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First Olympic Gold Medalist

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David Edgar, gold medalist in the 1972 Olympics in the 400-meter freestyle relay, was UT’s first Olympic gold medalist and one of the three first UT students to participate in the Olympics (although others, such as Harry Anderson in 1935, had participated in Olympics preliminaries). The two other UT athletes participating were sophomore Douglas Charles … Continued

First Pipe Organ

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A pipe organ was installed in the “chapel” of Science Hall in 1892, but in February 1895, it was “returned in installments” because it had never worked properly. The pipes were retained, and a cabinet organ was used.

First Opera Staged by UT

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The first opera staged by UT was Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Two performances were given in the spring of 1953 at the Bijou Theatre. Ambrose Holford directed it. Seven of the principals, six members of the chorus, and nine members of the orchestra were university students. The remainder of the cast consisted of faculty members … Continued

First Physician

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In 1875–76 two rooms in the Janney Building were made into an infirmary, and in 1878 the trustees authorized the employment of the institution’s first physician.

First Plant Diseases Book in the United States

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In 1890 head of the Botany Department and newly appointed head of the Agricultural Experiment Station Frank Lamson-Scribner published Fungus Diseases of the Grape and Other Plants and Their Treatment, the first book on the subject of plant diseases published in the United States.

First Outland Trophy Winner

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Steve DeLong (1943–2010) was Tennessee’s first Outland Trophy winner in 1964. The Football Writers’ Association annually presents the trophy to the nation’s outstanding collegiate interior linesman. First awarded in 1946, the award is named for John Outland, an All American tackle at the University of Pennsylvania in 1897 and 1899 and who began funding the … Continued