12th
1887 ..... the FIRST sound recording was made by Thomas Edison
1908 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST model T Ford, the Tin Lizzie, came off the production line
1932 ..... the FIRST woman only ascent of the Matterhorn was achieved by Miriam Underhill and Alice Damesme. In 1928 Miriam Underhill made the FIRST traverse of the Grepon led by a woman and then the FIRST complete traverse of the Aiguille du Diable with her husband and guides. In the Torre Grande in the Dolomites she pioneered what became known as the Via Miriam
1944 ..... the FIRST PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) began to send fuel from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg
1960 ..... SPACE ..... the FIRST passive communications satellite ECHO was launched as a result of efforts by John Robinson Pierce who believed in the future of communications via satellites
1965 ..... U.K ..... Judge Elizabeth Lane became the FIRST woman High Court Judge in Britain when she sat in the Probate, Admiralty and Divorce Division
1978 ..... the FIRST crossing of the North Atlantic by balloon began. The American YOST HB-72 Double Eagle 11 was crewed by Ben L Abruzzo, Maxie L Anderson and Larry M Newman. The flight took 5 days
1980 ..... U.K ..... Lady Arran neé Fiona Colquhoun became the FIRST woman to average 100 mph on water in an off-shore power boat
1994 ..... hurdler Sally Gunnell became the FIRST woman in British athletics to complete the Grand Slam when she won gold in the European Championships in Helsinki to add to her Olympic World and Commonwealth titles
1998 ….. Steve Fossett became the FIRST person to cross the South Atlantic in a balloon
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