List of Pennsylvania firsts

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List of Pennsylvania firsts

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

1 Firsts
2 Inventions and innovations
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Firsts

1688 — First public protest of slavery in America, Germantown, (now part of Philadelphia)^[1]
1731 — First subscription library, Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin
1743 — First institution devoted to science, the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia^[2]
1748 — First Lutheran church body in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium
1754 — First (and only) surrender by George Washington, Fort Necessity^[3]
1755 — Continental Marines founded, Tun Tavern, Philadelphia; now known as U.S. Marine Corps^[4]
1762 — First lectures on anatomy in North America, Dr. William Shippen, Philadelphia^[5]
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^[6]
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.^[7]^[8]^[9]
1780 — First abolition law, while the state capital was in Philadelphia^[10]
1784 — First successful daily newspaper, The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia^[11]
1786 — First vessel ever moved by steam, Delaware River at Philadelphia, by John Fitch^[12]
1790 — First stock exchange in America, Philadelphia^[13]
1792 — First United States Mint, Philadelphia^[14]
1794 — First African Methodist Episcopal church, Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia^[15]
1795 — First turnpike in the United States, Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike^[16]
1796 — First suspension bridge, Uniontown by James Finley^[17]
1805 — First art institution in America, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia^[18]
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^[17]
1821 — First Pharmacy school, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (now part of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia)^[19]
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^[20]
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^[21]
1873 — First Roller Coaster, Jim Thorpe [1]
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)^[22]
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 [2]
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 [3]

[edit] 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 Concordville^{[citation needed]}
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 Pittsburgh. (The Big Mac went nationwide in 1968).