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Yeah, the NASA people on twitter seemed impressed by that too. It's a good safety feature, no matter what the glitch turns out to be.

They are designed to be held down on the launch pad operating at full power for up to 20 seconds (looking for source) before being released so that they can verify all systems are operating correctly before it is in the air.

Is this the first time a rocket has been aborted after ignition and for it to have not blown up?

No. Mercury-Redstone 1 had a launch failure after ignition and launch:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O4V7JfeTSU

Description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_1#Causes_of_th...

No, SpaceX themselves have done it several times, and I'm about 90% sure there's prior precedent as well. It's a theoretical capability of any liquid-fueled rocket, assuming an adequate hold-down system.

Edit: Looks like Ariane 5 has similar systems on its main engine, but it also uses solid rocket boosters, which can't be shut down once started. http://www.space.com/11264-rocket-launch-aborts-engine-malfu...