It’s been said, and with some justification, that the most widely published fiction is most publishers’ sales figures. Fiction was transformed into fact, however, with the setting-up of the world’s first point-of-sale records system for books. Launched in January 2001, Nielsen BookScan records point-of-sale data from 33,500 bookshops around the world to produce the most accurate record of worldwide book sales so far produced.

The earliest prime-time animation show is The Flintstones created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera which was first aired on the ABC Television network (USA) in September 1960 The animation which was a contemporary take on suburban life in the Stone Age initially ran until April 1966. Re-runs of the show can be currently seen on Teletoon.

The first stuntman was ex-US cavalryman Frank Hanaway (USA), who won himself a part in Edwin S. Porter’s (USA) The Great Train Robbery (USA 1903) for his ability to fall off a horse without injuring himself.

The first professional stuntwoman was Helen Gibson, who doubled for Helen Holmes in the first 26 episodes of Kalem’s serial The Hazard’s of Helen (US14). Trained as a trick rider, she proved herself adept at other hair-raising exploits, including jumping a speeding motorcycle on to a fast moving locomotive. Generally during this period, actresses were doubled in dangerous scenes by men in drag. Since the introduction of the Sex Equality Act in the USA, it is illegal for stuntmen to double for actresses unless no Continue reading →

The first publication of a human genome was by scientist and entrepeneur Dr. Craig Venter (USA), who published his own genome (genetic code) in its entirety it September 2007. This complete record of his genetic make-up contained some 6 billion letters and was retrieved at an estimated cost of $35 (£17.5) million.

Brett Favre (USA) is the first National Football League (NFL) quarterback to throw 500 or more touchdown passes. Favre threw a record 508 touchdown passes during his career with the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings (all USA) from 1991 to 2010. Favre is also the first NFL quarterback to throw for over 70,000 yards passing, with a career record 71,838. He holds many other career passing records, including most completions (6,300), most attempts (10,169), and most interceptions (336). Favre Continue reading →

In 1998, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (the latter aka Will Smith; both USA) ­winners of the first Grammy award for Best Rap Performance with ‘Parents Just Don’t Understand’ ­ boycotted the show when they learned that their award presentation would not be shown on TV.

In 1996, radio DJ Mac Davis (USA) of station Y-96 of East Dublin, Georgia, USA, conceived the Summer Redneck Games as an antidote to that year’s Olympic Games in nearby Atlanta. “The media kept saying that the Olympics were going to be run by a bunch of rednecks,” said Davis, “so we figured if that’s what the world expects, we’ll give it to them.” The Games feature events such as the cigarette flip, bobbing for pig’s trotters and mud pit belly flop. In it’s first Continue reading →

At around 10:30 am (PST) on 29 October 1969, the first ever attempt to connect two computers remotely occurred. Computer scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, attempted to log into a computer at the Stamford Research Institute. The first log in failed but the second attempt was successful shortly after.

Ben Gordon (USA) of the Chicago Bulls (USA) is the first-ever rookie to win the NBA Sixth Man Award, honoring the league’s top player in a reserve role. Gordon appeared in all 82 regular season games of the 2004-05 season for the Bulls, coming off the bench in 79 of them to average 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.