The first education goal in history? “Let the wise instruct the ignorant” — carved in Mesopotamia over 4,000 years ago.

The first written language was Sumerian cuneiform around 3200 BCE.

The first known library was in Nineveh, built by Ashurbanipal in 7th century BCE.

The first alphabet came from the Phoenicians around 1200 BCE.

The first university in the world was Al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco (859 CE).

The first public school system was in ancient Greece.

The first printed book was the Diamond Sutra in China (868 CE).

The first textbook was written by Euclid — “Elements” in 300 BCE.

The first use of paper in schools was in China, around 105 CE.

The first modern pencil was made in England in 1564.

The first school open to girls was in ancient Egypt.

The first monastic schools started in medieval Europe.

The first university with degrees was the University of Bologna in 1088.

The first woman to attend a university was Bettisia Gozzadini in the 1200s.

The first lending library in America was opened by Benjamin Franklin.

The first public library was opened in Rome in 39 BCE.

The first school textbook in English was the “New England Primer” in 1690.

The first black college in the U.S. was Cheyney University, 1837.

The first distance education course was offered in Boston in 1728 — by mail!

The first known philosopher was Thales of Miletus.

The first great teacher was Confucius in ancient China.

The first scientific method was proposed by Ibn al-Haytham.

The first major logic system was Aristotle’s syllogisms.

The first book on ethics was “Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle.

The first feminist philosophy was by Christine de Pizan in 1405.

The first major philosophy book in English was Locke’s Essay on Human Understanding.

The first open-source encyclopedia was Wikipedia in 2001.

The first philosophical comic strip? Calvin & Hobbes, of course!

The first recorded teacher was Ptahhotep in ancient Egypt.

The first female teacher in history was Enheduanna, a priestess and poet.

The first Greek tutor to royalty was Aristotle for Alexander the Great.

The first person to teach with storytelling was Aesop.

The first educator to write about child-centered learning was Comenius in 1657.

The first deaf educator was Abbé de l’Épée in the 1700s.

The first teacher for the blind was Valentin Haüy in 1784.

The first teacher to win a Nobel Prize was Rabindranath Tagore.

The first online course creator? MIT's OpenCourseWare in 2002.

The first global “teach-in” was during the Vietnam War protests in 1965.

The first law mandating free public education was in Massachusetts in 1647.

The first country to achieve universal literacy was Cuba in the 1960s.

The first UNESCO education program launched in 1945.

The first Education for All summit happened in Jomtien, Thailand (1990).

The first campaign for girls' education globally was by Malala Yousafzai.

The first worldwide school strike for climate was in 2018.

The first school reformer to fight child labor was Horace Mann.

The first mass teacher training system was in Prussia.

The first country to offer free college education was Germany.

The first education-related Nobel Peace Prize went to Kailash Satyarthi in 2014.

The first written alphabetic system was Proto-Canaanite.

The first grammar rules were written by Panini in ancient India.

The first dictionary was created by the Sumerians.

The first printed dictionary in English was by Samuel Johnson in 1755.

The first spelling bee was held in Kentucky in 1925.

The first literacy campaign was in the Soviet Union (1920s).

The first phonics program dates back to 17th-century England.

The first sign language school was in Paris in 1760.

The first Braille system was invented by Louis Braille in 1824.

The first audiobook recording was made by Edison in 1877.

The first online university was Jones International in 1993.

The first educational software was PLATO, built in 1960.

The first video lecture series was from The Teaching Company in the 1990s.

The first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) launched at Stanford in 2011.

The first education app to hit 100 million downloads was Duolingo.

The first country to use computers in every classroom was Norway.

The first educational video game was Oregon Trail in 1971.

The first AI tutor was introduced by Carnegie Learning.

The first VR classroom was created by zSpace in 2014.

The first ChatGPT-style AI in classrooms debuted in 2023.

The first school for the blind opened in Paris in 1784.

The first inclusive school system started in Italy in the 1970s.

The first country to mandate inclusive education was Spain.

The first dyslexia-friendly font was created in 2008.

The first deaf university was Gallaudet, founded in 1864.

The first wheelchair-accessible school policy came from Canada.

The first sign language curriculum in public schools was in the U.S.

The first autism-inclusive education program launched in Denmark.

The first national policy for special education was in the U.K.

The first braille textbooks printed in bulk were in India.

The first student protest was against tuition fees in medieval Bologna.

The first youth-led education march was the Children’s Crusade of 1212.

The first modern student movement was the Free Speech Movement (Berkeley, 1964).

The first student body government was formed at Harvard in 1780.

The first global youth summit on education was in 1998.

The first child-rights advocate in education was Janusz Korczak.

The first banned student book was Plato’s Republic!

The first online student petition hit 1 million signatures in 2019.

The first virtual graduation was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The first education influencer to reach 1M subscribers? Khan Academy.

The first math school was founded by Pythagoras in 530 BCE.

The first scientific academy was Accademia dei Lincei in 1603.

The first laboratory school was started by John Dewey in 1896.

The first Nobel Prize in Physics went to Wilhelm Röntgen in 1901.

The first school microscope was built in the 1600s.

The first university to teach astronomy was Al-Azhar in Cairo.

The first academic journal was Philosophical Transactions in 1665.

The first science fair was held in New York in 1928.

The first STEM education program launched in the U.S. in the 1990s.

The first citizen science platform was Galaxy Zoo in 2007.

The first global literacy day was celebrated by UNESCO in 1967.