The Great Geek Manual

1911
The first photograph taken from an airplane in the U.S. is captured by Major H.A. “Jimmie” Erickson over San Diego, California from a Curtiss biplane, piloted by Charles Hamilton.

1922
Thomas Edison is issued a patent for a storage-battery electrode and its production. (US No. 1402751)
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I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

— Neil Gaiman

1793
Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard undertakes the first manned balloon flight in the U.S., traveling between Philadelphia and Woodbury, New Jersey. He remains aloft for 46 minutes, traveling nearly fifteen miles before setting down in Deptford, New Jersey.

1839
Scottish astronomer Thomas Henderson measures the distance to a star (Alpha Centauri) other than the Sun for the first time.

1894
New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
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1790
United States President George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address in New York City. In his address, George Washington urges the second session of the 1st United States Congress to support the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad and to recognize the skill and genius of U.S. inventors. Within days, the House of Representatives will set up a committee to draft a patent statute, which George Washington will sign into law on April 10, 1790. The first patent will be granted on July 31, 1790.

1838
The first telegraph message in the U.S. in which letters are represented by dots and dashes is transmitted. The message reads, “A patient waiter is no loser.” The message is transmitted over the system invented by Alfred Vail of Morristown, New Jersey, in September 1837.
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In a true Network Society, all fringe beliefs about the future seem to be more or less equivalent, like Visa, American Express and Mastercard. “Conservatism” conserves nothing; there is no “progression” in which to progress.

- “State of the World 2012” by Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky, January 4, 2012.
First posted to The Well.

1610
Astronomer Galileo Galilei records the discovery the four largest moons of Jupiter, which will be named Callisto, Europa, Io, and Ganymede. These four moons will be collectively named the Galilean moons in his honor. He discovers mountains and valleys on the Moon, that Jupiter has a moon of its own, and that the sun has spots which change. Galileo also observes Mars.

1714
English engineer Henry Mill receives a patent for the first typewriter, which is describes as a “Machine for Transcribing Letters.” (No. 395) Though little is known about the device, many such early inventions were developed in order to enable the blind to write.

1839
French artist and chemist Louis Daguerre publicly demonstrates his photographic system for the first time at the Académie des Sciences in Paris, France.
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People sometimes act as though owning books you haven’t read constitutes a charade or pretense, but for me, there’s a lovely mystery and pregnancy about a book that hasn’t given itself over to you yet—sometimes I’m the most inspired by imagining what the contents of an unread book might be.

- Jonathan Lethem
“Writers and Their Books: Inside Famous Authors’ Personal Libraries” by , December 21, 2011.
Originally published in The Atlantic.

1714
Englishman Henry Mill receives a patent for the first typewriter. (UK No. 395) He will never successfully market his invention and, while it will later be recognized as the first in a long evolution of devices, his design will die with him. The patent is titled, “An artificial machine or method for the impressing or transcribing of letters singly or progressively one after another, as in writing, whereby all writing whatever may be engrossed in paper or parchment so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print.”

1838
Samuel Morse gives the first public demonstration of his new invention, the electric telegraph, to his partner (financial backer) Judge Alfred Vail at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey. The signal transmitter and the signal receiver are place on opposite ends of a long bench, connected by 5km of wire. To test the device, Vail gave his son a message to send. Morse, manning the receiver, correctly deciphered the message as, “A patient waiter is no loser.” More official demonstrations will be given on January 23 and 24 at New York University.
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