1877 US in baseball; metaphorical usage from 1896, more generally from 1930. Since at least 1870, baseball teams would reissue tickets in case of postponement due to rain, which became known as rain checks.
Update: In fact, the latest update of iPhoto is using Helvetica Neue. And now there's Avenir, a Linotype typeface and Apple's new favorite. It was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1988, inspired by two old school typefaces created in the 20s: Erbar by Jakob Erbar and Futura by Paul Renner.
The result is the Avenir Next with harmoniously incremented weights and matching condensed versions. Avenir Next is part of the Platinum Collection and comes in 4 typeface sets, Regular, Italic, Condensed and Condensed Italic, each equipped with 6 different stem weights. All 24 weights include true small caps and old style figures. Avenir Next thereby now offers an optimal balance of harmony and contrast.