New Hampshire Firsts

The first-in-the-nation Presidential Primary election is held in the Granite State every four years. Until the 1992 elections, no candidate had ever won the Presidency without first winning in New Hampshire.

 

In 1775, New Hampshire became the first state to declare its independence from England.

 

The first American in space, Alan Shepard, was born in Derry, New Hampshire. His historic flight was made in 1961.

 

The first private citizen in the history of space flight was Christa McAuliffe, a Concord school teacher. After her death in the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, a planetarium was built in her honor in Concord.

 

Samuel Shelburne of Portsmouth was the first Attorney General of the United States. He was named to the post in 1789.

The Maine lobster yield is 40 million pounds annually, with about 4,500 active lobstermen, nearly 90 percent of the nation’s lobster supply.

 

The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought off Machias Maine in 1775.

 

Eastport Maine is the easternmost U.S. city and the first in the country to see the sun.

 

Maine produces 90% of the country’s toothpick supply