1835 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST Manchester prisoner was sent to Kirdale Gaol, for trial at the South Lancashire Assizes held in Liverpool

1859 ..... U.S.A ..... the Frenchman Charles Blondin, made the FIRST crossing of Niagara Falls on a tightrope

1894 ..... U.K .....  London’s Tower Bridge was FIRST opened by Queen Victoria and for over 100 years it has stood dominant over the Thames, a masterpiece of architecture and engineering.  In the first month of it opening it was opened 655 times to allow ships to pass through and was open 24 hours per day

1901 ..... GERMANY ..... the FIRST ratified altitude record for balloons in the world was achieved by Professors Berson and Suring of the Berliner Verein fur Luftschiffarht who attained a height of 10,800 m     (35,435 ft)

1905 ..... Einstein submitted his FIRST paper on the special theory of relativity. The theory was called the speed of light constant for all conditions and stated that time passed at different rates for objects in constant relative motion. His second paper was submitted on September 27th

1927 ….. the USA were the FIRST winners of golf's Ryder Cup

1937 ….. Mrs Beard of Hampstead made the very FIRST 999 call when the new service began

1938 ..... U.S.A ..... the Superman comic strip appeared in the USA for the FIRST time

1940 ..... U.S.A ..... Dale Messick became the FIRST female comic strip artist to be syndicated

1957..... U.K ..... the little crowned lion was stamped on British eggs for the FIRST time after the British Egg Marketing Board had introduced it as a sign of freshness. In the first week 80% of all eggs sold carried the stamp. Those sold by farmers to shops or households made up the other 20% and these were stamped with a “B”. The great British public however, decided that those stamped with a “B” were the freshest

1971..... SPACE ..... the FIRST men known to have died in space were 3 Russian cosmonauts who were found dead when Soyuz 11 returned to earth

1997..... the multimedia publisher Yorkshire International Thomson Multimedia hosted the FIRST Interactive History Day. Over a period of 24 hours students were invited to visit http://www.yitmn.com/yitm/ww1 to receive and examine information about the key event preceding the First World War ..... and ..... CHINA ..... the FIRST Chinese Head of State in 150 years set foot in Hong Kong when it became independent of Great Britain. It became the H K Special Administrative Region of China, the FIRST of its kind under the Chinese governments policy of " One Country, Two Systems" 

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