The South Pole was first reached at 11 a.m. on 14 December 1911 by a Norwegian party of five men led by Captain Roald Amundsen (Norway, 1872-1928), after a 53-day march with dog sledges from the Bay of Whales. He reached the Bay of Whales in the vessel Fram.
On 6 May 1954, the English athlete Roger Bannister became the first man ever to achieve a sub-four-minute mile. Running in front of a 3,000-strong crowd at Oxford University’s Iffley Road track, the 25-year-old recorded a time of 3 min 59.4 sec, achieving what was then believed by many to be an impossible feat.
During the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City, the African-American sprinter Jim Hines earned the title of ‘fastest man on the planet’ when he broke the long-standing 10-second barrier in the 100 m event. With a time of 9.95 sec, Hines stormed to Olympic gold and established a 100 m world record that remained unbeaten for 15 years. Astonishingly, he would go on to better his time at the very same Olympics, running the anchor leg of the 4 x 100 m relay event
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Erden Eruç (Turkey) is the first oarsman to conquer three different oceans: the Atlantic east to west from Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands to Guadeloupe in 95 days 22 hr between 29 January and 5 May 2006; the Pacific east to west from Bodega Bay, California, USA, to New Guinea in 312 days between 10 July 2007 and 17 May 2008; and the Indian Ocean east to west from Carnarvon, Australia, to Madagascar in 136 days 12 hr between 13 July and 26 November
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At 18 years 253 days, Sidney Crosby (b. 7 August 1987, Canada) of the Pittsburgh Penguins (USA) scored his 100th point of the season in a game against the New York Islanders in Pittsburgh on 17 April 2006, becoming the first rookie in National Hockey League (NHL) history to record 100 points (as well as 100 penalty minutes) in a season. Crosby finished the 2005-06 season with 102 points.
Kay Cottee (Australia) is the first woman to sail around the world solo and non-stop. She departed from Sydney, Australia, on 29 November 1987 in her 11 m (36 ft) yacht First Lady and returned there 189 days later on 5 June 1988. Please note, this was achieved not within the rules of the World Sailing Speed Records Council (WSSRC), and therefore is not ratified by them, but as it is generally acknowledged to be the first, and they agree it should remain a CWR.
Robin Knox-Johnston (UK) was the first person to circumnavigate the world under sail solo and without stopping. He departed from Falmouth, Cornwall, UK, on 14 June 1968 as a participant in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, and by the time he returned to Falmouth on 22 April 1969 he was the only remaining competitor. His yacht was called Suhaili. Knox-Johnston was knighted in 1995 after winning the Jules Verne trophy for the fastest circumnavigation under sail the previous year.
The first person to score two perfect-10 rides under the Association of Surfing Professionals’ (ASP) two-wave scoring system is Kelly Slater (USA) during the final of the Billabong Tahiti Pro contest, Teahupoo, Tahiti, French Polynesia on 17 May 2005. This was two perfect-10 rides, so scoring 20 out of a possible 20. The holder of the previous three-wave system belongs to Shane Beschen (USA) in 1996.
The first Major League Soccer (MLS) player to record back-to-back three-goal games is Eddie Johnson (USA) playing for the Kansas City Wizards (USA) against the New England Revolution (USA) on 26 May 2007 and against the Red Bulls (USA) on 2 June 2007.
The first player to score on a penalty shot in the Stanley Cup finals is Chris Pronger (Canada) of the Edmonton Oilers (Canada), beating goaltender Cam Ward (Canada) of the Carolina Hurricanes (USA) in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on 5 June 2006. It was the ninth penalty shot attempt in Stanley Cup finals history.