* Ancient Civilizations: Many ancient civilizations had forms of public education, though not always free or universally accessible in the way we understand "public school" today. Ancient Greece and Rome, for example, had schools, but access was often limited by class and wealth.
* Early Modern Europe: The development of public schooling as we know it happened gradually. Some argue that the first truly free and compulsory public schools started emerging in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in Protestant countries like Prussia. However, even then, universal access wasn't achieved for centuries.
* United States: In the US, the earliest public schools were often local, church-affiliated, or private ventures. Massachusetts's Old Deluder Satan Act of 1647 mandated towns to support education, which is seen as a milestone. However, truly free, public, and universal education was a much later development in the 19th century.
Therefore, there's no single date for the "first public school." The concept developed gradually over centuries with different timelines and meanings in various parts of the world.