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 25th

1888 ..... U.S.A ..... Frank McGurrin, official stenographer of the Salt Lake City Federal Court, was the FIRST touch typist. He demonstrated his prowess in public for the first time in a speed typing contest at Cincinnati on this day, using 10 fingers to operate his Remington typewriter and never looking at the keyboard

1909 ..... FRANCE ..... the FIRST aeroplane crossing of the English Channel was made by Louis Bleriot (1872-1936) in a small 24 hp monoplane from Baraques to Dover 

1944 .....  the FIRST jet fighter to engage an enemy in combat was an Me262 over Munich when it was intercepted by a Mosquito of 544 Squadron RDF

1959 ..... U.K ..... SRNI, the hovercraft, made its FIRST Channel crossing 

1971 ..... the FIRST heart and lung transplant was carried out in South Africa by Dr Christian Bernard 

1978 ..... U.K ..... Louise Brown, the world’s FIRST test-tube baby was born. It had taken 12 years of research by gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and Dr Robert Edwards to make the birth possible. Louise weighed 5lb 12 oz and was delivered by caesarean section

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