1760 ..... the FIRST known roller skates were worn

1793 ..... U.S.A ..... President George Washington went to watch John Bill Rickett’s Circus, America’s FIRST circus, at Twelfth and Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1838 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST British packet steamer, Sirius, became the FIRST steamship to cross the Atlantic to New York from England. It took 18 days, 10 hours

1864 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST religious inscription was put on US coins when the motto of the state of Florida was inscribed "In God We Trust"

1889 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST Oklahoma land run began, when 50,000 home seekers gathered along the borders of the Unassigned Lands waiting for the signal to stake their claims

1915 ..... BELGIUM ..... poison gas was used for the FIRST time in a war when Germany used it at Ypres in Belgium during WW1

1959 ..... U.K ..... Vic Rouse, Crystal Palace goalkeeper became the FIRST fourth division player to win a full international cap

1969 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST man to sail non-stop single-handed around the world was Robin Knox-Johnston. He sailed 29,000 miles in 313 days and celebrated his 30th birthday at sea. At one time there fears for his safety when nothing had been heard from him in over 134 days but he was eventually spotted by a British tanker, 500 miles west of the Azores in his 32’ ketch Suhaili which means "good wind"

1970 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST Earth Day was celebrated in the USA

1972 ..... AUSTRALIA ..... John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook became the FIRST couple to row across the Pacific when they landed on Hayman Island off Australia’s Queensland coast after an epic journey of 361 days which had begun in San Francisco

1996 ..... the FIRST major prayer book for gay men and women was published on this day

2007 ..... Chunxiu Zhou became the FIRST Chinese woman to win the London Marathon

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