Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1877 — FIRST THINGS. [ARTICLE]

FIRST THINGS.

A Very Interesting Chapter on ISarly Inventions. The first almanac was printed by Geo. Von Purbach, in 1460. The. first copper cent <was coined in New Haven in 1687. The first watches were made at Nurembiug in 1477. Omnibuses were introduced in New York in 1830. The first college in the United States was founded in 1866. The first compass was used in France in 1150, though the Chinese are said to have employed the loadstone earlier. The first chimneys were introduced into Rome from Padua in 1368. The first newspaper advertisement appeared in 1652. The. first air pump was made in 1650. The first algebra originated with Diophantus, in eiflier the fourth or sixth century. The"first balloon ascent was made in 1783.

The first national bank in the United States was incorporated by Congress, Dec. 31, 1781. The first attempt to manufacture pins in this country was made soon after the war of 1812. The first printing press in the United States was introduced in 1629. Coaches were first used in England in 1569. Gas was first used as an illuminating agent in 1702. Its first use in New York was in 1827. The first glass factory in the United States of which we h&ve definite knowledge was built in 1780. Gold was first discovered in California in 1818. The first use of a locomotive in this country was in 1829. The first horse railroad was built in 1826-7. The first daily newspaper appear ed in 1702. The first newspaper in the United States was published in Boston, September 25, 1690. The first religious newspaper, the Boston Record, was established in 1815. Kerosene was first used for lighting purposes in 1826. The first Union flag was unfurled on the Ist of January, 1776, over the camp at Cambridge. It had 13 stripes of white and red, and retained the English cross in one comer. The first steam engine on this continent was brought fronrilngland in 1753. The first saw-maker’s anvil was brought to America in 1819. The first temperance society in this country was organized in Saratoga county, N. Y., in March, 1808. Glass was early discovered. Glass beads were found on mummies over 3,000 years old. Glass windows were first introduced into England in the eighth century. Anaesthesia was first discovered in 1844.

The first steel pen was made in 1830. The first machine for carding, roving and spinning cotton, made in the United States, was manufactured in 1786. Organs are said to have been first introduced into churches by Pope Vitalianus, about A. D. 1670. Envelopes were first used in 1839. The first complete sewing machine was patented by Elias Howe, Jr., in 1846. The first iron steamship was built in 1830. Ships were first “copper-bottomed” in 1783. The first telegraph instrument was successfully operated by S. F. B. Morse, the inventor, in 1835, though its utility was not demonstrated to the world until 1844. The first lucifer match was male in 1829. The first steamboat plied the Hudson in 1807. The first society for the exclusive purpose of circulating the Bible was organized in 1805, under the name of “British and Foreign Bible Society.” The entire Hebrew Bible was printed iu 1488. The first society for the promotion of Christian knowledge was organized in 1698. The first telescope was probably used in England in 1608.