Free Firsts by Wilson Casey Page A

contest was such a local success that de Rhynal held a similar tournament in Paris later that year. At the second contest, there was no split between amateurs and professionals, nor among representation of areas or locales. Competitors danced as couples, no matter their nationality. For example, the lady may have been French while the man was Spanish.

Day of American Television
    The official first day of American television was Tuesday, July 1, 1941. (Any broadcasting before that date was considered experimental.) On that first day, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) activated nonexperimental call letters for two stations: WCBW (later WCBS-TV ) and WNBT (later WNBC-TV ), both in New York City. Commercial advertising was permitted on the stations, and TV licenses were issued. Along with empty airings and test patterns, WNBT aired Dodgers versus Phillies baseball at Ebbets Field, and WCBW aired news, dancing lessons, and children’s stories.

Daylight Saving Time
    In 1784, the idea of a daylight saving program to make better use of daylight was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin during his stopover in Paris as an American delegate. In his April 26, 1784, essay, An Economical Project, Franklin wrote a whimsical discourse on the thrift of natural versus artificial lighting. He did the math on the substantial money (96,075,000 livre tournois, or about $200 million today) Paris could save per 6 months on candles and oil lamp use if a daylight saving plan was instigated. But it wasn’t until April 30, 1916, that the first official daylight saving program began. On that date, at 11 P.M., Germany and Austria advanced the hands of their clocks 1 hour until the following October, when they set them back 1 hour again. The plan was not formally adopted in the United States until March 19, 1918.

Defibrillator
    In 1947, thoracic surgeon Claude S. Beck from the University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, first successfully applied defibrillation therapy and saved a human life. The patient was a 14-year-old boy, and the procedure was an open-chest defibrillation. The defibrillator used the alternating current from a power socket and transformed the surge to the heart by way of paddle-type electrodes. Several generations of scientists and clinicians worked to accumulate the knowledge that contributed to the success of cardiac shock therapy and finally led to the defibrillator Beck used.

Dental College
    On February 1, 1840, the General Assembly of Maryland chartered the world’s first dental college. Spearheaded by Dr. Horace Hayden and Dr. Chapin Harris, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was established in Baltimore. The college originated the Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. Before that time, there were only about 300 trained and scientific dentists in the entire United States. Dr. Harris had come to Baltimore in 1830 to study under Dr. Hayden and then joined his mentor in his efforts to found the college.

Dental Floss
    In his 1819 book A Practical Guide to the Management of the Teeth, American dentist Dr. Levi Spear Parmly discussed the first form of dental floss. Parmly described his invention, a homemade waxed string, as “The waxed silken thread, which, though simple, is to be passed through the interstices of the teeth, between their necks and the arches of the gum, to dislodge that irritating matter which no brush can remove, and which is the real source of disease.” He also stated his belief that “a thread passed between the teeth after every meal will save more teeth from decay than all the brushes and powders that can be used where the waxed thread is neglected.” Parmly sold his dental floss to his patients and to other dentists.

Dental Record of Forensic Evidence
    In 49 B.C.E., the earliest-known example of forensic dentistry, the identification of human remains using dental evidence, involved Agrippina, the mother of Roman emperor Nero. Agrippina had ordered the death of her rival, Lollia Paulina,