# Who was the first to do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722 "2005-05-06T18:10:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/41 "2005-05-07T05:39:01Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > I earned 8 college credits before I graduated from high school (Calc I & II). If credit from AP tests taken while in high school count (as well as a dual-enrollment course), then I earned… I think it was something like 22 or 24 credits to take with me when I started college. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/42 "2005-05-07T13:47:23Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > I haven’t driven a car yet. I’m 46. What do _I_ win? > > I didn’t get married until I was 39. Does that count? I haven’t drive a car yet, and I’m 50. I did get married at 15. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/43 "2005-05-07T13:50:38Z")
I’ve never taken an alcoholic drink and I’m 41. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/44 "2005-05-07T15:30:46Z")
Despite the fact that we never had much money, my parents always seemed to be on the cutting edge when it came to gifts. I was the first person in my primary school to have a digital watch. I’m not sure of the exact year, although it would have been 1978 or 1979. I was also the first person i knew in high school to have a Walkman (not sure if it was an official Sony one or not). I got it for Christmas, 1981. This was all in Australia. For a long time, Australia tended to lag a year or so behind places like the US and UK when it came to technology, so my dates may not seem especially early to some people. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/45 "2005-05-07T15:38:13Z")
I received a CD player in Dec. 1985. I was also one of the first people to drive on the 105 freeway in Los Angeles in 1993. ---
**Author:** ![MrAlpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@MrAlpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAlpen)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/46 "2005-05-07T15:42:08Z")
Any chance of my having bought the LAST sliderule here? 1976, I think … ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/47 "2005-05-07T15:51:10Z")
I browsed a web site in 1992. www.law.cornell.edu It looks a bit different today. I was using the free browser Mosiac. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/48 "2005-05-07T15:58:34Z")
Oh, and if we’re doing “last” as well as “first”… Despite doing my undergrad degree from 1995-1998, i never had an email account until 1999. Still don’t have a cell phone. And one of the phones in our house is a rotary dial. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/49 "2005-05-07T16:02:28Z")
I’m reasonably confident that I am the first Doper to tour the Tower of London while dressed as Dee Snider from Twisted Sister, done in 1986. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/50 "2005-05-07T16:12:42Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I’m reasonably confident that I am the first Doper to tour the Tower of London while dressed as Dee Snider from Twisted Sister, done in 1986. You wish. I did that in 1984. When I was a year old. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/51 "2005-05-07T16:49:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I browsed a web site in 1992. > > www.law.cornell.edu > > It looks a bit different today. I was using the free browser Mosiac. No you weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/52 "2005-05-07T17:27:38Z")
I drowned in 1983, at the tender age of four. I eventually got better, though; my status was upgraded from “dead” to “not dead enough” shortly after and the world has been reeling ever since. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/53 "2005-05-07T17:31:30Z")
I have never owned a hairdryer, and at this stage of my life the point is moot. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/54 "2005-05-07T18:27:05Z")
In days of yore before PCs and affordable wordprocessing programs, if you want to type a document with special symbols, you’d use a typewriter with changeable keys. To type a special character like the Greek alpha, I had to open the top cover of my trusty Smith Corona, remove the type on the end of one of the two special keys, snap in the special character I wanted, type the key, open the cover, reverse the process (or put in another key), etc. That was in the mid-70’s. At least the S-C was an electric typewriter so I didn’t have to pound the keys when I typed. Prior to the S-C, my dad picked up a used manual typewriter that did not even have the number 1 on a separate key. You had to use the lower case character for L. That was in the mid-60’s. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/55 "2005-05-07T20:10:04Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > …\…manual typewriter that did not even have the number 1 on a separate key. You had to use the lower case character for L. That was in the mid-60’s. Was there a manual typewriter that _did_ have a 1 key? I don’t recall ever seeing one - not to say that there wasn’t, I’ve just not seen one. My mom had an Underwood from the 1940s, and you’d use the lower-case L for 1 on it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/56 "2005-05-07T20:22:57Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > If this is any consolation, the most successful person I know (financially) dropped out of high school his sophomore year. His brother told me he made over $20M last year. :eek: Wow that is way cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/57 "2005-05-08T02:55:53Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > I STILL don’t have a cell phone. There, I said it. Although a friend of mine has loaned his to me for extended times. > > I am 24. I don’t have a cell phone either, and I’m 45. I’ve also never smoked tobacco, marijuana, or any other substance in any form. I did once put one of my dad’s cigarettes in my mouth to see what the Salem (IIRC – he wasn’t lotal to any particular brand) tasted like. For about 20 seconds. In the late 1960’s or early '70’s. I was obviously underwhelmed, as I didn’t light up. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/58 "2005-05-08T03:21:19Z")
I bought stock in Apple in December of 1980, the first week they were public. I think it cost around $25 a share. I was a freshman in college and badgered my parents into making the investment for me. I sold the shares somewhere around 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/59 "2005-05-08T03:56:56Z")
I first got high, as near as I’ve been able to remember, at about age 6. Needless to say, in many ways my childhood left a lot to be desired. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722/60 "2005-05-08T04:20:40Z")
I visited the Soviet Union in 1970. (Quite an interesting time actually, what with the 25th anniversary of the end of the ‘Great Patriotic War’) If I’m not first in that, how about the fact that I contracted [Giardiasis](http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic215.htm) while over there, three few years before [travel to Russia was reported to be a risk for its acquisition](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=4267618). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-to-do-it/302722.md?page=4)