17th 

1864 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST effective attack by a submersible vessel was carried out when a confederate submarine H L Hunley rammed a Federal Corvette Housatonic in Charleston Harbor. Both vessels blew up and all the crew died 

1867 ..... EGYPT ..... HMS Perilous was the FIRST ship to pass through the Suez Canal 

1870 ..... U.S.A ..... Esther Morris became the FIRST woman magistrate when appointed Justice of the Peace for South Pass, Wyoming 

1904 ..... ITALY ..... Puccini’s Madame Butterfly was FIRST performed, but survived only one single night in Milan where the Milanese audience made its hostility plain 

1929 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST in-flight movie was shown on an internal flight in America 

1941 ….. U.K ..... the FIRST post-women began work in Salford, England, due to lack of men  

1955 ….. U.K ..... Fanny Cradock's FIRST cookery programme on television was Kitchen Magic in which she showed viewers how to produce Swiss roll, éclair and souffle-en-surprise for 8 people for 6s 2¼d

1992 ..... FRANCE ..... at La Saisies, Albertville, France, Raisa Smetanina of the Commonwealth of Independent States, formerly the USSR, became simultaneously the oldest winter Games medal-winning athlete and the FIRST to capture ten medals

1995 ..... the FIRST World Championship Bowling Tournament which included both men and women was held

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