21st

1767 ..... U.S.A ..... Phillis Wheatley became the FIRST African-American female to be published

1844 ..... U.K ..... the Co-operative movement began in Rochdale, England. It was started by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers and during the 19th century it spread its principles of a self-sufficient, profit-sharing, democratic co-operative movement throughout the world 

1846 ..... U.K ..... Robert Liston, a senior surgeon at University College Hospital in London performed the FIRST public operation in London involving the amputation of a limb and using ether as an anaesthetic. The amputation took 30 seconds and the patient, Frederick Churchill, never felt a thing 

1901 ..... women in Norway voted for the FIRST time 

1913 ..... U.S.A ..... the world’s FIRST crossword puzzle appeared in a newspaper - the New York ‘World’. There were no black squares and the grid was arranged in a diamond shape. It was compiled by Liverpool born Arthur Wynne. It became a weekly feature and the name "word-cross" eventually evolved into "crossword". The FIRST to be published in Britain was in Pearson's Magazine in February 1922 and the Times crossword made its debut on February 1st 1930

1937 ..... U.S.A ..... the cinema’s FIRST ever full length colour cartoon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was shown for the FIRST time. Happy, Grumpy, Dopey, ‘Doc’, Sleepy, Bashful and Sneezy were a sensational success. By the end of 1938 it had been seen in 41 countries 

1941 ..... U.K ..... for the FIRST time films were shown on a Sunday in Salford cinemas 

1958 ..... FRANCE ..... General de Gaulle was elected the FIRST President of the Fifth Republic of France, 12 years after he had retired 

1963 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST Dalek appeared on British television screens, or at least its plunger arm did, when, at the end of the episode, Dr Who’s assistant, Barbara, screamed at the threatening approach of the mutant monster. The Daleks were the creation of Terry Nation, a television writer who also wrote scripts for The Avengers and The Saint

1968 ..... SPACE ..... American astronauts Frank Borman, James Arthur Lovell, William A Anders became the FIRST men in history to break free from the earth's gravitational field and the first to orbit the moon when Apollo V111 was launched by a Saturn-5 rocket. They splashed down in mid-Pacific on 27th December and had sent back the FIRST Christmas radio messages from astronauts while in moon orbit

2001 ..... U.K ..... for the FIRST time armed police officers were on routine patrols on the streets of Greater Manchester, England making it the FIRST time that these patrols had been used on the UK mainland