Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery
FIRST was not always an "international organization." It took several years before there were any Canadian teams, and a few more before Brazillians joined the party. FIRST did not have an event outside of North America until the pilot Israel regional in 2005. The organization was originally called US FIRST, and had a more US-centric goal. It used the name "US FIRST" on its literature until at least 1997. There's still a reason you will hear comments about the US' ranking in the world at many FIRST events. While the mission of FIRST is international now, there is some validity in the history of the organization.
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To add to that with a little nuget of trivia, while
FIRST has been using
FIRST as it's DBA name for a long time now, the legal name of the entity is still The United States Foundation For The Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. While it's focus has obviously shifted from just the US to international outreach, due to the legal name once and a while you will still see US
FIRST on things.