"Who was the first" is one of the most common question forms in quizzing, for
a simple reason: it has exactly one answer, it needs no qualification, and it
sounds harder than it is. A dedicated hour on firsts pays across every round in
the quiz.
The reliable categories
Space and flight supply the most —
first in space, first woman in space, first on the moon, first to fly the
Channel, first non-stop across the Atlantic, first supersonic flight. Technology
and the internet supply the next largest group: the first email, the first text
message, the first website, the first mobile phone call, the first computer
program and
the person usually credited with writing
it.
Then: firsts in medicine and science — the first transplant, the first
vaccine, the first test-tube baby, the first cloned mammal; firsts in
exploration — the poles, Everest, circumnavigation; and firsts in politics —
first female head of government, first of anything in a national office.
The qualifications that decide the point
Firsts are contested more than any other question type, and the wording is
where the point is won or lost. First to fly is Wright brothers only under a
particular definition of powered, controlled and sustained. First to the South
Pole is Amundsen, but first to reach it and return is not the same question.
First to climb Everest carries an "and" that is often dropped. First non-stop
transatlantic flight is Alcock and Brown, eight years before
the flight most people name's more
famous successor made it alone.
If you take one habit from this page, take that one: when a firsts question
is read out, listen for the qualifier. It is almost always doing work.
Which city opened the world's first underground railway?
Answer London
Where was the first Ferris wheel built?
Answer Chicago, at the 1893 World's Fair
Which country issued Europe's first banknotes?
Answer Sweden
Who was the first US President?
Answer George Washington
Who was Britain's first female Prime Minister?
Answer Margaret Thatcher
Who was the first Black president of the United States?
Answer Barack Obama
Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?
Answer Marie Curie
What was the first film to take $1 billion at the box office?
Answer Titanic
In what year did the first iPhone go on sale?
Answer 2007
Who made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic?
Answer Alcock and Brown
In what year was Wikipedia launched?
Answer 2001
What was Disney's first feature-length animated film?
Answer Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
What was the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Answer Iron Man (2008)
In which city did the first Starbucks open?
Answer Seattle
What was the first artificial satellite put into orbit?
Answer Sputnik 1
Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic?
Answer Amelia Earhart
Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?
Answer Neil Armstrong
In what year was the first Star Wars film released?
Answer 1977
In what year was the first Glastonbury Festival held?
Answer 1970
In what year was the first spam email sent?
Answer 1978
In what year was the first episode of Doctor Who broadcast?
Answer 1963
What was the first James Bond film?
Answer Dr. No (1962)
Which film won the first Best Picture Oscar?
Answer Wings
In what year were the first Nobel Prizes awarded?
Answer 1901
What was the world's first national park?
Answer Yellowstone
Who was the first human in space?
Answer Yuri Gagarin
In what year did regular colour television begin in Britain?
Answer 1967
Who discovered the first widely used antibiotic?
Answer Alexander Fleming (penicillin)
Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?
Answer Roald Amundsen
Who was Britain's first Prime Minister?
Answer Sir Robert Walpole