Boston Firsts

Boston has played an innovative and central role in American history for over 300 years. It has made significant advances in everything from science and engineering to culture and society.

• 1621 - First Thanksgiving Feast
• 1632 - First Windmill: Copp's Hill
• 1634 - First public park: Boston Common
• 1635 - First public school: Boston Latin, still in operation
• 1636 - First college: Harvard University
• 1939 - First Public School
• 1653 - First public library
• 1662 - First Official Censor: hence the phrase "banned in Boston"
• 1672 - First U.S. mail route
• 1704 - First newspaper: Boston News-Letter
• 1714 - First American restaurant: Union Oyster House, still in operation
• 1716 - First lighthouse: Boston Light, still in operation
• 1765 - First chocolate factory: Baker Chocolate Factory in Dorchester
• 1780 - First State Constitution
• 1784 - First pub: The Bell in Hand bar
• 1797 - First commissioned Navy warship: The USS Constitution
• 1806 - First African-American meeting house constructed 
• 1816 - First mutual savings bank: The Provident Institution for Savings
• 1829 - First school for the blind
• 1835 - First public school for African-American children: Abiel Smith School
• 1837 - First college for women: Mount Holyoke, still in operation
• 1837 - First city police department
• 1837 - First Electric telegraph invented by Samuel Morse
• 1837 - First city police department
• 1839 - First coined the tern "OK" in a Boston newspaper
• 1846 - Fist sewing machine
• 1852 - First electric fire alarm system
• 1860 - First aerial photo
• 1862 - First football club
• 1867 - First school of music
• 1954 - First Public Library
• 1875 - First printed American Christmas card
• 1876 - First telephone: Alexander Graham Bell
• 1877 - First woman in the United State to earn a Ph.D, Helen Magill White
• 1877 - First cookbook: The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, by Fanny Farmer
• 1881 - First Body Building class taught by YMCA staffer Robert Roberts 
• 1897 - First subway: Metro Boston Transportation Authority, the "T", completed on schedule and on budget
• 1897 - First U.S. Marathon: Boston Marathon
• 1901 - First disposable razor
• 1903 - First World Series game: Boston Americans 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 7
• 1912 - First Major League ballpark: Fenway Park
• 1917 - First "Fluffernutter" sandwich
• 1920 - First modern frozen foods
• 1924 - First American NHL team: The Boston Bruins
• 1924 - First mutual fund
• 1928 - First computer, MIT
• 1930 - First chocolate chip cookie
• 1941 - First jet engine made in the U.S.
• 1947 - First microwave oven, Percy Spencer
• 1947 - First instant photography
• 1950 - First Dunkin' Donuts ®
• 1954 - First Kidney Transplant, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital
• 1955 - First U.S. President to win the Pulitzer Prize: John F. Kennedy
• 1960 - First minicomputer
• 1964 - First nuclear powered surface vessel, USS Long Beach, launched at Quincy
• 1972 - First TV show with closed captioning for the deaf
• 2004 - Largest social media network conceived: Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg 
• 2005 - First hotel relations team for citywide conventions
• 2006 - First to offer free WI-FI at its convention centers: The BCEC and the Hynes
• 2006 - First in-utero operation, Children's Hospital in Boston
• 2007 - First center-based transportation management: The Boston Convention Transportation Services
• 2008 - First Mobile Dexterous Social Robot: Nexi, MIT
• 2009 - First MLB team with 500 consecutive sell outs
• 2011 - First full face transplant in the U.S.
• 2011 - First bionic lower leg system
• 2011 - First convention center 159 'x 12' HD LED video wall
• 2011 - Largest convention center HD LED media tower
• 2012 - First convention centers with WIS security badging: The BCEC and the Hynes