20 of the most notable firsts in pop culture, from music to sports

Women have always played an integral role in film, but Best Director at the Oscars wasn’t awarded to a woman until 2010 when Kathryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker. 

Coincidentally enough, Lucille Ball was one of the first people to be inducted in 1984, with I Love Lucy joining her in 1990.

In 1999, boy band fever was rampant, resulting in Backstreet Boys selling one million copies of Millennium in a week. However, while they were the first group to do so, another album surpassed one million units sold within a week: The Bodyguard soundtrack.

There are some three dozen Olympians that have 10 total medals to their name, but US swimmer Michael Phelps has 28 — 23 of them being gold.

Disney has always led the pack when it comes to animated innovation, but it wasn’t until the early ‘90s that the Academy noticed how grand their movies were when Beauty and the Beast was nominated for Best Picture alongside Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides, and the winner that year, The Silence of the Lambs.

The ‘70s brought a lot of change to how women were viewed in America, with shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Maude showcasing women as more than just doting homemakers. Maude even took things further by centering an episode around the idea of an abortion in 1972. Keep in mind Roe v. Wade wouldn’t pass until a year later. Bea Arthur, a legendary trailblazer.

Kicking off a music network with The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was, as the kids today say, kind of a serve. Little did they know the internet and the rise of reality TV would soon sour their musical legacy. 

It might sound cheesy, but the Green Bay Packers took home the big win against Kansas City, 35-10.

Think the first movie with a million-dollar budget was a modern one? Think again because in 1922, Foolish Wives became the first movie with a production cost that tipped over a million big ones.

Asia Kate Dillon made history on the small screen when their Billions’ character, Taylor Mason, represented the first non-binary character to ever appear in a television series (h/t The Hollywood Reporter). 

It wasn't a cruel summer for Taylor Swift in 2023, seeing that her  Eras Tour made so much that it became the first tour to gross over a billion dollars. That's billion with a "B"!

The WNBA was a groundbreaking moment for women in sports, and  Sheryl Swoopes  will forever be known as not only one of the basketball greats but also the first player drafted into the league.

Tootsie spent 14 weeks at the top of the box office and would've been the first to do so had it come out earlier than E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial  did in 1982. Yup, one of Steven Spielberg's finest was the first with Tootsie right behind it that winter. E.T. also has spent the most weeks at No. 1. 16, to be exact, with Titanic almost tying at 15. 

When television initially started to take shape and deliver the classics we still celebrate today, it was a different time. Couples slept in separate beds, women were always at home, and toilets were MIA. Hollywood thought no one wanted to be reminded that everyone's gotta go, that is, until Leave It to Beaver showcased that the commode on-screen ain't so bad.

By the tail end of the ‘80s, it was hard for many to deny the power of rap music. With that, the Grammys added Best Rap Performance in 1988, with DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince winning for “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”

This first happened back when Saturday Night Live got started in the ‘70s when Minnesota Viking Fran Tarkenton traded practice for rehearsal in the Big Apple.   

Pixar elevated animation in 1995 when they released Toy Story. Not only would that movie be the second-highest-grossing film of that year, with just a little over $3 million separating it and Die Hard with a Vengeance, but it'd also go on to inspire one of the most beloved franchises out there. 

Today, it’s hard to imagine a network like Fox without their infamous animated block on Sunday nights that features The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and Family Guy. However, animated series that adults could love at night weren’t always winners. Many had come and gone before Springfield's finest became a powerhouse, but back in the prehistoric era, AKA 1960, The Flintstones was the first to prove there was a place for animation in primetime. 

Grammy for Songwriter of the Year non-classical was first introduced in 2023, with Tobias Jesso Jr.  taking it home before anyone else thanks to his hard work writing for the likes of Harry Styles, FKA Twigs, and more. 

A second athlete tried, but Michael Jordan will always hold the title of the first athlete to come through for the Looney Tunes.