Fortunately, we are not alone on the Internet—at least one billion other users are also blogging, Googling, Facebooking, and tweeting—and most of our information is simply lost in the endless ocean of digital ephemera produced by others. This is what privacy scholars call “security by obscurity.
1572
A supernova is observed in the constellation known as Cassiopeia by Wolfgang Schüler. It appears as a new star, adjacent to the fainter star seen in the middle of the constellation. Although Schüler isn’t the first one to see it, he will later gain a measure of fame when he publishes Stella Nova (Latin: “New Star”). However, it will ultimately be dubbed “Tycho’s Nova” after the better known Tycho Brahe, though he didn’t notice the new star until November 11. For about two weeks, the supernova will be brighter than any other star in the sky and visible during the day, and it will remain faintly visible to the naked eye for about sixteen months, until March 1574.
1862
A direct telegraphic link between New York and San Francisco is first established.
1935
Edwin Armstrong presents his paper “A Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation,” in which he first proposes FM radio to the New York chapter of the Institute of Radio Engineers,
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The first prerequisite to getting Internet freedom policy right is convincing its greatest advocates that the Internet is more important and disruptive than they have previously theorized.
1824
Stephen van Renssalaer founds the first engineering college in the United States, the Renssalaer School in Troy, New York. It will open on January 3, 1825, and the first class will graduate with ten students April 26, 1826.
1852
The first U.S. national civil engineering society, the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects, is founded. Twelve engineers attend the event at which the society was founded, though an invitation had been extended to all civil engineers in New York. The purpose of the society is “the advancement of the sciences of engineering and architecture in their several branches, the professional improvement of its members, the encouragement of intercourse between men of practical science, and the establishment of a central point of reference and union for its members.” The organization’s architects will later split off into their own organization, and the organization will be retitled the “American Society of Civil Engineers” (ASCE). Visit the official ASCE website.
1895
George B. Selden of Rochester, New York, receives the first U.S. patent for a gasoline-driven automobile. (US No. 549,160) In the patent, he describes the complete automobile incorporating such a clutch, a compressed air self-starter, and a steering system. As a patent attorney, he knows to delay the contention over the patent by sending amendments and other communications every two years. Meanwhile, others develop the actual working of the automobile, increasing the value of his patents, and making him one of the earliest successful “patent trolls.”
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Another recurring feature of modern technology that has been overlooked by many of its boosters is that the emergence of new technologies, no matter how revolutionary their circuitry might be, does not automatically dissolve old practices and traditions. Back in the 1950s, anyone arguing that television would strengthen existing religious institutions was inviting ridicule. And yet, a few decades later, it was television that Pat Robertson and a horde of other televangelists had to thank for their powerful social platform. Who today would bet that the Internet will undermine organized religion?
1869
The first issue of the scientific journal Nature, edited by astronomer Sir Norman Lockyer, is first published. The first issue includes articles on astronomy, education, moths, plants, an obituary for chemist Thomas Graham, paleontology, and several meeting notices. Visit the journal’s official website.
1880
The first cash register is patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.
1922
The entrance to the tomb of King Tutankhamen is discovered in the Valley of the Kings where archaeologist Howard Carter had been making extended excavations. One of Carter’s laborers stumbled upon a stone step, the first step in a sunken stairway that ran down into the rock. Carter ordered the stairway filled and telegraphed his patron, “At last have made wonderful discovery in valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; recovered same for your arrival; congratulations.” On November 26, Carter, with Carnarvon standing by, will drill a small hole in the tomb’s antechamber. Inserting a candle, Carter peered into the darkness at the rich funerary goods. When asked by Carnarvon if he could see anything, the awestruck Carter will reply, “Yes, wonderful things.” In 1907, Lord Carnarvon, a wealthy English aristocrat with a passion for archeology, hired Carter and financed his excavations.
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I think we should – we need to recognize also that sometimes the actual universe is more fascinating than even our imagination, and it can spur – it can spur our imagination not just as scientists, but I also, I suspect, as – for artists.
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