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Philadelphia, a City of Firsts

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Philadelphia is a city so abundant in historical contributions that it boasts many firsts. This article cannot begin to name them all, but here is an impressive list of many of Philadelphia’s firsts:

• 1681 – First parks or public areas for the pleasure of the people ever laid out in North America
• 1698 – First public school in the colonies was established in Philadelphia
• 1719 – First fire engine bought by a city in the U.S. for public purposes
• First bontanic garden was established. These gardens are used for cultivating plants for medicinal ends
• First public library in the U.S. founded by Benjamin Franklin
• The first hospital in the U.S. was established in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Hospital
• The Union Fire Company, the first voluntary fire department to be organized in the United States and possibly in the world
• The first demonstration that lightning and electricity are the same by Benjamin Franklin and his son, William Franklin in the famous extraction of lightning from the clouds by a kite.
• First lightning rod ever used to protect homes from the danger of fires caused by lightning, installed on Benjamin Franklin’s house
• First anatomy school in the U.S. established by Dr. William Shippen
• First medical college in the U.S.
• First known American flag designed and sewn by Betsy Ross in Philadelphia
• The first vessel ever powered by steam, on the Delaware River, by John Fitch.
• The first Congress of the new United States met in Philadelphia at Congress Hall
• 1790 Opening of the first American Stock
• 1792 – The first Federal mint in the United States was established by congress in Philadelphia
• 1847 – First zoo in America
• 1876 – The first World’s Fair held in the U.S. to celebrate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence.
• First bank in the U.S.
• First stock exchange in the U.S.



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