Victoria Woodhull

Victoria Woodhull became the first women to run for president years before woman could even vote. Woodhull was nominated with running mate Frederick Douglass by the Equal Rights Party for the U.S. Presidential election of 1872. Woodhull's campaign advocated ideas taken for granted today, such as the eight-hour work day, graduated income tax, and social welfare programs.
More Famous Firsts

Dr. Sally Ride

Five years after responding to NASA's call for astronauts in a Stanford University newspaper, Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on the shuttle Challenger's third mission in 1983. The once aspiring tennis pro and astrophysics doctorate began her training with NASA in 1977, assisting in the initial Challenger missions as a communications officer and design specialist.
More Famous Firsts

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones gave their first performance at the Marquee Club in London on July 12, 1962. At the time, the group consisted of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Avory, and Dick Taylor. The group performed eighteen songs that night, including "Kansas City", "I Ain't Got You", and "Back in the USA".
More Famous Firsts

ATM

Docutel Vice President Don Wetzel conceptualized the idea for the automated teller machine (ATM) while waiting in line at a Dallas bank in the late 1960s. After a five million dollar investment, a working prototype of the ATM was delivered. The first ATM was installed in 1969 by Chemical Bank at its branch in Rockville Centre, New York.
More Famous Firsts

AIDS

Scientists have traced the first confirmed AIDS-related death to Africa in 1959. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was first identified in medical literature in June 1982 in an article by Dr. Michael Gottlieb and colleagues that appeared in a Centers for Disease Control publication. The AIDS epidemic is one of the most significant health-related events of the 20th century.
More Famous Firsts

First woman elected to U.S. Congress

Jeanette Rankin was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1917, three years before women were guaranteed the Constitutional right to vote. Rankin, a republican, campaigned for universal suffrage, prohibition, child welfare reform, an end to child labor, and for staying out of the First World War. Rankin lost her seat in 1918, but was elected back into the House of Representatives in 1940.
More Famous Firsts

Monopoly

The real estate board game Monopoly was invented in 1934 by Charles B. Darrow. His first version of the game was rejected by Parker Brothers due to design flaws. After Darrow sold 5,000 handmade sets of the game to a Philadelphia department store, Parker Brothers agreed to sell the game. Since then, over 200 million Monopoly games have been sold worldwide.
More Famous Firsts