See also: Hattie Wyatt Caraway, of Arkansas, becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. On October 23, 1934, American adventurer Jeanette Piccard sets an altitude record for female balloonists when she ascends 57,579 feet. Edith Houghton becomes the first woman hired as a first major-league baseball scout. Jacqueline Cochran breaks the sound barrier by flying an F-86 over Roger’s Dry Lake, California, at the speed of 652.337 miles per hour. Eleven years later, she flies at a speed of 1,429.2 miles per hour, more than twice the speed of sound. Althea Gibson is the first African-American tennis player to win a singles title at Wimbledon. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) becomes the first black woman U.S. Representative. Juanita Kreps becomes the first woman director of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1977 she became the first woman appointed Secretary of Commerce. In Boston, the Reverend Barbara C. Harris becomes the first woman consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church. Mae Jemison becomes the first black female astronaut. Janet Reno becomes the first woman U.S. attorney general. Toni Morrison becomes the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. Nancy Ruth Mace is the first female cadet to graduate from the Citadel, the formerly all-male military school in South Carolina. Harvard University names Drew Gilpin Faust its first woman president in the school’s 371-year history. Dr. Peggy Whitson, an American astronaut, becomes the first woman to command the International Space Station. Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, becomes the first woman to run for vice president on the Republican ticket. In July, the Arizona Cardinals hires Jennifer Welter as an assistant coaching intern for the team’s training camp and preseason. She’ll coach inside linebackers. She’s the first woman coach in the NFL.
Notable Firsts in African-American History Famous Firsts by Asian Americans Famous Firsts by Hispanic Americans Famous Firsts in America
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