28 Distinct & Famous ‘First’ In Human History That Changed the World

John Glenn was the first person to eat in space aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. At that time it was unknown if ingestion and absorption of nutrients were possible in zero gravity. Glenn ate applesauce, demonstrating that people could eat, swallow, and digest food in a weightless environment.

In 2004, a 15-year-old girl named Jeanna Giese was bitten by a bat she picked up. After showing signs of rabies a month later, doctors devised a last-ditch experimental treatment that cured her. She is the first known person to have survived after showing rabies symptoms.

Thomas Granger was the first person to have been executed in the Massachusetts Bay colony. He was guilty of sex with a turkey.

Ida May Fuller was the first person to receive a Social Security check and collected a total of $22,889, despite only having contributed $25.

The first person (Kenny Sykaluk) to hear the Journey song "Only The Young" was a cystic fibrosis patient in Ohio. The band flew out and played it for the young fan. He died the next day, with a walkman containing the single still in his hands.

The first person to break the Enigma code was actually a Polish man in 1932 named Marian Rejewski, whose work also helped jump-start English efforts against the upgraded World War 2 version of the Enigma.

Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn was a baseball pitcher and Hall of Famer who, in 1886, became the first person to be captured on camera giving the middle finger.

Astronaut Sunita Williams was the first person to run a marathon in space, finishing in 4 hours and 24 minutes on a treadmill aboard the International Space Station.

Ol' Dirty Bastard was the first person in California to be arrested under the then new law against being a convicted felon wearing a bulletproof vest.

John Carpenter was the first person to win the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." He used none of his lifelines until the million dollar question. He used phone-a-friend to call his dad and tell him that he was about to win and then answered the question correctly without help.