Lightning Strikes: Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Experiment

The Wheel: Ferris' Big Idea: 01: The first Ferris Wheel was invented to become America’s Eiffel Tower, making its grand debut at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. The wheel’s inventor George Washington Gale Ferris was a clever and optimistic soul; he did everything in his... by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

47 min listen

Josephine and the Dish-Washing Machine: Of the tens of thousands of U.S. patents granted in the 19th century, only a small fraction were held by women. One of those women -- Josephine Cochrane -- would change the world by solving a simple household problem. While throwing lavish dinner... by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

26 min listen

$Josephine and the Dish-Washing Machine: Of the tens of thousands of U.S. patents granted in the 19th century, only a small fraction were held by women. One of those women -- Josephine Cochrane -- would change the world by solving a simple household problem. While throwing lavish dinner...$

TRAILER Introducing The First: A preview of The First, a new podcast series from Greg Young of the Bowery Boys: New York City History, examining the birth of inventions and the people whose lives were immediately affected. thefirstpodcast.com by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

6 min listen

Miss Draper: The First Woman Ever Photographed: Dorothy Catherine Draper is a truly forgotten figure in American history. She was the first woman to ever sit for a photograph -- a daguerrotype, actually, in the year 1840, upon the rooftop of the school which would... by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

32 min listen

The First Song Ever Recorded: Imagine if we could hear the voices of Abraham Lincoln, Queen Victoria or Frederick Douglass? Believe it or not, somebody was making audio recordings as far back as the 1850s. This is the story of the first audio recordings ever made and the oldest... by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

11 min listen

The Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Revolution: The Story of the First Bikini: In 1907, the professional swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested on a Massachusetts beach for wearing a revealing bathing suit -- a skin-tight black ensemble which covered most of her body. Less than forty years later, in 1946, the owner of a... by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

31 min listen

Making the Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance feels like an American tradition that traces itself back to the Founding Fathers, but, in fact, it's turning 125 years old in 2017. This is the story of the invention of the Pledge, a set of words that have come to embody the... by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

28 min listen

Every Day Is Thanksgiving: The History of the TV Dinner: American eating habits were transformed in the early 20th century with innovations in freezing and refrigeration, allowing all kinds of foods to be shipped across the country and stored for long periods of time. But it would actually be the... by The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences

28 min listen