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The First Country to Do it

Try to name the first country in history to achieve each of these notable things.
Answer must correspond to the highlighted box
Asterisks indicate that it is the only country to ever do it
Quiz by
Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 16, 2023
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First submittedSeptember 16, 2023
Times taken54,569
Average score65.0%
Rating4.74
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Hint
Year
Country
Put a man on the moon *
1969
United States
Put a satellite into orbit
1957
Soviet Union
Build a steam-powered passenger railroad
1825
United Kingdom
Circumnavigate the globe
1522
Spain
Build a hot-air balloon
1783
France
Control the entire Mediterranean Sea *
44
Roman Empire
Legalize gay marriage
2000
Netherlands
Win the FIFA World Cup
1930
Uruguay
Surpass 1 billion in population
1982
China
Control a territory larger than modern-day Russia
1200s
Mongolia
Host the modern Olympic Games
1896
Greece
Gain independence from the French colonial empire
1804
Haiti
Build a high speed rail system
1964
Japan
Have more than 1/3rd of the world population *
c. 500 BC
Persian Empire
Sail from Europe to India
1498
Portugal
Ban chewing gum *
1992
Singapore
Fire a rocket into space
1944
Germany
Build a structure taller than 100 meters high
c. 2600 BC
Egypt
Adopt Christianity as a state religion
301
Armenia
Perform a heart transplant
1967
South Africa
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54 Comments
Dimby
+14
Level 83
Sep 17, 2023
Fun quiz! I was sure that Mesopotamia would’ve had a ziggurat over 100 m, but they apparently topped out at 91m! So close!
Quizmaster
+11
Level ∞
Sep 17, 2023
Even so, the 91m ziggurat wouldn't be as old as the Great Pyramid right?
Dimby
+8
Level 83
Sep 25, 2023
I suppose I just assumed that the earliest ziggurats from 4000 BCE were quite tall. More research tells me that the first ziggurats were only about 40 feet tall--which I guess is pretty tall for a structure from 6000 years ago.
FreeStater
+8
Level 81
Sep 17, 2023
Good quiz. I had no idea Persia was that encompassing.
WhatIsLove
+2
Level 63
Nov 27, 2025
Probably because the claim is dubious at best. The truth is it's incredibly hard to estimate numbers such as population, especially in antiquity for which the sources are very scarce. The wikipedia entry for example places the persian empire as barely 12% of the world population, based on an estimate from historian Walter Scheidel. My guess would be that china was probably the first to achieve this, during the Han dynasty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires

Here is a thread discussing this specific claim

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4mapn8/is_it_true_that_the_persian_empire_had_44_of_the/

Arp2600
+15
Level 89
Sep 17, 2023
I think mongol should work (short for mongol empire).
GeoRockstar14
+1
Level 92
Sep 18, 2023
Agreed
Quizmaster
+11
Level ∞
Sep 18, 2023
People don't like typing something and then having it complete before they finish.

Mongols and Mongol Empire work.

Koopa
+7
Level 88
Sep 22, 2023
Then please fix the NCAA basketball quiz that accepts "Cornel" for "Cornell"
HyddenRizz
+1
Level 67
Oct 28, 2023
They would be pronounced differetly though tbf
pitzikat
+3
Level 75
Sep 18, 2023
OOH. Nice fireworks for 100%
brandybuck96
+13
Level 82
Sep 18, 2023
I was reading about Armenia and Christianity the other day... that's convenient. The man, later a saint, who invented the Armenian alphabet specifically to translate the Bible into Armenian was called Mesrop Mashtots, which is fabulous.
MCdoesgeography
+6
Level 74
Oct 27, 2023
I'm surprised more people know about the location of the first heart transplant and which country had 1/3rd of the world's population in 500 BC than the first "officially" Christian country, a far easier question imo
dunkinggandalf2
+13
Level 72
Oct 27, 2023
I find the first heart transplant much more interesting and significative and useful than whatever country decided to first impose a particular superstition on their people over a millenium ago.
MindWax
+7
Level 87
Oct 27, 2023
The Pope just announced that he's disbanding Christianity after reading this insightful and brilliant comment
FreeStater
+6
Level 81
Oct 27, 2023
Pack it up guys, we're going home. Turn off the lights on the way out.
dunkinggandalf2
+6
Level 72
Oct 31, 2023
If you ever need a heart transplant, you're obviously still free to ask the pope for one. See if that does you any good.
MindWax
+3
Level 87
Oct 2, 2024
Considering he oversees the largest charity network in the world and over a quarter of the world's hospitals are Catholic, I'd wager he's actually one of the best people to ask if you're looking for a heart transplant.
Snoflakes
+4
Level 73
Feb 12, 2025
And I'm sure it's God or the pope himself who will be performing the transplant, not surgeons or doctors
MindWax
+2
Level 87
May 22, 2025
New land speed record set for goalposts! Incredible!

dunkinggandalf mocked the idea that asking the pope for one could get you a heart transplant. When I pointed out that it actually probably could, you've retroactively changed the initial statement in your mind to "the pope will personally perform a heart transplant", which was implied neither by me nor dunkinggandalf.

InterAlia
+6
Level 83
Oct 27, 2023
significative - a pointlessly convoluted synonym of significant
dunkinggandalf2
+6
Level 72
Oct 31, 2023
Sorry, English is my third language.
JonOfKent
+4
Level 61
Oct 27, 2023
The first heart transplant is still well within living memory. I'm just surprised it's so low down the list. I suspect there aren't that many 1750-year-olds on Jetpunk

(They probably have better things to do with their time)

HyddenRizz
+5
Level 67
Oct 28, 2023
Most people aren't Christian, let alone know the history surrounding it.
MindWax
+7
Level 87
Nov 3, 2023
Are most people heart surgeons?
Sifhraven
+5
Level 76
Sep 8, 2024
You don't need to be able to perform heart surgery for it to be relevant to you. @mindwax
MindWax
+7
Level 87
Oct 2, 2024
You don't need to be able to preach Christianity for it to be relevant to you. @sifhraven
Pontiac
+1
Level 62
Mar 19, 2026
And? Over 2 billion people (25%) of the world population is Christian. I'd say it is a good chance for most people on here to be Christian, given most of the JetPunkers on here are from Christian majority countries. Go whine somewhere else.
Poblohoney
+2
Level 48
Oct 27, 2023
Again, again, again! Could there be a part 2?
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Oct 27, 2023
Sadly, I don't think I have what it takes. This one was hard to finish!
Pontiac
+1
Level 62
Mar 19, 2026
Can I make an attempt to do it?
RibenaBerry
+6
Level 68
Oct 27, 2023
I think if would be helpful if the description said to name the country *or empire* - the Roman Empire question confused me, even though it could technically be a considered a country!
SadDuck
+1
Level 69
Oct 27, 2023
I wish it would accept "Holy Roman empire."
TurkeyCookTime
+6
Level 85
Nov 21, 2023
The Roman Empire and HRE are two completely different things.
ddddan
+2
Level 85
Feb 17, 2024
In this case it was the Unholy Roman Empire
JohnDoe
+1
Level 49
Oct 27, 2023
about hot-air balloon, the Luso-Brazilian Bartolomeu de Gusmão was not the first to do it in 1709?
RobNobody
+4
Level 80
Dec 14, 2024
Nope, he came up with the idea and created small working prototypes, but it was the Montgolfier brothers in France in the 1780s who created the first ones that could actually lift people.
Kamuchii
+1
Level 46
Sep 30, 2025
He created the Passarola, the first prototype of an airplane that actually lifted from the ground. The hot air baloon was from france
Bchambers
+4
Level 47
Feb 22, 2024
Dang I guessed Iran instead of Persian empire
MovieQuizGuy
+1
Level 64
Dec 1, 2024
When "Mongol" didn't work for the Mongolian empire I was super surprised and just moved on instead of typing "ia." D'oh.
LegoBuilderOne
+1
Level 55
Feb 12, 2025
I put Italy instead of the Roman Empire...
Kamuchii
+3
Level 46
Sep 30, 2025
The first country to circumnavigate the globe was Portugal, with Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão Magalhães)
Pontiac
+1
Level 62
Mar 19, 2026
He led the trip, Spain funded it.
LooserFromIndia
+1
Level 51
Nov 27, 2025
It doesn't accept ussr for russia but it accepts roman empire for Italy? Why ?
Pontiac
+1
Level 62
Mar 19, 2026
Because the USSR is different from Russia. Russia didn't put the first satellite in space, the Soviet Union did.

Italy didn't control the entire Mediterranean, the Roman Empire did.

LordHydro
+1
Level 53
Nov 27, 2025
If Ethiopia was the birthplace of humans, at the very beginning, it probably had more than a third of the world population at the time ?
QRU
+3
Level 77
Nov 27, 2025
I don't think an "Ethiopia" existed back then.
JfromNZ
+4
Level 52
Nov 27, 2025
Suggest adding first country where women gained the vote in national elections: New Zealand, in 1893.
alexandertorres1978
+2
Level 70
Nov 27, 2025
first country to circumnavigate the globe? portugal? Magellan was portuguese after all
AurelianReady
+2
Level 26
Nov 27, 2025
Magellan was Portuguese, right, but he was at the service ot Spain, who organised and financed the expedition. Moreover, Magellan was killed in Philippines by local natives and did not complete the trip. It was Elcano who took command of it after Magellan's death and completed the tour.
MysteriousUnknow
+1
Level 33
Apr 27, 2026
Same reason why Spain discovered the Americas even though Christopher Columbus was actually Genoan
gazelle36
+1
Level 50
Nov 27, 2025
I wish that it would accept england
gazelle36
+1
Level 50
Nov 27, 2025
I wish that it would accept england
Pontiac
+1
Level 62
Mar 19, 2026
That would be like wishing California or Texas would be accepted for the United States.
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