The Dating Game: Which Came First? Vol. 3

Question: Which came first: hockey’s Stanley Cup or the Stanley cup beverage container?

Answer: Stanley cup tumblers became a viral sensation in 2019, though the Stanley company began making vacuum-sealed bottles to keep coffee hot in 1913. The National Hockey League’s top prize, the Stanley Cup, still came first, even predating the NHL itself. The Cup was first awarded to the winner of the Amateur Hockey Association’s 1892–93 season.

Question: Which came first: ketchup or ranch dressing?

Answer: Heinz began selling “catsup” in 1876. Steve and Gayle Henson created ranch dressing at their California guest ranch (named Hidden Valley) in the 1950s.

Question: Which came first: telephone or camera?

Answer: The first device used to permanently capture an image was developed in the 1820s and ’30s. Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876.

Question: Which came first: Volkswagen Beetles or the band the Beatles?

Answer: The Volkswagen Beetle (originally just called Volkswagen) first rolled off the production line in 1945. Paul McCartney and John Lennon first paired up in 1957, and their group officially became the Beatles in 1960.

Question: Which came first: Pilates or yoga?

Answer: Yoga’s basic text, the Yoga-sutras, dates back to at least the 5th century CE (and is possibly much, much older). Pilates was developed by Joseph H. Pilates in the mid-20th century.

Question: Which came first: microwave or air conditioning?

Answer: Willis Carrier developed the first modern air conditioning in 1902 to handle a humidity problem in a room with a printing press. In 1945 Percy Spencer recognized the heating power of a magnetron while working on radar, and the first commercially available microwaves hit shelves soon after.

Question: Which came first: bottled water or Coca-Cola?

Answer: As early as 1622 merchants reportedly bottled and sold spring water from Malvern, England, which was said to have healing properties. Poland Spring, a top American brand, was first sold commercially in 1859. The first Coca-Cola was poured in 1886.

Question: Which came first: airplane or submarine?

Answer: Cornelis Drebbel is credited with inventing the first submarine in the early to mid-1600s. Submarines were unsuccessfully used in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. During the American Civil War, the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley managed to sink a Union ship but destroyed itself in the process. The Wright brothers’ first flight was in 1903.

Question: Which came first: nachos or Buffalo wings?

Answer: Nachos were a spur-of-the-moment invention by a shorthanded chef named Ignacio (Nacho) Anaya García in the 1940s. Teressa Bellissimo of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, first tossed fried chicken wings in hot sauce as a late-night snack for her son in 1964.

Question: Which came first: Nike or Adidas?

Answer: Adolf and Rudolf Dassler began making shoes together in 1919 but had a falling out in 1948. Rudolf then founded a company that would become Puma, and his brother founded Adidas. Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports in 1967, renamed Nike in 1971.

Question: Which came first: Nerf or LEGO?

Answer: LEGO was founded in 1932 by a Danish carpenter making items such as wooden ducks. The company began making Automatic Binding Bricks in 1949. The first Nerf ball harmlessly bounced onto shelves in 1969.

Question: Which came first: crossword puzzle or jigsaw puzzle?

Answer: Jigsaw puzzles originated in 18th-century England, made from cut-up maps and used as geography learning materials. The earliest versions of crossword puzzles appeared in the 19th century, with the first modern one published in 1913.

Question: Which came first: skis or roller skates?

Answer: Unearthed in Russia, the oldest confirmed ski ever found dates back to at least about 6000 BCE. Joseph Merlin is typically credited with inventing the first roller skates in the 1760s, but they proved unpopular, as stopping and turning were nearly impossible. The modern roller skate was invented in 1863.

Question: Which came first: Tyrannosaurus rex or crab?

Answer: Crabs first appeared on Earth at least 150–200 million years ago, much earlier than the Tyrannosaurus rex, which lived about 80–66 million years ago.

Question: Which became a U.S. federal holiday first: Memorial Day or Labor Day?

Answer: It had been celebrated by various unions on a local level since the 1880s, but Labor Day became a U.S. federal holiday in 1894. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, a time for decorating the graves of soldiers who died during the American Civil War, and was first nationally observed in 1868. Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971.