30 TV and Film Firsts We Didn’t Realize Changed Everything

All too often, we take the commonplace things we see in film and television — toilet flushes, pregnancy, husbands and wives sharing a bed — for granted. We assume that someone, somewhere, must have done them first — but who? 

In many cases, these things were quite controversial when they were first depicted on-screen. The flush toilet was invented in 1596, but it wasn’t until the late 1800s that it started appearing in films. In 1901’s Cinderella, one of the first-ever animated films, the titular character is shown flushing a toilet, though this scene was cut from later versions due to its controversial nature. Pregnancy was another taboo subject that was frequently censored in early films. It wasn’t until 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven that a pregnant woman was shown on-screen. The film caused such a stir that the Motion Picture Association of America introduced a new code limiting the depiction of pregnancy in films.

Here are a number of other TV and film firsts you probably never realized changed everything…