Who sailed around the world disguised as a man? Which inventor cut up a shower curtain to make a diaper cover? These 100 ladies trivia questions are all about women in history, and every answer shows a line on why.
Six topics, 100 questions
Science and medicine has 17 women trivia questions, from the comet Maria Mitchell found to the first drug that helped organ transplants. Exploration and flight has 15, Sport 15, The vote and the law 19, Writing and the arts 18 and Business and invention 16.
Easy, medium and hard, mixed
Every topic mixes levels: 24 questions are easy, 53 medium and 23 hard, and the levels are our estimate. An easy one asks which painter's Blue House is now a museum. A hard one asks for the third color of the British suffragettes, after purple and white.
Tips
Ladies' lunch or club night: pick a Topic, read each question aloud and take answers by a show of hands before you press Check answer.
Women's History Month at work or school: run one topic each week of March and an extra one on International Women's Day, March 8.
Playing in teams: press Scored round for 20 questions in a row, and keep the tally on a printed score sheet.
Questions and answers
Can I print these female trivia questions?
Yes. Pick a Topic, press Print question sheet while question 1 is on the card, then Print answer key for yourself. A sheet holds up to 20 questions with lettered choices, so each of the six topics fits on one sheet whole.
Are these trivia questions for women or about women?
Both. They suit a ladies' lunch, a church or club group, or a quiz night, and every question is about something a woman did. It is facts and dates only, with nothing built on looks, marriage or what women are supposed to like.
When is Women's History Month?
March in the United States, where it grew from a national week in 1980 to a month in 1987. Canada observes it in October, to match Persons Day on October 18. International Women's Day falls on March 8.
How were the answers checked?
Each answer was read on September 20, 2026 in the Wikipedia article linked under it, and a script matched every claim to its sentence. No living woman is named, and nothing asks about a current record, because those go out of date.
All About Me Questionnaires to Print3 tools: An all about me sheet is a page of questions that one person answers in their own handwriting, then hands…
A review of Mary Somerville's book On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences held the first use in English of which word?Answer: Scientist. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Somerville
Annie Jump Cannon helped build the Harvard scheme that sorts stars into the classes O, B, A, F, G, K and M. What are the classes based on?Answer: Temperature and spectral type. Source: Wikipedia: Annie Jump Cannon
Chien-Shiung Wu, called the First Lady of Physics, ran a famous experiment. It proved that which property is not conserved?Answer: Parity. Source: Wikipedia: Chien-Shiung Wu
Dorothy Hodgkin worked for 35 years to map the structure of which hormone, finishing in 1969?Answer: Insulin. Source: Wikipedia: Dorothy Hodgkin
Element 109, meitnerium, is named after the physicist Lise Meitner. Which discovery was she instrumental in?Answer: Nuclear fission. Source: Wikipedia: Lise Meitner
Émilie du Châtelet's translation of a great science book is still the standard French version. Who wrote the original?Answer: Isaac Newton. Source: Wikipedia: Émilie du Châtelet
Gertrude Elion shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her drug azathioprine was the first to help with which kind of operation?Answer: Organ transplants. Source: Wikipedia: Gertrude B. Elion
Henrietta Swan Leavitt found a link between the brightness of Cepheid variable stars and how fast they pulse. What did it let astronomers measure?Answer: The distance to other galaxies. Source: Wikipedia: Henrietta Swan Leavitt
In 1699 the artist and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian sailed to Dutch Guiana. What did she go to study and draw?Answer: Tropical insects. Source: Wikipedia: Maria Sibylla Merian
In 1787 the astronomer Caroline Herschel was granted 50 pounds a year. That made her the first woman to do what?Answer: Receive a salary as a scientist. Source: Wikipedia: Caroline Herschel
In 1847 Maria Mitchell of Nantucket discovered something in the sky that was later named after her. What was it?Answer: A comet. Source: Wikipedia: Maria Mitchell
In 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the United States to earn which kind of degree?Answer: A medical degree. Source: Wikipedia: Elizabeth Blackwell
Irène Joliot-Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935. Which earlier Nobel winner was her mother?Answer: Marie Curie. Source: Wikipedia: Irène Joliot-Curie
Marie Tharp worked with the geologist Bruce Heezen to produce the first scientific map of what?Answer: The Atlantic Ocean floor. Source: Wikipedia: Marie Tharp
Sofya Kovalevskaya was the first woman to earn a modern doctorate in which subject?Answer: Mathematics. Source: Wikipedia: Sofya Kovalevskaya
Wangari Maathai of Kenya founded the Green Belt Movement. What does it plant?Answer: Trees. Source: Wikipedia: Wangari Maathai
Which astronomer proposed in her 1925 doctoral thesis that stars are made mainly of hydrogen and helium?Answer: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin. Source: Wikipedia: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Exploration and flight 15
Before she flew in space in June 1983, the astronaut Sally Ride helped to develop which part of the Space Shuttle?Answer: Its robotic arm. Source: Wikipedia: Sally Ride
Beryl Markham was the first person to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic from Britain to North America. What is her memoir called?Answer: West with the Night. Source: Wikipedia: Beryl Markham
Christa McAuliffe was chosen from more than 11,000 applicants for a NASA program in the 1980s. What was her job?Answer: Schoolteacher. Source: Wikipedia: Christa McAuliffe
The English traveler and archaeologist Gertrude Bell founded a national museum that opened in June 1926. In which country?Answer: Iraq. Source: Wikipedia: Gertrude Bell
In 1894 and 1895 Annie Londonderry became the first woman to travel around the world by which means?Answer: Bicycle. Source: Wikipedia: Annie Londonderry
In 1912 Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly solo across which stretch of water?Answer: The English Channel. Source: Wikipedia: Harriet Quimby
In 1936 Jean Batten made the first solo flight from England to which country, her homeland?Answer: New Zealand. Source: Wikipedia: Jean Batten
In 1964 Jerrie Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world, starting and ending in Columbus, Ohio. How long did the trip take?Answer: 29 days. Source: Wikipedia: Jerrie Mock
Jeanne Baret is recognized as the first woman to complete a voyage around the globe, from 1766 to 1769. How did she join the expedition?Answer: Disguised as a man. Source: Wikipedia: Jeanne Baret
The Night Witches were an all-women unit who flew bombing raids at night in World War II. For which country did they fly?Answer: The Soviet Union. Source: Wikipedia: Night Witches
The Ninety-Nines is an organization of women pilots founded in 1929. Where does its name come from?Answer: Its number of charter members. Source: Wikipedia: Ninety-Nines
On 18 May 1953 the pilot Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to do what?Answer: Break the sound barrier. Source: Wikipedia: Jacqueline Cochran
On 4 June 1784 Élisabeth Thible of Lyon became the first woman to fly untethered in which kind of craft?Answer: A hot air balloon. Source: Wikipedia: Élisabeth Thible
On 8 March 1910 Raymonde de Laroche of France became the first woman in the world to hold what?Answer: A pilot's license. Source: Wikipedia: Raymonde de Laroche
On a plateau 21,000 feet up, the climber Fanny Bullock Workman held up a newspaper for a famous photograph. What did its headline say?Answer: Votes for Women. Source: Wikipedia: Fanny Bullock Workman
Sport 15
After the 1928 Olympics the women's 800 meters was dropped from the Games. In which year did it return?Answer: 1960. Source: Wikipedia: Lina Radke
At the 1920 Olympics Ethelda Bleibtrey became the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals. In which sport?Answer: Swimming. Source: Wikipedia: Ethelda Bleibtrey
The Australian professional swimmer Annette Kellerman was one of the first women to wear what?Answer: A one-piece bathing suit. Source: Wikipedia: Annette Kellerman
Babe Didrikson Zaharias won two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the 1932 Olympics. Which sport did she then turn professional in?Answer: Golf. Source: Wikipedia: Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Betty Robinson of the United States won the first Olympic 100 meters for women, in 1928. How old was she?Answer: 16. Source: Wikipedia: Betty Robinson
Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands, a 30-year-old mother of two, won how many gold medals at the 1948 London Olympics?Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Fanny Blankers-Koen
The French press called her La Divine. Which tennis player won six Wimbledon singles titles, five of them in a row from 1919 to 1923?Answer: Suzanne Lenglen. Source: Wikipedia: Suzanne Lenglen
The gymnast Věra Čáslavská won seven Olympic gold medals in the 1960s. Which country did she compete for?Answer: Czechoslovakia. Source: Wikipedia: Věra Čáslavská
In 1953 Maureen Connolly became the first woman to win the tennis Grand Slam, all four major tournaments in one year. What was her nickname?Answer: Little Mo. Source: Wikipedia: Maureen Connolly
Lis Hartel of Denmark won an Olympic silver medal in 1952 although polio had paralyzed her below the knees. In which sport?Answer: Dressage. Source: Wikipedia: Lis Hartel
The Olympics offered few women's sports, so Alice Milliat set up an event that was held four times from 1922 to 1934. What was it called?Answer: The Women's World Games. Source: Wikipedia: Women's World Games
On 11 July 1900 Charlotte Cooper became the first individual female Olympic champion. In which sport?Answer: Tennis. Source: Wikipedia: Charlotte Cooper (tennis)
Senda Berenson is known as the mother of the women's form of which sport, after she adapted its rules at Smith College?Answer: Basketball. Source: Wikipedia: Senda Berenson Abbott
Sonja Henie of Norway was Olympic champion in 1928, 1932 and 1936. In which sport?Answer: Figure skating. Source: Wikipedia: Sonja Henie
Women first took part in the modern Olympic Games in 1900. Which city hosted those Games?Answer: Paris. Source: Wikipedia: Women at the Olympics
The vote and the law 19
At the 1913 Derby the suffragette Emily Davison walked onto the track during the race and was hit by a horse. Whose horse was it?Answer: King George V's. Source: Wikipedia: Emily Davison
The British suffragettes of the WSPU used three colors. Two were purple and white. What was the third?Answer: Green. Source: Wikipedia: Suffragette
The Declaration of Sentiments, a women's rights document signed in 1848, was modeled on which famous document?Answer: The United States Declaration of Independence. Source: Wikipedia: Declaration of Sentiments
Eleanor Roosevelt took a leading role in designing the text of which United Nations document?Answer: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Source: Wikipedia: Eleanor Roosevelt
In 1917 the suffragist Alice Paul was jailed for joining the Silent Sentinels. Where did they hold their protest?Answer: In front of the White House. Source: Wikipedia: Alice Paul
In 1941 Jeannette Rankin was the only member of the United States Congress to vote against what?Answer: Declaring war on Japan. Source: Wikipedia: Jeannette Rankin
In 2018 who became the first woman to be honored with a statue in Parliament Square?Answer: Millicent Fawcett. Source: Wikipedia: Millicent Fawcett
In which European country did women gain the right to vote in federal elections only after a referendum in February 1971?Answer: Switzerland. Source: Wikipedia: Women's suffrage in Switzerland
Nancy Astor, who in 1919 became the first woman seated as a British Member of Parliament, was born in which country?Answer: The United States. Source: Wikipedia: Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor
On which date is International Women's Day marked each year?Answer: March 8. Source: Wikipedia: Women's History Month
The Representation of the People Act 1918 gave the vote to British women, but only to those above which age?Answer: 30. Source: Wikipedia: Representation of the People Act 1918
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. In which year did she join it?Answer: 1993. Source: Wikipedia: Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The suffragist Lucy Stone was known for which choice, which later women who copied her were nicknamed Lucy Stoners for making?Answer: Keeping her birth name after marriage. Source: Wikipedia: Lucy Stone
What was Amelia Bloomer's real link to the loose trousers called bloomers?Answer: She championed them but did not create them. Source: Wikipedia: Amelia Bloomer
Which book of 1792 is Mary Wollstonecraft best known for?Answer: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Wollstonecraft
Which suffragist was shown on a United States dollar coin minted from 1979?Answer: Susan B. Anthony. Source: Wikipedia: Susan B. Anthony dollar
Which suffragist, born in Liverpool, has appeared on New Zealand's ten-dollar note since 1991?Answer: Kate Sheppard. Source: Wikipedia: Kate Sheppard
Which was the first place in Europe to introduce women's suffrage, in 1906?Answer: Finland. Source: Wikipedia: Women's suffrage
Women's History Month is March in the United States. In which month does Canada observe it, to match Persons Day?Answer: October. Source: Wikipedia: Women's History Month
Writing and the arts 18
The American painter Mary Cassatt lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas. With which group did she exhibit?Answer: The Impressionists. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Cassatt
Aphra Behn was one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing. Which other occupation is she known for?Answer: Spy. Source: Wikipedia: Aphra Behn
The Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the academy of art and design in which Italian city?Answer: Florence. Source: Wikipedia: Artemisia Gentileschi
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë first published as Currer, Ellis and Acton. Which surname did the three pen names share?Answer: Bell. Source: Wikipedia: Brontë family
Clara Schumann's concert career lasted 61 years. Which instrument did she play?Answer: Piano. Source: Wikipedia: Clara Schumann
Emily Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems. How many of them were published during her lifetime?Answer: 10. Source: Wikipedia: Emily Dickinson
For an undercover report, the journalist Nellie Bly got herself committed to the asylum on Blackwell's Island. How?Answer: She pretended to be insane. Source: Wikipedia: Nellie Bly
Georgia O'Keeffe, called the Mother of American modernism, won recognition for her paintings of what?Answer: Flowers, hills and desert landscapes. Source: Wikipedia: Georgia O'Keeffe
In 1921 Edith Wharton became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. For which novel?Answer: The Age of Innocence. Source: Wikipedia: Edith Wharton
La Casa Azul, the Blue House, is now a museum to which Mexican painter, known for her self-portraits?Answer: Frida Kahlo. Source: Wikipedia: Frida Kahlo
Mary Ann Evans wrote Middlemarch and Silas Marner under which pen name?Answer: George Eliot. Source: Wikipedia: George Eliot
Murasaki Shikibu, a lady-in-waiting at the Japanese court, wrote which work, widely considered one of the world's first novels?Answer: The Tale of Genji. Source: Wikipedia: Murasaki Shikibu
The Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova is most recognized for creating which solo role?Answer: The Dying Swan. Source: Wikipedia: Anna Pavlova
Six songs by the composer Fanny Mendelssohn were first published under the name of which relative?Answer: Her brother. Source: Wikipedia: Fanny Mendelssohn
Which influential essay of 1929 did Virginia Woolf write?Answer: A Room of One's Own. Source: Wikipedia: Virginia Woolf
Which poet wrote the sonnet that begins "How do I love thee?"Answer: Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Source: Wikipedia: Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Which was Emily Brontë's only novel?Answer: Wuthering Heights. Source: Wikipedia: Brontë family
Who in 1909 became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?Answer: Selma Lagerlöf. Source: Wikipedia: Selma Lagerlöf
Business and invention 16
An invention by Yvonne Brill keeps today's satellites in orbit. What is it?Answer: A fuel-efficient rocket thruster. Source: Wikipedia: Yvonne Brill
Beulah Louise Henry held 49 patents. One was for a sewing machine that did without which part?Answer: The bobbin. Source: Wikipedia: Beulah Louise Henry
Colleagues often called the inventor Mária Telkes "The Sun Queen". Which technology did she work on?Answer: Solar energy. Source: Wikipedia: Mária Telkes
Ellen Swallow Richards, founder of the home economics movement, was the first woman admitted to which institute?Answer: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Source: Wikipedia: Ellen Swallow Richards
Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the finished Brooklyn Bridge by carriage. What did she carry as a sign of victory?Answer: A rooster. Source: Wikipedia: Emily Warren Roebling
In 1832 the naturalist Jeanne Villepreux-Power was the first person to create which piece of equipment, so that she could experiment on sea creatures?Answer: The aquarium. Source: Wikipedia: Jeanne Villepreux-Power
In 1946 Marion Donovan made a waterproof diaper cover she called the Boater. Which household item did she cut up to make it?Answer: A shower curtain. Source: Wikipedia: Marion Donovan
In 1949 the Spanish teacher Ángela Ruiz Robles was awarded a patent for her Mechanical Encyclopedia. It is seen as a forerunner of what?Answer: The electronic book. Source: Wikipedia: Ángela Ruiz Robles
In August 1887 Anna Connelly patented a forerunner of which safety feature, found on the outside of buildings?Answer: The fire escape. Source: Wikipedia: Anna Connelly
In World War II the actress Hedy Lamarr co-invented a radio guidance system that used frequency hopping to beat jamming. What was it meant to guide?Answer: Torpedoes. Source: Wikipedia: Hedy Lamarr
Katharine Burr Blodgett, the first woman awarded a PhD in physics by the University of Cambridge, is known for inventing which kind of glass?Answer: Non-reflective glass. Source: Wikipedia: Katharine Burr Blodgett
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, a pioneer of time-and-motion study, is credited with which kitchen invention?Answer: The foot-pedal trash can. Source: Wikipedia: Lillian Moller Gilbreth
Martha Coston invented the Coston flare. What was it for?Answer: Signaling at sea. Source: Wikipedia: Martha Coston
Mary Walton patented a way to deaden the noise of what in New York City, after Thomas Edison had tried and failed?Answer: The elevated railway. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Walton
The printer and publisher Mary Katherine Goddard was postmaster of which city's post office from 1775 to 1789?Answer: Baltimore. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Katherine Goddard
The Shakers credit one of their members, Tabitha Babbitt, with inventing which tool for milling lumber?Answer: The circular saw. Source: Wikipedia: Tabitha Babbitt
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Every question, wrong choice and explanation is our own wording. Each answer, and every extra claim in an explanation, was read on 2026-09-20 in the English Wikipedia article named and linked beside the question: the article text was fetched that day, a script matched each claim to the sentence, caption or infobox row that states it, and every matched sentence was then read. Levels are our estimate. No question repeats word for word in the site's other grade, crowd, subject or occasion trivia packs as they stood on 2026-09-20. Set aside because a sibling pack already asks it: Amelia Earhart's Atlantic flight, Marie Curie's two Nobel Prizes, the Seneca Falls convention, the Nineteenth Amendment, the year New Zealand women won the vote, Jeannette Rankin's 1916 election, the first woman on the United States Supreme Court, Gertrude Ederle's Channel swim, Title IX, Photo 51, Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Florence Nightingale, the Apgar score, the first woman in space, the inventor of the dishwasher, Nellie Bly's trip around the world, and the authors of Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein and Jane Eyre. Not asked because the article hedges or the sources disagree: which woman held the first United States patent, who first piloted an aeroplane, how the Night Witches got their name, and the wager behind Annie Londonderry's ride. Not asked because the fact moves with time or names a living person: current record holders, current office holders and any living woman. Every woman named in a question or a choice had died before 2026-09-20. Licence: own work