This famous firsts trivia quiz celebrates the trailblazers who did something nobody had done before, from daring flights and polar treks to record runs and history-making elections. It makes a great bar trivia round, so play solo or use these as pub quiz questions at your own trivia night, and enjoy the short story behind each milestone once the answer is revealed.
Hosting a trivia night? Get the printable round with answer keyBeing first is one of the few achievements that can never be taken away. Records get broken and champions get dethroned, but a first stays put in the history books forever. That permanence makes firsts a favorite of quizmasters, since the answers do not change from one year to the next.
The tricky part is that "first" is rarely as simple as it sounds. Historians often add careful qualifiers, such as first solo, first nonstop, first confirmed or first to return alive, because someone else may have tried earlier, finished only part of the job or left no reliable record. When you read a question, pay attention to every word in it, since a single qualifier can point to a completely different person or event.
Many of the twentieth century's best-known firsts came in bursts. The age of polar exploration, the race to fly farther and faster, and the Cold War competition in space each produced a run of milestones within a few short years, often with rival teams finishing just weeks apart. If you can place a question in its era and picture the rivalry behind it, you will often find the right name.