Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2020

The founding of Southwestern University in 1840 wasn’t the only significant event of the year. A number of other interesting firsts occurred both in the United States and abroad. • John William Draper took the first successful photograph of the moon. • Charles Wilkes was the first to identify Antarctica as a new continent while circumnavigating the globe. • The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery—the world’s first dental college—was chartered by the Maryland General Assembly. • Great Britain issued the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, known as the Penny Black. • Alexander S. Wolcott and John Johnson opened the world’s first commercial photography portrait studio in New York City. • Samuel Morse patented the telegraph. A Year of Firsts around the World