Firsts that Shaped the World: A Global History Challenge

What was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, in 301 CE?

What was the first Protestant state, in 1525, led by Grand Master Albert who secularized the Teutonic Order’s lands?

Who was the first (and currently only) US cabinet member to have been convicted and imprisoned, who served as Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding and was exposed for corruption in the Teapot Dome Scandal?

What was the first empire to clearly span three continents?

Under scholarly consensus, what was the first lasting monotheist religion, which centered on the worship of Ahura Mazda as the sole creator and showed a clear moral universe with human will?

What was the earliest surviving legal code, frmo the Sumerian city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia and dating to around 2100 BCE?

What was the first state or dynasty to have significant state-issued paper currency?

What was the first country to abolish slavery entirely in 1804, following its successful slave revolt and independence from France?

What was the first modern republic (both in law and in practice) to last more than a decade, formed after its revolt from Spanish rule?

What was the first nation to grant women the right to vote nationwide, in 1893?

What was the first multinational corporation and the first company to issue tradable shares?

What was the first nation to recognize the United States as an independent country, in 1777?

What was the first country to adopt a national system of compulsory public education, in the early 18th century?

What was the first empire or dynasty to be ruled primarily by scholars who passed a meritocratic examination?

What is the largest lake in South America?

What is the second most extensive high plateau in the world? The most extensive is Tibet.

What lake in Karelia is the largest lake entirely in Europe?

What country served as the vast majority of the world’s illicit opium from the early 2000s till 2021, when a new regime took over and banned the production of opium?

What country has been the world’s largest silver producer since 2010, accounting for 20-25% of the global supply?

What country was the world’s leading liquified natural gas exporter from 2006 to 2023?

What country was the world’s second largest agricultural exporter since the 2010s (after the USA) due to high-value horticulture and re-exports into the EU?

What was the first state to adopt Buddhism as a state-supported religion, under Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE?

What was the first human-made object to reach outer space, in 1944?

What was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, in 2001?

What is the deepest lake in the world, located in Siberia and containing about 20% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater?