First Women 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)