A World of Firsts Trivia Quiz

Answer: South Africa

The date was 3 December 1967. The place was the Charles Saint Theatre at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Medical history was made when a team of 30 medical specialists led by the cardiac surgeon, Dr Christiaan Barnard, performed the first human to human heart transplant in an operation lasting just over six hours. The patient, a 53 year old grocer named Louis Washkansky, who suffered from terminal heart failure, received the heart of 25 year old Denise Darvall who had been killed the previous day when she was struck by a car.

Mr Washkansky survived for 18 days with his new heart before succumbing to pneumonia on 21 December after his immune system was artificially suppressed to prevent rejection of the new heart. Today the original theatre used houses the 'Heart of Cape Town Museum' and honours those involved in making this medical breakthrough happen.

Answer: Belgium

The date was 1531. The location was Antwerp, Belgium. The event was the creation of the world's first building dedicated to the trading of of commodities - the 'Handelbeurs'. In medieval times, the cities of Bruges and Antwerp became major trading hubs as they were sandwiched between two powerful trading nations in the Italian Republics and the German Hanseatic League. The canny innkeepers along the route provided places for merchants to trade goods, but the demand soon outgrew the available space. So canny innkeepers being what they are, they made a plan and in 1531, the New Handelsbeurs opened on Twaalfmaandenstraat in Antwerp. It was designed by the architect Damien De Waghemakere and became the model for, amongst others, the Royal Exchange in London.

After burning down twice in 1583 and 1858 and being rebuilt, the venerable old exchange finally became obsolete and was closed in 1997. After standing desolate and empty for 20 years, it was fully restored in 2019 and is today a vibrant hub that is one of the most visited sites in Antwerp.

Answer: England

The date was 1847 and the place was Bristol, England. The event was the production of the world's first solid chocolate bar that could be manufactured on a large scale. Yup! J.S. Fry & Co, a family firm located on Union Street in Bristol, changed chocolate from what was essentially a drink into a snack that could be eaten on the move. Joseph Fry figured out that by combining melted cacao butter with Dutch cocoa powder, he could produce a solid bar. Apparently, the result, a delight by the rather grand name of "Chocolat Delicieux a Manger", was quite bitter to the taste.

In 1866, the company commenced production of what is today the world's oldest chocolate bar brand, Fry's Chocolate Cream. It was also the first chocolate bar to contain a filling. In 1919, J.S.Fry & Co merged with Cadbury Brothers. However the original factory continued to produce chocolate bars until 2011 when it was closed after the takeover of Cadbury by Kraft Foods.

Answer: Canada

The date was 11 January 1922. The place was Toronto, Canada. The event was the world's first injection of insulin to treat diabetes in a human. The patient was a 13 year old boy named Leonard Thomas who was critically ill with Type 1 diabetes which was previously untreatable. The pioneering team consisted of Dr Frederick Banting, his assistant, Charles Best, Prof John MacLeod of the University of Toronto and a biochemist named James Collip. This event happened mere months after it had been announced to the world that Banting and Best had isolated the insulin hormone. The first injection was not a total success, but after more refinement by Collip, a second injection was administered on 23 January. Thompson's blood sugar levels came under control and he was able to live for another 13 years before passing away from pneumonia in 1935.

The patent for insulin was awarded to Banting, Best and Collip who then sold it to the University of Toronto for the princely sum of $1 each. Banting stated that "insulin belongs to the world". The University then gave drug companies license to manufacture it and Type 1 diabetes no longer needed to be a death sentence. In 1923, he and Prof MacLeod were awarded to Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Answer: Japan

The date was 1997 and the place was Japan. The event was the release of the world's first set of the characters known as emojis that are so beloved by users of mobile devices and social media worldwide. On 1 November of that year, the Japanese mobile company Softbank released its SkyWalker DP-2115SW mobile phone that contained a set of 90 monochrome emojis. However, sales were poor and the characters remain largely unknown. This was set to change in 1999 when NTT-DOTCOMO released an electronic pager called the Pocket Bell that included a set of 176 miniature drawings that are considered to be the basis for emojis as they are known today. Designed on a 12x12 pixel grid by Shigetaka Kurita, the "founding father of emojis", the set was an instant success and emoji use exploded. The word emoji actually has nothing to do with emotion, although it fits very well for describing them. It comes from the Japanese characters 'e'- picture, 'mo'- write, ji - character.

In 2015 the Oxford Dictionary chose emoji as its "Word of the Year" with the honour going to the most frequently used little character known as "Face with Tears of Joy". In 2016, the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the original 12 x 12 pixel grid with its 176 tiny drawings.

Answer: Australia

The date was 27 November 1988 and the country was Australia. The event was the introduction into circulation of the world's first polymer bank note by the Reserve Bank of Australia. It coincided with Australia's bicentennial celebrations and the $10 note is known as the Bicentennial Note. This release was the culmination of a 20 year plan to replace paper notes with a far more durable and secure option. After Australia switched to decimal currency in 1966, there was a serious problem with the number of counterfeit notes, especially $10 dollar ones, in circulation. The then Governor of the Reserve Bank put together a team to find a solution which included the Bank, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the University of Melbourne.

It was a young polymer expert employed by CSIRO named David Solomon who hit upon the idea of notes made from polymer, and the work began. In 1987, the Reserve Bank of Australia paid the CSIRO $7 million for the rights to the technology. The notes are made from BOPP which is a biaxially-oriented polypropylene and incorporate a number of security features not available in paper notes. By 1996, all Australian banknotes were polymer and the technology is today used in over 50 countries.

Answer: Italy

The date was 1543 and the location was Pisa, Italy. The event was the establishment of the world's very first academical botanical garden by the doctor and botanist, Luca Ghini, at the behest of Cosimo I de Medici. Originally located on the banks of the Arno River, it was moved in 1591 to its present site between the Piazza dei Miracoli and Piazza dei Cavalieri. It contains the Botanical Museum with its shell covered facade that was founded as the Gallery of Natural History by the Grand Duke Ferdinando de Medici at the time of the move.

Actually Italy can claim another record when it comes to botanical gardens. The Orto Botanico di Padova which was established in 1545 holds the record of being the oldest continuously cultivated botanical garden that remains on its original site and is considered to be the world's oldest botanical garden.

Answer: New Zealand

The date was 19 September 1893 and the country was New Zealand. The event was the signing into law by the Governor, Lord Glasgow, of the Electoral Act 1893. This act was the first by any self governing country giving women the right to vote in national parliamentary elections. All women who were "British Subjects aged 21 years and over, including Maoris" were eligible to cast their vote. The victory was a hard fought one led by the WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union) under the leadership of Kate Sheppard. Petitions to the government organised in 1891 and 1892 were defeated before the third, containing some 32 000 signatures, was successful. This document was placed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 1997.

However, it took until 1919 for the first female member of Parliament, Elizabeth McCombs, to be elected and until 1999 for the first female Prime Minister, Helen Cook, to be elected, although Jenny Shipley did become the first female Prime Minister in 1997 when she took over leadership of the governing National Party from Jim Bolger.

Answer: USA

The date was 21 February 1878. The location was New Haven, Connecticut in the United States. The event was the publication of the world's very first telephone directory and happened less than two years after Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his invention in the same town. The company that issued it was the New Haven District Telephone Exchange which had created its own first a few weeks earlier, on 28 January, when it became the world's first telephone exchange. George Coy, the man behind both, had been a manager at the local telegraph office when he saw Bell demonstrate his device in 1877. Realising its potential, he set about finding a way to obviate the need for expensive and cumbersome one on one line connections between customers. He figured out that by routing calls through a central exchange with a switchboard operator customers only needed one connection to the exchange. This made the use of telephones much easier and financially viable to ordinary people.

The first directory was a single sheet of cardboard with fifty names, but no numbers as all calls were placed with the operator at the central exchange. Subscribers could now truthfully claim that the were "in the book". One of two remaining copies of this document sold at auction in 2008 for over $170 000.

Answer: Uruguay

The date was 13 July 1930. The venue was Montevideo, Uruguay. The event was the opening two matches of the first ever FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) World Cup. After football (or soccer) was dropped from the programme for the 1932 Olympic Games due to be held in Los Angeles, FIFA president Jules Rimet decided to organise an international tournament to be held in 1930 between the Olympic Games.

Uruguay was chosen as the venue for two reasons. They were the Olympic champions of 1924 and 1928 and Uruguay was celebrating the centenary of their independence in 1930. There were 13 participating teams from South America, Europe and North America and all matches were held in the Uruguyan capital, Montevideo, at three different stadiums. The first two matches were held simultaneously with France beating Mexico 4-1 and the USA beating Belgium 3-0. The record keepers didn't have to wait long for the first goal to be scored. France's Lucien Laurent cemented his place in football lore by netting in the 19th minute. The final held in the newly built Estadio Centanario in Montevideo took place on 30 July 1930 with the home nation beating Argentina 4-2.