1524 ..... U.S.A ..... a Florentine navigator, Giovanni da Verrazzano, FIRST discovered New York Bay

1860 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST world title fight took place near Farnborough, Hantshire when Tom Sayers took on American John Heenan. The match was declared a draw

1888 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST formal meeting of the Football League took place in the Royal Hotel, Manchester

1945 ..... GERMANY .....  Eric Kenyon from Wythenshawe, Manchester was with the FIRST British troops to walk into Belsen concentration camp to bring food and medicine to the 50,000 prisoners. They fed them, treated the sick and began the job of sending the survivors out to start a new life

1956 ..... U.K ..... Premium Bonds were FIRST introduced in Britain. The reaction from some sections of society was one of outrage. They were described as a ‘squalid raffle’ and as a ‘cold,inhuman activity’. 750,000 Methodists were urged by their church leaders to boycott the ‘Lucky Dip’ scheme but despite all this ERNIE drew the FIRST winners the following summer. In 1957 the lucky bond holders divided £972,000 between them and by 1983 the chances of winning were calculated at being one in 15,220

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