List of Pennsylvania firsts

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2006 Pennsylvania license plate.

List of Pennsylvania firsts

Pennsylvania was the second state, but it was first in many respects:

[edit] Firsts

1688 — First public protest of slavery in America, Germantown.^[1]
1698 — The first public school in the American Colonies was established, Philadelphia.^[2] ^{Boston Latin, founded in 1635, disputes this}
1731 — First public library, Free Library of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin.^[3]_{The Boston Public Library, built in 1848, also claims to be first}
1743 — First institution devoted to science, the American Philosophical Society.^[4]
1754 — First (and only) surrender by George Washington, Fort Necessity.^[5]
1755 — Continental Marines founded, Tun Tavern, Philadelphia. Now known as U.S. Marine Corps.^[6]
1762 — First lectures on anatomy in North America, Dr. William Shippen, Philadelphia.^[7]
1765 — First medical school, Penn's Medical School (now The University of Pennsylvania.)^[8]
1777 — First United States Capital, York. Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation here to become a nation.^[9]
1780 — First abolition law.^[10]
1784 — First daily newspaper, The Pennsylvania Packet.^[11]
1786 — First vessel ever moved by steam, Delaware River at Philadelphia, by John Fitch.^[12]
1790 — First Stock Exchange in America, Philadelphia.^[13]
1792 — First United States Mint, Philadelphia.^[14]
1794 — First African Methodist Episcopal church, Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia.^[15]
1795 — First turnpike in the United States, Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike.^[16]
1796 — First suspension bridge, Uniontown by James Finley.^[17]
1805 — The first art institution in America, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.^[18]
1816 — First wire cable suspension bridge, near Philadelphia, by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard.^[17]
1821 — First Pharmacy school, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (now part of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.)^[19]
1856 — First national convention for the Republican Party, Pittsburgh.
1859 — First oil well, Titusville (Edwin L. Drake).
1861 — First pretzel factory, Julius Sturgis, Lititz.^[20]
1862 — First Civil War battle north of the Mason-Dixon Line, Hanover, J.E.B. Stuart vs. George Armstrong Custer.
1866 — First mill in the United States dedicated exclusively to the process of making steel, Steelton Plant, near Harrisburg.^[21]
1874 — First zoo, Philadelphia (chartered in 1859).
1876 — First World's Fair in the United States, the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia.
1877 — First department store opened, Wanamaker's, Philadelphia.
1879 — First non-reservation school for Native Americans, Carlisle, Carlisle Indian School.
1881 — First community illuminated by electricity, Philipsburg.
1884 — First taxi service, Philadelphia.
1901 — First escalator in US, Philadelphia.
1903 — First World Series, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pirates vs Boston Red Sox
1913 — First coast-to-coast highway, Lincoln Highway.
1919 — First Thanksgiving Day Parade, Philadelphia.
1920 — First commercial radio station, KDKA (AM)(Pittsburgh).^[22]
1922 — First municipal airport, Clarion, Parker D. Cramer airfield.
1924 — First woman to serve as Speaker of a State House of Representatives, Alice M. Bentley.
1932 — First totally air conditioned building, Philadelphia, PSFS Building.
1933 — First American-born bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church, September 10 1933, consecration of Benjamin (Basalyga) of Olyphant.
1933 — First baseball stadium built for a Black team, Pittsburgh, Greenlee Stadium.
1933 — First African-American woman to be elected a State Legislator, Crystal Bird Fauset.
1948 — First cable television system, Mahanoy City.
1952 — First indoor zoo - National Aviary, Pittsburgh.
1974 — First successful siamese twin separation, Philadelphia, Clara and Altagracia Rodriguez, at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
1977 — First African-American to serve as speaker of a state House of Representatives, K. Leroy Irvis.
1976 — First automotive bridge to be named for a woman, Philadelphia, The Betsy Ross Bridge, Philadelphia.
1976 — First museum for young children, Philadelphia, The "Please Touch Museum for Children" in Philadelphia.
2003 — First Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, January 24, 2003, Tom Ridge.

[edit] Inventions and innovations

Bifocal glasses (1784 by Benjamin Franklin)
Daylight Saving Time (Franklin)
Odometer (Franklin)
Stove (Franklin)
Discovered the Gulf Stream (Franklin)
Electricity (Franklin)
Zipper (Lewis Walker)
Ferris Wheel (1892/1893 by George Ferris of Pittsburgh)- at the World's Fair (Columbian Exposition) in Chicago.
Accordion — patented in 1854 by Anthony Faas.
Root beer — 1876.
Cream cheese — in Concordville^{[citation needed]}.
Pencil with an attached eraser — 1858 by Hyman L. Lipma.
Paper towels — 1931 by Arthur Scott of Philadelphia.
Typewriter — 1881, Kittanning - by J.D. Daugherty.
Revolving door — 1888 by Theophilus Van Kannel.
Chlorine (bleaching powder) — 1847 by Charles Lennig.
Carborundum (silicon carbide) — 1891 by E.G. Acheson of Monongahela City.
Zippo lighter — 1932 by George G. Blaisdell in Bradford.
Banana split — 1904, by Dr. David Strickler, a pharmacist at Strickler's Drug Store in Latrobe.
Bingo — 1920's, Pittsburgh, by Hugh J. Ward. (Copyrighted in 1924)
Bubblegum — 1928, Philadelphia, by Walter E. Diemer.
Slinky — 1945, Richard James, Philadelphia (now made in Hollidaysburg)
Polio vaccine — 1952 by Jonas Salk (in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh), Pittsburgh
Automatic snow-making machine — 1956 by John Guresh.
Diabetic "dip and read" tests — 1956 by Helen Murray Free (born in Pittsburgh, 1923), and Alfred Free.
Big Mac — 1967, in Uniontown, by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchise holder, although credit is wrongly given to the city of Pittsburgh. (The Big Mac went nationwide in 1968).