59 Firsts In History Which Laid The Foundation For Further Achievements

The all-male faculty at Geneva Medical College in western New York state decided to vote Elizabeth Blackwell in because they thought the situation was humorous. Of course, Blackwell was dead serious, and in the end, she graduated from medical school in 1849, becoming the first woman in the nation to do so.

On September 4, 1957, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, held its first day of classes, but this one was special. As segregation became unlawful by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, the once all-white school was transitioning towards being the nation's first integrated school.

3D movies might be popular today, but more than a hundred years ago, it was a new and ambitious technology. The first stereoscopic or 3D movie debuted on September 27, 1922, in a theater in Los Angeles. The Power of Love was the title of the five-reel melodrama. 3D became much more popular in the 1980s.

Robots have been engaging in combat in science fiction books and films for decades, but they have just recently entered the actual world. The first robots used in ground warfare were Hermes, Professor, Thing, and Fester in Afghanistan in July 2002. Before the arrival of human troops, the robots were in charge of cleaning caverns.

Who could have known that humans would travel faster than sound? Luckily, some people reached the Mach 1 mark (the speed of sound) and passed it. Charles Yeager was the first human to surpass the speed of sound when he piloted an experimental aircraft at Mach 1 on October 14, 1947.

As far as iconic and memorable US presidents go, George Washington is a special one — after all, he was the first commander-in-chief of the new nation. George Washington, the first United States president, won the position with a unanimous vote and it was the only time when a person got 100 percent of the votes.

Who could have known that the first text message ever sent would be about the best season of the year — Christmas? You may thank Neil Papworth for your sore fingertips since texting is virtually as necessary to modern existence as water and taquitos. He sent the first text on December 3, 1992, while developing SMS for Vodafone.

Annie Edson Taylor got into a barrel and floated over the edge of Niagara Falls on October 24, 1901. Although she wasn't the first to try the barrel drop, she was the first to make it and tell the story the next day. Taylor was 63 years old when she tried this daredevil stunt. The drop was a financial stunt. 

On November 7, 1916, a Republican from Montana, Jeannette Rankin, made political history by becoming the first woman elected to a national office in the United States. Ironically, women didn't even acquire the ability to vote until 1920. She was the only person to vote no on declaring war against Japan.

August 18, 1587, is quite a special day since it marks Virginia Dare's birth. Dare is known for being the first person of European descent born in the American Virginia colony. Sadly, her life is unknown because she and other colonists disappeared. In 1590, the Roanoke colony disappeared into what seems to be thin air.

One of the first women to go through the rigorous medical and psychological examinations needed by NASA to become an astronaut was Mary Wallace "Wally" Funk, then 22 years old. On July 20, 2021, at 82, Funk momentarily held the record for the most senior space traveler until October 2021.

Jeanne Baret, a 26-year-old Frenchwoman, joined Louis de Bougainville's circumnavigational expedition in 1766 as the botanist's assistant and as a male. Baret spent part of the journey pretending to be a male named "John" since French law prohibited women from riding aboard naval ships.

While ligers are known to exist, a white one is a rare sight. The first white ligers were born in December 2013, following the mating of a white Bengal tigress, Saraswati, with a white African lion, Ivory. Another interesting fact, if a male tiger and a female tigress mate, the resulting offspring is called a tigon.

Believe it or not, Jackie Robinson wasn't the first African American to play professional baseball in the major leagues. This honor goes to Moses Fleetwood Walker. On May 1, 1884, he played his debut game for the Toledo Blue Stockings. Due to an injury, he left the league after 42 games.

It might be challenging to distinguish between an advertisement and a television program. Things were easier on June 19, 1946. On that particular day, Gillette sponsored the transmission of a boxing contest between Joe Louis and Billy Conn, earning the unfortunate achievement of becoming the first corporate sponsor of a televised event.

While The Kardashians may dominate the genre today, An American Family deserves credit for creating reality television. On January 11, 1973, PBS broadcast the first reality program, and there was no flashing, table flipping, or hot tubs. Over the coming decades, the genre expanded and became one of the most viewed programs ever. 

Lydia Chapin Taft became the first woman to vote in colonial America in 1756. At Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Taft was the widow of a powerful landowner whose recent passing had derailed the town's plans to contribute to the current French and Indian War. She had to vote in her late husband's place to complete tasks.

Pinball doesn't receive much-deserved love in the vast pantheon of competitive sports. Yet, competitive pinball has been around for a century. The very first pinball tournament took place on May 26, 1935. The prize for winning the "Big Wiffle" was $1,000 and a "beautiful bedroom suite."

The first American beauty pageant was held in June 1855 by the legendary showman P. T. Barnum but got suspended owing to public uproar. Miss Universe pageants began to appear by the conclusion of World War II despite their sluggish beginning. Thankfully, it became a vital part of modern entertainment.