1726 ….. U.K ..... the FIRST municipal fire brigade was founded at Beverley in Yorkshire

1756 ..... INDIA ..... John Zephaniah Holwell was the FIRST person to be thrust into the cramped and gloomy detention cell which became known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. There was one woman, 16 year old Mary Carey, the wife of one of the British East India Company's seaman , amongst as many as 145 men who were driven into the 18’ long x 15’ wide cell by soldiers carrying muskets, scimitars and clubs after their defence of Fort William had failed. At the end of a ferocious siege, Siraj-ud-Dawlah, the Nawab of Bengal and his army occupied Calcutta and for 4 days 500 civil servants and troops stationed at Fort William held out against the Indian troops. Finally, deserted by the Governor and the majority of senior officers they were forced to surrender.  In temperatures of over 90° F they were herded into the tiny cell. Some fell and were trampled upon and in the intense heat quickly died from suffocation. It was later estimated that about 50 had died instantly. By 6 a.m the following morning when the cell door was opened only 22 men and Mary Carey were alive to tell the tale. The bodies of those left behind were dragged out by the soldiers and thrown into a ditch which was then filled in with earth

1789 ..... FRANCE ..... the FIRST significant act in the French Revolution took place, when the National Assembly were ordered out of their usual meeting-place and assembled in a nearby tennis court, where an oath was taken - never to disperse until they had given France a constitution. ( this came to be known as the ‘Oath of the Tennis Court’)

1895 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST news film made by Birt Acres  was when Kaiser Wilhelm 11 opened the Kiel Canal

1897 ….. U.K ..... Britain's FIRST lapel badges were issued. They were made by Whitehead and Hoag of Newark, New Jersey, and displayed patriotic motifs celebrating Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.  The company had earlier launched the world's FIRST lapel badges in America as novelty gifts promoting cigarettes and sweets

1907 ..... FRANCE ..... the FIRST feature length film made in Europe was premiered at the Theatre des Varietes in the Boulevard Montmartre in Paris. Its title was L’Enfant Prodigue

1911..... U.K ..... Britain’s FIRST trolley-bus service began in Leeds

1948 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST long-playing record, invented by Peter Goldmark, was launched by Columbia so ending the day of the 78 rpm

1960 ..... U.K ..... Nan Winton was the FIRST woman to read the National News on BBC television .....and ..... U.S.A ..... Floyd Patterson knocked out Ingemar Johansson in the 5th round in New York to become the FIRST man to regain the world heavyweight title

1979 ..... U.S.A ..... Marijane Singer of New Jersey, America, became the FIRST woman Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Rutgers University in its 213 year history

1987..... New Zealand beat France 29-9 in Auckland to become the FIRST winners of the Rugby Union World Cup

1988 ..... JAPAN ..... Mariko Fujii became the FIRST woman to be appointed Chief Examiner of the Budget Bureau, Ministry of Finance in Japan

1995 ..... U.K ..... Elizabeth Earnshaw became the FIRST woman referee of the Open Golf Tournament at St.Andrews

1996 ..... U.K ..... fruit machines were allowed in betting shops for the FIRST time. Up to £10 cash could be paid out to a winner

1999 ….. U.K ..... for the FIRST time since it took to the streets in 1890 the Manchester Italian Association procession went outside the city boundaries when it proceeded to Salford Cathedral where it was blessed by Bishop Terence Brain.  The association was formed in Ancoats, Manchester, in 1888

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