51.  Eight years ago, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to help pay for gay-straight alliances in high schools.

52.  Egypt was the first Arab state to sign peace with Israel, a distinction that caused it strains with the rest of the Arab world.

53.  Fifty years ago this month, California became the first state to sanction inter-racial marriages.

54.  Florida would become the first state to have a statewide school voucher program.

55.  For example, New Jersey was the first state to set a target for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

56.  For Texas, poised to be the first state to take its fight with the tobacco industry to trial, a loss would be costly and embarrassing.

57.  Fox acknowledged some of his own challenges on Saturday when he delivered his first state of the nation speech.

58.  For years, New Hampshire prided itself on being the first primary state.

59.  For the first time Arab states stretching from Morocco to Saudi Arabia were openly aligning with Israel and leaving Iran, Syria, Libya and Iraq on the sidelines.

60.  Friday Massachusetts will become the first state in the country to launch an initiative aimed at protecting gay and lesbian college students.