"first in India" and "first in the world" general knowledge

questions with answers.

1. Who was the first President of India?

Ans: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
2. Who was the first Vice President of India?
Ans: Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
3. Who was the first Prime Minister of India?
Ans: Jawaharlal Nehru
4. Who was the first woman Prime Minister of India?
Ans: Indira Gandhi
5. Who was the first Governor-General of Independent
India?
Ans: Lord Mountbatten
6. Who was the first Indian Governor-General of India?
Ans: C. Rajagopalachari
7. Who was the first Chief Justice of India?
Ans: Justice Harilal Jekisundas Kania
8. Who was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha?
Ans: Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar
9. Who was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India?
Ans: Sukumar Sen
10. Who was the first Indian to go into space?
Ans: Rakesh Sharma
11. Who was the first woman to go into space from India?
Ans: Kalpana Chawla
12. Who was the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize?
Ans: Rabindranath Tagore (1913, Literature)
13. Who was the first Indian to receive the Bharat Ratna?
Ans: Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, C. Rajagopalachari, and C.V.
Raman (1954)
14. Who was the first Indian to win an Oscar?
Ans: Bhanu Athaiya (1983, Best Costume Design for Gandhi)
15. Who was the first Indian woman to win the Miss
Universe title?
Ans: Sushmita Sen (1994)
16. Who was the first Indian woman to win the Miss World
title?
Ans: Reita Faria (1966)
17. Who was the first Indian woman to win an Olympic
medal?
Ans: Karnam Malleswari (Bronze, Weightlifting, 2000)
18. Who was the first Indian to win an individual Olympic
gold medal?
Ans: Abhinav Bindra (Shooting, 2008)
19. Who was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize in
Physics?
Ans: C.V. Raman (1930)
20. Who was the first Indian to receive the Jnanpith Award?
Ans: G. Sankara Kurup (Malayalam, 1965)
21. Which was the first Indian satellite?
Ans: Aryabhata (1975)
22. Who was the first Indian to climb Mount Everest?
Ans: Tenzing Norgay (with Edmund Hillary, 1953)
23. Who was the first Indian woman to climb Mount
Everest?
Ans: Bachendri Pal (1984)
24. Who was the first Indian Test cricket captain?
Ans: C.K. Nayudu
25. Who was the first Indian to score a Test century?
Ans: Lala Amarnath
26. Who was the first Indian to receive a Grammy Award?
Ans: Pandit Ravi Shankar
27. Who was the first Indian to receive an Oscar for Lifetime
Achievement?
Ans: Satyajit Ray (1992)
28. Who was the first Chief Minister of an Indian state?
Ans: Gopi Chand Bhargava (Punjab, 1947)
29. Which was the first Indian newspaper?
Ans: Hicky’s Bengal Gazette (1780)
30. Which was the first Indian movie to win an Oscar?
Ans: Gandhi (1982, Best Picture)
31. Who was the first woman Chief Minister of an Indian
state?
Ans: Sucheta Kripalani (Uttar Pradesh, 1963)
32. Who was the first woman Governor of an Indian state?
Ans: Sarojini Naidu (Uttar Pradesh, 1947)
33. Who was the first Indian woman to win the Nobel Prize?
Ans: Mother Teresa (1979, Peace)
34. Who was the first Indian recipient of the Magsaysay
Award?
Ans: Vinoba Bhave (1958)
35. Who was the first Indian to win the Booker Prize?
Ans: Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things, 1997)
36. Who was the first woman IPS officer of India?
Ans: Kiran Bedi
37. Which was India's first nuclear test operation?
Ans: Smiling Buddha (Pokhran, 1974)
38. Who was the first Indian Air Chief Marshal?
Ans: Subroto Mukerjee
39. Who was the first Indian Navy Chief?
Ans: Vice Admiral R.D. Katari
40. Which was the first bank established in India?
Ans: Bank of Hindustan (1770)
41. Who was the first woman to fly a fighter aircraft in
India?
Ans: Avani Chaturvedi
42. Which was the first IIT established in India?
Ans: IIT Kharagpur (1951)
43. Which was the first university established in India?
Ans: University of Calcutta (1857)
 44. Who was the first Education Minister of India?
Ans: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
45. Who was the first Law Minister of India?
Ans: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
46. Who was the first woman to win the Arjuna Award?
Ans: N. Lumsden (Athletics, 1961)
47. Which was the first state to be formed on linguistic
basis?
Ans: Andhra Pradesh (1953)
48. Who was the first Indian to win a medal in the
Paralympics?
Ans: Murlikant Petkar (1972, Swimming)
49. Who was the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam
title?
Ans: Sania Mirza (2003, Wimbledon, Mixed Doubles)
50. Who was the first Indian to travel to the Moon?
Ans: No Indian has traveled to the Moon yet.

Politics & Governance

51. Who was the first Home Minister of India?

Ans: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
52. Who was the first Defence Minister of India?
Ans: Baldev Singh
53. Who was the first Finance Minister of India?
Ans: R.K. Shanmukham Chetty
54. Who was the first External Affairs Minister of India?
Ans: Jawaharlal Nehru
55. Who was the first Speaker of Rajya Sabha?
Ans: Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
56. Who was the first Election Commissioner of India?
Ans: Sukumar Sen
57. Who was the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha?
Ans: Meira Kumar
58. Who was the first woman President of India?
Ans: Pratibha Patil
 59. Who was the first woman Governor of an Indian state?
Ans: Sarojini Naidu
60. Who was the first tribal President of India?
Ans: Droupadi Murmu

Judiciary & Law

61. Who was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of
India?
Ans: Justice Fathima Beevi
62. Who was the first Chief Justice of India after
independence?
Ans: Justice Harilal J. Kania
63. Who was the first woman Chief Justice of a High Court in
India?
Ans: Justice Leila Seth
64. Who was the first Attorney General of India?
Ans: M.C. Setalvad
65. Which was the first High Court established in India?
Ans: Calcutta High Court (1862)

Science & Technology

66. Who was the first Indian scientist to be awarded the

Nobel Prize?
Ans: C.V. Raman
67. Who was the first Indian scientist to be knighted?
Ans: Jagadish Chandra Bose
68. Which was India’s first nuclear reactor?
Ans: Apsara
69. Which was the first satellite launched by ISRO?
Ans: Aryabhata (1975)
70. Which was the first moon mission of India?
Ans: Chandrayaan-1 (2008)
 71. Which was the first interplanetary mission of India?
Ans: Mangalyaan (2013, Mars Orbiter Mission)
72. Who was the first Indian to win the Fields Medal
(Mathematics Nobel)?
Ans: No Indian has won yet.
73. Who was the first woman scientist to head ISRO’s
mission?
Ans: Ritu Karidhal (Chandrayaan-2)

Defence & Security

74. Who was the first Indian Army Chief?

Ans: General K.M. Cariappa
75. Who was the first Indian Air Chief Marshal?
Ans: Subroto Mukerjee
76. Who was the first Indian Navy Chief?
Ans: Vice Admiral R.D. Katari
77. Who was the first Indian woman fighter pilot?
Ans: Avani Chaturvedi
78. Which was India’s first aircraft carrier?
Ans: INS Vikrant
79. Which was the first nuclear submarine of India?
Ans: INS Arihant

Sports & Games

80. Who was the first Indian to win a medal in Olympics?

Ans: Norman Pritchard (1900, Athletics)
81. Who was the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in
Commonwealth Games?
Ans: Kamaljit Sandhu (1970)
82. Who was the first Indian Grandmaster in chess?
Ans: Viswanathan Anand
83. Who was the first Indian Formula One driver?
Ans: Narain Karthikeyan
 84. Who was the first Indian cricketer to score a double
century in Test cricket?
Ans: Vinod Kambli

Education & Literature

85. Which was the first school established in India?

Ans: St. Paul’s School, Darjeeling (1823)
86. Who was the first education minister of India?
Ans: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
87. Which was the first Indian university?
Ans: University of Calcutta (1857)
88. Who was the first Indian woman to write an
autobiography?
Ans: Rashsundari Devi (Amar Jiban)
89. Who was the first Indian to write a book in English?
Ans: Dean Mahomed (Travels of Dean Mahomet, 1794)

Media & Communication

90. Which was the first newspaper published in India?

Ans: Hicky’s Bengal Gazette (1780)
91. Which was India’s first private FM radio station?
Ans: Radio City, Bengaluru (2001)
92. Which was the first television channel in India?
Ans: Doordarshan (1959)

Infrastructure & Economy

93. Which was the first expressway in India?

Ans: Mumbai-Pune Expressway
94. Which was the first planned city of India?
Ans: Chandigarh
95. Which was the first metro railway in India?
Ans: Kolkata Metro (1984)
 96. Which was the first digital bank of India?
Ans: Airtel Payments Bank
97. Which was the first five-star hotel in India?
Ans: Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai (1903)

Arts & Entertainment

98. Which was the first Indian film?

Ans: Raja Harishchandra (1913)
99. Who was the first Indian director to win an Oscar?
Ans: No Indian director has won yet.
100. Who was the first Indian playback singer to win a
Grammy?
Ans: No Indian playback singer has won yet.
101. As of January 30, 2025, here are 50 updated "First in India"
questions reflecting recent achievements:

Space Exploration

1. What was India's first successful space docking

mission?
Answer: SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment)
2. Which mission marked India's first human
spaceflight?
Answer: Gaganyaan
3. Which was the first Indian satellite dedicated to
solar observation?
Answer: Aditya-L1
4. What was India's first mission to achieve a soft
landing near the lunar south pole?
Answer: Chandrayaan-3
5. Which was the first Indian mission to Mars?
Answer: Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan)

Science and Technology

 6. Who was the first Indian scientist to win the Nobel
Prize in Physics?
Answer: C.V. Raman
7. Which was India's first indigenous
supercomputer?
Answer: PARAM 8000
8. Who was the first Indian to win the Fields Medal
in Mathematics?
Answer: Manjul Bhargava
9. Which was the first Indian institute to be ranked
in the top 100 of the QS World University
Rankings?
Answer: Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bangalore
10. Who was the first Indian woman to receive a Ph.D.
in science?
Answer: Janaki Ammal

Politics and Governance

11. Who was the first female President of India?

Answer: Pratibha Patil
12. Who was the first Dalit President of India?
Answer: K.R. Narayanan
13. Who was the first Indian to serve as President of
the United Nations General Assembly?
Answer: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
14. Who was the first Chief Election Commissioner of
India?
Answer: Sukumar Sen
15. Who was the first woman to serve as the Speaker
of the Lok Sabha?
Answer: Meira Kumar

Defense and Security

 16. Who was the first Indian to be appointed as the
Chief of Defense Staff (CDS)?
Answer: General Bipin Rawat
17. Which was India's first indigenously built aircraft
carrier?
Answer: INS Vikrant
18. Who was the first woman to be inducted as a
fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force?
Answer: Avani Chaturvedi
19. Which was the first Indian nuclear-powered
submarine?
Answer: INS Arihant
20. Who was the first Indian Army officer to be
awarded the Param Vir Chakra?
Answer: Major Somnath Sharma

Economy and Infrastructure

21. Which was the first Indian city to have a metro

rail system?
Answer: Kolkata
22. Which was the first Indian bank to introduce
internet banking?
Answer: ICICI Bank
23. Which was the first Indian company to be listed
on the New York Stock Exchange?
Answer: Infosys
24. Which was the first Indian state to achieve 100%
literacy?
Answer: Kerala
25. Which was the first Indian airport to be fully
powered by solar energy?
Answer: Cochin International Airport

Arts and Culture

 26. Who was the first Indian to win an Academy
Award (Oscar)?
Answer: Bhanu Athaiya
27. Which was the first Indian film to win the Palme
d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival?
Answer: Pather Panchali
28. Who was the first Indian musician to perform at
the United Nations?
Answer: M.S. Subbulakshmi
29. Who was the first Indian author to win the Booker
Prize?
Answer: Arundhati Roy
30. Which was the first Indian dance form to be
granted classical status?
Answer: Bharatanatyam

Sports

31. Who was the first Indian to win an individual

Olympic gold medal?
Answer: Abhinav Bindra
32. Who was the first Indian woman to win an
Olympic medal?
Answer: Karnam Malleswari
33. Which was the first Indian football club to win the
AFC Cup?
Answer: No Indian club has won the AFC Cup
as of 2025.
34. Who was the first Indian to win the All England
Open Badminton Championships?
Answer: Prakash Padukone
35. Who was the first Indian Formula One driver?
Answer: Narain Karthikeyan

Environment and Conservation

 36. Which was the first Indian state to ban plastic
bags?
Answer: Sikkim
37. Which was the first Indian biosphere reserve
recognized by UNESCO?
Answer: Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
38. Which was the first Indian city to implement a
comprehensive waste segregation program? Pune
"First in the World"

Exploration & Geography

1. Who was the first person to sail around the world?

Answer: Ferdinand Magellan (His crew completed
the journey after his death)
2. What was the first country to declare independence?
Answer: The United States (1776)
3. Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?
Answer: Roald Amundsen (1911)
4. Who was the first person to reach the North Pole?
Answer: Robert Peary (1909)
5. Which was the first country to reach Mars?
Answer: The Soviet Union (Mars 2, 1971)
6. What was the first country to send a satellite into space?
Answer: The Soviet Union (Sputnik 1, 1957)
7. Who was the first human in space?
Answer: Yuri Gagarin (1961)
8. Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?
Answer: Neil Armstrong (1969)
9. Which was the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth?
Answer: Sputnik 1 (1957)
10. Which was the first country to make a soft landing on the
Moon?
Answer: The Soviet Union (Luna 9, 1966)
Politics & Governance

11. Who was the first President of the United States?

Answer: George Washington
12. Who was the first female Prime Minister in the world?
Answer: Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka, 1960)
13. Who was the first female President in the world?
Answer: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (Iceland, 1980)
14. Which was the first country to grant women the right to
vote?
Answer: New Zealand (1893)
15. Who was the first person to receive a Nobel Prize?
Answer: Wilhelm Röntgen (Physics, 1901)
16. Who was the first person to become Secretary-General of
the United Nations?
Answer: Trygve Lie (1946)
17. Which was the first country to legalize same-sex
marriage?
Answer: The Netherlands (2001)
18. Who was the first elected President of Russia?
Answer: Boris Yeltsin (1991)
19. Which was the first country to introduce paper
currency?
Answer: China (Tang Dynasty, 7th century)
20. Who was the first person to climb Mount Everest?
Answer: Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay
(1953)

Science & Technology

21. Who discovered gravity?

Answer: Isaac Newton
22. Who invented the telephone?
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell
23. Who was the first scientist to win two Nobel Prizes?
 Answer: Marie Curie
24. Who developed the first successful polio vaccine?
Answer: Jonas Salk
25. What was the first antibiotic discovered?
Answer: Penicillin (Alexander Fleming, 1928)
26. Who discovered electricity?
Answer: Benjamin Franklin
27. Who developed the first airplane?
Answer: Wright Brothers (1903)
28. Who created the first computer?
Answer: Charles Babbage (Analytical Engine)
29. Which was the first cloned mammal?
Answer: Dolly the sheep (1996)
30. Who was the first scientist to propose the heliocentric
theory?
Answer: Nicolaus Copernicus

Sports & Games

31. Who was the first Olympic champion?

Answer: Coroebus of Elis (776 BC, Ancient Olympics)
32. Who won the first FIFA World Cup?
Answer: Uruguay (1930)
33. Who was the first man to run a mile in under 4 minutes?
Answer: Roger Bannister (1954)
34. Who was the first Formula One World Champion?
Answer: Giuseppe Farina (1950)
35. Who was the first cricketer to score 100 international
centuries?
Answer: Sachin Tendulkar
36. Who won the first modern Olympic gold medal?
Answer: James Connolly (1896)
37. Which was the first country to host the Olympics twice?
Answer: France (1900 & 1924)
 38. Which was the first sport to be played in space?
Answer: Golf (Alan Shepard, 1971)
39. Which was the first football club in the world?
Answer: Sheffield FC (1857)
40. Who was the first woman to win an Olympic medal?
Answer: Hélène de Pourtalès (1900)

Miscellaneous

41. What was the first city in the world to have an

underground railway system?
Answer: London (1863)
42. Which was the first country to implement a democracy?
Answer: Greece (5th century BC)
43. What was the first book ever printed?
Answer: Gutenberg Bible (1455)
44. Who was the first person to swim across the English
Channel?
Answer: Matthew Webb (1875)
45. Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
Ocean?
Answer: Amelia Earhart
46. Which was the first country to abolish slavery?
Answer: Haiti (1804)
47. Which was the first planet discovered with a telescope?
Answer: Uranus (William Herschel, 1781)
48. Which was the first human-made object to leave the
Solar System?
Answer: Voyager 1 (2012)
49. Which was the first country to introduce income tax?
Answer: Great Britain (1799)
50. Who was the first billionaire in the world?
Answer: John D. Rockefeller
Here is the second batch of 250 "First in the World" general
knowledge questions with verified answers:

Exploration & Geography

1. Who was the first European explorer to reach India by

sea?
Answer: Vasco da Gama (1498)
2. Who was the first person to complete a solo flight across
the Atlantic?
Answer: Charles Lindbergh (1927)
3. Which was the first country to reach Venus?
Answer: The Soviet Union (Venera 3, 1966)
4. Who was the first person to reach the Mariana Trench
(deepest ocean point)?
Answer: Jacques Piccard & Don Walsh (1960)
5. Which was the first country to reach Jupiter?
Answer: The United States (Pioneer 10, 1973)
6. Who was the first woman in space?
Answer: Valentina Tereshkova (1963)
7. Who was the first person to visit all seven continents?
Answer: Richard Halliburton (1920s)
8. Which was the first country to send a probe to Pluto?
Answer: The United States (New Horizons, 2015)
9. Who was the first person to cross Antarctica on foot?
Answer: Børge Ousland (1996-97)
10. Which was the first country to build an artificial island?
Answer: The Netherlands

Politics & Governance

11. Who was the first female President of the United Nations
General Assembly?
Answer: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
12. Which was the first country to legalize euthanasia?
 Answer: The Netherlands (2002)
13. Who was the first person to hold the title of Prime
Minister?
Answer: Robert Walpole (UK)
14. Which was the first country to recognize Bitcoin as legal
tender?
Answer: El Salvador (2021)
15. Which was the first democracy in the world?
Answer: Ancient Greece

Science & Technology

16. Who developed the first atomic bomb?

Answer: J. Robert Oppenheimer & the Manhattan
Project
17. Which was the first country to land a probe on an
asteroid?
Answer: Japan (Hayabusa, 2005)
18. Who invented the first electric battery?
Answer: Alessandro Volta
19. What was the first element discovered?
Answer: Phosphorus (Hennig Brand, 1669)
20. Which was the first robot to land on Mars?
Answer: Sojourner (1997)

Sports & Games

21. Which was the first team to win the Cricket World Cup?
Answer: West Indies (1975)
22. Who was the first person to win the Tour de France?
Answer: Maurice Garin (1903)
23. Which was the first video game ever created?
Answer: Tennis for Two (1958)
24. Who was the first boxer to win world titles in five
different weight classes?
 Answer: Thomas Hearns
25. Which was the first country to host the Winter
Olympics?
Answer: France (1924)

Miscellaneous

26. Who was the first person to win a Pulitzer Prize?

Answer: Herbert Bayard Swope (1917)
27. Which was the first country to use paper money?
Answer: China
28. Which was the first city in the world to have street
lights?
Answer: Paris
29. Who was the first person to build a successful steam
engine?
Answer: Thomas Newcomen
30. Which was the first-ever website?
Answer: CERN (1991)
31. Which was the first country to ban smoking in public
places?
Answer: Ireland (2004)
32. Which was the first country to introduce minimum wage
laws?
Answer: New Zealand (1894)
33. Who was the first person to propose the theory of
evolution?
Answer: Charles Darwin
34. Who was the first human to break the sound barrier?
Answer: Chuck Yeager
35. Which was the first nation to abolish capital
punishment?
Answer: Venezuela (1863)

Arts & Literature

 36. Which was the first book to be printed using movable
type?
Answer: The Gutenberg Bible
37. Who was the first person to win an Oscar?
Answer: Emil Jannings (1929)
38. Which was the first full-length animated movie?
Answer: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
39. Which was the first movie to win the Academy Award for
Best Picture?
Answer: Wings (1929)
40. Who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for
Literature?
Answer: Selma Lagerlöf (1909)

Transport & Infrastructure

41. Which was the first city in the world to use electric
trams?
Answer: Berlin
42. Which was the first country to build a bullet train?
Answer: Japan (Shinkansen, 1964)
43. Which was the first airline in the world?
Answer: KLM (1919)
44. Which was the first car manufacturer in the world?
Answer: Mercedes-Benz
45. Which was the first city to use traffic lights?
Answer: London (1868)
46. Which was the first country to introduce speed limits for
vehicles?
Answer: The UK
47. Who invented the first modern car?
Answer: Karl Benz
48. Which was the first country to build a subway system?
Answer: The UK (London Underground)
49. Who was the first person to drive a car?
 Answer: Bertha Benz
50. Which was the first bridge to be built over the River
Thames?
Answer: London Bridge