Architecture
First Islamic Mausoleum (tomb) in India: Sultan Ghari, built in 1231 CE for Prince Nasir ud din Mahmud, eldest son of Iltumish.
First true dome, Alai Darwaza, Qutb complex, Delhi, built in 1311 CE, by first Khilji Sultan of Delhi, Ala-ud-din Khilji.
First true arch, Balban's tomb, Mehrauli Archeological Park, Delhi, built c. 1287 CE, by Ghiyas ud din Balban of Mamluk dynasty.
First garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, also the first with Persian double-dome: Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, built 1562-1571 CE.
First Mosque in India: Cheraman Juma Masjid Kodungallur (Kerala), built 629-630 A.D by Malik ibn Deenar, an Arab trader on the order of Chera ruler Cheraman Perumal (Tajjudin after conversion to Islam)
Awards and Titles
Miss World: Reita Faria in 1966
Miss Universe: Sushmita Sen in 1994
Miss Earth: Nicole Faria in 2010
Dhan Gopal Mukerji, first Indian to win any literary award (the Newbery Medal) in the United States, in 1927 for Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon
Nirad C. Chaudhuri, first Indian to win a major non-fiction award, the Duff Cooper Prize in the United Kingdom, in 1966 for The Continent of Circe
Arundhati Roy won the Booker prize for her brilliant and poetic novel "The God of Small Things" in the year 1997 making her the first Indian woman to receive the prestigious award.
Bharat Ratna: Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C. Rajagopalachari, and Dr C.V. Raman in 1954
Commandeur of the Order of Arts and Letters: Mrinal Sen
Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters: Sivaji Ganesan
Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Devika Rani in 1969
Ashoka Chakra Award to a civilian : D.K. Jatar (posthumous) and M.C Dixit, captain and co-captain respectively, of the sabotaged plane Kashmir Princess, for "most conspicuous bravery, daring and self-sacrifice"
Magsaysay Award: Vinoba Bhave, 1958
Oscar for Lifetime Achievement - Satyajit Ray
Nishan-e-Pakistan: Morarji Desai,May 19, 1990
Ford Supermodel of the World (contest): Bipasha Basu, 1996[citation needed]
Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize winner: Rabindranath Tagore for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1913. He was also the first Asian to get the prize.
Nobel Prize in Physics: C. V. Raman in 1930.
Nobel Prize in Medicine: Har Gobind Khorana in 1968. (US citizen of Indian origin )
Nobel Peace Prize: Mother Teresa in 1979 (Indian citizen of Albanian origin)
Nobel Prize in Physics: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar in 1983. (US citizen of Indian origin)
Nobel Prize in Economics: Amartya Sen in 1998
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan in 2009 (US citizen of Indian origin)
Defence (in the Republic of India)
Commander-in-Chief of Free India: General Sir Roy Bucher
Indian Commander-in-Chief of Free India: General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, 1949
Chief of Air Staff: Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst
Indian Chief of Staff: General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, 1947
Commander-in-Chief, IAF: Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, 1954
Chief of Naval Staff: Vice Admiral R D Katari
Cosmonaut: Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, 1984
Field Marshal: Sam Manekshaw, 1973.
First Parsi Army Chief: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
First Christian Army Chief: General Sunith Francis Rodrigues
First Sikh Army Chief: General Joginder Jaswant Singh
First Parsi Air Force Chief: Air Marshal Aspy Engineer
First Sikh Air Force Chief: Air Marshal Arjan Singh
First Muslim Air Force Chief: Air Marshal Idris Hasan Latif
First Parsi Navy Chief: Admiral J L Cursetji
First Christian Navy Chief: Admiral R L Pereira
Exploration
Person to fly in a balloon and land in a parachute, and also to take ballooning as a profession: Ram Chandra Chatterjee
Person to reach the South Pole: Col Jatinder Kumar Bajaj
Woman to scale Mount Everest: Bachendri Pal on May 23, 1984. She was the 5th woman in the world to scale the peak.
Woman to reach South Pole: Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu
Person to reach the North Pole: Squadron Leader Sanjay Thapar
Film and TV
First Film to be exhibited in India on July 7, 1896, with the Lumiere Brothers' Cinematography, unveiling six silent short films at the Watson's Hotel in Bombay, viz., Entry of Cinematographe, The Sea Bath, Arrival of a Train, A Demolition, Ladies & Soldiers on Wheels and Leaving the Factory.
First silent film to be made in India Raja Harishchandra 1913, by Dadasaheb Phalke
Sound film: Alam Ara (1931) directed by Ardeshir Irani, 1931, First Talkie actress:Zubeida
Colour film: Kisan Kanya (1937), directed by Ardeshir Irani.
cinemascope film: Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)
Oscar for Lifetime Achievement: Satyajit Ray (1992)
Film to win highest number of international awards: Pather Panchali (1955) eleven awards, including Cannes
Films to be considered as All-Time 100 best movies: Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar(1959)) by Satyajit Ray
Oscar winner: Bhanu Athaiya for Best Costume Design for Gandhi (film) in 1982
Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film: Mother India in 1957
Music director to win an Oscar and first double Oscar winner-Mr. A. R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire, 22 February 2009.
Sound engineer to win an Oscar: Resul Pookutty for Slumdog Millionaire, 22 February 2009
Palme d'Or at 1946 Cannes Film Festival:Neecha Nagar directed by Chetan Anand
National Film Award for cinema: Shyamchi Aai in 1954
Colorized film: Mughal-e-Azam in 2004 (the original black-and-white version was released in 1960)
Sponsored TV serial: Hum Log, started on July 7, 1984, was also the first soap opera of India, ran for 156 episodes
Guinness Book of World Records in the category Fewest actors in a narrative film: Yaadein (1964) directed and acted by Sunil Dutt
Actor to enact 10 roles: Kamal Haasan
3-D film: My Dear Kuttichathan, a Malayalam film, produced in 1984, dubbed in Hindi as Chhota Chetan.
70 mm film: Around the World in Eight Dollars, a Hindi film, starring Raj Kapoor and Rajshree in 1967
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (officer of the order of arts and letters): Director: Mrinal Sen (1985); Actor:Sivaji Ganesan (1995); Actress: Sharmila Tagore(2004)
Hindi film screened at the United Nations: Lage Raho Munna Bhai on 10 November 2006
Governance
President: Rajendra Prasad (1950–1962)
First Women President: Prathiba Patil
Vice-President: hamid ansari
Prime Minister: Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964). The first term lasted till 1952 after which he was re-elected
Deputy Prime Minister: Valabbhai Patel (1947–1950)
Prime Minister to be voted out of office: Indira Gandhi (1977) when the Indian National Congress lost to the Janata Party
Non-Congress government: by Janata Party with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister (1977–1980)
Non-Congress State government with Majority by a single party: E. M. S. Namboodiripad of CPI, Kerala 1957
Prime Minister to lead a minority government for a full term (five years): P. V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 – May 16, 1996
Person outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve as Prime Minister for a full term (five years): P. V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 – May 16, 1996
Prime Minister from South India: P. V. Narasimha Rao, 1991
Governor-General: Warren Hastings
Governor General of Independent India: Lord Mountbatten, 1947
Indian Governor-General of Indian Union: C Rajagopalachari, 1948
Chief Justice of India: H. J. Kania (1947–1951)
First Sikh Prime Minister : Manmohan Singh(2004–Till date)
First Muslim President : Zakir Hussain (1967–1969)
First Sikh President : Giani Zail Singh
Indian ICS Officer: Satyendranath Tagore, 1863
Speaker of Lok Sabha: G.V. Mavlankar (1952–1956)
Finance Minister of Independent India: R.K. Shanmukhan Chetty (1947–1949), for others see First Indian Cabinet
Presentation of First Budget after India's Independence : R. K. Shanmukhan Chetty on Nov 26, 1947
First Home Minister of India: Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel[10]
First Indian Chief Minister to die in Office: C.N.Annadurai, Tamil Nadu
First Indian President to die in Office: Dr Zakir Hussain, 3 May 1969
First Indian Prime Minister to resign from office: Morarji Desai, 1979
First Woman Cabinet Minister in India: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
First Woman Minister in India: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
First Woman Chief Minister: Sucheta Kriplani
First Female Home Minister: Sabitha Indra Reddy
Youngest ever Chief Minister: Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Assam, at the age of 32
First Woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Meira Kumar
First Woman Finance Minister of State Government in India: Dr Upinderjit Kaur, in Punjab Govt.
Science
Hydroelectric plant: On the Gaganachukki waterfall of the Sivasamudram Falls, Karnataka. Built in 1902.
Place to get electricity: Kolar Gold Fields, in 1902 (it was the second city in Asia to get electricity after Tokyo, Japan.)
Man in space: Rakesh Sharma aboard Salyut 7, on April 3, 1984. He was the 138th man in space worldwide.
Woman in space: Kalpana Chawla aboard Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87, on November 19, 1997. She was a naturalized United States citizen, and represented the US during the event.
Test-tube baby: Durga Agarwal, born 1978
Scientific Expedition to Antarctica: 1981
Nuclear Reactor: CIRUS, Mumbai, Maharashtra
First Genetically Modified Food Product in India : Bt. Egg plant Hybrid (Bt. -- Bacilius thuringiensis)
Satellite : Aryabhata, launched on April 19, 1975
Satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services : EDUSET
Successfully indigenous launch vehicle : SLV-3
Prospective space tourist: Santhosh George Kulangara, proposed in 2009 aboard Virgin Galactic
Cloned Animal : Buffalo, Samrupa
In 1850, the first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Kolkata and Diamond Harbor. In 1851, it was opened for the use of the British East India Company
1854: Telegraph service opened to the Public
First telephone exchange: On the 28th January 1882, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor General of India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named the "Central Exchange", was opened at third floor of the building at 7, Council House Street, with a total of 93 subscribers. Later that year, Bombay also witnessed the opening of a telephone exchange.
1902 - First wireless telegraph station established between Sagar Islands and Sandheads.
1907 - First Central Battery of telephones introduced in Kanpur.
1913-1914 - First Automatic Exchange installed in Shimla.
1927 - Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with Imperial Wireless Chain beam stations at Khadki and Daund. Inaugurated by Lord Irwin on 23 July by exchanging greetings with King George V.
1933 - Radiotelephone system inaugurated between the UK and India.
1953 - 12 channel carrier system introduced.
1960 - First subscriber trunk dialing route commissioned between Lucknow and Kanpur.
1975 - First PCM system commissioned between Mumbai City and Andheri telephone exchanges.
1976 - First digital microwave junction introduced.
1979 - First optical fibre system for local junction commissioned at Pune.
1980 - First satellite earth station for domestic communications established at Secunderabad, A.P..
1983 - First analog Stored Program Control exchange for trunk lines commissioned at Mumbai.
1984 - C-DOT established for indigenous development and production of digital exchanges.
1995 - First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis on 15 August 1995 in Delhi.
Sport
Person to swim across the English Channel: Mihir Sen, 1958
Woman to swim across the English Channel: Arati Saha, 1959
Formula One race driver: Narain Karthikeyan
Formula One team: Force India F1
A1 GP race victory: Narain Karthikeyan, Zhuhai, China, 2007
Person to equal world record in Archery: Limba Ram, 1992
Gatka recognised as sport in any State [Punjab] in 2009: efforts by Punjab Gatka Association (Regd.) affiliated with Punjab Olympic Association.
Olympics
Olympic team medal: Gold for Hockey at the 1928 Summer Olympics Amsterdam, beating the Netherlands.
Olympic Individual medal (in British India): Silver by Norman Pritchard for 200 metres races at the 1900 Summer Olympics, Paris. (This is disputed however. The IOC claims he participated for India. The IAAF records him as participant for Great Britain.)
Olympic Individual medal: Bronze by K. D. Jadhav for wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics Helsinki.
Olympic Individual medal by a woman: Bronze by Karnam Malleswari for weightlifting 54 kg class, at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney.
Olympic Silver medal: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for Men's Double Trap at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athens.
Olympic Individual gold medal: Abhinav Bindra for 10 m Air Rifle at the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing.
Olympic Bronze medallist in Boxing:Vijender Kumar in Beijing Olympics 2008.
Olympic Bronze medallist in Wrestling: Sushil Kumar in Beijing Olympics 2008.
Chess
Chess Grandmaster : Male - Vishwanathan Anand, 1988.
Female - Koneru Humpy - 2002 - She was also the youngest woman to become a grandmaster at 15 years old.(Hou Yifan of China is the youngest woman to become a grandmaster at 14years and 6 months.)
Tennis
Grand Slam title: Mahesh Bhupathi (partnering with Japanese Rika Hiraki) in the Mixed Doubles category of the 1997 French Open.
Woman to win a match in a Grand Slam event: Nirupama Vaidyanathan beat Italian Gloria Pizzichini in the first round of the 1998 Australian Open
Woman to reach 4th round (highest as of 2009) of a Grand Slam singles event: Sania Mirza in the Singles category of the 2005 US Open.
Woman to win a Grand Slam title: Sania Mirza (partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi) in the Mixed Doubles category of the 2009 Australian Open.
Grand Slam junior title: Leander Paes in the Singles category of the 1990 Wimbledon Championship.
Grand Slam junior title by a woman: Sania Mirza (partnering with Russian Alisa Kleybanova) in the Doubles category of the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.
Cricket
India won their second Cricket World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in the finals in 2011 Mumbai . Under the captainship of M.S.Dhoni.
Cricket tournament: The Bombay Triangular (1905–1911) which later became the Bombay Quadrangular (1912–1936)
Cricket test match: Against England at Lord's, June 25, 1932
First One day Cricket captain: S.Venkataraghavan
First Test Cricket captain: C. K. Nayudu for the 1932 tour of England
First Indian to score an ODI century was Kapil Dev, 175* against Zimbabwe in the 1983 Cricket World Cup
First Indian to score an ODI double century is Sachin Tendulkar, 200* against South Africa at Gwalior, February 24, 2010
Cricketer to score a century: Lala Amarnath, 118 against England in December 1933 at Bombay Gymkhana grounds
Cricketer to score a double century: Polly Umrigar, 223 against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1955-56
Cricketer to score a triple century: Virender Sehwag, 309 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004.
ODI cricket hat-trick: Chetan Sharma in Reliance World Cup against New Zealand in 1987.
Test cricket hat-trick: Harbhajan Singh against Australia in March 2001
Cricket World Cup championship win: At the 1983 Cricket World Cup, England beating West Indies.
Batsman to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket: Sunil Gavaskar (he was first in the world to achieve this feat)
Batsman to complete 10,000 runs in ODI cricket: Sachin Tendulkar (he was first in the world to achieve this feat)
Cricket Twenty20 world cup winner: India in 2007.
Cricketer to score 99 centuries in Test and ODIs combined: Sachin Tendulkar
First bowler to take all 10 wickets in an innings: Jim Lekar
First batsman to score a double century in a one day International : Sachin Tendulkar
First batsman to score 50 centuries in Test Cricket : Sachin Tendulkar
First woman to score a double hundred in test cricket : Mithali Raj [214* against Newzealand at Wellington 2004] (she was first in the world to achieve this feat)
First time six SIXES in an over of a T-20 match were scoured by an Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh against England
Women
Graduates: Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883
Head of an Undergraduate Academic Institution: Chandramukhi Basu, 1888
Honours Graduate: Kamini Roy (1886)
Lawyer: Cornelia Sorabjee (1892)
Photojournalist: Homai Vyarawalla (1913)
Doctorate of Science: Asima Chatterjee (1944)
Chief Justice of a High Court (Himachal Pradesh): Leila Seth, 1991
Supreme Court judge: Kumari Fathima Beevi
High Court Judge : Anna Chandy
Physician: Kadambini Ganguly, 1886
Airline Pilot: Durba Banerjee
In space: Kalpana Chawla aboard Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87, on November 19, 1997. She was a naturalized United States citizen, and represented the US during the event.
Nobel Prize winner: Mother Teresa in 1979 (Albanian born Indian citizen)
Monarch of Delhi Sultanate: Razia Sultan (1205–1240) of Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi)
Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi, 1966
Minister in a government: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur in the Ministry of Health
Chief Minister of a State: Sucheta Kripalani, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, 1963–1967
Governor: Sarojini Naidu, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, 1947–1949
Central Minister (in pre-independent India): Vijayalakshmi Pandit, minister of local self-government and public health, 1937
Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Meira Kumar
Indian National Congress President: Annie Besant
President: Pratibha Patil, 2007
IPS Officer Kiran Bedi
Asian Games gold medal winner: Kamlijit Sandhu
The first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest : Bachendri Pal , 1984
Chess Grandmaster: Koneru Humpy, 2002. She was also the youngest woman in the world to become a grandmaster at 15 years old.
To win 1st round match in a Grand Slam event: Nirupama Vaidyanathan beat Italian Gloria Pizzichini in the first round of the 1998 Australian Open
To reach 4th round (highest as of 2008) of a Grand Slam event: Sania Mirza in the Singles category of the 2005 US Open.
Grand Slam junior title: Sania Mirza (partnering with Russian Alisa Kleybanova) in the Doubles category of the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.
State Finance Minister: Dr Upinderjit Kaur, in Punjab : October, 2010
Places
City to have electricity: Kolkata, CESC started as Kilburn & Co when the company acquired the license to provide electricity to Calcutta city on January 7, 1897.
District to achieve 100% literacy rate: Ernakulam district, Kerala , 1990
City/town to achieve 100% literacy rate: Kottayam, Kerala, 1989
District to achieve 100% literacy rate and lowest population growth rate: Pathanamthitta district, Kerala
District to be polio-free: Pathanamthitta district, Kerala
District to achieve tobacco free: Kottayam district, Kerala, 27 September 2008
City to have an e-court: Ahmedabad, 8 February 2009
Transport
First Passenger Train: between Mumbai and Thane on 16 April 1853
First suburban railway line: Mumbai Suburban Railway in 1857
First rapid transit (Metro) rail: Kolkata Metro in 1984
First Motorcar: in 1897, Mr Forster of Crompton Greaves
First Motorcar in regular use, in 1901, Francis Spring, Chennai
First Indians to own a motor car: Jamshedji Tata 1901 and Rustom Cama, Parsi Lawyer 1901
First competitive event Delhi-Bombay trials 1905 at the behest of Lord Curzon and Motor Union of Western India to test the suitability of the Automobile for Indian roads and to facilitate interaction between the fledging Automobile Industry and prospective Indian clients
Oldest surviving and running cars in India: De Dion Bouton 1904, Rover 1905
First woman to drive a car in India: Suzanne RD Tata 1905
First Motor Taxi Mumbai, 1911
First largescale import of motor cars: Relatively large contingent of motorcars imported for the Delhi Darbar held in 1911 to mark the arrival of King George V
First registration scheme for motor vehicles in India: 1912
Arrival of mass production technology makes the Automobile a practical means of transport by the 1920s and most British officers had cars
First Assembly of motor cars: General Motors sets up the first assembly unit to assemble cars from imported parts in 1928. The National Series AB sedan is produced.
First manufacture of motor cars: Hindustan Motors begins production of cars in 1942. Premier automobiles and Standard Motors setup. Technology stagnates as a result of economic autarky as India is isolated from the rest of the world
First act leading to liberalization of the Auto sector: Maruti 800 launched in 1983 and the automotive industry is progressively liberalized
First fully indegenous passenger car developed in India, Tata Indica launched in 1998
First expressway: Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 2000
First major acquisition of a foreign company by an Indian company: Tata Motors acquires Jaguar and Land Rover in 2007. Mahindra Automotive emerges as the top bidder for SSangsyong motors in 2010
First world-famous automotive product designed and developed in India. Tata Nano launched in 2008
First aeroplane in India Maharaja of Patiala 1910
Domestic commercial aviation is born in India in 1911 when on February 18, Henri Piquet, flying a Humber biplane, carries mall from Allahabad to Naini Junction, some six miles away.
1927: India's first airline, Imperial Airways, extends its Empire Routes to India, connecting India with the outside world for the first time through an air network. A de Havilland Hercules flies the Cairo-Basra-Karachi-Jodhpur-Delhi route. It is also the first domestic passenger flight to be operated in India. Passengers could be for the first time fly from Karachi to Jodhpur and to Delhi on Imperial Airways.
On February 10, 1929, JRD Tata is awarded India's first pilot licence, Pilot Licence No.1 by Federation Aeronotique International signed by Sir Victor Sasoon on behalf of the Aero Club of India and Burma.
1932: Urmila K Parikh becomes the first woman to get a pilot licence when she is given an a licence by the Aero Club of India and Burma.
1932: JRD Tata launches India's first scheduled airline, Tata Airlines, by piloting the first flight himself from Karachi to Bombay via Ahmedabad on a single-engine Puss Moth with a load of airmail.
Others
Wax statue of a living Indian: Mahatma Gandhi at Madame Tussaud's in 1939
Newspaper : Hickey's Bengal Gazette in 1779
Exclusive internet magazine: Bharat Samachar[citation needed]
Miss India to participate in Miss Universe: Indrani Rahman in the Miss Universe 1952 Pageant at Long Beach, California
President of the Indian National Congress: W C Bonnerjee, 1885
Graduate in Medicine: Soorjo Coomar Goodeve Chuckerbutty
