First escalator

8 October 2014 by admin
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The first inclined moving stairway was invented and installed by Jesse W Reno (USA) in 1891 as a pleasure ride at Coney Island, New York , USA. This device had a vertical rise of 2.1 m (7 ft), an inclination of 25° and a speed of 22.8 m (75 ft) per minute. Reno later sold this machine to the Otis Elevator Company in 1899, and together they produced the first commercial escalator. Jesse Reno’s initial moving stairway invention in 1891 was more of an inclined Continue reading →

First evidence of hominid cannibalism

8 October 2014 by admin
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In the foothills of the Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain is a series of prehistoric caves in which a human ancestor – homosapiens antecessor – lived up to 800,000 years ago. Among the hominid skeletal remains are bones and skulls displaying a series of gouges and scars that suggest a tool had been used for skinning, scraping flesh and extracting marrow from bones. The same pattern of markings is mirrored in animal bones found nearby. Further – and later – sites containing evidence of Continue reading →

First evidence for plate tectonics

8 October 2014 by admin
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On 8 July 2002, a team of Chinese and US scientists announced their discovery of rocks indicating that plate tectonics were active on Earth some 2.5 billion years ago. This is around 500 million years earlier than previously thought. The evidence comes from a belt of highly-folded rock, not far from the Great Wall of China. The 2.5 billion-year-old rock contains the mineral chromite (iron chromium oxide), which is only normally found in rocks from the deep ocean floor. The chromite and other minerals have Continue reading →

First evil MMORPG expansion

8 October 2014 by admin
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City of Villains, released in 2005, was a completely new and separate game in which players could create and play as their own supervillains. This marked the first time that a stand-alone MMORPG expansion had been dedicated to playing as the bad guys. The expansion is also notable as City of Heroes subscribers did not have to pay an additional charge to play City of Villains. Guinness World Records Gamers’ Edition 2009.

First expedition to the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility on foot

8 October 2014 by admin
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The first expedition to the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility on foot was completed by Henry Cookson, Rupert Longsdon, Rory Sweet (All UK) and Paul Landry (Canada), on 19 January 2007. The Pole of Inaccessibility (POI) is defined as the exact centre of the Antarctic landmass. Although there have been previous mechanised expeditions, this one was completed using only a combination of ski and kites.

First fatalities during a launch rehearsal

8 October 2014 by admin
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US astronauts Virgil Ivan ‘Gus’ Grissom, Edward Higgins White II and Roger Bruce Chaffee were killed inside their Apollo 1 capsule on 27 January 1967 during a launch rehearsal at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The fire was caused by a spark from an electrical fault which occurred in the capsule’s artificial atmosphere of pure oxygen. The internal pressure caused by the fire meant the crew could not open the hatch, which was designed to open inwards.

First famine

8 October 2014 by admin
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The earliest recorded famine which occurred in Egypt in 3500 BC was preserved visually in a relief that survives on the causeway of the Fifth-Dynasty Pyramid of Unas in Sakkara.  No figures are given.

First fair

8 October 2014 by admin
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The earliest major international fair was the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London, which in 141 days attracted 6,039,195 admissions.