Tony Gonzalez (USA) became the first tight end in National Football League (NFL) history to catch 1,000 passes during his career. The milestone catch came during a game on 12 September 2010. Gonzalez also holds the NFL records by a tight end for most single-season receptions (102, in 2004), most career touchdowns (82), most career receptions (1,001), and most career reception yards (11,842) while playing for the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons (both USA) since 1997.

The 1932 Los Angeles Games proved to be the most spectacular in history, with the sheer size and quality of the city’s Coliseum Olympic Stadium wowing the crowds and the world’s media. It was also the Games that introduced many of the Olympic traditions that continue today, including the tiered victory podium on which the three medallists stand to receive their awards. Los Angeles was also the first Games to see the gold medallist honoured with the raising of his national flag and the playing Continue reading →

Ted Musgrave (USA) won his first NASCAR title, taking the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. It was the first time a vehicle carrying the number ¡§1¡¨ won a NASCAR championship in any of NASCAR¡¦s three national touring series.

On 2 September 1997, Richard Garfield, inventor of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, was awarded US patent 5,662,332 (A) for “the trading card game method of play”. This was the first trading card game patent ever awarded. The patent defines the TCG as “…a novel method of game play and game components that in one embodiment are in the form of trading cards (10, 12, 40, 42, 44, 48, 54, 60, 64). However, the game components may take other forms, such as a Continue reading →

The first eBay transaction was made in September 1995, when Pierre Omidyar (France), who launched eBay in the USA on the 4th of the same month, sold a broken laser pointer for $14.83 (£9.54).

The earliest TV series produced in colour was The World Is Yours (CBS, USA), which began transmission on 26 June 1951. The predominance of black and white receivers in most US homes, however, meant that many households did not receive it until colourcasting was introduced in December 1953.

The Disney movie Tron (USA, 1982) was the first major motion feature to fully utilize computer-generated (CG) animation. The movie’s setting – inside a video game – was ideal inspiration for the fledgling CG companies; indeed, the most effective and memorable sequence in the movie is the “lightcycle” race, created by computer companies Triple-I and MAGI (both USA).

The first time that fingerprint evidence taken from a cadaver and used in court was in 1978, when police used black magnetic powder to lift fingerprints from the left ankle of a deceased female suspected of being sexually assaulted in North Miami Beach, Florida, USA; her dead body was one of three at the scene. The print was matched to those of a known suspect, Stephen William Beattie (USA), who was found guilty on the basis of the fingerprint evidence and sentenced to three consecutive Continue reading →

The modern era of forensic anthropology arguably began with the work of Wilton M. Krogman (USA), who popularized the use of facial reconstructions in forensic criminal investigations. By mapping tissue of varying thicknesses to cranial (skull) remains, Krogman was able to build a clay model closely resembling the deceased. Although forensic facial reconstruction – now possible on computer – continues to prove successful, data obtained via this method is not admissible in US courts, as no two completed reconstructions are ever the same.