New Hampshire Firsts

Credit Sara Plourde for NHPR

New Hampshire Firsts is an ongoing look at the remarkable achievements, incredible inventions, natural phenomena, and events of national significance that began in the Granite State. 

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N.H. Firsts: The Magical World Of Richard Potter

By • Jun 22, 2018
Andover Beacon

Two hundred years ago, Richard Potter was one of the nation’s most famous entertainers, but he’s all but vanished from public memory. So has his extravagant house. 

NH Firsts: First Black Woman To Publish Novel

By • Jun 5, 2018

In 1859, a Mrs. H.E. Wilson published a novel at her own expense. The book told the story of a biracial girl named Frado abandoned by her mother to be raised by a prominent family where she suffered verbal and physical abuse at the hand of her employers in a New Hampshire town famous for its abolitionist activities.

The novel didn’t sell well - likely less than 100 copies - and the book as well as its author fell into obscurity.

New Hampshire Firsts: The Home Video Game

By • May 14, 2018
Courtesy Mark Baer

Before Nintendo 64, before Playstation, before Wii or Dreamcast or Xbox... there was the Magnavox Odyssey.

New Hampshire Firsts: Did This Granite State Woman Invent Casserole?

By • May 4, 2018
Elmire Jolicoeur
FindAGrave

There’s a story out there… a story you’ll find on dozens, maybe hundreds of websites, about the invention of the casserole:

“In 1866, Elmire Jolicoeur, a French Canadian immigrant, invented the precursor of the modern casserole in Berlin, New Hampshire.”

That’s from Wikipedia. If you don’t trust Wikipedia, you can also find this attribution in print, too.

New Hampshire Firsts: Tupperware!

By • Apr 27, 2018
tupperware party
State Library and Archives of Florida

In the early 1940s, an inventor from Berlin, New Hampshire, created a container made of refined polyethylene, an odorless, non-toxic plastic. He called the material “Poly-T.” A few years later, he designed an airtight lid.