Be the First?

In honor of those who decided to "Be the First" as well as other "Firsts" of all kinds, we have created a list of interesting "Firsts." Test yourself and your friends on these historic events and inventions:

Celebrating being the "First"! Who, What, When, or Where Was the First ...?

Be the First - Firsts in Space:

What was the first artificial satellite in space?
A: Sputnik, October 4, 1957 launched by the USSR.
What was the first American made satellite in space?
A: Explorer I, January 31, 1958.
Who was the first person in space?
A: Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin , April 12, 1961.
Who was the first American in space?
A: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., May 5, 1961, during the Mercury space program.
Who was the first man on the moon?
A: Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 space mission.
How many men have walked on the moon?
A: Twelve.
What was the name of the first lunar lander?
A: The Eagle.
Where did man first land on the moon?
A: The Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquilitatis).

Be the First - Firsts in Science:

Where and when were the first fireworks invented?
A: The Chinese, 2500 to 2000 years ago.
When was the first postal service?
A: In China, 900 B.C.
Who invented the first steam engine and in what year?
A: Heron of Alexandria invented a steam powered rotating ball in circa 100 AD. This is the first recorded steam power.
Who were the first Europeans to master fireworks?
A: The Italians, After Marco Polo brought gunpowder and fireworks from China.
Who were the first people to discover cancer?
A: Ancient Egyptians in 1500 B.C. have the earliest documented case of cancer.
Who invented the first microscope?
A: Anton van Leeuwenhoek of Holland is considered the inventor of the modern microscope.
Who discovered penicillin?
A: Alexander Fleming in 1929.
Who developed the first vaccine for polio?
A: Jonas Salk in 1952.
Who developed the first television?
A: Philo Farnsworth is most often credited with the invention of the modern television.
Who invented the first digital computer?
A: John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry developed the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) at Iowa State University, which was regarded as the first electronic digital computer.
In what year was the first computer invented?
A: It was built 1939.
What is the name of the first spreadsheet program?
A: "VisiCalc" was the first computer spreadsheet program released to the public in 1979.
Who created the first laptop?
A: It was Alan Kay who work for Xerox, he created the Dynabook.
When was the first laptop created?
A: Early 1970s.
Who invented the first video game?
A: William Higinbotham, "Tennis for Two" in 1958.
Who invented the internet?
A: Originally developed by Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) for the Department of Defense.

Be the First - First Explorers:

Who was the first European to discover the Americas?
A: Leif Erikson about 1002.A.D.
Who was the first person to reach the North Pole?
A: Robert Peary in 1909.
Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?
A: Roald Amundsen in 1911.
Who was the first man to climb Mount Everest?
A: Edmund Hillary in 1953.
Who was the first to sail around the world?
A: Ferdinand Magellan in 1519.

Be the First - Firsts in American History:

When was the first thanksgiving?
A: 1621
What is the First Amendment?
A: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Who wrote the First Amendment?
A: James Madison in 1789.
What did the first American flag look like?
A: On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: "Resolved, that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."
What was the first name given to the Liberty Bell?
A: The "State House Bell."
What is the name of the first atomic submarine?
A: USS Nautilus (SSN-571) is the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine.
When was the first atomic submarine launched?
A: 1954
Who invented baseball?
A: Alexander Cartwright in 1845.

Be the First - Miscellaneous Firsts:

Who founded the first library?
A: The Greeks in 530 B.C.
When is the first day of Spring?
A: Spring begins when the Vernal Equinox occurs, March 20, 2011.
When is the first day of Fall?
A: Fall starts when the Autumnal Equinox occurs, September 23, 2011.
Who was the first black coach in the NFL?
A: Fritz Pollard in 1922.
Who wrote the first English dictionary?
A: Robert Cawdery in 1604.

Be the First - Who Invented It?

Who invented velcro?
A: Velcro® brand hook and loop fastener was invented by a man named George de Mestral in the 1940's.
Who invented the computer?
A: John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry.
Who invented basketball?
A: James Naismith was the Canadian physical education instructor in 1891.
Who invented the mp3 player?
A: In April 1989 - Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft received a German patent for MP3.
Who invented the internet?
A: Originally developed by Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) for the Department of Defense.
Who invented the television?
A: Philo Farnsworth is most often credited with the invention of the modern television.
Who invented the first steam engine and in what year?
A: Heron of Alexandria invented a steam powered rotating ball in circa 100 AD. This is the first recorded steam power.
Who invented football?
A: Willie Tidwell and Walter Camp are both credited as the inventors of American football.
Who invented video games?
A: William Higinbotham with his "Tennis for Two" in 1958.
Who invented soccer?
A: The first indications of an early formal form of soccer date back 3,000 years to Ancient China.
Who invented the car?
A: Karl Benz is credited as the "Inventor of the modern automobile" in 1885.
Who invented the telephone?
A: In the 1870s, two inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically (the telephone). Both men rushed their respective designs to the patent office within hours of each other, Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone first. Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell entered into a famous legal battle over the invention of the telephone, which Bell won.
Who invented Coca Cola?
A: Dr. John Pemberton in May 1886.
Who invented the world wide web?
A: The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau in 1990. In 1989, while working at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), both men made proposals for hypertext systems. In 1990 they joined forces and wrote a joint proposal in which the term "World Wide Web" is used for the first time. In late 1990 and early 1991, Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser.
Who invented the toilet?
A: Although Thomas Crapper filed nine toilet-related patents from 1881 to 1896, he isn’t the father of the modern flush toilet. Sir John Harington beat Crapper to the punch nearly 300 years earlier with his revolutionary water closet design, which he illustrated in 1596.
Who invented gunpowder?
A: The earliest mention of gunpowder dates to 142 AD during the rule of the Han dynasty. A Chinese alchemist named Wei Boyang was the first to have provided any written account of gunpowder.
Who invented Daylight Savings Time?
A: Daylight Savings Time was invented by George Vernon Hudson, an entomologist in New Zealand, in the late 1800s.
Who invented the computer mouse?
A: The computer mouse as we know it today was invented and developed by Douglas Englebart during the 60's and was patented on November 17, 1970.
Who invented printing?
A: The earliest dated printed book was printed in China in 868 AD. However, it is suspected that book printing may have occurred long before this date. In 1041, movable clay type was first invented in China. Johannes Gutenberg invented the modern printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436. His invention is credited with the revolution in the production of books, sciences, the arts, and religion.
Who invented the zipper?
A: The modern zipper is credited to Gideon Sunback, 1917.
Who invented plastic?
A. Inventor Alexander Parkes created Parkesine, the first man-made plastic in 1856.

Be the First - Sources:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/first-person-on-moon.html
http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquility_Base
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/space-exploration/early-manned-spaceflight.html
http://www.whoguides.com/who-invented-fireworks
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_the_steam_engine_invented#ixzz17Yj1unp9
http://cancer.about.com/od/historyofcancer/a/cancerhistory.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventions/a/microscope.htm
http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm52sa.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_communication.htm
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpolio.htm
http://www.cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-archive.shtml
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa010199.htm
http://www.essortment.com/all/whoinventedfir_rskl.htm
http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/who-invented-the-first-computer
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5801076_first-laptop-computer-invented_.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm
http://startacellphonebusiness.com/articles/when-was-the-first-mobile-phone-invented-.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_invented_the_Internet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Ericson
http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/magellan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen's_South_Pole_expedition
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_was_the_first_person_to_reach_the_North_Pole
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/firstamendment/f/first_amendment.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/libertybell/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_%28SSN-571%29
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html
http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2817/Pollard-Fritz.html
http://www.hookandloop.com/extra/inventionnew.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbasketball.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/who-invented-the-ipod.html
http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventions/a/MPThree.htm
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/chronicle_birth_refreshing_idea.html
http://www.suite101.com/content/who-invented-football-a136704
http://footballs.fifa.com/Fussballfakten?gclid=CNSo6-mC4KUCFUHt7Qod7l_G0A
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/who-invented-the-first-ever-car.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm#patent
http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/telephone.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/who-invented-gunpowder.html
http://www.whoinventedit.net/who-invented-daylight-savings-time.html
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001083.htm
http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/history/inventedweb.html
http://news.discovery.com/tech/who-invented-the-toilet.html
http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Gutenberg.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Parkes

You can be the first at something in your family, your school, your city, or your state! Be the first in your family to get a college degree. Be the first in your school to run a marathon, be the first in your city, state, or even the world. It's all possible with some belief and some hard work!

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