Graduate Level intermediate General Knowledge Firsts Static GK
Firsts in India and World: 50+ Important Firsts for Kerala PSC
Comprehensive list of firsts in India and the world — first president, first satellite, first Olympics, first Nobel laureate, first woman PM, and 50+ more. Table-format for quick revision, Kerala PSC Graduate Level.
Published: 20 Apr 2026 Relevant for: Graduate Level Prelims, Secretariat Assistant, University Assistant, LDC
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“First in India” and “First in World” questions appear in almost every Kerala PSC exam — typically 3-5 questions per paper. This compilation covers 50+ frequently asked firsts in an exam-ready table format.
1. Firsts in India — Political and Constitutional
| First | Person/Event | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First President of India | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | 1950 |
| First Vice-President | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan | 1952 |
| First Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru | 1947 |
| First Woman President | Pratibha Patil | 2007 |
| First Woman Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi | 1966 |
| First Chief Justice of India | H.J. Kania | 1950 |
| First Woman Chief Justice of India | None yet (as of 2025) | — |
| First Governor-General of free India | Lord Mountbatten | 1947 |
| First Indian Governor-General | C. Rajagopalachari | 1948 |
| First Speaker of Lok Sabha | G.V. Mavalankar | 1952 |
| First Woman Speaker of Lok Sabha | Meira Kumar | 2009 |
| First Chief Election Commissioner | Sukumar Sen | 1950 |
| First Lok Sabha elections | — | 1951–52 |
| First Deputy PM | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 1947 |
| First Education Minister | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | 1947 |
| First Finance Minister | R.K. Shanmukham Chetty | 1947 |
| First Home Minister | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 1947 |
| First Law Minister | Dr. B.R. Ambedkar | 1947 |
2. Firsts in India — Science and Technology
| First | Detail | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First satellite | Aryabhata | 1975 (launched by USSR) |
| First satellite launched by Indian vehicle (SLV-3) | Rohini | 1980 |
| First nuclear test | Pokhran-I (Smiling Buddha) | 1974 |
| First nuclear power plant | Tarapur, Maharashtra | 1969 |
| First supercomputer | PARAM 8000 (developed by C-DAC) | 1991 |
| First Indian in space | Rakesh Sharma (aboard Soyuz T-11) | 1984 |
| First Mars mission | Mangalyaan (MOM) | 2013 (reached Mars orbit 2014) |
| First Moon mission | Chandrayaan-1 | 2008 |
| First successful soft landing on Moon’s south pole | Chandrayaan-3 | 2023 |
| First test-tube baby | Baby Durga (Dr. Subhas Mukherjee), Kolkata | 1978 |
| First Indian Nobel laureate (Science) | C.V. Raman (Physics) | 1930 |
| First IIT established | IIT Kharagpur | 1951 |
3. Firsts in India — Transport and Communication
| First | Detail | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First railway line | Mumbai (Boribunder) to Thane | 1853 |
| First electric train | Bombay VT to Kurla | 1925 |
| First Metro rail | Kolkata Metro | 1984 |
| First expressway | Mumbai-Pune Expressway | 2002 |
| First airplane flight in India | Allahabad to Naini (by Henri Pequet — airmail) | 1911 |
| First Indian airline | Tata Airlines (later Air India) | 1932 |
| First newspaper | Bengal Gazette (Hickey’s Gazette) | 1780 |
| First Hindi newspaper | Udant Martand | 1826 |
| First Malayalam newspaper | Rajyasamacharam | 1847 |
| First telephone exchange | Kolkata | 1882 |
| First telegraph line | Calcutta to Diamond Harbour | 1851 |
| First radio broadcast | All India Radio (from Bombay) | 1927 |
| First TV broadcast | Delhi (Doordarshan experimental) | 1959 |
4. Firsts in India — Sports
| First | Detail | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First Olympics participation | 1900 Paris (Norman Pritchard) | 1900 |
| First Olympic gold (individual) | Abhinav Bindra (Shooting) | 2008 |
| First Olympic gold (team) | Hockey (Amsterdam) | 1928 |
| First Cricket World Cup win | India (under Kapil Dev) | 1983 |
| First T20 World Cup win | India (under MS Dhoni) | 2007 |
| First Indian to score a Test century | Lala Amarnath | 1933 |
| First woman Olympic medal winner | Karnam Malleswari (Bronze, Weightlifting) | 2000 |
| First Indian woman to win Olympic gold | No individual gold yet (as of 2024) | — |
| First Indian Grand Slam winner | Leander Paes (doubles) | — |
5. Firsts in India — Miscellaneous
| First | Detail | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First Indian Nobel laureate | Rabindranath Tagore (Literature) | 1913 |
| First Indian woman Nobel laureate | Mother Teresa (Peace) — Indian citizen | 1979 |
| First bank in India | Bank of Hindustan | 1770 |
| First nationalised bank (SBI predecessor) | Imperial Bank of India (became SBI in 1955) | 1955 |
| First Indian university | University of Calcutta | 1857 |
| First census | — | 1872 (first regular: 1881) |
| First Five Year Plan | — | 1951 |
| First Indian film | Raja Harishchandra (Dadasaheb Phalke) | 1913 |
| First Indian talkie film | Alam Ara | 1931 |
| First Bharat Ratna recipients | C. Rajagopalachari, S. Radhakrishnan, C.V. Raman | 1954 |
| First woman Bharat Ratna | Indira Gandhi | 1971 |
6. Firsts in the World — Political
| First | Detail | Year/Period |
|---|---|---|
| First President of USA | George Washington | 1789 |
| First Woman Prime Minister in the world | Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka) | 1960 |
| First Woman President in the world | Maria Estela Martinez de Peron (Argentina, acting) / Vigdis Finnbogadottir (Iceland, elected) | 1974 / 1980 |
| First country to give women voting rights | New Zealand | 1893 |
| First UN Secretary-General | Trygve Lie (Norway) | 1946 |
| First country to abolish slavery | Haiti | 1804 |
| First written constitution | USA | 1787 |
| First country to reach independence from colonial rule in Asia | Philippines (from USA) | 1946 |
7. Firsts in the World — Science and Exploration
| First | Detail | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First person on the Moon | Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11) | 1969 |
| First person in space | Yuri Gagarin (USSR) | 1961 |
| First woman in space | Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) | 1963 |
| First artificial satellite | Sputnik 1 (USSR) | 1957 |
| First animal in space | Laika (dog, USSR) | 1957 |
| First cloned mammal | Dolly the Sheep (UK) | 1996 |
| First test-tube baby (world) | Louise Brown (UK) | 1978 |
| First heart transplant | Dr. Christiaan Barnard (South Africa) | 1967 |
| First Nobel Prize awarded | 1901 (Physics: Rontgen) | 1901 |
| First computer (electronic) | ENIAC (USA) | 1946 |
| First website | info.cern.ch (Tim Berners-Lee) | 1991 |
| First email | Ray Tomlinson (ARPANET) | 1971 |
8. Firsts in the World — Sports
| First | Detail | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First modern Olympics | Athens, Greece | 1896 |
| First FIFA World Cup | Uruguay (also winners) | 1930 |
| First Cricket World Cup | 1975, England (won by West Indies) | 1975 |
| First T20 World Cup | 2007, South Africa (won by India) | 2007 |
| First person to climb Mount Everest | Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary | 1953 |
| First person to reach South Pole | Roald Amundsen (Norway) | 1911 |
| First person to reach North Pole (disputed) | Robert Peary (USA) | 1909 |
9. Firsts Related to Kerala
| First | Detail | Year |
|---|---|---|
| First Chief Minister of Kerala | E.M.S. Namboodiripad | 1957 |
| First Governor of Kerala | Burgula Ramakrishna Rao | 1956 |
| First woman judge of Kerala High Court | Anna Chandy | 1959 |
| First printing press in Kerala | At Kochi (by Portuguese, 1577) | 1577 |
| First Malayalam novel | Kundalatha (Appu Nedungadi) | 1887 |
| First Malayalam film | Vigathakumaran (J.C. Daniel) | 1928 |
| First Jnanpith Award from Kerala | G. Sankara Kurup (1965) | 1965 |
| First Kerala Sahitya Akademi President | Sardar K.M. Panikkar | 1956 |
| First railway in Kerala | Tirur-Beypore | 1861 |
| First municipality in Kerala | Fort Kochi | 1866 |
10. PSC Trap Questions — Common Confusions
| Confusion | Correct Answer |
|---|---|
| First President vs First Governor-General | President: Rajendra Prasad (1950); Gov-Gen: Mountbatten (1947) |
| First Indian in space vs First Indian-origin in space | Rakesh Sharma (1984) vs Kalpana Chawla (1997, US citizen) |
| First satellite vs First satellite by Indian rocket | Aryabhata (1975, Soviet rocket) vs Rohini (1980, SLV-3) |
| First Nobel (India) vs First Nobel (Science, India) | Tagore 1913 (Literature) vs C.V. Raman 1930 (Physics) |
| First woman PM (world) vs First woman President (world) | Bandaranaike (1960) vs Vigdis Finnbogadottir (1980, elected) |
| First Olympics (India participated) vs First gold | 1900 (Paris) vs 1928 (Hockey, Amsterdam) |
| First census | 1872 (non-synchronous) vs 1881 (first regular decennial) |
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