Stop with the "firsts". This is clearly not the "first time programming was taught to first graders" -- especially since we were introduced to programming back in Kindergarten (20+ years ago).
This doesn't need to be a "first" in order to be an honorable pursuit. The link-bait HN title is really annoying and detracts from the message.
The HN title is unclear, but the point is that this would be the first time programming is taught to all first graders in a country. At least that's what the article's title claim implies: "Computer programming will soon reach all Estonian schoolchildren." The article itself doesn't seem to suggest a mandatory curriculum change at the national level, though.
I'm not sure where to dig up historical curriculums to verify my memory, but I'm fairly certain that programming was a mandatory subject when I was in first grade. I remember the whole class going to the computer lab and using BASIC. Education is not handled at the country level here, so it was unlikely to be country-wide, but the local population served by said school system would exceed the population of Estonia.
This doesn't need to be a "first" in order to be an honorable pursuit. The link-bait HN title is really annoying and detracts from the message.