I
T
H
APPENED IN
P
ENNSYLVANIA
F
IRST
1688
The Germantown Society of Friends records
the first vote against slavery in America
1690
WilliamRittenhouse builds the first paper mill
in America
1741
AmericanMagazine, or Monthly View,
America’s first magazine, is published in Philadelphia
1751
Pennsylvania Hospital, America’s first hospital,
is chartered in Philadelphia
1752
The first insurance company in America, the
Philadelphia Contributorship for the Insurance of
Houses from Loss by Fire, is chartered
1757
The first street lights, designed by Benjamin
Franklin, are installed in Philadelphia
1765
The first medical school in America is
established at the College of Philadelphia, now the
University of Pennsylvania
1767
Thomas Godfrey’s The Prince of Parthia, the
first play written by an American colonist, is produced
in Philadelphia.
1784
The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser,
the first successful daily newspaper in America, is
published in Philadelphia
1785
Dr. Benjamin Rush establishes the first
dispensary, in Philadelphia
1795
The Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike, America’s
first paved road, opens
1798
“Hail Columbia,” this first national song, is
written by Joseph Hopkinson of Philadelphia
1804
The first stagecoach line to the west is
established.
1819
The first savings bank in the United States, the
Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, is chartered
1829
The first locomotive in America, the
Stourbridge Lion, begins operation.
1831
Matthias Baldwin builds the first domestic
locomotive
1846
The first telegram is sent, fromHarrisburg to
Lancaster
1850
The first medical college for women, the
Women’sMedical College of Pennsylvania, is
established
1859
Edwin Drake drills the first productive oil well
near Titusville
1886
The first successful electric streetcar system is
America begins operation in Scranton
1905
The first all-motion-picture theater in the world
opens in Pittsburgh
1920
Radio station KDKA, Pittsburgh, produces the
first scheduled radio broadcast in the world.
1940
The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike,
America’s first superhighway, opens between Irwin
and Carlisle
1953
The first successful open-heart surgery is
performed at JeffersonMedical College, Philadelphia
1954
WQED, the first public television station,
begins broadcasting in Pittsburgh
1958
The first nuclear power plant in the United
States opens in Shippingport
The Scranton SuburbanElectric Railway began operation
onNovember 30, 1886.
