Full record for first contact n.

Definition	The first meeting between two different intelligent species
OED requirements	antedating 1935
Earliest cite	Murray Leinster, Proxima Centauri
Comment	Matthew Hoyt submitted a cite from Frederik Pohl's "We Purchased People", from a reprint of Ferman and Malzberg's 1974 anthology "Final Stage". Tom Whitmore submitted a 1945 cite from John Campbell's "In Times To Come" column in Astounding. Douglas Winston submitted a cite from a reprint of Murray Leinster's "First Contact"; Mike Christie verified the cite in the 1945 first magazine appearance. Douglas Winston submitted a cite from a 1990 reprint of Allan Cole and Chris Bunch's 1984 "The Wolf Worlds". Douglas Winston submitted a 1999 cite from Diane Duane's "Storm at Eldala". Douglas Winston submitted a 2002 cite from Julie Czerneda's "To Trade the Stars". Mike Christie submitted a cite from a 1979 reprint of Clifford Simak's 1965 "All Flesh Is Grass". Mike Christie submitted a cite from a 1978 reprint of Murray Leinster's "Proxima Centauri"; Alistair Durie verified the cite in the first appearance in the March 1935 Astounding.
Last modified	6 July, 2008

Citations for first contact n.

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1965 C. D. Simak All Flesh is Grass (1979) 190	And I knew that it was hopeless, that here was a problem which could not be solved, that the human race would bungle its first contact with an alien people. There would be talk and argument, discussion, consultation—but all on the human level, all from the human viewpoint, without a chance that anyone would even try to take into account the alien point of view.
1973 A. C. Clarke Rendezvous with Rama (1974) 161	Feeling extremely foolish, the acting representative of Homo sapiens watched his First Contact stride away across the Raman plain, totally indifferent to his presence.
1974 F. Pohl in E. L. Ferman & B. N. Malzberg Final Stage (1975) 28	H. G. Wells told us that the essence of first contact might be invasion and exploitation (in The War of the Worlds ) on the highly defensible assumption that since that had been the way it had usually been in earthly affairs, interplanetary affairs would likely be the same.
1987 G. Bear Forge of God (1988) 41	The always-fascinating subjects of space colonization and first contact with extraterrestrial beings.
1990 J. Tiptree, Jr. Color of Neanderthal Eyes 2	Wet has been visited only once before, by a loner named Pforzheimer, who stayed only long enough to claim a First Contact.
1992 D. Brin Bonding to Genji in D. Brin Otherness (1994) 225	Yamato arrived after the Spacers—upstarts from Earth's asteroid colonies—had already visited the twin worlds of Genji and Chujo, taken samples of alien life, and usurped the privilege of first contact that should have been Japan's.
1994 Interzone Aug. 54/2	We must remember that White Queen was a First Contact novel in which the alien Aleutians came to Earth to trade, and were mistaken for invaders.
1999 D. Duane Storm at Eldala 215	It is a joke‥whether it is trying to be one or not‥. Have you looked at the real ‘first contact’ material yet?
2001 Locus June 35/2	A‥space station is the main setting for this tense first-contact adventure.
2002 J. E. Czerneda To Trade Stars 32,	I heard the growing wonder in his voice as he surveyed the being stuffed into his ship. ‘Rugheran. Sira. Do you realize what this means? First contact.’