# 4: The First Ever

We have all had a "first"in our life. Our first baby steps, first word spoken, first girl or boyfriend, first job, and so forth. But there are certain "firsts" that could be considered different from the norm, or unheard of because of its time. Herein, is a sampling of those firsts.

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Susanna Madora Salter (née Kinsey; March 2, 1860 – March 17, 1961) was an American politician and activist. She served as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, becoming the first woman elected as mayor in the United States and one of the first women to serve in any political office in the U.S.

At Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, U.S. Martha M. Place (September 18, 1849 – March 20, 1899) was an American murderer and the first woman to die in the electric chair. She was executed on March 20, 1899, at Sing Sing Correctional Facility for the murder of her stepdaughter Ida Place.

On May 3, 1946, Willie Francis survived an attempt at execution by the electric chair. The portable electric chair, known as "Gruesome Gertie," was found to have been improperly set up by an intoxicated prison guard and inmate from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

The first possible appearance of a stunt-double was Frank Hanaway in The Great Train Robbery, shot in 1903 in Milltown, New Jersey. The first auditable paid stunt was in the 1908 film The Count of Monte Cristo, with $5 paid by the director to the acrobat who had to jump 200 feet upside down from an open breezeway/balcony into the sea, or more well known as the La Jolla coast, near San Diego.

Helen Gibson (born Rose August Wegner; August 27, 1892 – October 10, 1977) was an American film actress, vaudeville performer, radio performer, film producer, trick rider, and rodeo performer; and is considered to be the first American professional stunt woman.