Romeo and Juliet (1597):
Romeo: "Sharp misery had worn him to the bones:/And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,/An alligator stuff'd, and other skins/Of ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelves"
Note: V.i.42-43. Alligators were certainly known to humans before this, but the English word "alligator" was actually coined by Shakespere in a line spoken by Romeo.
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