23rd
1857 ….. U.S.A ..... the FIRST elevator in a department store went into operation at Haughwout and Company on Broadway, New York
1861 ….. U.K ..... Londoners were introduced to their very FIRST tram by George Francis Train, an American, who felt that "the people's carriage" would be welcomed by all. He laid tracks along the Bayswater Road and declared optimistically that "since the public have, at my expense, the use of a pair of greys and an elegant carriage large enough for the entire family for 3d each, I cannot think that anyone would wish to throw any impediment in the way of introducing so great a luxury as "the people's carriage". However road users found the tramlines a nuisance and he had to remove them. It wasn't until the Tramways Act of 1870 that the tram became an accepted part of the London scene 1891 ….. U.K ..... goal nets, the invention of J A Brodie, were used for the FIRST time in an F. A Cup Final 1928 ….. U.K ..... the FIRST children's Saturday matinees were at The Empire, Willesden. The audience of 2000 children paid 3d each to watch several films. The main feature was Robinson Crusoe 1965 ….. SPACE ..... the American astronaut Virgil Grissom, became the FIRST man to be launched into space for the second time in the FIRST American two-man spaceflight. His first flight was in the second manned Mercury capsule in 1961 but he did not go into orbit. In the first of the 2 man Gemini capsules he made his first orbital flight. He died in a spacecraft in 1967 during a rehearsal for what would have been the FIRST manned flight of the Apollo programme. 1966 ….. ITALY ..... the FIRST official meeting for 400 years between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches took place in Rome between Pope Paul V1 and Dr Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury 1978 ….. U.K ..... Helena Wojtczak of Ramsgate, Kent, became the FIRST female British Rail train guard 1994 ….. U.K ..... Barbara Skeggs became the FIRST woman High Sheriff of Northumberland, breaking 1000 years of tradition1995 ….. U.K ..... Rose Ashkenazi became the FIRST Army Air Corps woman to fire a Target Optically Wired missile
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