The first monopoly in the United States is considered to have been John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company.
The company made him the wealthiest person in the United States.
This allowed him to found the Astor Library, one of the cornerstones of the New York Public Library.
The first blood bank was not opened until 1940 in New York City. It was designed and operated by American surgeon Richard Charles Drew (1904-1950). He could not contribute blood to the bank because he was black.
On June 26, 1896, the 400-seat Vitascope Hall was opened at the corner of Canal Street and Exchange Place in New Orleans by William T. Rock. For 10 cents, viewers could peer into the projection room; for another 10 cents, they could see the Edison Vitascope projector. A popular film of the time was May…
Airplanes were first used by the U.S. armed forces unsuccessfully in 1916 against Pancho Villa in Mexico. In 1917, the First Aero Squadron, the first air unit, fought in World War I.
The first used-car dealership was the Motor Car Company of London, which opened in September 1897. It offered 17 secondhand vehicles, ranging in price from £30 to £335.
The first person to die in the gas chamber was Gee Jon. He was convicted of assassinating a member of a rival Chinese tong and died in a gas chamber in Nevada State Prison in Carson City on February 8, 1924. The idea of the gas chamber was introduced by Major D. A. Turner of…
The first showboat was William Chapman’s Floating Theatre, built at Pittsburgh in 1831. It traveled the system of waterways dominated by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, bringing entertainment to America’s river frontier. Once the river frontier closed and other entertainments beckoned, showboats declined. The last authentic showboat in operation was the Golden Rod in 1943.