✦ Women Who Changed the World
Women’s History Quiz: Voices, Victories & Breakthroughs
Travel across centuries and continents as you uncover the stories of women who transformed science, politics, literature, exploration, human rights, and public life.
1
Ancient world
Which woman served as pharaoh of Egypt and commissioned monumental building projects, including a grand mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri?
Nefertiti
Arsinoe II
Hatshepsut
Boudica
Correct answer: Hatshepsut. She ruled in the 15th century BCE and presented herself with full pharaonic authority. Her reign was marked by trade, prosperity, and ambitious architecture.
2
Revolution & rights
Who wrote the 1792 work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, arguing that women deserved serious education?
Mary Wollstonecraft
Jane Austen
George Sand
Harriet Martineau
Correct answer: Mary Wollstonecraft. Her book challenged the belief that women were naturally less rational and argued that unequal education produced unequal opportunities.
3
Medicine
Elizabeth Blackwell made history in 1849 by becoming the first woman in the United States to receive what qualification?
A law degree
A university presidency
A military commission
A medical degree
Correct answer: A medical degree. Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College and later helped expand medical education and professional opportunities for women.
4
Freedom movement
Which formerly enslaved woman became famous for guiding people to freedom through the Underground Railroad and later served the Union during the U.S. Civil War?
Ida B. Wells
Harriet Tubman
Mary McLeod Bethune
Sojourner Truth
Correct answer: Harriet Tubman. After escaping slavery, Tubman repeatedly returned south to help others escape. She also worked as a nurse, scout, and spy for the Union.
5
Global leadership
In 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon became the first woman in the world to hold which office?
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Chief justice
Prime minister
Central bank governor
Correct answer: Prime minister. Bandaranaike became prime minister of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, making her the world’s first woman to lead a national government in that role.
6
Science & discovery
Whose X-ray diffraction image, known as “Photo 51,” provided crucial evidence for understanding the structure of DNA?
Rosalind Franklin
Dorothy Hodgkin
Barbara McClintock
Lise Meitner
Correct answer: Rosalind Franklin. Her careful crystallography helped reveal DNA’s helical structure, though her contribution was not fully recognized during her lifetime.
7
Literature
Which Chilean poet and diplomat became the first Latin American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature?
Isabel Allende
Alfonsina Storni
Clarice Lispector
Gabriela Mistral
Correct answer: Gabriela Mistral. She received the prize in 1945 for poetry shaped by love, grief, identity, childhood, and Latin American life.
8
Space age
Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel into space in 1963 aboard which spacecraft?
Soyuz 1
Vostok 6
Apollo 8
Salyut 1
Correct answer: Vostok 6. Tereshkova orbited Earth 48 times, opening a new chapter for women in human spaceflight.
9
Environmental history
Which Kenyan activist founded the Green Belt Movement and became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Miriam Makeba
Wangari Maathai
Leymah Gbowee
Correct answer: Wangari Maathai. Her movement linked tree planting with women’s empowerment, democratic participation, and environmental protection.
10
Philippine history
Who became the first woman president of the Philippines after the 1986 People Power Revolution?
Corazon Aquino
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Imelda Marcos
Miriam Defensor Santiago
Correct answer: Corazon Aquino. Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986 following the People Power Revolution and helped restore democratic institutions after authoritarian rule.
✦ 👑 ✦
Your Women’s History Score
Unofficial — no Microsoft or Bing affiliation.