Firsts: The Origin Of Everyday Things That Changed The World

Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Introduction Acknowledgements A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Index of Topics ALPHA BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore, Auckland 1311, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Copyright © 2009 by Wilson Casey All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of information contained herein. For information, address Alpha Books, 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240. eISBN : 978-1-101-15946-0 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2009924914 Interpretation of the printing code: The rightmost number of the first series of numbers is the year of the book’s printing; the rightmost number of the second series of numbers is the number of the book’s printing. For example, a printing code of 09-1 shows that the first printing occurred in 2009. Trademarks: All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books and Penguin Group (USA) Inc. cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Most Alpha books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. Special books, or book excerpts, can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write: Special Markets, Alpha Books, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. http://us.penguingroup.com Introduction History is complicated—everyone is his or her own historian, and it’s often difficult to convince people something other than what they believe is, indeed, true. In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. You could say that with “firsts,” it’s all about definition, definition, definition. As a professional researcher, I was amazed at the varied stories I found around firsts. It seems that for every first I could think of—and I thought of more than 500 firsts for this book—there were numerous possible answers as to what came first. If I went to one source I thought highly reliable and then went to another I thought just as reliable, I found two entirely different scenarios. Who was first? Who was really first? That source said what? The other one said that? Is that source biased? At times, trying to find the true first was a tough call. Was Jerrie Cobb the first female astronaut?