Joseph Nathan Kane - Famous First Facts

Famous First Facts

After Kane collected all this information he decided to publish his material in a large reference book that could be used by libraries and others. Kane first tried to publish his lengthy detailed manuscript but was rejected by eleven publishers. On his twelfth approach he contacted Halsey W. Wilson, the founder and president of the publishing company H. W. Wilson Company.

Wilson was also hesitant. He was not sure there would be a market for this type of information. Kane then decided to mail or deliver in person a copy of portions of his manuscript to reference librarians across the United States. H. W. Wilson Company then received numerous letters requesting the book. Based on this they then published Kane's book Famous First Facts: A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in the United States in 1933.

Kane's book was 757 pages long. It catalogued 3,000 facts arranged alphabetically according to subject and indexed chronologically and geographically. Some of the entries were

• the first distinctly American disease (tularemia, 1906).

• the first imported sheep (1609), cows (1624), and camels (1856).

• the first black army major (Martin Robinson Delaney, 1865).

• the first subway in America was the Beach Pneumatic Underground Railway of New York City built in 1870.

• the first steamboat to carry a person (built by John Fitch in 1787, twenty years before Fulton introduced regular steamboat service).

• the first lock-stitch sewing machine (made by Walter Hunt between 1832 and 1834, a dozen years before Elias Howe obtained his patent).

• that George Washington was not the first person to be known as the president of the United States. Thomas McKean of Delaware was first to be named "President of the United States" in 1781. Washington became president April 30, 1789.

It was reviewed in various newspapers nationwide as |....something new under the sun", "...a book more fascinating than the dictionary", "...a very valuable tool for the reference library", "...patient plugging away at dry statistics", "... a happy inspiration that set Joseph Nathan Kane at the task of producing so intriguing a volume." The New York Times on May 14, 1933, in an article wrote "a dogged resolution of almost superhuman force that kept him at work so incessantly grilling until it was finished".

Kane then published a supplement called More First Facts in 1935. It featured an index showing the various firsts occurring on each day of the year. The second edition of Famous First Facts was published fifteen years later. It included with its new entries material from both the original volume and the supplement. The book has been republished a further five times.

In 1959, Kane decided to focus his attention on the White House and wrote Facts about the Presidents. In this reference book Kane provided biographical information about the United States presidents.

Kane followed this up in 1989 with Facts about the States. The book provides information on each state's geography, demographics, economics, politics, culture, climate, history, education, and finances. It includes all fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.