Final answer:
Elizabeth Küber-Ross found that the first stage people experience after learning they are going to die is denial.
Step-by-step explanation:
Elizabeth Küber-Ross detailed the stages people may move through after learning they are going to die and found their first stage in dealing with the end of life is denial. This stage is characterized by not wanting to believe the diagnosis and includes thoughts like "I feel fine" or "This can't be happening to me." The order of the stages as outlined by Küber-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying, is denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages are still considered seminal in the field of thanatology, the study of death and dying.