Timeline of
Women's Firsts
A chronological record of the women who broke barriers across every field, from the first woman doctor in 1849 to the present day.
First Woman to Serve in the US Military
Deborah Sampson
Disguised herself as a man named Robert Shurtleff and served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
First Woman to Earn a College Degree
Catherine Brewer Benson
Received her Bachelor of Arts from Georgia Female College (now Wesleyan College), the first degree granted to a woman by a chartered college.
First Woman Computer Programmer
Ada Lovelace
Wrote the first computer program for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, a century before electronic computers existed.
First Woman to Earn a Medical Degree in the US
Elizabeth Blackwell
Graduated from Geneva Medical College after being rejected by every other medical school in the country.
Founded Modern Nursing
Florence Nightingale
Transformed military hospitals in the Crimean War and established the world's first secular nursing school.
First Woman to Run for US President
Victoria Woodhull
Nominated by the Equal Rights Party, she ran before women could legally vote.
First Woman Lawyer in the United States
Arabella Mansfield
Admitted to the Iowa bar, becoming the first woman licensed to practice law in the United States.
First Woman to Earn a PhD
Helen Magill White
Earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Greek from Boston University, the first American woman to hold a doctoral degree.
First Woman Film Director
Alice Guy-Blaché
Directed La Fée aux Choux, one of the earliest narrative films ever made, and went on to direct over 1,000 films.
First Woman Olympic Champion
Charlotte Cooper
Won the tennis singles at the 1900 Paris Olympics, the first Games to allow women competitors.
First Woman to Win a Nobel Prize
Marie Curie
Shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for research on radioactivity. Won a second Nobel in Chemistry in 1911.
First Woman to Receive a Pilot's License
Raymonde de Laroche
French aviator who earned the first pilot's license issued to a woman anywhere in the world.
First Self-Made Woman Millionaire
Madam C.J. Walker
Built a hair care empire from $1.50, employing 25,000 agents and earning a Guinness World Record.
First American Woman Licensed Pilot
Harriet Quimby
Received her license on August 1, 1911, then became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
First Woman Elected to US Congress
Jeannette Rankin
Elected to represent Montana four years before women gained the national right to vote.
First Women to Vote Nationally in the US
19th Amendment Ratified
The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, prohibiting states from denying the right to vote based on sex.
First Woman to Swim the English Channel
Gertrude Ederle
Crossed in 14 hours and 31 minutes, beating the existing men's record by nearly two hours.
First Woman to Win an Academy Award
Janet Gaynor
Won Best Actress at the first Academy Awards ceremony for three films: 7th Heaven, Sunrise, and Street Angel.
First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic
Amelia Earhart
Flew from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland in 14 hours and 56 minutes despite four mechanical failures.
First Woman Elected to the US Senate
Hattie Caraway
Won a special election in Arkansas, then won re-election to a full term.
First Woman to Break the Sound Barrier
Jacqueline Cochran
Flew a Canadair Sabre at Mach 1 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
First Woman Prime Minister
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Became Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the first woman head of government in the modern world.
First Woman in Space
Valentina Tereshkova
Soviet cosmonaut who orbited Earth 48 times aboard Vostok 6, spending nearly three days in space.
First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon
Kathrine Switzer
Registered as K.V. Switzer for the 1967 Boston Marathon. Race official Jock Semple tried to physically remove her mid-race.
First Woman CEO of a Fortune 500 Company
Katharine Graham
Led the Washington Post Company through the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, becoming the first woman to head a Fortune 500 firm.
First Woman to Reach the Summit of Mount Everest
Junko Tabei
Japanese mountaineer who reached the summit on May 16, 1975, leading an all-female expedition.
First Woman Democratically Elected Head of State
Vigdis Finnbogadottir
Elected President of Iceland, becoming the first woman in the world elected as a head of state in a national election.
First Woman on the US Supreme Court
Sandra Day O'Connor
Nominated by President Reagan and confirmed unanimously 99-0 by the Senate.
First American Woman in Space
Sally Ride
Mission specialist on Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-7) on June 18, 1983.
First Woman VP Nominee of a Major Party
Geraldine Ferraro
Selected by Walter Mondale as the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
First Woman Attorney General
Janet Reno
Served as the 78th Attorney General of the United States under President Bill Clinton.
First Woman Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright
Became the highest-ranking woman in U.S. government history when she was sworn in as the 64th Secretary of State.
First Woman to Command a Space Shuttle
Eileen Collins
Commanded Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-93, deploying the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
First Woman Speaker of the US House
Nancy Pelosi
Elected Speaker of the House, the highest political office ever held by a woman in US history at the time.
First Woman Four-Star General
Ann Dunwoody
Promoted to four-star general in the US Army, the highest rank ever achieved by a woman in any branch of the military.
First Woman to Win Best Director Oscar
Kathryn Bigelow
Won for The Hurt Locker, the first woman to receive the award in the ceremony's 82-year history.
First Woman to Win the Fields Medal
Maryam Mirzakhani
Iranian mathematician who won the Fields Medal, 78 years after the prize was established.
First Woman Presidential Nominee of a Major Party
Hillary Clinton
Nominated by the Democratic Party for President of the United States.
First Woman Vice President of the United States
Kamala Harris
Also the first Black and first South Asian person to hold the office.