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1661 ..... U.K ..... Samuel Pepys recorded his FIRST sight of a woman on stage

1888 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST drinking straw was patented by Marvin Chester Stone who rolled them by hand from parafinned manila paper so that they would not split or crack  

1911 ..... AUSTRALIA ..... the FIRST gaol to show films to prisoners was Goulbourn Gaol, Sydney, Australia 

1915 ..... POLAND ..... the FIRST use of teargas was reported by the Germans against the Russians at Bolimow, Poland

1919 ..... U.K ..... Professor Ernest Rutherford of the University of Manchester split the atom by artificial means for the FIRST time. His experiments finally proved that atoms are not the indivisible particles they once were thought to be 

1938 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST foreign language service, Arabic, was begun by the BBC 

1951….. U.K ..... a peacetime comedy series for the famous wartime Radio Crazy Gang formed by Sergeant 'Cheerful' Charlie Chester for his Stand Easy series was FIRST broadcast. Also in the cast was Molly Weir from ITMA, Deryck Guyler from the same series and the George Mitchell Maids 

1958 ..... ANTARCTICA ..... Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole becoming the FIRST explorer to do so since Captain Scott’s expedition in 1912. Captain Scott’s expedition had reached the South Pole on 18th January 1912 but found that the Norwegian explorer Amundsen and his party had reached it a month before  

1970 ….. U.K ..... the FIRST Question of Sport show was recorded in a converted church in the BBC North Studios in Rusholme, Manchester. The FIRST Quizmaster  was David Vine  (1970-78) and Henry Cooper and Cliff Morgan were the FIRST captains. The Princess Royal was the FIRST member of the Royal family to take part in a television quiz show when she appeared in 1987

1998 ….. U.K ..... Gill Shepherd and Ken Whittaker became the FIRST couple in Britain to be married on radio when their service was conducted at Sheffield's Radio Hallam

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