1777 ..... U.S.A ..... the Stars and Stripes was FIRST adopted by the U.S Congress as the national standard

1789 ..... U.S.A ..... whisky  distilled from maize  was FIRST produced on this day by a Church minister, the Rev. Elijah Craig of Bourbon County, Kentucky, USA. The liquor was named “bourbon”

1839 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST Henley Regatta was held on the Thames

1894 ..... the FIRST film of a sporting event was the 6 round boxing match between Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing

1919 ..... the FIRST non-stop trans-Atlantic flight began at 4.13 pm when Captain John William Alcock and the navigator Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown flew from Newfoundland to Ireland in a Vickery-Vimy twin-engined biplane bomber. They arrived the following day, June 15th and claimed a £10.000 prize from the Daily Mail and were eventually knighted by King George V.  A memorial to their flight stands outside Manchester Airport and there is a plaque dedicated to Brown in UMIST’s main building ( he was a Manchester University graduate) A replica of the plane used is on display at the Royal Air Force museum at Hendon. When Alcock was killed in an air crash in France in December 1919 his partner, Brown, never flew again

1923 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST public demonstration of sound-on-film in Britain was at the Finsbury Park cinema when a programme of Phonofilm Shorts were trade shown

1940 ….. U.K ..... Wait For It  starring Eric Barker was FIRST heard on radio.  He played the Honourable Godfrey Crumpett, private detective and Pearl Hackett was Lady Ethel

1944 ..... U.K .....  Fay Ashmore became the FIRST woman ever to do the scoring at Lords. The match was between a Sandhurst side and a Lords X1

1949 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST application by a Salford City publican for a music licence was granted to  Emily Greenhalgh, licensee of the Albert Vaults on Chapel Street. It was a full music licence but dancing was not allowed

1958 ..... U.K ..... 17 year old Christine Truman won the Wightman Tennis Cup for Britain, the FIRST time in 28 years

1991..... U.K ..... Flt. Lt. Julie Gibson received her wings making her the FIRST woman to qualify as a pilot with the RAF. Her final training was completed at Finningley Airbase, South Yorkshire. Aged 29, she became qualified to pilot multi-engined aircraft and would probably also fly transporter planes

1993 ..... TURKEY ..... Tansu Ciller became the FIRST woman Prime Minister in Turkey ..... and ..... CANADA .....  Kim Campbell became the FIRST in Canada

1995 ..... U.K ..... Pauline Clare became the FIRST woman Chief Constable of Police in England. Shge reported for duty on July 31st ….. and  ….. UMIST awarded honorary degrees to a husband and wife team for the FIRST time when Doctor of Science degrees went to molecular biologists Prof Sir Kenneth Murray and Prof Noreen Murray of Edinburgh University

2004 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST passenger-carrying tilting train ran between London and Manchester along the West Coast Main Line. Owned by Virgin Trains, the trains will tilt as they travel around bends, increasing speed and cutting journey times ( hopefully)

2005 ..... U.K ..... for the FIRST time in its 300 year history Royal Ascot was held in York due to its usual venue undergoing refurbishment etc

Back to top of page ** Next page ** Previous page