Some fan historians claim that the 1936 Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference, a.k.a.
Philcon, was the first science fiction convention ever held.
Others, such as Fred Patten and Rob Hansen, make this claim for the January 1937 event in Leeds, England,[1] organized by the Leeds Science Fiction League, which was specifically organized as a conference, with a program and speakers.
Out of this came the first incarnation of the British Science Fiction Association.
Impetuses for further establishment of local fan conventions include: