Posted in Wisconsin July 28, 2015 by

Some People Don’t Know That Wisconsin Was The First To Do These 10 Things

With the state motto “Forward,” Wisconsin is known for always progressing towards new horizons. As such, Wisconsin is often at the forefront of new discoveries. Here are ten things where Wisconsin was #1 (as usual):

1. George Esterly invents the first harvesting machine (1844)
Claire/Flickr
You like to eat, don't ya? We made it a heck of a lot easier.
2. A group of people came together to form the Republican party in Ripon, Wisconsin (1854)
Michael Vadon/Flickr
These Republicans were former members of the Whig party and opposed the spread of slavery into Western territories
3. Christopher Latham Soles invented the typewriter (1868)
Maro Tedaldi/Flickr
Hardly anyone under 30 knows what a ribbon is, but if not for the typewriter, we wouldn't have word processing machines
4. Dr. John Carhart built the first steam-powered automobile (1871)
SheltieBoy/Flickr
5. Ed Berner develops the ice cream sundae (1881)
Edward Russell/Flickr
It all happened when a customer asked Berner to put some chocolate syrup on top of ice cream. Ummmmm....awesome idea.
6. William Horlick invented malted milk (1887)
Mike Mozart/Flickr
And malted milk is delicious
7. Wisconsin was the first to introduce a statewide numbering system for highways--odd for north/south, even for east/west. (1918)
Doug Kerr/Flickr
Pretty great idea, AMIRITE?
8. Wisconsin passed the first law ending all discrimination against women (1921)
JD Hancock/Flickr
Thanks, Wisconsin!
9. The Hamilton Manufacturing Company develops the first automatic clothes dryer (1935)
HomeSpot HQ/Flickr
Sure beats having to hang all clothes outside on the clothesline!
10. Wisconsin was the first state to prohibit the sale and distribution of DDT (1970)
Francis Storr/Flickr

And the amazing thing is that this list only talks about the things that originated in Wisconsin, not the multitude of things that Wisconsinites perfected. 🙂