List of Pennsylvania firsts

List of Pennsylvania firsts

Pennsylvania was the "second state", but it was first in many respects:

Firsts

* 1688 — First public protest of slavery in America, Germantown, (now part of Philadelphia) [ [http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_slav3.htm Christianity and Slavery] ]
* 1731 — First subscription library, Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin
* 1743 — First institution devoted to science, the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia [ [http://www.amphilsoc.org/about/ American Philosophical Society] ]
* 1748 — First Lutheran church body in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium
* 1754 — First (and only) surrender by George Washington, Fort Necessity [ [http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet_george/index.cfm/ss/21/ George Washington biography] ]
* 1755 — Continental Marines founded, Tun Tavern, Philadelphia; now known as U.S. Marine Corps [ [http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_heritage.htm USMC Heritage] ]
* 1762 — First lectures on anatomy in North America, Dr. William Shippen, Philadelphia [ [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1700s/people/shippen_wm_jr.html William Shippen] ]
* 1765 — First medical school, Penn's Medical School (now The University of Pennsylvania), which made Penn the first educational institution to become a university in the United States, Philadelphia [ [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1700s/people/morgan_john.html John Morgan] ]
* 1777 — First United States Capital, Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the first capital under the First Continental Congress from September 5, 1774 to October 24, 1774. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the first capital under the Articles of Confederation from March 1, 1781 to June 21, 1783. [http://www.med.upenn.edu/globalhealth/documents/WebVersionPhila122004.pdf] [ [http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_first_capital_of_the_US WikiAnswers - What was the first capital of the US ] ] [ [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041210.html The Straight Dope: York, Pennsylvania: First capital of the United States? ] ]
* 1780 — First abolition law, while the state capital was in Philadelphia [ [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/statutes/pennst01.htm Avalon project: An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery] ]
* 1784 — First successful daily newspaper, "The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser", Philadelphia [http://media.experiencepa.com/firsts.aspx?site=ExperiencePA Pennsylvania Firsts, The Famous, Infamous and Quirky of the Keystone State] ]
* 1786 — First vessel ever moved by steam, Delaware River at Philadelphia, by John Fitch [ [http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/westcott/ John Fitch, inventor of the steam ship] ]
* 1790 — First stock exchange in America, Philadelphia [ [http://www.phlx.com/Exchange/history.html History of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange] ]
* 1792 — First United States Mint, Philadelphia [ [http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_mint.htm U.S. Mint] ]
* 1794 — First African Methodist Episcopal church, Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia [ [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/548/The_First_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_founded First AME Church] ]
* 1795 — First turnpike in the United States, Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike
* 1796 — First suspension bridge, Uniontown by James Finley [http://www.icomos.org/studies/bridges.htm#13 Suspension bridges] ]
* 1805 — First art institution in America, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia [ [http://www.pafa.org/archive.jsp PAFA History] ]
* 1805 — First covered bridge in America, the Market Street Bridge (a.ka.a. "the Permanent Bridge"), Philadelphia
* 1816 — First wire cable suspension bridge, near Philadelphia, by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard
* 1821 — First Pharmacy school, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (now part of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia) [ [http://www.usip.edu/aboutUSP/ About USP] ]
* 1845 — First T-rail rolled in United States, Danville
* 1856 — First national convention for the Republican Party, Musical Fund Hall, Philadelphia
* 1859 — First successful oil well, Titusville (Edwin L. Drake)
* 1861 — First pretzel factory, Julius Sturgis, Lititz [ [http://www.albright.edu/reporter/fall01/sturgis01.html Sturgis Pretzel House] ]
* 1862 — First Civil War battle north of the Mason-Dixon Line, Hanover, J.E.B. Stuart vs. George Armstrong Custer
* 1866 — First mill in the United States dedicated exclusively to the process of making steel, Steelton Plant, near Harrisburg [ [http://alpha.dickinson.edu/departments/amos/mosaic96/historic.html Historic Steelton, Pennsylvania] ]
* 1873 — First Roller Coaster, Jim Thorpe [http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/history/start/america.shtml]
* 1874 — First zoo, Philadelphia (chartered in 1859)
* 1876 — First World's Fair in the United States, the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia
* 1877 — First department store opened, Wanamaker's, Philadelphia
* 1879 — First non-reservation school for Native Americans, Carlisle, Carlisle Indian School
* 1881 — First community illuminated by electricity, Philipsburg
* 1883 — First successful three-wire electric lighting system, Sunbury
* 1884 — First taxi service, Philadelphia
* 1901 — First escalator in US, Philadelphia
* 1903 — First World Series, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pirates vs Boston Red Sox
* 1913 — First coast-to-coast highway, Lincoln Highway
* 1919 — First Thanksgiving Day Parade, Philadelphia
* 1920 — First commercial radio station, KDKA (AM) (Pittsburgh)
* 1922 — First municipal airport, Clarion, Parker D. Cramer airfield
* 1924 — First woman to serve as Speaker of a State House of Representatives, Alice M. Bentley
* 1932 — First totally air conditioned building, Philadelphia, PSFS Building
* 1933 — First American-born bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church, September 10 1933, consecration of Benjamin (Basalyga) of Olyphant
* 1933 — First baseball stadium built for a Black team, Pittsburgh, Greenlee Stadium
* 1933 — First African-American woman to be elected a State Legislator, Crystal Bird Fauset
* 1939 — First Little League Baseball Game on June 6, Williamsport, PA.
* 1946 — First large-scale, electronic, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems, ENIAC, at The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
* 1947 — First Little League World Series Williamsport, PA.
* 1948 — First cable television system, Mahanoy City
* 1952 — First indoor zoo - National Aviary, Pittsburgh
* 1957 — First American commercial nuclear generator, Shippingport Atomic Power Station
* 1970 — First African American female Secretary of State, Dr. C. DeLores Tucker, appointed under Gov. Milton Shapp
* 1974 — First successful siamese twin separation, Philadelphia, Clara and Altagracia Rodriguez, at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
* 1977 — First African-American to serve as speaker of a state House of Representatives, K. Leroy Irvis of Pittsburgh
* 1976 — First automotive bridge to be named for a woman, Betsy Ross Bridge, Philadelphia
* 1976 — First museum for young children, The "Please Touch Museum for Children" in Philadelphia
* 1999 — First license plate with a web site address [http://community.wvu.edu/~ast002/plates/plate-urls.html]
* 2003 — First Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, January 24, 2003, Tom Ridge
* 2007 — First picketing by the UMWA against any PA mine safety agency occurred in Uniontown, PA on September 14, 2007 against the PA Bureau of Mine Safety over a safety issue at the Cumberland Mine. "Connelsville Daily Courier" [http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MineRescue/message/5649]

Inventions and innovations

*Bifocal glasses (1784 by Benjamin Franklin)
*Daylight Saving Time (Franklin)
*Odometer (Franklin)
*Stove (Franklin)
*Discovered the Gulf Stream (Franklin)
*Electricity (Franklin)
*Zipper (Lewis Walker)
*Ferris wheel (1892/1893 by George Ferris of Pittsburgh)- at the World's Fair (Columbian Exposition) in Chicago.
*Accordion — patented in 1854 by Anthony Faas.
*Root beer — 1876.
*Cheesesteak by Pat and Harry Olivieri of Philadelphia in 1930.
*Cream cheese — in ConcordvilleFact|date=February 2007
*Pencil with an attached eraser — 1858 by Hyman L. Lipma.
*Paper towels — 1931 by Arthur Scott of Philadelphia.
*Typewriter — 1881, Kittanning - by J.D. Daugherty.
*Revolving door — 1888 by Theophilus Van Kannel.
*Chlorine (bleaching powder) — 1847 by Charles Lennig.
*Carborundum (silicon carbide) — 1891 by E.G. Acheson of Monongahela City.
*Zippo lighter — 1932 by George G. Blaisdell in Bradford.
*Banana split — 1904, by Dr. David Strickler, a pharmacist at Strickler's Drug Store in Latrobe.
*Bingo — 1920's, Pittsburgh, by Hugh J. Ward. (Copyrighted in 1924)
*Bubblegum — 1928, Philadelphia, by Walter E. Diemer.
*Slinky — 1945, Richard James, Philadelphia (now made in Hollidaysburg)
*Polio vaccine — 1952 by Jonas Salk (in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh), Pittsburgh
*Automatic snow-making machine — 1956 by John Guresh.
*Diabetic "dip and read" tests — 1956 by Helen Murray Free (born in Pittsburgh, 1923), and Alfred Free.
*Big Mac — 1967, in Uniontown, by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchise holder, although credit is wrongly given to the city of Pittsburghfact|date=July 2008. (The Big Mac went nationwide in 1968).

ee also

*Buildings and architecture of Philadelphia
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania

References