Local History
NEW HAVEN FIRSTS — It All Started Here:
- Grid City Plan Nine Squares – 1641
- Almanac – 1684
- Planetarium – 1743
- Submarine — 1775
- U. S. Map – 1783
- Cotton Gin – 1794
- Steamboat – 1787
- Medical publication –1788
- Four-wheeled carriage – 1809
- Steel fish hook – 1813
- Truss bridge – 1820
- The American Journal of Science – 1830
- Sulphur matches – 1835
- Vulcanized rubber – 1839
- Rubber boots – 1843
- First woman dentist – 1855
- Tissue paper – 1856
- Corkscrew – 1860
- Corset – 1860
- School of Fine Arts — 1864
- Tape Measure – 1868
- Fire sprinkler – 1874
- Agricultural station – 1875
- College newspaper – 1878
- Telephone switchboard – 1878
- Phone book – 1878
- Football game – 1879
- Pay telephone – 1880
- Baseball Batting Cage – 1885
- Self-Playing Organ – 1888
- Lollipop – 1892
- Hamburger – 1895
- Electric trains – 1895
- Inter-collegiate basketball game – 1897
- Player piano 1897
- Wireless radio – 1904
- Computer – 1905
- Erector Set – 1911
- National Figure-Skating Tournament – 1914
- Frisbee – 1920
- Chemotherapy – 1942
- Glider Seaplane – 1943
- Open Heart Surgery – 1949
- Most Pre-Broadway Openings, Shubert Theater, beginning in 1914