Short answers, pulled from the story.
J. Stuart Blackton's The Haunted Hotel, released on the 23rd of February 1907, was the first stop motion film to receive wide-scale appreciation. This film baffled audiences with a table setting itself devoid of visible wires or tricks. It marked a pivotal moment where the illusion of life was granted to inanimate objects.
Edison Manufacturing Company used the oldest known example of the stop trick in their 1895 film The Execution of Mary Stuart. The camera was temporarily stopped during the recording of a scene to create a sudden change for the beheading. This technique formed the foundation of stop motion animation.
Willis O'Brien's King Kong, released in 1933, is widely regarded as a milestone in stop motion animation. O'Brien created expressive and emotionally convincing animation of the big ape. This work is considered a highlight of Hollywood cinema in general.
Closed Mondays, created by Will Vinton and Bob Gardiner, became the first stop motion film to win an Oscar in 1975. The experimental film was released in 1975 and won the Academy Award. Vinton later trademarked the term claymation to differentiate his team's work.
Coraline, released in 2009, was the first all stop motion 3D feature film. The film was directed by Henry Selick and based on Neil Gaiman's best-selling novel. It was produced by Laika, the stop motion successor to Will Vinton Studios.
The first episode of Bob the Builder was released on the 1st of November 1998 on BBC. The popular British stop motion television series was created by Keith Chapman and produced and owned by HIT Entertainment. The show ran for many years and became a global phenomenon.