First Records - India & International

Essential "Firsts" for competitive exams - Historical achievements that created history

Important First Records at a Glance

India's Firsts

First President: Dr. Rajendra Prasad

First PM: Jawaharlal Nehru

First Woman PM: Indira Gandhi

World Firsts

First in Space: Yuri Gagarin

First on Moon: Neil Armstrong

First Woman in Space: Valentina Tereshkova

Sports Firsts

First Olympic Gold: Abhinav Bindra

First Cricket World Cup: West Indies (1975)

First FIFA World Cup: Uruguay (1930)

Indian First Records

Politics & Administration

First President of India

Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1950-1962)

Politics

First Prime Minister of India

Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-1964)

Politics

First Woman Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi (1966-1977, 1980-1984)

Politics

First Chief Justice of India

Justice H. J. Kania (1950-1951)

Judiciary

First Woman Governor

Sarojini Naidu (Uttar Pradesh, 1947-1949)

Politics

First Woman Chief Minister

Sucheta Kripalani (Uttar Pradesh, 1963-1967)

Politics

First President to Die in Office

Dr. Zakir Husain (1967-1969)

Politics

First Field Marshal

Sam Manekshaw (1973)

Defense

Science & Technology

First Indian in Space

Rakesh Sharma (1984)

Space

First Woman in Space

Kalpana Chawla (1997)

Space

First Nuclear Test

Smiling Buddha (1974)

Science

First Satellite

Aryabhata (1975)

Space

First Nobel Prize Winner

Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913)

Awards

First Bharat Ratna Awardee

C. Rajagopalachari, S. Radhakrishnan, C.V. Raman (1954)

Awards

Sports

First Olympic Individual Gold

Abhinav Bindra (Shooting, 2008)

Olympics

First Olympic Medal

K.D. Jadhav (Bronze, Wrestling, 1952)

Olympics

First Cricket World Cup

1983 (Kapil Dev as Captain)

Cricket

First Grandmaster

Viswanathan Anand (1988)

Chess

International First Records

Space Exploration

First Human in Space

Yuri Gagarin (USSR, 1961)

Space

First Woman in Space

Valentina Tereshkova (USSR, 1963)

Space

First Man on Moon

Neil Armstrong (USA, 1969)

Space

First Space Station

Salyut 1 (USSR, 1971)

Space

Science & Inventions

First Computer Programmer

Ada Lovelace (1843)

Computers

First Nobel Prize

Wilhelm Röntgen (Physics, 1901)

Awards

First Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell (1876)

Inventions

First Airplane Flight

Wright Brothers (1903)

Aviation

Sports World Records

First Modern Olympics

Athens, Greece (1896)

Olympics

First FIFA World Cup

Uruguay (1930)

Football

First Cricket World Cup

West Indies (1975)

Cricket

First to run mile under 4 minutes

Roger Bannister (1954)

Athletics

Important Firsts - Quick Reference

Category	India	International
Space	Rakesh Sharma (1984)	Yuri Gagarin (1961)
Woman in Space	Kalpana Chawla (1997)	Valentina Tereshkova (1963)
Nobel Prize	Rabindranath Tagore (1913)	Wilhelm Röntgen (1901)
Olympic Gold	Abhinav Bindra (2008)	James Connolly (1896)
Prime Minister/President	Jawaharlal Nehru (1947)	George Washington (1789)
Woman Leader	Indira Gandhi (1966)	Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1960)

First Records Quiz

1. Who was the first President of India?

Jawaharlal Nehru

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

S. Radhakrishnan

Dr. Zakir Husain

2. Who was the first Indian to travel to space?

Rakesh Sharma

Kalpana Chawla

Sunita Williams

Ravish Malhotra

3. Who was the first woman Prime Minister of India?

Sarojini Naidu

Indira Gandhi

Pratibha Patil

Sucheta Kripalani

4. Who was the first person to walk on the moon?

Yuri Gagarin

Buzz Aldrin

Neil Armstrong

John Glenn

Exam Preparation Tips

Focus Areas

First holders of constitutional positions
First achievements in science & technology
First sports records and medals
First award winners (Nobel, Bharat Ratna)
First women achievers in various fields

Memory Techniques

Create acronyms for names
Associate years with historical events
Use mnemonic devices for sequences
Make comparative tables for India vs World
Practice with previous year question papers

Common Exam Patterns

Competitive exams often ask about:

Matching the person with their "first" achievement
Chronological order of events
First women in various fields
Comparison between Indian and world firsts