The part of the sentence 'what was first' is correct and can be used in written English.
You can use it when you want to ask a question about the order of events. For example, "What was first, the chicken or the egg?".
As a result, investigators want to know what was first to come off the spacecraft.
But it is already clear that the Everglades project is falling well short of what was first envisaged.
Mr. Rudin had no trouble recruiting investors for what was first planned as an $11 million musical on Broadway.
Rachel, 21, died in a Devon bedsit in May 2000 after what was first assumed to be an overdose.
Reyes has been on the disabled list since May 26 with what was first diagnosed as a calf injury.
But in recent years, evidence has emerged showing that the relationship may be the opposite of what was first believed.
What was first?" When I tell her it was Lady Gaga's Bad Romance she responds with an enigmatic "Oh".
And in another 6 cases (23 percent), the later trials found the benefit to be less than half of what was first reported.
Brought here by African slaves, the peas are thought to be what was first used for the Charleston rice dish known as Hoppin' John.
In the process, it deployed what was first believed to be a piece of space debris but has now become a matter of great speculation.
What was first intended as a suitably low-key lap of honour for a fondly remembered sitcom just keeps getting bigger.
