#WEmpower True or False Quiz

Marie Curie was the first person—male or female—to win two Nobel Prizes

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

✅ True
💡 Explanation: Marie Curie was not only the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, but she was also the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes—in Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911). Her pioneering research on radioactivity changed the course of science.

The first-ever computer programmer was a woman named Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first algorithm in the 1800s

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

✅ True
💡 Explanation: Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century mathematician, is considered the first computer programmer. She wrote an algorithm for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, foreseeing the potential of computers long before they existed.

The Barbie doll was originally designed to be a political statement about women’s rights

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

❌ False
💡 Explanation: Barbie was inspired by a German doll called Bild Lilli, which was originally a gag gift for men. However, Ruth Handler, Barbie’s creator, reimagined her as a doll that would allow girls to dream beyond traditional roles, paving the way for dolls representing different careers.

Women were not allowed to run in the Boston Marathon until the late 1990s

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

❌ False
💡 Explanation: Women were officially allowed to enter the Boston Marathon in 1972. However, Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to run it in 1967, despite officials trying to physically remove her from the race!

The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic was Amelia Earhart, and her plane has never been found

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

✅ True
💡 Explanation: Amelia Earhart achieved this feat in 1932, becoming an aviation icon. In 1937, during an attempt to fly around the world, her plane disappeared over the Pacific, and it remains one of history’s greatest mysteries.

Women were not allowed to open a bank account in their own name in the United States until the 1970s

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

✅ True
💡 Explanation: Until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, banks often required a husband’s or father’s signature for women to open a bank account or get credit. This was a major step toward financial independence for women.

The first recorded person to protest against gender discrimination was in ancient Rome

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

❌ False
💡 Explanation: One of the first known women’s rights activists was Christine de Pizan, a 15th-century French writer who challenged the idea that women were inferior to men in her book The Book of the City of Ladies (1405).

A woman co-developed technology that made Wi-Fi possible

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

✅ True
💡 Explanation: Hedy Lamarr, a Hollywood actress and inventor, co-developed frequency-hopping technology during WWII, which later became the foundation for Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth.

The first recorded women’s strike happened over 100 years ago

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

✅ True
💡 Explanation: In 1908, 15,000 women marched in New York City demanding better pay, shorter working hours, and voting rights, laying the foundation for International Women’s Day.

 Women make up more than 50% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies

• True

• Falze

Answer explanation

❌ False
💡 Explanation: While progress is being made, women still account for only around 10-12% of Fortune 500 CEOs. The first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company was Katharine Graham of The Washington Post in 1972.