NFL kickers

Polish immigrant Pete Gogolak is regarded as the first soccer-style kicker in U.S. football. He joined the Buffalo Bills in 1964 and revolutionized football's kicking game. By the 1970s, the majority of kickers in the NFL were sidewinders. Mark Moseley was the NFL's last straight-ahead kicker.
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Famous Firsts

The first oil well was struck in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. The discovery of oil in the middle of quiet farm country in northwestern Pennsylvania was known as the Drake Well, after "Colonel" Edwin Drake, the man responsible for the well. The oil discovery set off a worldwide search for petroleum.
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Famous Firsts

According to WebsiteOptimzation.com, China officially passed the U.S. in total broadband lines during the third quarter of 2006, and now has the largest subscriber base in the world. The U.S. and China are followed by Japan, South Korea, Germany, and France in total broadband lines per country.
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Wal-Mart

Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. Walton began his career in retailing working for JC Penney in the 1940s after graduating from the University of Missouri. During these years Walton developed his sales volume business model which would be the foundation of success for Wal-Mart over the next several decades. Sam Walton retired as Wal-Mart CEO in February 1988.
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Leonardo da Vinci

The famous painting "Baptism of Christ" was commissioned by the San Salvi monks of Florence. The painting was completed during the early 1470s by artist Andrea del Verrocchio with help from his twenty three year-old assistant named Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo's work on this painting is the first documented work of the great Italian Renaissance artist and scientist.
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Famous Firsts

"One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine." -- Sir William Osler.
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The first integrated circuit

Texas Instruments researcher Jack Kilby developed the first integrated circuit in the summer of 1958. Working alone in the TI lab, Kilby refined his idea to make chip components out of the same block of semiconductor material. In September 1958, he demonstrated the world's first integrated circuit, which worked perfectly in all tests.
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The first American sports car

The Chevrolet Corvette, the first modern American sports car, was introduced in June 1953 by General Motors. The development of the Corvette was inspired by European cars such as the MG, Jaguar, and Alfa Romeo. The first Corvettes were only available in white with red interior. The suggested retail price was $3,490.
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The automatic transmission

The automatic transmission was based on technology first developed in the early 1900s by German manufacturers of marine engines. The first automatic transmission for automobiles was developed by General Motors in 1938. The 1940 Oldsmobile featured GM's new automatic transmission called "Hydra-Matic" drive. Automatic transmission was a common feature on most American cars by 1948.
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The first roller coasters

The first roller coasters were created in Russia in the 1600s. People rode down steep ice slides on large sleds made from either wood or ice that were slowed with sand at the end of the ride. The first modern-day roller coaster in the United States was built at Coney Island, New York in June 1884. The ride was called the Switchback Railway and was designed by La Marcus Thompson.
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Traffic radar

In 1948, the Glastonbury Police in Connecticut became the first police force to use radar for traffic speed enforcement. It took two Glastonbury police officers to operate the microwave S-band traffic radar system. The first unfortunate driver to be ticketed by the radar device was never recorded.
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The first Father's Day

The first Father's Day celebration was held in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910. Sonora Smart Dodd came up with the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday of June.
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Garfield

Garfield first appeared on comic pages on June 19, 1978. Garfield was created by cartoonist Jim Davis as a humorous strip centered around the lives of a fat, lazy, cynical orange cat who loves lasagna, coffee, and his remote control. The comic strip appears in over 2,570 newspapers and is read daily by 263 million people around the world.
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Famous Firsts

Starbucks first opened for business at Seattle's Pike Place Market in 1971. Starbucks operated solely as a coffee roasting facility until 1982 when the owners began marketing their coffee to upscale restaurants, cafes, and hotels. Inspired by Italian cafes, the owners opened their first retail coffee bar in Seattle in 1985. By 1987, seventeen Starbucks Cafes were established.
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Movies

The first commercial movie theatre in the U.S. opened for business in June 1905. The "Nickelodeon Theatre" on Smithfield Street in in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hosted four hundred people its first day of business, each paying 5 cents to see a 15-minute moving picture show. Within a couple of years, thousands of movie theatres opened in cities across the country.
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Cool

The first use of the slang word "cool" occurred in America during early 1930s. The use of cool as "under control", "positive", and "having attitude" has been a mainstream part of English slang since World War II. The term cool has even been adapted into other languages, such as French and German.
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The first national debt

The United State registered its first national debt in 1791 when it owed creditors $75 million dollars. The national debt steadily decreased to its lowest historical level of $45 million dollars in 1811. Since then, the debt has increased, especially during times of pronounced government spending. The current national debt is over $11 trillion dollars and climbing
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"Call me Ishmael"

According to the 100 Best First Lines of Novels as chosen by the editors of American Book Review, the best first line of a novel is "Call me Ishmael" from the book "Moby-Dick". American author Herman Melville's whaling adventure dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne was first published in 1851.
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The City of Firsts

There are three cities in the United States that have adopted the motto "The City of Firsts." Based on invention, innovation, and historical firsts, government leaders in Springfield, Massachusetts, Kokomo, Indiana, and Lynn, Massachusetts have all made this moniker their city motto.
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Whiskey

The Reverend Elijah Craig distilled the first "Bourbon" whiskey in June 1789. Craig's corn-mash whiskey was shipped to market in oak barrels, thus after his whiskey made the long trip it had taken on a light caramel color from the oak. Craig coined the name Bourbon after the Kentucky county in which he distilled his sprits.
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Married in the White House

President Grover Cleveland was the first and only U.S. President to be married in the White House. He married Frances Folsom in the White House in June 1886. President Cleveland was also the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later. Cleveland lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888. He defeated incumbent Harrison in 1892.
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Country Music Hall of Fame

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1961 and has been located in Nashville, Tennessee since 1967. The first inductees into the County Music Hall were ceremoniously enshrined at the Grand Ole Opry in 1961. The first class of inductees to the Hall included: Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, and Fred Rose.
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The first Pulitzer Prizes

Nineteenth Century journalist and iconic newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer established in his 1904 will the provision for the Pulitzer Prizes as incentive for journalistic excellence. The first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in 1917 to Herbert Bayard Swope (reporting), the New York Tribune (editorial), J.J. Jusserand (history), Laura E. Richards and Maude Howe Elliott (biography).
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The first Tour de France

The first Tour de France bike race began back in 1903 with Maurice Garin winning the race among sixty riders. The race initially began as a magazine publicity stunt. Riders were expected to push themselves and ride day and night over the 2,500 km race taking place across 19 days in six stages. The bike race won instant popularity.
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Famous Firsts

Leonardo da Vinci illustrated the concept of a "contact" lens in 1508. Fitted glass contact lenses were developed in the late 1800s and evolved to hard plastic lenses in the 1950s. The first soft plastic contact lenses were introduced to the masses in 1971 by Bausch and Lomb. The first disposable contact lenses were introduced in 1991.
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First African-American Major Leaguers

Jackie Robinson made national news in 1947 when he became the first African-American baseball player in Major League Baseball. Robinson joined the National League Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 28. Larry Doby signed with the Cleveland Indians later that same year to become the American League's first African-American player.
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The first compact disk for commercial release

New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen's 1984 landmark album "Born in the USA" sold more than 18 million copies worldwide. Classic songs from the album include the title track, "I'm on Fire", "Glory Days", "Dancing in the Dark", and "My Hometown." The album also has the distinction of being the first compact disk pressed in the United States for commercial release.
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