MARY BRASWELL: Looking Back at some firsts

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected].

In honor of the coming first day of the first month of a new year, here is a look at other “firsts” throughout history.

—The first published book by Stephen King was “Carrie” in 1974. This was also the first of King’s work to be made into a movie (1976).

— The Zippo Manufacturing Company was founded by George G. Blaisdell in 1932. He began work on his first Zippo lighter late that year and it was finished in January 1933. The first Zippo is on display at the Case/Zippo Museum with a note from Blaisdell himself that reads. “First Zippo lighter — do not touch.”

— Recipient of the first indictment for bank robbery went to Edward Smith in 1831. He was sentenced to five years hard labor at Sing Sing Prison.

— Actress Joanne Woodward, an Academy Award winner for “The Three Faces of Eve” (1957), was honored with the first star along Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 1960. Woodward, by the way, was a native of Thomasville.

— The first National Geographic magazine was published in October 1888.

— Happy Rabbit emerged as Bugs Bunny on July 27, 1940, and for the first time was heard saying, “What’s up, Doc?”

— On Aug. 18, 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child born in the American colonies.

— When HotWired, the first commercial web magazine, came online, it was AT&T that paid for the first ever banner ad, The ad came to life in Oct.25, 1994.

— Grover Cleveland was the first president to be married in the White House (1886).

— Diners Club cards were made of cardboard and given to about 2,000 people and accepted in 14 New York City restaurants. And so was born the first credit card.

— The first item to sell on eBay was a broken laser pointer. It brought $14.

— “The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” was presented the world’s first Platinum Record in 1976 by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling more than 1 million records.

— Steven Spielberg’s 1975 “Jaws” was the first movie to earn more than $100 million at the box office. Such a feat did not occur again until the release of “Star Wars” in 1977.

— It was 1890 when William Kemmler became the first person executed by electrocution. The death was ordered for the crime of murder by hatchet of his common-law wife.

— Margaret Gorman became the first Miss America as a representative of Washington, D.C. Gorman was 16 years old and weighed 108 pounds with measurements of 30-25-32.

— The first book ever written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss was finally published in 1937 by Vanguard Press after 27 rejections. The title: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.”

— The Beatles were the first band to print song lyrics on an album cover. They did so on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.

— Herbert Hoover was the first president born west of the Mississippi River.

— Billy Crystal was the first guest on “The Tonight Show” when Jay Leno permanently replaced Johnny Carson as host in 1992.

— Although an attempt was first made at a computer-generated movie as far back as 1979, it was not until Nov. 22, 1995 that the first completely computer-animated film was released. The movie, at a cost of $30 million, was “Toy Story.”

— On Sept. 12, 1910, Alice Stebbin Wells became the first female police officer in the United States with the power to make arrests. Wells served the Los Angeles Police Department until her retirement in 1940.

— The first public jukebox appeared on Nov. 23, 1899 at the Palais Royal Hotel in San Francisco. At a nickel per play, the machine brought in $1,000 in its first six months.

— John F. Kennedy was the first president to have been a Boy Scout.

— The first known hospital-based ambulance service was based out of Commercial Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1865. The first motor-powered ambulance was brought into service at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. It was 1899 when 500 local businessmen donated the first automobile ambulance.

— “The Bridge on the River Kwai” made William Holden the first actor to ever be paid $1 million for a role. The year was 1957.

— On April 3, 1953, a newborn named Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, eventually known as Desi Arnaz Jr., graced the cover of TV Guide’s very first issue with a cover line calling him “Lucy’s $50,000,000 Baby.”

— A 10-pack of Wrigley’s gum was the first item scanned by way of bar code at a checkout counter. The event took place on June 26, 1974 and that pack of gum now resides at the Smithsonian.

— At 2:29 p.m. on July 1, 1941, an ABC affiliate out of New York City aired the first legal television ad. The 10-second ad displayed a Bulova watch over a map of the United States with a voice-over of the company’s slogan, “America runs on Bulova time.” The cost for the advertisement was $9.

— The first issue of Playboy hit the stands in December 1953 with Marilyn Monroe as the centerfold. At 50 cents each, the nearly 60,000 copies sold out within two weeks.

— Allen Gant of North Carolina holds the honor of creating the first pantyhose in 1959. A descendant of the founder of Glenn Raven Mills, it was this company that first manufactured pantyhose.

— Kevlar, a polymer fiber that is five times stronger than the same weight of steel, was invented by Stephanie Louise Kwolek and was first marketed by DuPont in 1971.