59 Firsts In History Which Laid The Foundation For Further Achievements

The theory of evolution, created by Darwin, has its own award. The Darwin Awards, established in 1993, poke fun at people who acted in a very dumb way. An anonymous man accidentally knocked over the vending machine while attempting to grab a beverage, crushing himself and receiving the inaugural Darwin Award.

When Deb Haaland got approved as the Secretary of the Interior of the United States in March 2021, she made history as the first Indigenous person of either gender to assume a Cabinet post. Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo member, has devoted her professional life to addressing climate change and environmental justice.

On October 5, 1974, David Kunst returned to Waseca, Minnesota, four years after he left. He made history that day by being the first confirmed person to walk the globe on foot. Naturally, Kunst didn't walk over bodies of water. He might have been ambitious, but he wasn't a magician who could walk on oceans and seas.

Pinwright's Progress, the first TV sitcom, debuted on the BBC on November 29, 1946. The sitcom followed the exploits of the world's tiniest shop. The shop's owner J. Pinwright, his daughter, arch-enemy, and his "helpful" employees, who made matters worse, were all featured in the first episode.

Robert Cornelius, who worked in his family's store, took the first selfie in 1839 when he had nothing else to do. Nonetheless, he would have needed to maintain his stance for at least a few minutes, which might account for the lack of filters and facial expressions. Many decades later, selfies would take over the internet as we know it today.

As far as giant fishes go — a large squid is something different. In March 2004, a fishing net unintentionally snagged Archie, a 28-foot squid. While there were reports of such a squid, nobody had caught it before. Sadly, he didn't live long, but you may see him on exhibit at the London Natural History Museum — or in your worst dreams.

Before the advent of modern fertility medicine, parents who were hoping for a baby had to rely on prayer, shady methods, and some dubious old wives' tales. On November 10, 1977, a breakthrough procedure called in-vitro fertilization allowed Lesley Brown to become pregnant with an embryo, which altered everything. Nine months later, she gave birth.

The Soviet Union took a lot of firsts when it came to space travel, including sending the first animal into orbit around Earth. On November 3, 1957, Laika, the best dog ever, became the first canine and animal to enter orbit. Sadly, due to lacking the technological ability to de-orbit, Laika passed away on the fourth orbit around the Earth. 

There isn't a single metropolis in this world that doesn't have a skyscraper in it. Skyscrapers are as tall as they are beautiful. Before 1884-1885, skyscrapers were nothing but an idea on paper. The first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building, was located in Chicago. It was 136 feet tall. Sadly, it was destroyed in 1931.

Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville accidentally created the first voice message on April 9, 1860, decades before voicemail would become the blessing and misery it is today. Au Clair de la Lune, a French folk tune, was performed by him for ten seconds, the tune was captured on paper with a phonautograph, a method for visually recording sounds but not being able to play them back. It wasn't until 2008 that scientists played the tape.

Folks weren't always able to access toilet paper. Joseph Gayetty gets credit for creating this marvel of sanitation. He "invented" the first toilet paper, which served as the model for the toilet paper currently in use in the United States, in 1857. The "Greatest Need of the Age," as he called it, was "medical paper."

The first hourglass was created in the eighth century AD by a French monk Liutprand. It is said to have played a significant part in the Age of Discovery since it was used aboard ships without being affected by waves, motion, or water. The gadget could measure time as sand traveled from one side to the other. Later, it would become a vital part of board games.

Stéphanie Frappart of France officiated the inaugural men's World Cup match on December 1, 2022, becoming the first female referee to do so. In 2019, she became the first female referee to oversee many other significant men's soccer matches, including a Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League game.

Sara Josephine Baker became the first director of the city's brand-new Bureau of Child Hygiene, the country's first agency of its type. In 1923, thanks to Josephine's work, New York had the lowest infant mortality rate among the biggest metropolises in the United States. She is also known for handling the typhoid outbreak in New York in 1907.

British politician Margaret Thatcher made history by becoming the first female prime minister of the U.K. and the longest-serving leader of the United Kingdom in the 20th century. Ironically, in 1969, Thatcher said that "no woman" would hold the position of prime minister. Luckily, her words didn't become reality.

When talking about firsts in space, we can’t forget the achievements of women. In 1963, Valentina Tershkova became the first Russian woman to orbit Earth. In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to go to space. In the following decades, women got more firsts outside of Earth. 

Fu Hao might be the first female to have served as a military leader. Fu Hao, who lived in the 12th century BC, commanded around 13,000 troops for the Chinese empire and was a landowner. In 1976,  archaeologists uncovered a cache of weapons in her tomb, with jade and bronze objects.

On October 8, 1945, the first microwave, a cooking oven, was patented. Percy Spencer, an engineer working at Raytheon, had first learned about the heating capabilities of microwaves when he unintentionally melted a candy bar in his pocket while working with them in the lab. His first test "subject" was popcorn, which began to pop inside.

The 1904 Olympics has the distinction of being the first Olympics to award gold medals for first places. The medals were made entirely of pure gold, which made them quite the reward. They were, at least, until 1912, when it was determined to be too costly. These days, gold medals are made from silver and coated in gold.

Even Playstations and Xboxes have their predecessors. The Magnavox Odyssey, the original video game machine, is the ancestor of all modern video games, which feature hyper-realistic gameplay and intricate stories. Tennis, hockey, and roulette were among the games available on the console, which cost the equivalent of $500 in 1972.