12th 

1808 ..... U.K ..... a mortar-fired lifeline was used for the FIRST time to save a person from shipwreck. It was invented by George William Manby who lived in the Norfolk village of Hilgay. His invention was put to use on this day at Gorleston and a plaque in the High Road records that the crew were saved by firing a rope over the stranded vessel

1861 ..... U.K ..... teams from Sheffield and Hallam Clubs met to play the FIRST ever inter-club soccer match 

1896 ..... U.K ..... the world’s FIRST industrial estate was opened. Trafford Park in Manchester was the home of Manchester’s FIRST aerodrome, the Ford Motor company’s FIRST production line outside America and the FIRST radio station ( I have been informed that the FIRST aerodrome in Manchester was at Hough End, the site of the current Hough End playing fields in Whalley Range and that there is a Red Plaque there to prove it. This information was e-mailed to me by Will Scott, Pilot Officer, 184 (Manchester South) Sqn ATC)

1898 .....U.K ..... Henry Lindfield became the FIRST car driver to be killed in a motoring accident. It happened at Purley Corner when the car’s steering gear failed and it eventually turned completely round, ran through a wire fence and hit an iron post. Mr Lindfield, a Brighton agent for International Cars, died in hospital after having one of his legs amputated 

1924 ..... U.S.A ..... Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin was FIRST performed in New York 

1941 ….. U.K ..... a British policeman, suffering from blood-poisoning, became the world's FIRST recipient of penicillin. Despite the treatment however, he subsequently died. On May 3rd a patient with an enormous carbuncle was successfully treated 

1947 ..... FRANCE ..... Christian Dior’s FIRST collection was seen when he presented the New Look for women in the post war age  

1990 ..... AUSTRALIA ..... Dr Carmen Lawrence became the FIRST woman Prime Minister of Australia when she was elected to replace Peter Dowding who quit in the wake of political scandals. A graduate in behavioural sciences she was elected to the State Parliament in 1986 

1994 ..... U.K ..... one hundred people made history by walking from France to England for the FIRST time in millions of years. Each represented charities and voluntary organisations and walked the 31 mile Channel Tunnel which took, on average, 13 hours to complete. Stunts and entertainments helped to keep the walkers amused ..... and ..... Kate Barker became the FIRST woman to be appointed to a senior role in the C.B.I. - Chief Economic Adviser 

1997 ..... U.K ..... Ian Robinson and his wife Tracy became the FIRST couple in Manchester to sign a tough tenancy agreement aimed at ridding council estates of yobs. The deal meant that if there was any trouble within the FIRST 12 months, tenants can be evicted much faster by the council.  The FIRST tenant in Salford also signed up to a similar tenancy scheme and moved into Coronation Street, Swinton 

2001 ….. SPACE ..... for the FIRST time, a space probe landed on an asteroid

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