Did you know that the first ever “helicopter hoist rescue” took place off the coast of Fairfield in 1946?  Or that on this day, September 12, back in 1992, Mission Specialist N. Jan Davis and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mark C. Lee were the first husband and wife team to fly in space together?  These are just two fun nuggets of information from the new edition of one of the Ref Desk’s favorite reference books, Famous First Facts compiled by Janet Podell & Steven Anzovin (another husband and wife team, by the way).  The first First, published back in 1933, was the brainchild of journalist Joseph Nathan Kane.  The book was so popular that it was turned into a radio program, and Mr. Kane became a consultant to many radio and television quiz shows.  His first edition had 3,000 “firsts;” the sixth edition published last year has over 7,500 entries, covering everything from entertainment to science, technology, history and much more.  Any idea who was the driver of the first bookwagon back in 1905?  Hmm, bet you can find the answer in a certain reference book with a call number of R 031 K 2006…

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