In the late 1920s Kane decided to write a book on the achievers of "firsts" whom history had forgotten. He limited his scope of establishing "firsts" to the United States where he could find proof of the claims in recorded documents. In his travels throughout the states Kane gathered information from historical societies, used-book stores, museums and libraries. He researched through recorded public documents in state and county records. Kane sought information from sales records, newspaper files, and filed patents. Additionally he obtained information from government departments and private organizations.