1st
1468 ….. U.K ..... William Caxton began working on the FIRST book printed by an Englishman
1692 ….. U.S.A ..... Salem ..... Tituba became the FIRST person to confess to being an active practitioner of witchcraft
1711 ..... U.K ..... the FIRST edition of The Spectator was published
1810 ..... SWEDEN ..... Lars August Mannerheim became the FIRST Ombudsman when appointed as Swedish Justititie Ombudsman
1880 ..... U.S.A ..... Pennsylvania was the FIRST state to abolish slavery
1892 ..... U.K ..... St Michael And All Angels College had its FIRST home in Abernant House, Aberdare, and was inaugurated on this day with the legendary 'Tad' Johnson as the first Warden. The inspiration and the money to found a theological college in Wales came from Olivia Emma Talbot of Margam Castle. In 1907 the College was established in a new home in Llandaff but a German land-mine shattered the buildings in 1941 and a refuge was found for the College until the buildings could be restored. There have been many changes over the years and women are now included and also married students with their families
1896 ..... FRANCE ..... Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered rays produced by uranium, the FIRST observation of natural radioactivity. This led to the isolation of radium and was the beginning of modern nuclear physics. In 1903 he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Pierre and Marie Curie
1912 ..... U.S.A ..... 'Capt' Albert Berry made the FIRST parachute descent from an aeroplane - a Benoist biplane - flying at 1500' over Jefferson Barracks, America
1931 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST television station to show films on a regular basis in America was the De Forest Radio Corporation, W2XCD bassaic, New Jersey
1947..... U.K ..... “Greetings, jazz fans” opened the BBC’s FIRST weekly half-hour of what they called ‘music in the jazz idiom coming to to you from the heart of London’s West End’ The producer was Mark White and Harry Parry was the host with his famous Sextet
1952 ..... U.S.A ..... Sun 174 - Blues In My Condition/Sellin' My Whiskey by Jackie Boy and Little Walter, became the FIRST release for Sun Records
1954 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST American hydrogen bomb was ‘officially’ detonated at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, some 17 months after the first reported tests
1961 ..... U.S.A ..... the Peace Corps was FIRST established by President J F Kennedy. Eventually it became a permanent United States government agency under the Department of State. The aim of the Corps was to train men and women who could be sent overseas to help foreign countries in need of help. The volunteers have to be U.S. citizens, over 18 years of age and prepared to serve for 2 years. The Corps was awarded the Ramon Maysaysay Award two years after its foundation, making it the FIRST non-Asian group to win this award
1966 ..... SPACE ..... the FIRST spacecraft to land on another planet was the Russian craft Venus 111 which landed on Venus on this day
1967..... U.K ..... overseas direct dialling from New York to London and Paris was FIRST put into use
1999 ….. U.K ..... the FIRST of the new two-yearly car numbering system in Britain began. The next date for registration would be 1st September
2000 ….. U.K ..... the FIRST admission-paying members of the public rode on the Millennium Wheel in London
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