selected from the little book of lists

• the first kiss ever recorded on film (1896)
: the first kiss ever to be recorded on film occured in thomas eddison's aptly titled film "the kiss", between john c. rice and may irwin in 1896. it was adapted from a short scene in the broadway comedy "the widow jones" and had a running time of less than 30 seconds.
• "the kiss that awakened sleeping beauty" (17th century): 
in the classic fairy tale 'sleeping beauty', is it with a kiss that the handsome prince awakens the enchanted princess. this kiss first appeared 1697 in charles perrault's version, then entitled "la belle ay bois dormant". but in fact, 'sleeping beauty' dates back to two earlier romances - 'perceforest' and 'pentamerone'. in those stories, the handsome prince finds the sleeping beauty, falls in love with her, rapes her and then leaves. a little less sugary and fairy-tale-like than the story most are familiar with.


• the kiss that cost thomas saverland his nose (1837): 
in 1837, at the dawn of the victorian era in great britain, thomas saverland attempted to kiss miss caroline newton in a lighthearted manner. rejecting saverland's pass, miss newton not so lightheartedly bit off part of his nose. saverland took newton to court, but she was acquitted. "when a man kisses a woman against her will," ruled the judge, "she is fully entitled to bite his nose, if so she pleases."
• the movie with 191 kisses (1926): 
in 1926 warner brothers studios stared john barrymore (drew's grandfather) in "don juan". during the course of the film (2 hours, 47 mins), the amorous adventurer bestows a total of 191 kisses on a number of beautiful misses - an average of one every 53 seconds.


• first interracial kiss on US television (1968): 
nbc's 'star trek' was the first programme for show a white man kissing a black woman. in the episode 'plato's children', aliens with psychic powers force captain kirk (william shatner) to kiss leiutenant uhura (nichelle nichols).
• the kiss that cost $1260 (1977)
: ruth van herpen visited an art gallery in oxford, england, in 1977 and kissed a painting by american artist jo baer, leaving red lipstick stains on the $18 000 work. restoration costs were reported to be as much as $1260. appearing in court, van herpen explained, 'i only kissed it to cheer it up. it looked so cold.'


• the first lesbian kiss on american commercial television (1991)
: the first visible kiss between two women on an american network television series took place in 1991 on the show "L.A. law". However, a later kiss broadcasted in 1994 on the comedy "roseanne" caused more of a sensation. in a controversial scene well-published in the press, guest star mariel hemingway kisses series star roseanne arnold on the mouth. the kiss occurs in a 'gay bar' setting and hemingway portrays a lesbian stripper. the episode became the subject of high-profile bickering between executives and producers. abc tv finally let the kiss happen, but added a viewer warning at the start of the episode.


• the sexual harrassment kiss (1996)
: six year old johnathan prevette, a first grader at southwest elementary school in lexington, north carolina, kissed a classmate on the cheek. a teacher saw the incident and reported it to the school principal who punished johnathan by keeping him in from attending an ice cream party and ordering him to spend a day in a disciplinary programme. but johnathan's mother called a local radio talk show and word of the incident spread and within 6 months the us department of education had rewritten it's sexual harassment guidelines to omit kisses by first graders. for the record, johnathan said that the girl asked him for a kiss.