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HISTORY

Decades of Impact. A Legacy of Innovation.

From a New Hampshire gym to global recognition, explore the milestones that shaped FIRST®.
How It All Began Game & Award History

The History of FIRST®

“It’s not about the robots. It’s never been about the robots. We are not using kids to build robots; we are using robots to build kids.” 
— Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST

For more than 30 years, FIRST has grown from a local competition into a global movement, preparing young people to tackle real-world challenges with confidence and creativity. 

Click the "+" icon below to read about a key FIRST milestone from that year.

1989
Prolific inventor Dean Kamen founds FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to inspire young people to become science and technology leaders and innovators. “I want to compete for the hearts and minds of kids with the excitement of the Super Bowl,” he says.
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1992
Twenty-eight teams of high school students compete in the inaugural FIRST® Robotics Competition in a school gymnasium in New Hampshire. President George H.W. Bush attends the event.
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1995
The inaugural FIRST Championship is held at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida, where it remained through 2002.
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1996
The inaugural FIRST Scholarship is awarded by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
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1997 
FIRST Founding Sponsors pledge support to kickstart growth of FIRST programs.  They  include: Baxter International Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, DEKA Research & Development Corporation, Delphi Automotive PLC, FCA Foundation, General Motors Company, Johnson & Johnson, Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Motorola Solutions Foundation, and Xerox Corporation
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1998 
FIRST and the LEGO Group partner to pilot a junior robotics program, FIRST® LEGO® League. A few years later, the program expands to bring the FIRST experience to children as young as 6 years old.
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2005 
FIRST® Tech Challenge is introduced as a pilot program for middle and high school students.
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2008 
FIRST creates a Strategic Partner designation for top-tier FIRST sponsors that support FIRST at the highest level.
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2010
President Barack Obama honors FIRST teams at the first-ever White House Science Fair.
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2012 
Global music artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist will.i.am honors FIRST during the Super Bowl halftime show a few weeks after attending the FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff. The technology he wore on the field was created by a FIRST alum. Today, his i.am.angel foundation helps expand FIRST programs in the communities it serves.
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2013
The Dr. Bart Kamen Memorial Scholarship Fund is established to honor Dean Kamen’s late brother, a pediatric oncologist. Later that year, FIRST teams and robots cut the opening ribbon and lead the 87th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
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2017

The inaugural FIRST Global Challenge, an annual Olympics-style event created to expand access to FIRST programs worldwide, takes place in Washington, D.C., with more than 150 countries represented.

 

2018
FIRST announces a landmark 2018–19 season theme celebrating space innovation and the organization’s 30th anniversary — the first-ever unified, cross-program season: FIRST LAUNCH.
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2019
Dual FIRST Championship events in Houston and Detroit draw record numbers in April, with 77,000 participants from around the world attending the two-week event. The following month, FIRST introduces bundled Class Pack editions, providing educators with flexible tools to implement programs with 30 or more students.

 

2020
FIRST celebrates Walk Like Woodie Day one year after the passing of Dr. Woodie Flowers, who helped establish the ethos of FIRST by coining the term Gracious Professionalism® and embodying its meaning through his actions. The annual day of recognition was started by students from FIRST team Camdenton LASER 3264.
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2021
The 2021 Christa McAuliffe Silver Dollar, a U.S. commemorative coin championed by the FIRST community to honor a STEM education hero who inspired future generations, is issued by the U.S. Mint and features the FIRST logo.
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2022
The FIRST documentary, “More Than Robots”, directed by Gillian Jacobs and produced by Supper Club, premieres at the SXSW Film Festival and streams internationally on Disney+.

2025
“Rule Breakers,” a feature film inspired by the true story of the all-girls FIRST team the Afghan Dreamers, is released in movie theaters.
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Game & Award History

Relive the Games

Explore the legacy of our FIRST programs — FIRST® Robotics Competition, FIRST® Tech Challenge, and FIRST® LEGO® League — from iconic robot challenges to the teams and students who made history.
History

FIRST® Robotics Competition

Our inaugural program features complex, team-based annual engineering challenges. View past games and Hall of Fame team honorees who’ve left a legacy of impact.
View Game History “Hall of Fame” Honorees Program Event Results
History

FIRST® Tech Challenge

Our classroom-scale robotics competition focuses on design, coding, and collaboration. See past game themes that sparked innovation.
View Game History Program Event Results
History

FIRST® LEGO® League

This hands-on program introduces STEM through storytelling, LEGO® technology, and teamwork. Browse previous themed challenges and see how students build foundations of learning through the program.
View Challenge History

“Once a kid realizes they have the power to create a solution to a problem, it’s transformative. They’ll never go back.”

– Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST 
Read More About FIRST