First in India

• First woman to win Miss World title - Reita Faria (1966)

• First woman to win Miss Universe title - Sushmita Sen (1994)

• First woman to swim across the English Channel - Arati Saha (1959)

• First woman to go into the space - Kalpana Chawla (1997)

• First woman to get Nobel Prize - Mother Teresa (1979)

• First woman to climb Mount Everest twice - Santhosh Yadav (1992, 1993)

• First woman to climb Mount Everest - Bachendri Pal (1984)

• First woman Speaker of Lok Sabha - Meira Kumar (2009)

• First woman Prime Minister of India - Indira Gandhi (1966)

• First woman President of India - Pratibha Patil (2007)

• First woman Minister - Vijayalakshmi Pandit (1937)

• First woman Judge of Supreme Court - Fatima Beevi (1989)

• First woman IPS officer - Kiran Bedi (1972)

• First woman IAS officer - Anna George Malhotra (1950)

• First woman Governor of a state (Uttar Pradesh) - Sarojini Naidu (1947)

• First woman Chief Minister of a state (Uttar Pradesh) - Sucheta Kripalani(1963)

• First woman airline pilot - Durba Banerji (1956)

• First Viceroy of India - Lord Canning (1858)

• First talkie film - Alam Ara (1931)

• First satellite - Aryabhatta (1975)

• First Prime Minister of India - Jawaharlal Nehru (1947)

• First President of Indian National Congress - W.C. Bonnerjee (1885)

• First President of India - Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1950)

• First newspaper - Bengal Gazette (1780)

• First Muslim woman to sit on the throne of Delhi - Razia Sultana (1236)

• First Mughal Emperor in India - Babar (1526)

• First man to swim across the English Channel - Mihir Sen (1958)

• First man to make a commercial flight - J.R.D. Tata (1932)

• First man to go into the space - Rakesh Sharma (1984)

• First man to get Nobel Prize - Rabindranath Tagore (1913)

• First man to climb Mount Everest - Tenzing Norgay (1953)

• First Indian individual to win a Gold Medal in Olympics - Abhinav Bindra(2008)

• First Indian to win an Oscar - Bhanu Athaiya (1982)

• First Governor-General of India - Warren Hastings (1772)

• First Governor-General of free India - Lord Mountbatten (1947)

• First full-length film - Raja Harishchandra (1913)

• First (last) Indian Governor General of free India - Rajagopalachari (1948)