter, Actor, Visual Artist
    152 votes
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  • Drew Gilpin Faust
    45

    Drew Gilpin Faust

    2007 - First Female President of Harvard
    Catharine Drew Gilpin Faust (born September 18, 1947) is an American historian and was the 28th President of Harvard University, the first woman to serve in that role. Faust is the former dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; she is Harvard's first president since 1672 without an undergraduate or graduate degree from Harvard and the first to have been raised in the South.In 2014, she was ranked by Forbes as the 33rd most powerful woman in the world. On February 11, 2018, it was officially announced that Lawrence Bacow would succeed her on July 1, 2018.
    • Age: 77
    • Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
    • Profession: Historian, Professor
    149 votes
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  • Barbara Mikulski
    46

    Barbara Mikulski

    1993 - First Female to Wear Pants on the US Senate Floor
    Barbara Ann Mikulski (born July 20, 1936) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she also served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987. Mikulski is the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States Congress and the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Maryland history.Raised in the Highlandtown neighborhood of East Baltimore, Mikulski attended Mount Saint Agnes College and the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Originally a social worker and community organizer, she was elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1971 after delivering a highly publicized address on the "ethnic movement" in America. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 1976, and in 1986, she became the first woman elected to the United States Senate from Maryland.From the death of Senator Daniel Inouye in December 2012 until 2015, Mikulski chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee. She was the first woman and first Marylander to hold the position. At her retirement, she was the ranking minority member of the Committee. She also served on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. After five terms in the Senate, on March 2, 2015, Mikulski announced that she would retire at the end of the 114th Congress in 2017. In January 2017, Mikulski joined Johns Hopkins University as a professor of public policy and advisor to university President Ronald J. Daniels.
    • Age: 88
    • Birthplace: Highlandtown, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
    • Profession: Politician, Social Worker, Social work
    203 votes
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  • Jen Welter
    • Photo:
    47

    Jen Welter

    2015 - First Female NFL Coach
    143 votes
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  • Cristeta Comerford
    48

    Cristeta Comerford

    2005 - First Female White House Executive Chef
    Cristeta Pasia Comerford (born October 27, 1962) is a Filipino-American chef who has been the White House Executive Chef since 2005. She is the first woman and first person of Asian descent to hold the post.
    • Age: 62
    • Birthplace: Manila, Philippines
    • Profession: Chef
    165 votes
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  • Muriel Box
    • Photo:
    49

    Muriel Box

    1946 - First Female Academy Award Winner for Best Screenplay
    With husband Sydney, to whom she was married from 1935 to 1969, wrote several British films including the classy melodramas, "The Seventh Veil" (1945) and "The Brothers" (1948). Muriel Box began her directing career in 1952 with the Ealing-style comedy, "The Happy Family."
    • Age: Dec. at 85 (1905-1991)
    • Birthplace: Tolworth, Surrey, England, UK
    • Profession: Screenwriter, Writer, Film Director, Playwright
    134 votes
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  • Emmanuelle Charpentier And Jennifer Doudna 
    50

    Emmanuelle Charpentier And Jennifer Doudna 

    2020 - First All-Female Team To Share A Nobel Prize In Chemistry 

    In October 2020, microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier and biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna and received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing the gene-editing tool CRISPR.

    Emmanuelle Marie Charpentier (born 11 December 1968) is a French professor and researcher in microbiology, genetics and biochemistry. Since 2015, she has been a Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. In 2018, she founded an independent research institute, the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens. 

    Jennifer Anne Doudna (born 19 February 1964) is an American biochemist, professor of chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) since 1997. She directs the Innovative Genomics Institute, a joint UC Berkeley-UC San Francisco center and holds Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Professorship in Biomedicine and Health, and is the chair of the Chancellor's Advisor Committee on Biology at UC Berkeley. Doudna has been a leading figure in what is referred to as the "CRISPR revolution" for her fundamental work and leadership in developing CRISPR-mediated genome editing. In their seminal 2012 paper A programmable dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity Martin Jinek, Krzysztof Chylinski, Ines Fonfara, Michael Hauer, Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier were the first to propose that CRISPR/Cas9 could be used for programmable gene editing.
    • Age: 60
    59 votes
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  • Karin Stahre-Janson
    • Photo:
    51

    Karin Stahre-Janson

    2015 - First Female Cruise Ship Captain
    134 votes
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  • Julie Taymor
    52

    Julie Taymor

    1998 - First Female Tony Winner for Best Director of a Musical
    Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera and film. Since her adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997, 24 global productions have been seen by more than 90 million people in over 100 cities in 19 countries, earning it the highest worldwide gross of any entertainment title in box office history. Lion King also received 11 Tony Award nominations, earning Taymor Tony Awards for Best Director and Costume Designer, and was honored with more than 70 major arts awards worldwide. Her film Frida about revered Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was nominated for five Academy Awards, and her "1960s Beatles jukebox musical" Across the Universe won approval from both Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney. These films developed her reputation for respectful handling of the sensitive legacy of artists amongst their fans. Taymor created the Taymor World Theater Fellowship in 2016 to provide opportunities for enterprising young theater directors to push their boundaries through travel, exposure to new experiences and experimentation.
    • Age: 72
    • Birthplace: USA, Massachusetts, Newton
    • Profession: Theatre Director, Opera Director, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Lyricist
    129 votes
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  • Arlene Francis
    53

    Arlene Francis

    1949 - First Female TV Game Show Host
    Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American actress, radio and television talk show host, and game show panelist. She is known for her long-standing role as a panelist on the television game show What's My Line?, on which she regularly appeared for 25 years, from 1950–1975 on both the network and syndicated versions of the show.
    • Age: Dec. at 93 (1907-2001)
    • Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
    • Profession: Radio personality, Actor, Presenter, TV Personality
    133 votes
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  • Niloofar Rahmani
    54

    Niloofar Rahmani

    2015 - First Female Pilot in Afghanistan
    149 votes
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  • Shirley Dinsdale
    • Photo:
    55

    Shirley Dinsdale

    1949 - First Female Emmy Winner
    Shirley Dinsdale Layburn (October 31, 1926 – May 9, 1999), better known by her maiden name of Shirley Dinsdale, was an American ventriloquist and television and radio personality of the 1940s and early 1950s. She is best remembered for her dummy "Judy Splinters" and for the early 15-minute children's television show that bears that name. In 1949, she received the first Emmy award (first award in the first presentation) for Outstanding Television Personality when she was a student at UCLA. After her television career, she also achieved success in a second career as a cardiopulmonary therapist.
    • Age: Dec. at 72 (1926-1999)
    • Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA
    • Profession: Ventriloquist, Actor
    119 votes
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  • Ketanji Brown Jackson
    56

    Ketanji Brown Jackson

    2022 - First Black Woman To Serve on the Supreme Court

    Ketanji Brown Jackson (born September 14, 1970) is an American attorney and jurist who has served as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 2021. She is a designate associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Brown received Senate confirmation on April 7, 2022, with all 50 members of the Democratic caucus and three Republicans voting in favor of the nomination, and 47 Republicans voting against. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Miami, Florida, Jackson attended Harvard University for college and law school, where she served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She began her legal career with three clerkships, including one with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. Prior to her elevation to an appellate court, from 2013 to 2021, she served as a district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
    • Age: 51
    • Birthplace: Washington, D.C.
    • Profession: Attorney, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Vice Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission
    44 votes
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  • Bodil Ipsen
    57

    Bodil Ipsen

    1946 - First Female Palme d'Or Winner at the Cannes Film Festival
    Bodil Ipsen (30 August 1889 – 26 November 1964) was a Danish actress and film director, and is considered one of the great stars of Danish cinematic history. Her acting career, which began in theater and silent films, was marked by leading roles in large folk comedies and melodramas. However, it was as a director that she was most influential: directing the first Danish film noir and making several dark psychological thrillers during the 1940s and 1950s. Ipsen's name along with that of Bodil Kjer is given to Denmark's most celebrated film prize, the Bodil Award.
    • Age: Dec. at 75 (1889-1964)
    • Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
    • Profession: Film Director
    114 votes
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  • Maud Wagner
    58

    Maud Wagner

    1911 - First Known Female Tattoo Artist in the US
    178 votes
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  • Angela Merkel
    59

    Angela Merkel

    2005 - First Female Chancellor of Germany
    Angela Dorothea Merkel (, German: [aŋˈɡeːla ˈmɛɐ̯kl̩]; née Kasner; born 17 July 1954) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005. She served as the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2000 to 2018. Merkel has been widely described as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and, following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, by many commentators as the new leader of the Free World.Merkel was born in Hamburg in then-West Germany and moved to East Germany as an infant when her father, a Lutheran clergyman, received a pastorate in Perleberg. She obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist until 1989. Merkel entered politics in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989, and briefly served as a deputy spokesperson for the first democratically elected East German Government headed by Lothar de Maizière in 1990. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and has been reelected ever since. As the protégée of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel was appointed as the Federal Minister for Women and Youth in Kohl's government in 1991, and became the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in 1994. After her party lost the federal election in 1998, Merkel was elected Secretary-General of the CDU before becoming the party's first female leader two years later in the aftermath of a donations scandal that toppled Wolfgang Schäuble. Following the 2005 federal election, Merkel was appointed Germany's first female chancellor at the head of a grand coalition consisting of the CDU, its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the 2009 federal election the CDU obtained the largest share of the vote, and Merkel was able to form a coalition government with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). At the 2013 federal election, Merkel's CDU won a landslide victory with 41.5% of the vote and formed a second grand coalition with the SPD, after the FDP lost all of its representation in the Bundestag. After the 2017 federal election the CDU was again the largest party, and she was reelected to her fourth term on 14 March 2018.In 2007, Merkel was President of the European Council and played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. One of Merkel's consistent priorities has been to strengthen transatlantic economic relations. Merkel played a crucial role in managing the financial crisis at the European and international level, and she has been referred to as "the decider". In domestic policy, health care reform, problems concerning future energy development and more recently her government's approach to the ongoing migrant crisis have been major issues during her Chancellorship. In 2009 she succeeded George W. Bush as the senior G7 leader and in 2014 she became the longest-serving incumbent head of government in the European Union. In October 2018, Merkel announced that she would not seek reelection as leader of the CDU at the party convention in December 2018 and as Chancellor in 2021.
    • Age: 70
    • Birthplace: Hamburg, Germany
    • Profession: Politician, Physicist, Scientist
    187 votes
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  • Barbra Streisand
    60

    Barbra Streisand

    1984 - First Female Golden Globe Winner for Best Director

    Barbra Streisand, an icon in the entertainment industry, has spent over six decades mesmerizing audiences with her multifaceted talents. Born on April 24, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, she embarked on her journey to stardom at a young age, demonstrating an innate ability for singing and acting. Her career began in nightclubs before she eventually found herself on Broadway, where she quickly became a sensation. Her role in Funny Girl catapulted her to fame, earning her a Tony nomination and paving the way for her illustrious career in Hollywood. Streisand's entry into the film industry was marked by her reprising her role in the movie adaptation of Funny Girl, which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress, tying with Katharine Hepburn. This marked the beginning of a long and successful career in cinema, with notable roles in films like The Way We Were, Yentl, and The Prince of Tides. Not just confined to acting, Streisand displayed her versatility by venturing into directing and producing, making her one of the few women in Hollywood to successfully wear multiple hats. In fact, her directorial debut, Yentl, made her the first woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director. Apart from her impressive acting and directing careers, Streisand is also revered for her singing prowess. She has released over 50 albums, many of which have achieved multi-platinum status. Her distinctive voice and emotive performances have earned her numerous accolades, including ten Grammy Awards. Moreover, she is one of the few artists to have received the much-coveted EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status, a testament to her enduring influence in the entertainment industry. Despite facing personal and professional challenges, Barbra Streisand's unwavering dedication and raw talent have solidified her legacy as one of the most influential figures in the world of entertainment.
    • Age: 82
    • Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA
    • Profession: Television director, Television producer, Singer-songwriter, Film Producer, Screenwriter
    192 votes
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    The Best Barbra Streisand MoviesSee all
    • Funny Girl
      1Funny Girl
      706 Votes
    • The Way We Were
      2The Way We Were
      651 Votes
    • What's Up, Doc?
      3What's Up, Doc?
      518 Votes