The gold rush is first recorded in 1859.
The first gold medal for a winner was awarded in 1757.
Gold records were first awarded in 1948. Apparently it was awarded to Frankie Laine for his recording of That’s My Desire, it having sold a million copies. Remembering these were 78rpm recordings, a million pressings would represent over 98 tons in weight, around 15 African elephants.
Gold leaf is first recorded in 1727.
The metal was extracted from what was named as a gold mine for the first time in the late 15th century, and the phrase was later used to describe anything producing great wealth in 1882.
One who looks for gold in the ground is described as a gold digger in 1816, then 99 years later we find the phrase used to describe someone using their situation purely for financial gain.
The marigold, as in the flower, is first named as such in the late 14th century, prior to that it was known simply as a ‘golde’.
Goldfish are first described as such in the 1690s when they were first imported from China.
Goldfish bowl, a situation where a person has no privacy, is first used in 1935.
Goldilocks first appears in the Three Bears story in 1837 (in Robert Southey’s collection called The Doctor), but from 1540 it was used to describe a person with bright yellow hair, and from 1570 was another name for the buttercup.
A goldsmith, one who works in the metal, is first seen in Saxon times.
