Who became the first woman Prime Minister in the world?
- A.Indira Gandhi
- B.Sirimavo Bandaranaike
- C.Golda Meir
- D.Margaret Thatcher
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Sirimavo Bandaranaike. She became Prime Minister of Ceylon, the island now called Sri Lanka, in 1960, and was the first woman anywhere in the world to head a government as Prime Minister.
Option A, Indira Gandhi, became the first woman Prime Minister of India in 1966, six years later, and she is the distractor set for candidates who read India for the world. Option C, Golda Meir, became Prime Minister of Israel in 1969. Option D, Margaret Thatcher, became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979 and is remembered as the first woman to hold that office in Britain. Keep the first woman President separate: Isabel Peron of Argentina took that office in 1974, and Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland was the first woman elected President, in 1980.
Read the full article: First in the World: Space, Exploration and Records
Practice Questions
View allWho was the first human being to travel into space?
- A.Alexei Leonov
- B.Yuri Gagarin
- C.Neil Armstrong
- D.Rakesh Sharma
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The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched aboard Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961 and completed a single orbit of the Earth, becoming the first human being in space.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first woman to travel into space?
- A.Svetlana Savitskaya
- B.Sally Ride
- C.Valentina Tereshkova
- D.Kalpana Chawla
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The Soviet cosmonaut flew alone aboard Vostok 6 in June 1963 and spent nearly three days in orbit, becoming the first woman in space, two years after Yuri Gagarin's flight.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first person to set foot on the surface of the Moon?
- A.Michael Collins
- B.Edwin Buzz Aldrin
- C.Yuri Gagarin
- D.Neil Armstrong
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The American astronaut commanded the Apollo 11 mission and stepped out of the lunar module on 20 July 1969, becoming the first human being to walk on the Moon.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?
- A.Roald Amundsen
- B.Robert Falcon Scott
- C.Robert Peary
- D.Ernest Shackleton
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The Norwegian explorer and his party reached the South Pole in December 1911, using dog sledges and a carefully laid line of supply depots, and returned safely.
Read the full explanation →Which was the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote?
- A.United States of America
- B.United Kingdom
- C.New Zealand
- D.Australia
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In 1893 New Zealand, then a self-governing colony, gave women the right to vote in national elections, the first country in the world to do so, after a long campaign led by Kate Sheppard.
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