7th

1733 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST flu epidemic in America broke out and affected about 3/4 of the entire population 

1785 ..... FRANCE ..... Jean Pierre Blanchard of France and Dr John J Jeffries of America became the FIRST to cross the English Channel by balloon. The flight from Dover took approximately two hours and they had to discard almost all of their clothes to lighten the craft en route. Their balloon was hydrogen-filled

1789 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST national U.S. elections were held and George Washington became the FIRST President 

1837 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST Manchester Corn Exchange was opened in Hanging Ditch at a cost of £4000 

1921 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST woman was elected as foreman of a jury in Britain 

1927 ..... U.K ..... the transatlantic telephone service between London and New York FIRST began when Sir Evelyn Murray of the GPO placed a call to Walter S Gifford, president of the American Telegraph and Telephone Company. The call cost £15 for three minutes and on this first day 31 calls were made by different people

1931..... AUSTRALIA ..... Guy Menzies flew the FIRST solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight ( Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours 45 minutes. He crash landed on the New Zealand west coast

1955 ..... U.S.A ..... Marian Anderson became the FIRST black singer to appear at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York

1978 ..... ANTARCTICA ..... the FIRST baby was born on the continent of Antarctica when Emilio Marcos Palma entered the world at the Sargento Cabrol Base 

1990 ..... ITALY ..... for the FIRST time in 807 years the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy was closed. This was so that work could go ahead to stop it leaning any further. It was finally reopened in 2001 after structural alterations were complete. Unfortunately, for the street vendors selling statues of it, it was straighter than previous 

1993 ..... NORWAY ..... Erling Kagge became the FIRST person to reach the South Pole solo on foot

1994 ..... U.K ..... girls were invited to join the Cathedral Choir at Wells in Somerset for the FIRST time in 800 years

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