59 Firsts In History Which Laid The Foundation For Further Achievements

Ada Lovelace was not just the first female programmer but also the first programmer of any gender. Brilliant mathematician Ada Lovelace, born in England, is known for creating the world's first machine algorithm for a primitive computer. In 1843, her achievement was widely published in British papers.

One Nobel Prize might seem like a remarkable career achievement, but two of these prestigious honors? Marie Curie, a well-known scientist, became the first person of any gender to win a pair of Nobel Awards when she took home the Chemistry award in 1911 and the Physics prize in 1903, respectively.

It took some creativity for Joseph Nicéphore Niépce to be able to take the first photograph in 1826. The blurry black-and-white image is allegedly the scene from his window, albeit it is debatable how recognizable the image is. It seems like a magic trick how the first picture got taken, using asphalt and a pewter plate.

Johannes Gutenberg's printing press allowed authors to write and distribute the same book rather quickly. The first book released with the printing press was (no wonder) the Bible. To this day, the legacy made by this printing press is still felt in the current way we distribute paperback books.

Sadly, hit-and-run incidents have become one of the worst side effects of car transportation. On August 17, 1896, Bridget Driscoll became the first person to get hit by a moving car and, sadly, passed away from her injuries. The car she got hit by was moving at just four miles per hour. People hoped that this type of accident wouldn't happen in the future.

As far as peaks go, Mount Everest is the most challenging. Luckily, its summit was reached more than once. Sir Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Mount Everest for the first time on May 29, 1953. However, Tenzing Norgay, his sherpa, deserves credit for hauling the cargo for other people while also reaching the top of the mountain.

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, they captured people's imaginations and left them in amazement. With "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong invented one of the earliest viral memes. Two jobs got done in one trip.

Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian adventurer, became the first person to reach both poles of the world when he went to the South Pole in 1911 and the North Pole in 1926. He broke world records, which is good, but the bad news is that Santa Claus was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was on a holiday of some kind?

While there are a lot of female leaders in the modern day, they were a rare sight just a few decades ago. The honor goes to Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, who became the first female president in the world on June 29, 1980. Her 16-year tenure made her the longest-serving official female president.

When it comes to magical creations, the Harry Potter book and movie franchise might be the one that comes first to mind. J.K. Rowling is the writer behind many famous characters, including the one that cannot be named. These many years of writing earned the author a lot of money and made her the first writer to gross $1 billion from written books.

Creating a map would be an early goal for humanity because people have been getting lost since they could walk. Yet, the first globe atlas wasn't available to those with a poor sense of direction until 1570. Abraham Ortelius, a Flemish cartographer, developed the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the globe) and published it in a book of 53 pages.

You might not know this, but the Higgs boson is the fundamental particle in the Standard Model of particle physics. Because of its unusual characteristics and theoretical significance, the "god particle" was frequently referred to as such by physicists. Nevertheless, this was just a theory until scientists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider found the first particle on July 4, 2012.

It's very easy to get caught up in viewing YouTube videos when so much content is available on the platform. But have you ever watched the first video to get posted on YouTube? Me at the Zoo went online on April 23, 2005. In it, YouTube co-creator, Jawed Karim, spends 19 seconds explaining why elephants have long trunks.

The great soccer player Pelé became the first and probably only player to achieve 1,000 or more goals in competitive play when he scored his 1,000th on November 19, 1969. The Brazilian scored 1,281 goals throughout his career and became the Athlete of the Century in 1999.

Sarah Breedlove, a businesswoman, developed a line of hair care products specifically for African women experiencing hair loss. Walker gained notoriety as a philanthropist due to her financial success, providing scholarships for female students at the Tuskegee Institute and sponsoring social services for migrants, orphans, and the elderly.

Before March 1, 1872, Yellowstone was a beautiful piece of land under limited protection from the federal government. On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became a national park, all thanks to US president Ulysses S. Grant. Being the first national park, it might be one of the most beautiful pieces of land on the North American continent. 

Solar flares are the things that might cause an apocalypse here on Earth. The first solar flare that people detected hit us on September 1, 1859. Richard Carrington, a British astronomer, was the person who saw it and recorded it in his journals. Moreover, it is the strongest solar flare ever observed.

The problem with flying is that humans don’t have wings, and we must be creative in order to lift ourselves off the ground. Marquis d'Arlandes and Pilatre de Rozier flew in a hot-air balloon on November 21, 1783, making history as the first people to take to the skies. Their 20-minute Parisian sky flight sparked generations of inventions, daydreams, and jigsaw puzzles.

Flying was seen more as a daredevil sport a century ago. Amelia Earhart became the first female pilot to complete a solo transatlantic trip on May 21, 1932, solidifying her spot on the list of daredevil adrenaline addicts. The United States Congress presented her with a Distinguished Flying Cross.

As the story goes, a Greek messenger named Pheidippides ran the first marathon in 490 BC. He made the 25-mile trek from the Marathon fight to Athens to announce Greece's victory when he collapsed from weariness. Modern runners were motivated to run their 25-mile races due to the narrative.

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.

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.