Show How Well You Know Your Trailblazers With This Famous Women Quiz!

By Media Feed | Published 13 hours ago

For centuries, many girls have grown up with a specific set of familiar expectations to live up to. But throughout that time, the world has seen example after example of influential women who decided to cut their own paths through life.

Not only have they given other young women someone to look up to, but they also changed their own parts of the world and redefined what is possible. But let’s find out if they made their mark on you.

Who was the first woman in space?

A. Roberta Bondar

B. Valentina Tereshkova

C. Claudie Haigneré

D. Sally Ride

Answer: Valentina Tereshkova

According to the European Space Agency, former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova officially became the first woman in space on June 14, 1963, at the age of 26. Her flight lasted just under three days, which meant she had logged more time in orbit than every US Mercury program astronaut up to that point combined.

Who is responsible for even our basic understanding of radiation?

A. Elizabeth Blackwell

B. Marie Curie

C. Caroline Herschel

D. Mary Anning

Answer: Marie Curie

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Marie Curie’s discovery of radium, polonium, and the very concept of radioactivity were groundbreaking enough to net her the first Nobel Prize ever awarded to a woman in 1903. But that doesn’t do her brilliance justice as much as the fact that in 1911, she would win her second Nobel Prize and become the first person in history to win more than one.

Who was the real-life Rosie The Riveter?

A. Geraldine Hoff Doyle

B. Rosalind P. Walter

C. Rose Will Monroe

D. Naomi Parker Fraley

Answer: Naomi Parker Fraley

Although the History Channel noted that the Rosie The Riveter icon who encouraged over 310,000 to work in America’s aircraft industry during World War II was mostly fictional, she was based on a real worker. While all of the women listed here were possible candidates for the famous poster’s inspiration, the most likely among them is Naomi Parker Fraley, who worked in a Naval machine shop in 1942. The biggest clue was her now-recognizable poke-dot bandana.

Who was rightfully known as “The First Lady Of Song?”

A. Billie Holiday

B. Ella Fitzgerald

C. Mahalia Jackson

D. Nina Simone

Answer: Ella Fitzgerald

Although Ella Fitzgerald’s singing talents rightfully scored her a string of awards and accolades, The National Women’s History Museum explained that her impact on the arts was even more revolutionary than those achievements would suggest. As true as it is that her vocal range and golden voice were legendary, her trademark scat singing showed the kind of impressive improvision that would be expected among her spiritual successors like Louis Armstrong.

What woman had the guts to resist the Roman Empire?

A. Rani of Jhansi

B. Fu Hao

C. Tomyris

D. Boudicca

Answer: Boudicca

After her family and the Iceni tribe suffered at the hands of the Romans, the warrior queen Boudicca raised an army and led one of history’s most organized rebellions against the empire’s might. Although Live Science noted that she was defeated at the Battle of Watling Street, the fact that her forces were able to recapture pre-modern London and almost drove the Romans from the British Isles entirely will forever make her a heroine of the United Kingdom.

Who left Hollywood to become literal royalty in 1956?

A. Audrey Hepburn

B. Grace Kelly

C. Doris Day

D. Katherine Hepburn

Answer: Grace Kelly

As People reported, Grace Kelly had an acclaimed acting career that included successful Alfred Hitchcock films like Rear Window and an Academy Award for her performance in The Country Girl before she retired from the craft in 1956. But her glamorous style and civic mind would serve just as well as the princess of Monaco, where she served as president of the nation’s Red Cross before starting her own non-profit organizations.

Which first lady changed that title and role forever?

A. Elizabeth Truman

B. Grace Coolidge

C. Eleanor Roosevelt

D. Lou Hoover

Answer: Eleanor Roosevelt

According to PBS, Eleanor Roosevelt’s activism for trade unions, her unprecedented all-female press conferences, and her support of the then-young NAACP were just a few examples of what made her a trailblazing figure in American politics. And after she reinvented what it means to be the First Lady of the United States, she became head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

Who was the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean?

A. Bessie Coleman

B. Amelia Earhart

C. Harriet Quimby

D. Raymond de Laroche

Answer: Amelia Earhart

Although The New Yorker reported that Amelia Earhart was the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, the fact that she was a passenger at the time didn’t fit her courage and sense of adventure at all. So four years later, she would become the first woman and only the second person to cross the Atlantic in a plane solo. And in 1935, she was the first person in the world to do the same with the Pacific Ocean.

What abolitionist famously wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

A. Harper Lee

B. Harriet Beecher Stowe

C. Louisa May Alcott

D. Emily Dickinson

Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Although The National Women’s History Museum noted that Harriet Beecher Stowe was a prolific writer, there’s a reason why she’s best known for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book was not only a landmark indictment of slavery in the United States, but both powered her personal abolitionist campaigns throughout the nation and helped bankroll those of others.

Who dazzled France before she quietly changed the world?

A. Josephine Baker

B. Clara Bow

C. Coco Chanel

D. Louise Brooks

Answer: Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker’s personality and talents as a dancer made her one of the world’s brightest stars during the Roaring Twenties and a beloved figure in French culture to this day. According to The New Yorker, it also provided the perfect cover for her espionage activities and clandestine support of the French Resistance during World War II. Her front as a touring act and her web of political contacts would make her one of France’s greatest intelligence assets during that tumultuous time.

Who risked her life to keep the Underground Railroad running?

A. Ona Judge

B. Mary Dyer

C. Harriet Tubman

D. Sojourner Truth

Answer: Harriet Tubman

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Harriet Tubman fled Maryland in 1849 and made her way to Philadelphia. She helped free 70 enslaved people in Maryland during the 13 death-defying trips of the Underground Railroad.

Which first lady witnessed one of America’s most shocking days?

A. Eleanor Rosalynn Carter

B. Mamie Eisenhower

C. Claudia Johnson

D. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Answer: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Although it’s well-known that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a style icon as the first lady during John F. Kennedy’s presidency, The Guardian noted just how important her poise and elegance were for the country. Her genteel nature and impressive language skills charmed even notoriously temperamental leaders like Charles de Gaulle and Nikita Khrushchev, who may not have had the diplomatic relationships they had with the United States without her.

Which actress inspired Black entertainers not to settle for less?

A. Nina Mae McKinney

B. Lena Horne

C. Hattie McDaniel

D. Ethel Waters

Answer: Lena Horne

According to PBS, Lena Horne’s talents as a singer, dancer, and actress put her in a position where she became the first black actress signed to a long-term contract with a Hollywood studio. While it narrowed the acting roles available to her, she also earned lifelong respect from her fellow entertainers by refusing to take the stereotypical and demeaning roles that studios set aside for Black actors at the time.

What ancient queen’s dramatic flair made her a legendary figure?

A. Kubaba

B. Theodora

C. Neferneferuaten Nefertiti

D. Cleopatra

Answer: Cleopatra

Although the Smithsonian Magazine credited Cleopatra as an ambitious and effective queen during her reign over Egypt, her talent for spectacle and her ability to flit between disguises and personas to suit her political needs does a lot to explain why she remains so legendary. After all, charming both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony is no easy feat.

Who was the “miracle worker” who taught Helen Keller?

A. Anne Sullivan

B. Maria Montessori

C. Emma Willard

D. Marva Collins

Answer: Anne Sullivan

As The History Channel noted, Anne Sullivan’s pioneering “touch teaching” techniques unlocked Helen Keller’s ability to speak, which then equipped her to graduate college and become a famous lecturer in her own right. Sullivan would spend the rest of her life as Keller’s interpreter and close friend.

Which philosopher’s father once watched over Alexandria?

A. Themistoclea

B. Hypatia

C. Diotima of Mantinea

D. Sosipatra

Answer: Hypatia

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Hypatia learned about math and astronomy from her father, Theon, who was one of the last members of the famous Library of Alexandria. However, she would build on what she was taught and become a respected astronomer, mathematician, and Neoplatonic philosopher with students of her own.

Who won a record nine Wimbledon Singles Championships?

A. Maria Sharapova

B. Helen Wills

C. Martina Navratilova

D. Chris Evert

Answer: Martina Navratilova

In the case the International Tennis Hall Of Fame makes for Martina Navratilova as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her record nine Wimbledon wins (six of which were in a row) only scratch the surface of her accomplishments in her 30+-year career. No player has won more singles tournaments (167), doubles tournaments (177), or matches (2,189) in history. She also became the oldest player to win a major title shortly before she turned 50.

Who did so much more than refuse to give up a seat on a bus?

A. Leah Chase

B. Dr. June Jackson Christmas

C. Rosa Parks

D. Diane Nash

Answer: Rosa Parks

Considering how significant Rosa Parks’s arrest on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger was to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement at large, it’s understandable that she’d be best known for that. However, the Library of Congress noted she had been a hard-working member of the NAACP for over a decade by that point. She would also spend the following decade using her notoriety to further power the movement despite health and economic hardships.

What teenager became the world’s most unlikely military leader?

A. Mary Edwards Walker

B. Deborah Sampson Gannett

C. Margaret Corbin

D. Joan of Arc

Answer: Joan of Arc

Taking what she believed to be divine inspiration, Joan of Arc turned the tide of the Hundred Years War by breaking England’s Siege of Orleans and building enough momentum as a military leader to have a deposed crown prince coronated King Charles VII in 1429. The History Channel noted that her victory was particularly miraculous due to her lack of military training, but power concerns led Charles to halt her advance and set the stage for her downfall and martyrdom.

Who has a media empire after humble beginnings?

A. Sheilisa Burgess

B. Oprah Winfrey

C. Essynce Moore

D. Nathalie Walton

Answer: Oprah Winfrey

Although her broadcasting career began in Chicago, Oprah Winfrey spent much of her childhood with her mother in Milwaukee. However, The Kennedy Center outlined that the horrors she endured there forced her to flee, even if it meant homelessness. But after reconnecting with her father, Winfrey started on a path that would end with her becoming a self-made billionaire.

With 309 casualties, who is history’s deadliest female sniper?

A. Lyudmila Pavlichenko

B. Klavdiya Kalugina

C. Natalya Kovshova

D. Roza Shanina

Answer: Lyudmila Pavlichenko

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was persistent in joining the Red Army despite the hesitance of officials to admit women. However, she proved herself in an impromptu audition during a real battle, which allowed her to become an official sniper who would develop a fearsome reputation among the invading German army as “Lady Death.”

Whose tragic diary still inspires powerful feelings today?

A. Margot Frank

B. Anaïs Nin

C. Rachel Corrie

D. Anne Frank

Answer: Anne Frank

Anne Frank chronicled her hopes and fears while hiding out in German-occupied Amsterdam but according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, her family and fellow refugees were discovered on August 4, 1945. It’s unknown how the secret police found her, but a recent theory suggests they discovered her family by chance while investigating possible ration coupon fraud.

Who was a leading figure in the Women’s Suffrage Movement?

A. Emmeline Pankhurst

B. Alice Paul

C. Susan B. Anthony

D. Millicent Fawcett

Answer: Susan B. Anthony

According to the National Women’s History Museum, Susan B. Anthony drew lifelong inspiration from the Quaker belief that everyone was equal under God. This made her a stalwart champion for women’s voting rights but also an abolitionist and a campaigner for labor rights, particularly the concept of equal pay for equal work. Sadly, she would not live to see women’s voting rights enacted, as the 19th Amendment was passed 14 years after he passed away in 1906.

Who is almost singlehandedly responsible for modern nursing?

A. Dorothea Dix

B. Florence Nightingale

C. Mary Eliza Mahoney

D. Mary Seacole

Answer: Florence Nightingale

According to the British National Army Museum, Florence Nightingale defied her family’s wishes by becoming a nurse and was moved by stories of soldiers suffering during the Crimean War to volunteer her services. She completely revamped the field hospital’s sanitary standards and bolstered their medical provisions. Later, she would also become a groundbreaking statistician who improved medical logistics and training with data analysis.

What queen led England to war against the Spanish Armada?

A. Victoria

B. Elizabeth I

C. Mary I

D. Elizabeth II

Answer: Elizabeth I

Although Queen Elizabeth I went down in history as an effective ruler during a tumultuous time for England, her reign almost didn’t happen. According to Royal Museums Greenwich, Henry VIII initially declared her illegitimate, and her right to the throne wouldn’t be restored until the Third Succession Act in 1543.

Which legendary painter was known for her surrealist portraits?

A. Artemisia Gentileschi

B. Frida Kahlo

C. Rosa Bonheur

D. Georgia O’Keeffe

Answer: Frida Kahlo

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Frida Kahlo shared a struggle with many famous artists in that her work only became highly regarded and widely known after her passing. However, she likely wouldn’t have expected otherwise because her art was deeply personal and only intended for family, friends, and herself to see.

Who rose up to become a pioneering abolitionist?

A. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

B. Sojourner Truth

C. Lucretia Mott

D. Angelina Grimké

Answer: Sojourner Truth

According to the Library of Congress, Sojourner Truth was a traveling preacher who moved thousands of miles to inspire Black Americans and women to fight for their respective rights. She was also the first Black woman to win a lawsuit in the United States, which concerned securing her son’s freedom after he was illegally sold. She also successfully sued a newspaper for accusing her of being a witch and claiming she poisoned another religious leader.

Who bravely guided explorers through Idaho and Montana?

A. Pocahontas

B. Weetamoo

C. Dahteste

D. Sacagawea

Answer: Sacagawea

According to The National Women’s History Museum, Sacagawea guided Lewis and Clark through what is now Idaho and Montana using natural landmarks and also foraged edible plants to supplement their corps of discovery’s rations. However, perhaps her greatest strength was her ability to communicate and negotiate with the Shoshone and Hidatsa tribes the group encountered along the way. She accomplished all this and more by the age of 17 with her baby on her back.

What landmark author only became famous after her death?

A. Jane Austen

B. Emily Brontë

C. Mary Shelley

D. Charlotte Brontë

Answer: Jane Austen

Although Jane Austen’s books are considered unassailable classics now, they were only modest hits during her lifetime and mostly published anonymously. According to the CBC, her publisher even initially destroyed the copies of her final two books, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

What Hollywood icon was born Norma Jeane Mortenson?

A. Jayne Mansfield

B. Norma Rae

C. Jean Harlow

D. Marilyn Monroe

Answer: Marilyn Monroe

In a TCM profile that paints a harrowing portrait of Marilyn Monroe’s personal life, her defining moments as an actress and icon were undercut by an atmosphere of exploitation and enabling that surrounded her most vulnerable moments. But while her life wasn’t as enviable as it may have seemed, her mark on pop culture and the kindness she showed other unfairly overlooked talents can’t be denied.

Who was both a celebrated poet and civil rights leader?

A. Gwendolyn Brooks

B. Alice Walker

C. Phillis Wheatley Peters

D. Maya Angelou

Answer: Maya Angelou

According to The National Women’s History Museum, Maya Angelou had already demonstrated impressive talent as a dancer and singer before she wrote her autobiographical masterpiece I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings in 1969. But before her poetry would earn her a Pulitzer Prize nomination, she was also a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement because she served as the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Who was the only woman to hold power as Empress of China?

A. Liu Siniang

B. Wu Zetian

C. Wang Zhenyi

D. Hua Mulan

Answer: Wu Zetian

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Wu Zetian reigned for 15 years but was the power behind the throne for decades beforehand. Although she was maligned as a cruel and ruthless usurper for centuries, modern historians often credit Wu for restoring stability to the Tang dynasty, which likely wouldn’t otherwise be considered such a golden age in Chinese civilization.

What glamorous actress also invented world-changing tech?

A. Lauren Bacall

B. Natalie Wood

C. Ava Gardner

D. Hedy Lamarr

Answer: Hedy Lamarr

As PBS reported, Hedy Lamarr’s beauty inspired both Snow White and Catwoman, but her mind would end up having the largest impact on the world. While the covert communication system she invented was ignored during World War II, later engineers would base secure WiFi systems, GPS systems, and Bluetooth technologies on her creation.

What ancient poet became an eternal LGBTQ+ icon?

A. Corinna

B. Nossis

C. Anyte

D. Sappho

Answer: Sappho

As The Guardian reported, Sappho’s vivid lyrical poetry expressing intense love for other women served as the very foundation for the term “lesbian” as she lived on the Greek island of Lesbos. Sadly, only about 3% of what she wrote in her lifetime is believed to survive today.

What controversial woman was India’s first female leader?

A. Savitribai Phule

B. Lakshmi Sahgal

C. Indira Gandhi

D. Anandi Gopal Joshi

Answer: Indira Gandhi

The daughter of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, served in the same role between 1966 and 1977 and then again from 1980 until 1984. Although her final election was by a clear majority, The Guardian reported that her leadership was marred by corruption involving her son Sanjay, stoked tensions with the nation’s Sikh population, and misuse of emergency powers.

Who was the first woman elected to Congress?

A. Hazel Hempel

B. Irene Bailey Baker

C. Jeannette Rankin

D. Veronica Grace Boland

Answer: Jeannette Rankin

According to the National Archives, Jeannette Rankin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, 1916. Curiously, this meant that she started representing her home state of Montana four years before women secured the right to vote. A lifelong pacifist, she was one of only 50 members of Congress to vote against entering World War I and the sole representative to vote against entering World War II.

Who is wrongly quoted as saying, “Let them eat cake?”

A. Marie-Thérèse

B. Catherine de’ Medici

C. Marie Antoinette

D. Marguerite of Valois

Answer: Marie Antoinette

Although The History Channel noted that Marie Antoinette’s alleged remark of “let them eat cake” when told her subjects had no bread was a significant catalyst of the French Revolution, it’s unlikely that she ever said it. Not only was she not the first queen to have a similar statement attributed to her, but Lady Antonia Fraser described the quote as uncharacteristic of Marie Antoinette, who the evidence suggests was an intelligent, compassionate woman.

Which Egyptian Pharoah had her legacy buried for centuries?

A. Sobekneferu

B. Nefertiti

C. Merneith

D. Hatshepsut

Answer: Hatshepsut

The Smithsonian Magazine reported that information about Hatshepsut’s reign was lost until the 19th Century, and even then, she was considered a usurper who insisted on being depicted as male. In all likelihood, this was her way of establishing her legitimacy as a Pharoah, and it has since been acknowledged that she reigned during a period of peace and prosperity in ancient Egypt.

What mathematician can be considered the first programmer?

A. Grace Hopper

B. Frances E. Allen

C. Elizabeth J. Feinler

D. Ada Lovelace

Answer: Ada Lovelace

As The New Yorker reported, Ada Lovelace had her mother’s mathematical aptitude and her father’s imagination, which made her an ideal candidate to translate information about and mathematically perfect an early ancestor of the computer by Charles Babbage. The clear way she described the potential she saw in Babbage’s device would be foundational to computer science at large.

Who gave the world a classic fragrance and a new black dress?

A. Elizabeth Arden

B. Jeanne Lanvin

C. Coco Chanel

D. Elsa Schiaparelli

Answer: Coco Chanel

According to InStyle Magazine, Coco Chanel was inspired to create fashionable garments for women that didn’t sacrifice comfort, which led to the creation of the little black dress that is now a fashion staple. As for her signature Chanel No. 5 perfume, it was first released in 1921 with the help of perfumer Ernest Beaux.

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