Famous Firsts 1500's 1600's 1700's

Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) 1553 --- 1st reigning queen of England.

Sofinisba Anguissola 1559 --- 1st woman artist to become gain prominence as a painter.




Anne Bradstreet 1650 --- 1st published American woman writer. The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America.

Benjamin Franklin 1753 --- appointed 1st Postmaster General in America (10th August 1753).




Ann Franklin 1762 --- 1st woman to hold the title of newspaper editor, "The Newport Mercury" in Newport, RI. Great-and-then-some-Granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin.



James Cook 1773 --- 1st person to cross Antarctic Circle.





Margaret Corbin 1779 --- 1st woman to be awarded a disability pension by US Congress. She fought in the Revolutionary War.

Marquis d'Arlandes Pilatre de Rozier 1783 --- 1st humans to fly. They were airborne in a hot-air balloon for 20 minutes, in Paris, on Nov. 21.

George Washington 1789 --- 1st US President (only unanimously elected US president.)

Martha Washington 1789 --- 1st US First Lady.

William Blount 1797 --- 1st person in theUS to be impeached by the House of Representatives, the first time it even exercised this power, and was simultaneously expelled from the US Senate on July 8. He was found guilty ‘of a high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public trust and duty as a Senator,’ because he had been active in a plan to incite the Creek and Cherokee Indians to aid the British in conquering the Spanish territory of West Florida.

André-Jacques Garnerin 1797 --- 1st parachute jump. Dropped from about 6,500 ft. over Monceau Park in Paris in a 23-ft.-diameter parachute made of white canvas with a basket attached (Oct. 22).

Count de Grisley 1799 --- 1st magician to perform the trick of sawing a woman in half .