World's First "Talking Stamp"

Bhutan released the world's first "talking stamp" in April 1973. It's a tiny vinyl record, that when played at 78 rpm, the Bhutanese national anthem and a brief history of this country.

World's First Male Mother

Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but lives as a man in Oregon after surgery and hormone treatment, was the first man to become a mother. Beatie, 34, who is legally a man but kept female reproductive organs when he had a sex-change operation 10 years ago, made headlines around the world and was dubbed the "pregnant man" before giving birth to a baby girl on June 29. After giving birth he did not go back on the male hormone testosterone that he took after his sex change, because he wanted to have another baby. Beatie's wife, Nancy, 46, whom he married five years ago, was unable to conceive because of a prior hysterectomy. That is why he had a baby himself, through artificial insemination using donor sperm and Beatie's own egg.

A file photo of Thomas Beatie when she was a woman.(Source: ic.eastday.com, File Photo)

SOURCE: /funzu.com

World's first commercial GSM call

Harri Holkeri

The world's first commercial GSM call was made on July 1, 1991 in Helsinki, Finland over a Nokia-supplied network, by then Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri, using a prototype Nokia GSM phone.

WORLD'S FIRST TREE MAN

32 year old Dede Kosawa, also known as 'Tree Man', is one of the world's most extraordinary people. He lives in a remote village in Indonesia with his two children, trying to care for them. Dede, a former fisherman, has an incredible skin condition: he has root like structures growing out of his body - branches that can grow up to 5cm a year and which protrude from his hands and feet, and welts covering his whole body.

He is known locally as ‘Tree Man’ and his condition has baffled local doctors for 20 years. In an attempt to earn a living to support his family, he is part of a circus troupe, displaying his 'Tree Man' limbs along with others afflicted with skin deformities in ‘freak’ shows.

PIC: buzzinbizarre.co.uk/huffingtonpost.com

INFO: yourdiscovery.com

World's first full-face replant operation

 Sandeep Kaur before the accident

The world's first full-face replant operation was on nine year-old Sandeep Kaur, whose face was ripped off when her hair was caught in a thresher. Sandeep's mother witnessed the accident. Sandeep arrived at the hospital unconscious with her face in two pieces in a plastic bag. An article in the The Guardian recounts: "In 1994, a nine-year-old child in northern India lost her face and scalp in a threshing machine accident.

Her parents raced to the hospital with her face in a plastic bag and a surgeon managed to reconnect the arteries and replant the skin." The operation was successful, although the child was left with some muscle damage as well as scarring around the perimeter where the facial skin was sutured back on. Sandeep's doctor was Abraham Thomas, one of India's top microsurgeons. In 2004, Sandeep was training to be a nurse.

Sandeep Kaur's face arrived in two pieces at a hospital in India where it was replanted onto her skull 10 years ago. "Looking at it, I said: 'Is it possible to do anything at all?'" said Sandeep's doctor, Abraham Thomas, one of India's top microsurgeons, who was on duty when Sandeep arrived at the hospital unconscious with her face in a plastic bag. "It was actually quite a frightening sight," said Dr. Thomas. "The first response was 'Oh my, God, I cannot do that (reattach her face).'" 

 

 Sandeep Kaur after her groundbreaking face replant. 

Although they didn't realize it at the time, 

Sandeep's doctors were making history. 

Sandeep's operation is considered the world's first full-face replant.

Sandeep Kaur aged 19, 10 years after the accident that 

ripped off her face and nearly claimed her life. Today, 

Sandeep is training to be a nurse. 

Says Sandeep: "I think God had to have sent Dr. Thomas. 

It was such a big tragedy.

" Her miraculous surgery has begged the question:

If it's possible to attach one's own torn-off face, is it possible to transplant a face? 

 source: health.discovery.com / en.wikipedia.org

World's First TV Commercial

Continuing its tradition of advertising firsts, Bulova airs the first television commercial: a simple picture of a clock and a map of the United States, with a voice-over proclaiming, "America runs on Bulova time." The 20-second spot costs $9. 1941 also marks the year that the Bulova Board of Directors, chaired by Joseph’s son, Ardé Bulova, adopts a resolution to sell products for national defense at actual cost. Throughout World War II, having perfected the skill of creating precision timepieces, Bulova works with the U.S. government to produce military watches, specialized timepieces, aircraft instruments, critical torpedo mechanisms and fuses. 

source: bulova.com

pic: mobhappy.com

The World's First Production Car (1894)

Excursion from Mannheim via Schriesheim to Grossachsen along a scenic road in the Palatinate in 1895. The daughters of Carl Benz, Klara and Thilde, are seated in the first car, a Benz Velo. His son Richard, who was doing military service at the time, can be made out in the second car, a Benz Phaeton. The other passengers are relatives of the Benz family.

 

Karl Benz played a prominent role in promoting the development of the automobile. Some 25 units of the Benz Patent Motor Car of 1886 – the world's first automobile – were built. It goes without saying that Benz knew that a four-wheeled car would have greater cornering stability, however, he found the steering systems used for carriages at the time to be unsuitable for his purposes. He solved the problem – and filed a patent for his double-pivot steering (DRP 73515) in 1893. He installed it in the same year in his four-wheeled Victoria model. However, he had a lighter car in mind. At the World Exposition in Chicago (May 1 – October 31, 1893), Benz finally presented his Velocipede to the public. It was to become the world's first car from large-scale production and at the same time the first small car. Benz produced more than 1,200 units of this car between 1894 and 1902.

The Benz Velo of 1894 was the world's first large-scale production car.

 emercedesbenz.com

WORLD'S FIRST POLYMER NOTE

Information on tyvek notes is still being researched & collated. Trial notes were done for Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela. American Bank Note Co. (ABNC) had the contract to produce paper notes for these countries. In the early 1980's it joined forces with Dupont to produce a more durable banknote. A commercial plastic material produced by Dupont - Tyvek- was used to produce these trial notes. ABNC had the printing plates and simply fed tyvek sheets through the printing presses instead of paper sheets.

It is not known whether it sought the permission of the respective central banks to do so (or indeed if it was required to do so) but it undoubtedly approached the particular banks with the so produced trials and set out to interest them in tyvek notes.

Costa Rica and Haiti agreed to a tyvek note issue. Haiti's notes are undated  produced under the law of 1979  but they are believed to have issued sometime in 1982. See below for more detail. Costa Rica's only issued tyvek note is dated 28.06.1983 which is most likely the date that the printing order was placed. The Haiti issue is understood to have lasted about 15 to 18 months. Apparently the inks did not bind to the tyvek successfully and in the humid tropical climate it came unstuck, smudging badly. It is presumed that Costa Rica's notes met a similar fate.

Some of the trials are also dated and this helps to pin point the time that ABNC embarked on this process in the early 1980's. For example, the El Salvador 5 Colones trial is dated 19 de Junio de 1980 which coincides with the date on P132A according to SCWPM. The trial also bears the date on the back of 10 de Diciembre de 1980

At the time, the British printer Bradbury Wilkinson was a subsidiary of ABNC and it secured a contract to print a One Pound note for the Isle of Man on tyvek. There was some form of technology transfer agreement and under this the tyvek was actually called Bradvek. The first notes appeared in 1983. These were not popular and a subsequent sale of Bradbury's by ABNC to Thomas De La Rue saw the end of the technology agreement and the cessation of the issue by the Isle of Man in 1988.

Wikipedia says : " In 1982 and 1983, the American Bank Note Company printed banknotes for Costa Rica (20 colones dated 1983 and trial notes of 100 colones) and Haiti (1, 2, 50, 100, 250 and 500 Gourdes, on DuPont's Tyvek polymers. These had fairly limited release, but did circulate in each country. Additional trial and specimen banknotes were developed for Honduras, Ecuador and El Salvador. Unfortunately, in tropical climates, ink did not bind well to the polymer and the notes began smearing quite badly. "

source: polymernotes.com/

  

WORLD'S FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT

FROM BBC ARCHIVES

1960: Ceylon chooses world's first woman PM

Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, widow of Ceylon's assassinated prime minister Solomon Bandaranaike, has become the world's first woman prime minister. Her Sri Lanka Freedom Party won a resounding victory in the general election taking 75 out of 150 seats. Mrs Bandaranaike only entered politics after her husband was shot by an extremist Buddhist on 26 September 1959. She has become known as the "weeping widow" for frequently bursting into tears during the election campaign and vowing to continue her late husband's socialist policies.This week's election was called after Dudley Senanayake's United National Party failed to produce a working majority after winning elections in March. 

July 1960 - First Cabinet of Mrs Sirima R. D. Bandaranaike. From R to L: (Front row) Commerce, Trade, Food and Shipping Minister T. B. Ilangaratne, Finance Minister Felix Dias Bandaranaike, Defence and External Affairs Minister and Prime Minister Mrs Sirima R. D. Bandaranaike, Governor General Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, Agriculture, Land, Irrigation and Power Minister and Leader of the House C. P. de Silva, Health Minister Senator A. P. Jayasuriya, Industries, Home and Cultural Affairs Minister Maithripala Senanayaka, (Back row) Local Government and Housing Minister Mahanama Samaraweera, (hidden) Education and Broadcasting Minister Badiuddin Mohamud, Labour and Nationalised Services Minister Senator C. Wijesinghe, Justice Minister Sam P. C. Fernando, Transport and Works Minister P. B. G. Kalugalle

PIC: Flickr

WORLD'S FIRST MOBILE PHONE

It was the size of a dustbin lid and had a range of just half a mile.

The world's first mobile phone could hardly be more different to today's devices, which are small enough to slip inside a pocket and can call almost anywhere in the world.

But its inventor, Nathan Stubblefield, is finally being recognised as the father of mobile phone technology exactly 100 years after he patented his design for a "wireless telephone".

The melon farmer came up with his invention in 1902 after devoting every spare hour and penny he had to establishing a telephone service in his rural home-town of Murray, Kentucky.

He constructed a 120ft mast in his orchard, which transmitted speech from one telephone to another using magnetic fields.

However, the total amount of wire required for the coils in the phones was far longer than what would be required to simply connect them - but the invention allowed mobility.

The self-taught electrician demonstrated his device in the town's public square on New Year's Day in 1902, broadcasting music and speech to five receivers.

And in 1908 he patented a new version designed to communicate with moving vehicles such as stagecoaches and boats.

Unfortunately, his phones were not commercially successful in his lifetime and he died virtually penniless in 1928.

But now a book has credited him with being the father of the modern mobile phone and he is being honoured with his very own page on the Virgin Mobile website to mark the anniversary of his creation.

Virgin's founder Sir Richard Branson said: "Nathan is the father of the mobile phone and I'm thrilled we can celebrate the 100-year anniversary of his invention that in some way went on to change the way the world communicates."

Field test: Receiver in hand, Nathan Stubblefield demonstrates his invention in his orchard (the mast can be seen in the centre of the picture)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566042/Revealed-The-worlds-mobile-phone-size-dustbin-lid--range-just-half-mile-1902.html#ixzz0ZGkzN1Sh

WORLD'S FIRST POSTAGE STAMP ON THANKA

Silk rayon was used as the medium for a set of stamps issued September 30, 1969 depicting prayer banners.

The “thankas “ or “banners” are paintings of sacred and ceremonial subject, which are hung in temples,  private chapels or carefully rolled up to be carried over the shoulder when travelling, for the divinity lodged in the painting saves the bearer from the perils of his journey.

Buddhism cannot be imagined without the representation of its religious ideals.  To the Bhutanese art is more than aesthetics.  For them art does not merely generate aesthetic pleasure.  It personifies the scriptures and it makes the goal of meditation a visual attainment.

Perforated Souvenir Sheet containing three stamps of:

Chana Dorje (Vajrapani) 75ch

He is a divine Bodhisattva emanating for the Dhyani Buddha Aksobhya.  He holds in his right a vajra hand and his left hand is in karana mudra,

Three great teachers 5nu

            In Mahayana scriptures the noblest Bodhisattvas, out of compassion, refuse Nirvana, so that they might benefit afficted humanity.

Chenresik ( left side ) ,  Jampeyang ( right side ),  and Tashithagye ( center ) 6nu

            

 Chenresik is the supreme embodiment of compassion.  He assumes innumerable forms.  It is believed to be perpetually incarnated in each successive Dalai Lama of Tibet.

Jampeyang painted in red is the symbol of saving Knowledge.

Tashi-thagye in the presence of the Eight Auspicious Signs spell sanctity and happiness.

SOURCE: foxleylanestudio.com

WORLD'S FIRST MUSIC CD

52nd Street is Billy Joel’s sixth studio album and was released in 1978. This was Joel’s first album to reach #1 on the Billboard album chart, producing a number of hit singles, including “Big Shot”, “My Life”, “Honesty” and “Until The Night”. 52nd Street also represents another milestone in music history, becoming the first album to be released on CD by Sony, released in Japan in October 1982, along with 15 other CDs in that first batch.

Billy Joel 52nd Street (CBS/Sony, catalog number 35DP 1). The disc was pressed by CBS/Sony. It has “MANUFACTURED BY CBS/SONY RECORDS INC.” stamped on the plastic ring, and the matrix code is “35DP-1-2 1B4″. This represents the first title in the initial CBS/Sony pop/rock/jazz CD series.  This disc is very popular with collectors by virtue of the historically significant catalog number.

SOURCE: billyjoeldigital.shop.musictoday.com /  keithhirsch.com

FIRST MOVIE WITH MUSICAL SOUNDTRACK

Don Juan (1926) is a Warner Brothers film, directed by Alan Crosland. It was the first feature-length film with synchronized Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack, though it has no spoken dialogue. The production, which premiered in New York City on August 6, 1926, stars John Barrymore as the hand-kissing womanizer (the number of kisses in the film set a record).

Don Juan plants 191 kisses on various females during the course of the film, an average of one every 53 seconds.

George Groves, on secondment to Vitaphone, was charged with recording the soundtrack to the film. He devised an innovative, multi-microphone technique and performed a live mix of the 107-strong orchestra. In doing so he became the first music mixer in film history. The music was played by the New York Philharmonic.

pic: history.sandiego.edu / americanhistory.si.edu
source: wikipedia / imdb.com