Firsts, page 9
Flamethrower
In the seventh century, Greek fire (a term coined later by western European crusaders in the thirteenth century) was projected upon enemy forces in the fashion of a modern flamethrower. The Greek fire was a weapon the Byzantines employed that was instrumental in saving Constantinople from invasions by Muslim fleets. Although previous incendiary weapons had existed, Greek fire was discharged from bronze tubes mounted on the prows of Byzantine ships. These first flamethrow ers emitted a thunderous noise as they discharged. They were insidious, and the flaming discharge adhered to whatever it struck and couldn’t be extinguished with water. The exact nature of Greek fire was a state secret known only to a small circle of Byzantine elites.
Flea Circus
In 1578, Mark Scaliot, a blacksmith and locksmith in London, England, exhibited the world’s first flea performance to the London public. Scaliot skillfully devised a miniature lock of iron, steel, and brass composed of several pieces, including a pipe key. Along with it he fastened a very small 43-link chain of gold. All the items together weighed about 1⁄10 gram. Scaliot put the device around the neck of a flea, and the flea pulled it with ease. From this demonstration of Scaliot’s great craftsmanship, the “flea circus” had begun. Scaliot went on to expand this flea circus with more acts.
Fluorescent Lamp
In 1901, American inventor Peter Cooper Hewitt patented the first mercury vapor lamp, the prototype for today’s fluorescent lamp. Hewitt, who built upon the work of the nineteenth-century German physicist Julius Plucker and glassblower Heinrich Geissler, found that by passing an electric current through a glass tube containing tiny amounts of mercury, a bluish-green light was emitted. Exciting the mercury vapor created luminescence. Hewitt and George Westinghouse, another prolific inventor, formed Cooper Hewitt Electric Company in New York City to produce the first commercial fluorescent lamps for photographic studios and industrial use.
Fly-Fishing
Around 500 B.C.E., the Macedonians in the northernmost part of ancient Greece were perhaps the world’s first fly fishermen. Their fishing was written about in the first century C.E. by Latin poet Marcus Valerius Martialis and in 200 C.E. by Roman author Claudius Aelianus. These authors wrote of people fishing in a river with a handmade fly. Aelianus described how the ancient Macedonians attached red wool and feathers to a hook. Their fishing rods (lacquered, sticklike poles) were about 6 feet long, which was the same length of the string attached with a snaring fly at the end.
Folding Stepladder
On January 7, 1862, John N. Balsley of Dayton, Ohio, patented the first folding stepladder. It was a wooden six-step device with an A-shape frame that could be folded or closed in behind the steps. (The steps themselves did not fold.) Balsley was a carpenter and inventor who replaced the typical ladder rungs with steps and attached the A-shape frame. The A-shape support behind the steps had a much wider base than the width of the steps, which provided stability. Previous to Balsley’s invention, steplad ders were not foldable for storage or ease of transporting.
Food Processor
The food processor is the brainchild of Pierre Verdan, a salesman in the early 1960s for a French catering company. Verdan noticed his commercial clients were spending a lot of time in the kitchen chopping, shredding, and mixing. His solution was a bowl with a revolving blade inside the base. In 1960, Verdan established Robot Coupe, a company to manufacture the first food processors, powered by industrial induction motors, for the catering industry. The food processor was not introduced to the domestic market until the 1970s.
Football Goalpost
On May 14, 1874, the first football goalposts were at Jarvis Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a contest that pitted McGill University of Montreal against Harvard in a game of rugby football under Harvard rules. The goalposts were H-shape, constructed with two wooden upright posts, with a crossbar connecting them. The exact dimensions of these first goalposts are not well documented, but there was one goalpost at each end of the playing field. The game was also the first international rugby football contest as well as the first instance of an admission fee charged at a collegiate sporting event.
Football Helmet
In the 1893 Army-Navy football game, Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves (who would later be named “the father of carrier aviation”) wore the first football helmet. It had been created by an Annapolis, Maryland, shoemaker after Reeves’s navy doctor advised him that he risked death or “instant insanity” if he took another kick to the head. That first flimsy helmet with earflaps was crudely made of moleskin, but Reeves figured something on his head as protection was better than nothing. This helmet also served as the basis for early aviator caps.
Football Stadium
In July 1903, ground was broken for Harvard Stadium, the first stadium specifically built for American football. Located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard Stadium is a horseshoe-shape facility that was originally built by the Aberthaw Construction Company. The first football game played there was on November 14, 1903. Dartmouth defeated Harvard 11-0. The stadium’s capacity at the time, including standing room, was near 40,000. It was also the first facility built primarily of concrete and the largest steel-reinforced concrete structure in the world at the time.
Forensic Autopsy
In 44 B.C.E., ancient Roman physician Antistius performed the first postmortem forensic examination in a criminal case as he comprehensively examined the dead body of Julius Caesar after his assassination. According to Antistius’s autopsy report, he found that only 1 of Caesar’s 23 stab wounds had proved fatal—the one to the chest. Antistius was Caesar’s personal physician and the examining doctor of the case. This was history’s first recorded application of medical knowledge to a homicide investigation.
Fork
The true origin of the fork is uncertain, but because the word fork comes from the Latin furca, for “pitch fork,” it’s likely the fork as an eating device dates to the days of ancient Greece, around 300 B.C.E.; the Romans followed shortly thereafter. Those early carving and serving forks were fairly large and made from animal bone. The Greeks’ ingenuity soon allowed for hammered-metal forks with two tines. The use of the two-tined forks prevented meat from moving or twisting during carving. The metal forks used by ancient Greeks didn’t make it to the Western world until around the tenth century.
Fortune Cookie
Despite the fact that they’re often served in Asian restaurants, fortune cookies are actually an American invention that originated in California in the early 1900s. The well-known cookie is folded and baked around a piece of paper on which a saying, a series of lucky numbers, or a fortune is written. But who the actual inventor was, and in which California city they were initially developed, continue to be a matter of debate. One account has the cookie invented in 1914 in San Francisco by a Japanese immigrant named Makoto Hagiwara. His cookies included a thank you note inside and were displayed at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition at the 1915 San Francisco’s World’s Fair. Another account claims David Jung, founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company, invented the cookie in Los Angeles in 1918.
Franchise
In 1932, Howard Johnson’s opened the first business in what would become the Howard Johnson’s franchise. The business, a restaurant in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, soon became known for its ice cream. The chain got its start in 1925 when Howard Dearing Johnson, the proprietor of a drugstore and eatery in Quincy, Massachusetts, started making homemade ice cream to sell at soda fountains. Unable to finance additional selling outlets on his own, he franchised the formulas for his ice cream and other specialties. Johnson’s concept spread to hundreds of locations, and a central commissary supplied all the franchisees with food and ingredients so the quality remained consistent from franchise to franchise.
Fraternity
Aside from the guilds or sometimes-called fraternities of the Middle Ages, it was on December 5, 1776, that Phi Beta Kappa fraternity was founded at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. This first American college fraternity was conceived by five young undergraduate men. At its first meeting on January 5, 1777, four additional men were selected to join and they, along with the five founders, were the first to obligate themselves to preserve the secrets of the fraternity. The group established a secret handshake, a ritual, a badge, and a motto that’s remained unchanged: “Philosophy the Guide of Life.”
Frisbee
In 1871, New England college students played with the first Frisbies. (The spelling would later change to Frisbee.) The students tossed and caught empty pie tins for fun and games. The tins bore the words Frisbie’s Pies and had six small holes in a centered star pattern that produced a hum as the Frisbies flew through the air. The Frisbies were a by-product of the Frisbie Baking Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, which produced and sold pies in the area. It wasn’t until July 1958 that the Wham-O toy company officially marketed the Frisbee, an aerodynamically improved plastic version of the early Frisbie.
Frozen Food
On March 6, 1930, Clarence Birdseye made frozen foods a practical reality in Springfield, Massachusetts, when his products, the first retail frozen foods, were test-marketed in 18 retail outlets. Although frozen food has always existed in climates that were cold enough for the food to freeze, Birdseye found a way to flash-freeze foods and deliver them to the public. His first frozen foods included 18 cuts of meat, spinach, peas, fruits and berries, fish fillets, and Blue point oysters.
G
Game Show
In 1924, the first game show, Pop Question, aired on the radio, not on television. Pop Question was a news quiz sponsored by Time magazine. Roy Edward Larsen, who worked at the magazine, along with Briton Hadden, the cofounder, spearheaded the game show. Each Pop Question segment lasted 15 minutes, and questions were drawn from news broadcasts. A short time after they were asked, the answers would be given. Listeners played along at home, trying to come up with the correct answers before they were announced. Pop Question aired until 1925.
Garbage Bag
In 1950, Canadians Harry Wasylyk and Larry Hansen invented the green plastic garbage bag. These first green polyethylene garbage bags were intended for commercial rather than home use. The Winnipeg (Manitoba) General Hospital bought the first ones. The concept of disposable garbage bags caught on, and Wasylyk and Hansen were able to sell their invention to a big company, the Union Carbide Company in Lindsay, Ontario, where Hansen worked. The company later manufactured the bags under the name Glad Garbage Bags. They were for home use and first available in 1969.
Gas Engine
On May 25, 1844, Stuart Perry of New York patented the first engine using turpentine gas as fuel. Perry received an additional patent in 1846. (In addition to Perry’s two patents, it’s estimated that more than 100,000 patents went into creating the modern automobile.) Perry constructed an internal combustion engine with a two-cycle method of operation, and he also invented both air- and water-cooled gas engines.
Geisha
In Japan in 1589, the first geisha were male. The Taikomochi, as they were called, were the ringmasters of the brothel night life. They were expected to be extremely funny, and they loved to bring up taboo subjects for laughs. They performed their artful crafts within a walled quarter called Yanagimachi (Willow World). The first woman to call herself a geisha was Kikuya, a prostitute famous for her dancing, in 1750. The geisha had to rely on their talent as entertainers and had to follow strict rules. Any geisha accused of prostitution would be subject to an inquisition, which could result in her expulsion from the hanamachi (geisha district).
Genocide
During the fifth century B.C.E., King Ahasuerus (known also as Xerxes I) sent a decree by courier to every province in Persia. According to the Book of Esther 3:13 (King James Version), the decree ordered the local populations “to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey”—all because one man refused to bow to King Ahasuerus. The king later changed his mind, but because a royal decree could not be annulled, the king allowed the Jews to defend themselves during the attacks. Thousands were killed on both sides, but the Jews were saved from total destruction because of their piety.
Genome Map
Although there were earlier but incomplete statistical linkage maps, the first complete sequence of the human genome (an entire set of genes) was announced April 14, 2003, in Bethesda, Maryland. The map was the result of efforts of the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, led in the United States by the National Human Genome Research Institute and the Department of Energy, and sequenced the 3 billion DNA letters in the human genome. This international effort was one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings of all time.
Gentlemen’s Club
In 1693, the first gentlemen’s club, White’s, was established. Italian immigrant Francesco Bianco (a.k.a. Francis White) founded the establishment at 4 Chesterfield Street in London, England. The club’s original name was Mrs. White’s Chocolate House because it sold hot chocolate—a rare, expensive commodity at the time. The club eventually converted into a fashionable and respectable gentlemen’s club where members can come, relax, and discuss politics and other matters of the day. It’s still in existence today. Prince Charles is among its famous members.
Germ Warfare
Around 575 B.C.E., the nomadic Scythians of the Black Sea used the first form of germ or biological warfare in the form of poison-tipped arrows. The Scythians had renowned skill with the bow and arrow and at times had served as mercenaries in Greek armies. They used the decomposed bodies of several venomous adders (snakes), mixed in human blood and dung, and sealed this into vessels, which they then buried until the mixture was sufficiently putrefied. During conflicts, they jabbed the tips of their arrows into the poisonous concoction and fired at their enemies up to 1,600 feet away at the rate of about 20 arrows per minute. When the poison-tipped arrows hit human targets, they infected the victim with the bacteria of gangrene and tetanus, while the snake venom attacked red blood cells and the nervous system.
Gideon Bible
On November 10, 1908, the first Gideon Bible was placed in a room at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana. Archie Bailey, a Gideon, was an accountant and a frequent guest at the hotel. He had earlier approached the hotel manager, Mrs. Edna Wilkinson, and asked for permission to place Bibles into the rooms. When Wilkinson agreed to his request, Bailey sent an order to the Gideon headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Gideons International is a layman’s organization formed in 1899. At their 1908 convention, the Gideons proposed that they “direct their energies toward furnishing a Bible for every guest room of hotels in the country.” Gideons International still distributes Bibles to motels and hotels and have expanded their recipients to prisons, hospitals, and schools as well.
Glove
The ancient Egyptians were the first to use gloves around 1400 B.C.E. The crude, mittenlike hand coverings without finger holes were available in the shape of cloth bags with drawstrings at the wrist. Assistance from another person was needed to draw the strings. The nobility, clergy, and merchant classes often wore these first gloves, but Egyptian women also protected their hands with gloves during work and meal preparations. A linen pair of gloves was even discovered in the tomb of King Tutankhamen. Other gloves have also been discovered in the ancient pyramids of Egypt.
Gold Rush
Beginning in 1693, the first gold rush of note took place in the mountainous area of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. It quickly became a major center of mining activities after the discovery of extensive gold and diamond deposits by the Bandeirantes, who were adventurers on slave-hunting expeditions. Between 1700 and 1800, nearly 1,000 tons of gold and 3 million carats of diamonds were mined from Minas Gerais. Thousands of slaves were brought in to work the mines and to do alluvial panning, a labor-intensive process. This first gold rush was punctuated by several clashes, the most serious being the Outsiders (Emboabas) War from 1707 to 1710.
Gold-Record Recording Artist
On February 10, 1942, as a publicity stunt to publicize the achievement of 1,000,000 record sales, RCA Victor presented Glenn Miller with a master copy of “Chattanooga Choo Choo” that had been sprayed with gold lacquer. The Glenn Miller Orchestra had performed “Chattanooga Choo Choo” in late 1941 in the movie Sun Valley Serenade. The movie faded, but the popularity of the song exploded. In fewer than 90 days, more than 1 million copies of the record sold.
Golf Course
As early as the mid-fifteenth century, men were playing golf on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Although there were earlier games viewed as the ancestors of golf, the first permanent golf course originated at St. Andrews. On this first golf course, the holes were placed according to where the rolling rough terrain allowed. The course had 11 holes laid out end to end. Golfers played the holes out and then turned around and played the holes in for a total of 22 holes. In 1754, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, now known as the R. and A., was founded at St. Andrews.
