1683 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST public museum, the Ashmolean, was opened by Elias Ashmole in Oxford 

1833 ..... U.S.A ..... Andrew Jackson, 7th U.S President and the FIRST sitting president to ride a train when he took the Baltimore & Ohio in Maryland from Elliott's Mills to Baltimore on this day

1901 ….. U.K ..... the FIRST trams appeared on Salford streets and dominated the city for nearly 50 years until the last one turned into the depot in January 1949 and was replaced by the number 92 bus

1907..... GERMANY ..... Persil washing powder went on sale for the FIRST time. It was made in Dusseldorf, Germany

1908 ..... AUSTRIA ..... the FIRST football international between a British team and a foreign opposition took place in Vienna

1933 ..... U.S.A ..... film and motoring history was made when the FIRST drive-in-cinema opened at Camden, New Jersey, US. It  had space for 400 cars and the FIRST film shown was Wife Beware starring Adolphe Menjou. By 1958 there were 4,063 screens throughout America

1942 ….. U.K .....  the FIRST jump using a parachute made of nylon took place over Hertford, England

1944 ….. FRANCE ..... the Cafe Gondree was the FIRST house in France to be liberated in WW2 when men of the 2nd Airborne Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, led by Major John Howard, landed near the Pegasus Bridge near Ouistreham in Horsa Gliders. The FIRST town to be liberated was Sainte Mere Eglise and the drop point for the 101st and 82nd airborne division of the United States Army.  The liberation was witnessed by Madame Simone Renaud along with her three young sons and husband and they watched the triumph and tragedy unfold during a day that defined history. Many American soldiers gave their lives and she spent a lifetime tending to their graves and corresponding with their loved ones back home. Locust Valley, New York, adopted the town in what became known as Operation Democracy

1950 ..... U.K ..... Educating Archie was FIRST heard on radio with Peter Brough as the ventriloquist. It was the FIRST of radio’s incredibly successful series and the only one to star a wooden dummy. It ran for 10 years and the FIRST Archie Andrews’ tutor was Robert Moreton.  Others included Tony Hancock, Harry Secombe, Ronald shiner, Bernard Miles, James Robertson Justice, Bruce Forsyth and Sid James. 

1954 ….. Was There Something starring Sam Costa was FIRST heard on Radio Luxembourg.  The title was taken from Costa's well remembered catchphrase from Much-Binding-In-The-Marsh. He visited listeners in their homes, chatted and then played their favourite records.  The series was sponsored by Bile Beans and produced by John Whitney

1996 ….. U.K ..... the Royal Cornwall Show opened and for the FIRST time there was poetry in the exhibition, that was not in the usual form of a book, but as individual items. Amongst them were works by Ysabel Greenway who was the FIRST person to be awarded the Cornish Concept for Writing by Cornwall County Council

2002 ..... U.K ..... Sainsbury's Store, Hazel Grove, Stockport, opened Britain's FIRST drive-thru supermarket. Customers could order goods on the internet and then pick them up at their convenience. Other services on offer were personal shoppers who would do a customer's shop for £5.00

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