LITERATURE
*** A
Ackerman - Paul ..... died 1977 ..... U.S.A ..... music editor for Billboard magazine in the mid-1950s who was the FIRST national magazine editor to interview Elvis Presley (1954)
Albin - Eleazar ..... died 1759 ..... U.K ..... English naturalist and water-colourist who published the FIRST book on British birds with coloured plates
Ambler - Eric ….. born 28th June 1909 died 1998 .…. U.S.A ..... author who changed the rules of one of the most English of literary genres- the thriller. In 1957 he went to Hollywood to work for MGM and scripted the FIRST film about the Titanic – A Night To Remember ( 1958)
*** B
Baron - Carl ..... born 28th August 1942 ..... U.K ..... contributor, jointly with his wife Helen, to the FIRST complete edition of D.H.Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers
Batman ..... U.K ..... the FIRST story appeared in D.C’s Adventure Comics No.27 in May 1939 and the FIRST Batman comic was published in Spring the following year. His creator was Bob Kane who was born on October 24th 1915. Kane’s Batman was known as the Dark Knight
Baxter - John ..... born 1781 died 1858 ..... U.K ..... English printer who was the FIRST to use an ink-roller and published the FIRST book of cricket rules
Bedell - William ..... U.K ..... made the FIRST Gaelic translation of the Bible to be printed
Beeton - Samuel Orchart ..... launched the FIRST mass circulation women's magazine aimed at the middle class English housewife in May 1852 - The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine. It included the FIRST give-away paper dressmaking patterns, the FIRST prize competitions to appear in a women's magazine and the re-introduction of the 'problem page'. He later married Isabella Mayson of Mrs Beeton fame
Brown - William .. publisher who issued the FIRST copy of the Quebec Gazette on June 21st 1764
Buchan - John ..... U.K ..... novelist who gave the FIRST formal lecture on leadership in Britain at St. Andrews University in 1930
Burke - John ..... born 1787 died 1848 ..... U.K ..... in 1826 he was the FIRST publisher of Burke's Peerage, the popular name of the Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the U.K
*** C
Campbell - John .. publisher of the Boston News-Letter in April 1704, the FIRST newspaper to appear on a regular basis in America
Caxton - William ..... born c1422 died 1491 ..... U.K ..... FIRST English printer who learned the art of printing in Cologne, Germany in 1471 and set up a press in Belgium where he produced the FIRST book printed in English. In 1476 he established himself in London where he produced the FIRST book to be printed in England
Codex Calixtinus ..... the FIRST ever tourist guide appeared in the 12th century and was written in Latin by a French monk to clue pilgrims in on the best holy spots and hostels to visit
Cohen - Frank ..... U.K ..... in 2003 he became Manchester's FIRST ever judge for the annual Turner Prize
Colenso - John William ..... born 1814 died 1883 ..... SOUTH AFRICA ..... from 1853 he was Bishop of Natal, South Africa and became the FIRST to write down the Zulu language
Collins - Wilkie ..... born 1824 died 23rd September 1889 ..... U.K ..... author of the FIRST detective novel. His book The Moonstone in 1868 introduced the FIRST detective in fiction "Sergeant Cuff "
Comedy of Errors ..... Shakespeare's FIRST play
Connolly - James ..... born 5th June 1868 died 1916 ..... U.K ..... founded the Workers' Republic, the very FIRST Irish socialist paper
Coverdale - Miles ..... born 1488 died 1569 ..... U.K ..... English Protestant priest whose translation of the Bible in 1535 was the FIRST to be translated into English
Cowboy Songs ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST national magazine to carry an article on Elvis Presley, when the "Sun's Newest Star" appeared in their June 1955 issue
*** D
Dryden - John ..... born 9th August 1631 died May 1st 1700 ..... U.K ..... FIRST Poet Laureate to hold the title officially. He was also the only Laureate to be dismissed after refusing to take the oath to the new king, William 111, after the revolution in 1689
*** E
Erasmus ..... HOLLAND ..... Dutch Renaissance scholar who published the FIRST Greek edition of the New Testament
*** F
Fauchard - Pierre ….. published The Surgeon Dentist, the FIRST dental textbook - France 1728
Ferguson - Sir Alex ….. U.K ..... his autobiography, Managing My Life, was the FIRST sports volume to win the Book Of The Year award
Fowler - Henry Watson ….. born March 10th 1858 died 1933 ….. U.K ..... English lexicographer who, with his brother Frank , edited the FIRST Concise Oxford Dictionary in 1911
*** G
Granville-Chapman - Timothy - General Sir .. born January 5th 1947 ..... U.K ..... author of the FIRST ever British Military Doctrine, a definitive account of the services' philosophy
Greenwood - Walter ..... U.K ..... FIRST honorary Doctor of Letters at Salford University
*** H
Hammon - Jupiter ..... U.S.A ..... on October 17th 1711 he became the FIRST black American to publish poetry
Hill - John - Dr ..... U.K ..... the FIRST newspaper columnist who began contributing a daily column to the London Advertiser and Literary Gazette under the signature of " The Inspector" on March 11th 1751. This was the FIRST regular signed newspaper feature
Hughes - Ted ..... U.K ..... FIRST writer to win the Whitbread Book of the Year prize two years in a row
*** I
Irving - Washington ..... born 1783 died 1859 ..... U.S.A ..... American author and diplomat who was one of the FIRST Americans to be recognised abroad as a man of letters and one of the FIRST Americans to travel to Andalusia which he visited in 1829
*** J
Johnson - Samuel ..... U.K ..... in 1755 his dictionary was one of the FIRST dictionary's of Standard English and the FIRST to give extensive coverage to phrasal verbs
*** L
Lachlan-Young - Murray ….. U.K ..... signed Britain's FIRST £1m poetry deal
Lewis - Norman ..... author who was the FIRST non-scientific journalist to warn of the link between burning the Amazonian forests and climate change
*** M
Malthus - Thomas Robert ..... born 1766 died 1834 ..... English economist and clergyman who was the FIRST writer to formulate the law of diminishing returns as applied to agriculture
Mazarin - Jules originally Giulio Mazarini ….. born July 14th 1602 died 1661 ….. FRANCE ..... Italian-born French prelate and statesman who became Cardinal through the influence of Richelieu who recommended him to King Louis X111 as his successor as minister of France. He gave his name to the FIRST printed bible, since the FIRST known copy was discovered in the library he founded in Paris - the Bibliotheque Mazarine
*** N
National Book Council, UK ..... introduced the FIRST book tokens in 1932. Their slogan was " the gift is mine, the choice is thine"
*** P
Pelham ..... the world's FIRST paperback book which was written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton of England and published in 1841
Petty - Sir William .. born 26th May 1623 died 1687 .. U.K ..... author of Political Arithmetic, the FIRST book on vital statistics. He was also one of the FIRST members of the Royal Society
Pullman - Philip ..... born October 19th 1946 ..... U.K ..... FIRST children's author to win the Whitbread Prize - for The Amber Spyglass
*** R
Racine Jean-Baptiste .. born 1639 died 1699 ..... FRANCE ..... FIRST French playwright, born without rank or money, to rise to the level of a courtier, a noble and a man of means and influence
Roger - Peter Mark ..... born 18th January 1779 ..... U.K ..... English physician who compiled the FIRST and definitive Thesauras of English Words and Phrases
Russell - William Howard ..... FIRST war correspondent
*** S
Saxton - Christopher ..... surveyor who created the FIRST printed Atlas of England and Wales which was printed between 1579 and 1590. The Atlas was a landmark in Elizabethan cartography as for the first time it showed a picture of England's geography in its entirety
Sky At Night .. the world's FIRST astronomy magazine and is edited by Patrick Moore
Stephen Sir Leslie .. born 28th November 1832 died 1904 .. U.K ..... FIRST editor of The Dictionary of National Biography. He was married to W.M.Thackerays younger daughter and his own younger daughter was the author Virginia Woolf
*** T
Tanner - Paul Anthony .. born 18th March 1935 .. U.K ..... his thesis The Use Of Wonder In Naivety In American Literature, was the FIRST on an American subject to be accepted by the Cambridge English Faculty. It made such an impression that, after taking his doctorate in 1964, he was almost immediately appointed to an assistant lectureship at Cambridge
Tennyson - Alfred ..... born1809 died 1892 ..... U.K ..... FIRST poet to be awarded a peerage when he became 1st Baron Tennyson. On November 19th 1850 he was appointed Poet Laureate, succeeding William Wordsworth and held the office for nearly 42 years
The Records of Love, or Weekly Amusements for the Fair ..... the FIRST women's fiction magazine which ran for twelve issues in 1710
*** U
Udall - Nicholas ..... born 1504 died 1556 ..... U.K ..... English schoolmaster and playwright who was the author of Ralph Roister Doister, c1533, the FIRST known English comedy
*** W
Waverley ..... the FIRST historical novel was written by Sir Walter Scott and published in 1814
Webster Noah .. born 16th October 1758 died 1843 .. U.S.A ..... American lexicographer who gave his name to the FIRST complete American dictionary
Weekly Summary - The .. in 1892 it was the FIRST newspaper to be printed in Braille
Wright - Richard ..... born 1908 died 1960 ..... U.S.A ..... novelist who was one of the FIRST to depict the conditions of black people in 20th century US society with Native Son (1940) and the autobiography Black Boy (1945)