Clones

In 1952, Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King produced the first successful clone experiment. The two research biologists successfully cloned frogs using a method of cell-nucleus transfer. This remarkable event set off two decades of scientific research in cloning that led to the cloning of sheep, cows, mice and other mammals.
More Famous Firsts

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first American citizen to be become a canonized saint. Elizabeth Bayley Seton was canonized by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975. A converted Roman Catholic, Elizabeth Seton established the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, the Daughters of Charity of Saint Joseph, and helped create hospitals, orphanages and parochial schools.
More Famous Firsts

National mail service

The U.S. Post Office began the first free national mail service in 1902. To deal with the challenging array of homemade and semi-functional mailboxes, the Post Office specified and approved mailboxes bearing the "Approved by the Postmaster General" mark. Patrons were asked to keep their mailboxes "buggy high" and within easy reach of the carriers.
More Famous Firsts

First policewoman

Alice Stebbins Wells, a graduate theology student and a social worker, joined the Los Angeles Police Department as the nation's first policewoman on September 12, 1910. She was allowed to design her own uniform and was active in promoting the need for policewomen in other forces. As a result of her efforts, seventeen departments in American were employing policewomen by 1916.
More Famous Firsts

The First Bank of the U.S.

Alexander Hamilton conceived The First Bank of the United States in the late 1780s. This was done to address the government's massive Revolutionary War debt and to create a standard form of currency in all the states. The bank was very controversial in the fledgling constitutional republic. Despite the debate the bank was built in the U.S. capital of Philadelphia.
More Famous Firsts

ESPN

Entertainment Sports Programming Network (ESPN) went on the air on September 7, 1979. The first show on the 24 hour all sports network was a slow-pitch softball game between the Kentucky Bourbons and the Milwaukee Schlitzes. ESPN was founded by Bill and Scott Rasmussen. The network also received investment money from the Getty Oil Corporation.
More Famous Firsts

Oprah

The Oprah Winfrey Show is the longest-running daytime television talk show in the United States. The nationally syndicated show produced by Oprah Winfrey is the highest-rated talk show in American television history. The Chicago-based show's first national broadcast occurred on September 8, 1986.
More Famous Firsts