Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

I want to apologize for my tardiness in posting this a day late; I completely forgot about it until this afternoon. But never fear, in honor of a belated Trivia Thursday, I present some lesser known firsts, in no particular order:

• First Computer Programmer: Ada Lovelace, often credited as the world’s first computer programmer, wrote an algorithm for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine in the mid-19th century.

• First Female Film Director: Alice Guy-Blaché, a French filmmaker, is believed to be the world’s first female film director. She directed her first film, “The Cabbage Fairy,” in 1896. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From 1896 to 1906, she was probably the only female filmmaker in the world.

 

• First International Phone Call: The first international telephone call took place between Alexander Graham Bell in New York and his assistant, Thomas Watson, in San Francisco on January 25, 1915. Calling from the AT&T head office at 15 Dey Street in New York City, Bell was heard by Thomas Watson at 333 Grant Avenue in San Francisco.

 

• First Video Game: “Spacewar!” is often considered the world’s first video game, developed in 1962 by Steve Russell and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was written for the newly installed DEC PDP-1 minicomputer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

• First Online Purchase: In 1994, Dan Kohn, an American serial entrepreneur, made the world’s first online purchase, buying a copy of Sting’s album “Ten Summoner’s Tales” using encrypted credit card information over the internet.

These lesser-known firsts offer intriguing insights into various aspects of history, technology, and innovation that you may find both informative and captivating.

Images and links courtesy of Wikipedia. No copyright infringement intended.