2008 Firsts for Women from WowOwow

Cammi Granato was America’s first female hockey star, starring on the U.S. national team for 15 years and leading the team to gold in the 1998 Olympics, a victory that inspired girls in all parts of the country to begin playing hockey. For her record-breaking career and her efforts popularizing the women’s game, Granato will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

In 2008, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first woman to hold a spot as a presidential candidate in every primary and caucus in every state, and the first woman to win a presidential primary.

In 2008, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska became the first Republican woman in U.S. history to be nominated for vice president.

On April 19, 2008, Peggy Whitson completed a tour as the first female commander of the International Space Station. A veteran NASA astronaut, Whitson oversaw the station’s first expansion in six years.

Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire’s first female governor, became the state’s first female senator in November of 2008, beating Republican incumbent John Sununu by 7 percent.

Brittany Cantazaro is NY Waterway’s first female ferry captain and helped rescue passengers on the US Airways flight that crashed in the Hudson River.

In November 2008, Beverly Perdue was elected the first female governor of North Carolina proving that, in her own words, she was "gutsy enough to make it all happen.”

Pamela Jelimo became the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic track and field gold medal with her 800-meter win (in the time of 1:54.87) in Beijing.

On November 16, 2008, Col. Stephanie Dawson was named commander of the 369th Sustainment Brigade, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, a National Guard unit renowned for its remarkable service during World War I.

Celebrating two firsts in May, Dutch clinical geneticist Dr. Marjolein Kriek, 34, of Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) in the Netherlands, became the first woman and the first European to have her complete DNA sequence determined.

For more than 100 years, since the position was established, the governor-general of Australia has always been a man. On September 5, 2008, Quentin Bryce changed all that.

In March 2008, Fahmida Mirza became the first female National Assembly speaker in Pakistan’s 60-year history with the support of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

A Japanese team drafted 16-year-old Eri Yoshida in November, making her the first  woman to play baseball with the men in Japan.

Carol Landry is the first woman to become a member of the International Executive Board of the United Steelworkers union. Landry, a union activist, was appointed International Vice President by unanimous vote.

In November 2008, Ann Dunwoody became the first female four-star general in the United States military. Her promotion has been described as breaking “the brass ceiling” of the armed forces.

In November, 32-year-old Rashida Tlaib won 44 percent of the vote in an eight-way Democratic primary contest for a seat in the Michigan state legislature.

Dara Torres is the first U.S. swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games. At 41 years old, she became the oldest Olympian of either sex to medal in swimming, picking up three silvers at Beijing 2008.

After the 2008 election, New Hampshire became the first state with a female-majority legislative house. Thirteen members of the 24-seat chamber are women.