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83 ….. FRANCE ..... the FIRST ascent of a hydrogen-filled balloon (unmanned) was made in Paris when Jacques Alexandre César Charles launched a 12 foot balloon1784 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST balloon ascent (free flight) was made by James Tytler of Edinburgh who made a short ascent in a Montgolfier-type balloon. His maximum altitude is believed not to have exceeded 500 feet
1804 ..... U.K ..... Alicia Meynell became the FIRST woman to compete in a horse race
1841 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST college to grant degrees to women, Oberlin Collegiate Institute. Three women graduated as Bachelors of Arts - Caroline Mary Rudd , Elizabeth Smith Pratt and Mary Hosford
1875 ..... U.K ..... Captain Matthew Webb became the FIRST person to swim the English Channel without a lifebelt. The 27 year old Merchant Navy captain swam breaststroke from Dover to Calais in just under 22 hours
1919 ..... U.K ..... the world’s FIRST international scheduled daily air service began with the FIRST daily flight to Paris from London by a de Havilland 4A. The flight was flown by Leslie Page and took 2 1/2 hours
1940 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST couple married during a parachute jump were Ann Hayward and Arno Rudolphi of New York City. They were wed while dangling from parachutes at the New York World’s Fair
1944 ….. U.K ..... Bing Crosby's FIRST ever performance in Europe was at St. Enoch's Station in Glasgow where he had arrived to catch the sleeper for London. A crowd gathered around for his autograph and urged him to sing. After they had sang I Belong To Glasgow for him he sang Where The Blue Of The Night for them
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