The History Hound: America's Firsts

Currently, the world has millions of ipads that bring information with just one touch, electric cars save money and gas, fast food restaurants are on nearly every corner, and magazine choices could fill a library. If for one day, we had to go back in time before all of these technological advances were invented, we would surely suffer. This post is dedicated to America's firsts and how far we have come since.

America's Firsts

First US College:

Its not a tremendous shock that the first US college is one that represents rigorous Ivy League excellence. Harvard was created in 1636. ¹

One of the World's First Films

Created by Louis Le Prince of Great Britain in 1888, this film "Roundhay Garden Scene" was influential in America. ²

First US Zoo

Girard Avenue entrance to the Philadelphia Zoo, c. 1900, looking south southwest, with a little girl standing in the center and crowds in the background, as published in Moses King, Philadelphia and Notable Philadelphians (1901), p. 53

Color postcard, 1874, bird's-eye view of the Girard Avenue entrance to the Philadelphia Zoo, looking south with the Schuylkill River and city in the background

The Philadelphia Zoo was the first US Zoo, established in March, 1959. Those who visited the zoo "arrived to the easily accessible zoo grounds via horse, carriage, steamboat, streetcar, and foot." ³

US Mass Produced Car

In 1901, the US proudly created the first mass produced car that operated with a gasoline engine: the Curved Dash Oldsmobile. ⁴

US Fast Food Restaurant

The first White Castle restaurant opened in Wichita, Kan., in 1921. The little burgers were 5 cents apiece.

1921 marked the year that changed food for America. White Castle was opened in Wichita, Kansas and began making the first "fast food" hamburgers. ⁵
^McDonald's

In 1940, McDonald's opened as a barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino, CA. In 1948, "the menu is reduced to nine items: hamburger, cheeseburger, soft drinks, milk, coffee, potato chips, and a slice of pie. The staple of the menu is the 15 cent hamburger."¹¹

In 1955, Des Plains, Illinois opened a location with golden arches.^Ibid.

First US Magazine

Pictured above is "The American Magazine", which was the first published American magazine. Philadelphia was home to this ground breaking publication in February 1741.⁶