1. The first NIKKOR lens: Aero NIKKOR 18cm f/4.5 (first appearance of NIKKOR trademark, an abbreviation of NIPPON Kogaku, as it appeared in 1932).
2. The Original Nikon – the first “Nikon” camera released in Japan, in March 1948.
3. Introducing the F-Mount – the first professional single-lens reflex camera in 1959.
4. The first Nikon in space – Nikon Photomic FTN, a modified Nikon F camera that was used aboard the Apollo 15 (the picture above is from the ISS).
5. Nikon’s first digital compact camera: the COOLPIX 100 was introduced in 1997.
6. The first underwater auto-focus SLR camera – in 1992, Nikon entered a new market by introducing the NIKONOS RS, the world’s first underwater auto-focus SLR camera.
7. Introducing the world’s first practical DSLR – launched in 1999, the D1 rightly earned its title as ‘the world’s first practical DSLR’ and disrupted the professional camera market.
Source: Nikon Europe, the full article can be found here.