- First donation - 37 cents
- First classes held at Eau Gallie Junior High School - September 22, 1958
- First chairman of the board, George Shaw
- First board of trustees meeting - February 25, 1959
- First degree, an associate's in engineering, awarded to Reagan Dubose - 1961
- First honorary doctorate given to Astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom - 1962
- First dormitory, Brownlie Hall - 1964
- First yearbook, called the Erudition, published - 1968 (thereafter Ad Astra)
- First vessel, Miss FIT, takes maiden voyage - 1968
- First Faculty Senate meeting - January 13, 1970 (A. W. Revay, Jr., President)
- First off-campus program launched (MSEE at Patuxent River Naval Aviation facility) - 1972
- First woman appointed to the board of trustees - Mrs. John H. (Florence) Evans, Jr. - 1973
- First football game - September 7, 2013