1922
Radio station WOI in Ames, Iowa becomes the first educational radio station to be licensed in the United States.
1926
The term “wave mechanics” is coined by nuclear physicist Erwin Schrödinger in a letter to Albert Einstein. The term is used to describe the newly emerging branch of physics which interprets the behavior of subatomic particles according to a mathematical description of a wave motion.
1932
Ultra short wave (7.3m) television is demonstrated for the first time in Britain.
1967
Bell Laboratories announces the development of a new “light knife” which allows surgeons to use the focused beam of a laser as a scalpel.
1986
Russia makes the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which occured on April 26, public knowledge. Visit the official United Nations Chernobyl website.
1989
Nintendo releases the platform game Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Ninetendo Entertainment System in Europe.
1991
NASA launches the Space Shuttle Discovery with a crew of seven to perform “Star Wars” defense research. (STS-39)
1994
Nintendo releases Super Bomberman 2 for the Super NES in Japan.
1995
Atlus releases Virtual Hydlide for the Saturn in Japan and North America.
Koei the turn-based strategy game Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire for the Saturn in Japan.
Universal Pictures releases the science fiction horror film Village of the Damned, directed by John Carpenter and starring Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Thomas Dekker, and Mark Hamill, is released to 1,890 US theaters. The film is a remake of the 1960 British horror film Village of the Damned. Both films are based on the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. This is Reeve’s last leading role in a feature film before a horse riding accident will leave him paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life. Produced on a budget of US$22 million, it will gross US$3,222,450 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hr 39 mins
1997
3DO agrees to sell its hardware systems business to Samsung Electronics, for US$20 million.
Virtual i/o closes down following a February bankruptcy filing. Former Virtual i/o CEO Greg Amadon claims that the company was only about eighteen months from producing technology that would appeal to consumers. The company was best known for their Virtual Reality (VR) headgear, which initially sold for US$799 and was eventually reduced to US$399. Retailers blame poor resolution and a lack of compelling applications for the failure of the headgear-based gaming market.
1998
Next-Generation Online reports that “sources inside Sony” claim that a “PlayStation 2″ will be based on a single chip design.
1999
Bleem, LLC begins shipping their PC-based PlayStation“>PlayStation emulation software, BLEEM! from their offices in Los Angeles, California.
Sega Enterprises, Ltd. publicly reveals that their new forecasts includes a significant annual loss and that their intentions to take back a sizable market share from Sony may have been overly ambitious. Blaming delays in overall development and production as well as fierce competition, Sega estimates a net loss of 45 billion yen (US$378 million) for the fiscal year ending March 31. In an effort to restore profit potential, Sega plans to cut twenty-five percent of their work force and close one hundred amusement facilities.
2000
Intel reveals plans to remove processor-IDs as a tracking technology embedded in Pentium III processors. The decision ends a year-long controversy among privacy advocates.
Michael Ian Campbell, age 18, is sentenced to four months in prison for sending death threats to students of Columbine High School via email on Wednesday, December 15, 1999.
Psygnosis and Talonsoft release the puzzle game Lemmings Revolution for Windows in the US. ESRB: E (Everyone)
The United States government urges a federal judge to break Microsoft Corporation into two separate companies. One company to develop and manufacture the popular Windows operating system, the other company to develop and manufacture the remaining applications, such as Microsoft Office. Further development of Internet Explorer would fall under the applications company’s jurisdiction. Under the proposal, Bill Gates“>Bill Gates would be prohibited from owning shares in both companies, and the two companies would be prohibited from merging back together within a ten year period. Gates, however, promises to fight any such plan to break up the company. Analysts predict that, if the court accepts embraces the plan, the process could take years to resolve.
United States District Court Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York rules that MP3.com, Inc. of San Diego, California violated copyright law by creating a database of over eighty thousand copyrighted albums and permitting its users to access it over the Internet. Record companies, including BMG, Seagram Company’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Time Warner Inc’s music group filed a lawsuit in January against MP3.com, Inc.
2001
American multimillionnaire Dennis Tito becomes the world’s first space tourist when Soyuz TM-32 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a mission to the International Space Station.
Sony Computer Entertainment releases the racing game Gran Turismo 3 A-spec for the PlayStation 2 in Japan. Visit the game’s official website.
2003
The Andromeda episode “Twilight of the Idols” first airs. (No. 64-320) In it, the crew search for a colony that has disappeared.
Apple Computer launches the iTunes Music Store. The service will sell one million songs in its first week. Visit the official iTunes website.
Corel releases version 8.0 of Paint Shop Pro (PSP) for Windows. Visit the official Paint Shop Pro website.
A culture verifies that a group of small (1mm) adult roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans), survived the atmospheric re-entry and crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1st. The roundworms, which were living in petri dishes enclosed in aluminum canisters, were recovered weeks after the disaster. They had been intended for use in an experiment designed to study the effect of weightlessness on physiology.
2004
The Apple Lossless Encoder is introduced as a component of QuickTime 6.5.1 and iTunes 4.5. The audio codec is also used in the AirPort Express’s AirTunes implementation.
Eve Online marks the milestone of having ten thousand concurrent users for the first time since the game’s release. Visit the game’s official website.
NCsoft releases the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) City of Heroes for Windows in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “The Forgotten” first airs. (No. 320) In it, Archer attempts enters into an understanding with two members of the Xindi council by proving to them that they have been manipulated. Memory Alpha entry
2005
ArenaNet, a subsidiary of Korean game publisher NCSoft, releases Guild Wars for Windows. While the game retails for US$49.99, there is no monthly subscription fee for playing the game online, unlike other massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
The Deep Impact spacecraft takes the first picture of its target comet, Tempel 1. The probe’s mission is to create an impact crater on July 4, 2005. Visit the official NASA website for the Deep Impact project.
Marvel Comics announces the creation of a custom comic book written by Brian Michael Bendis, whose work includes The New Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man, and featuring superheroes such as Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man in a military-themed storyline. More than one million copies of the “Salute Our Troops” issue will to be distributed to the troops and their families in May.
Marvel Enterprises and Paramount Pictures announce an agreement under which Paramount will distribute up to ten films over an eight-year period to be produced by Marvel. The first titles are expected to include Captain America and Nick Fury with budgets ranging from US$45 million to US$180 million.
The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) goes into effect.
Version 2 (v5.0 update 3) of the Java programming language is released.
2006
Acclaim releases the survival horror game Kuon for the PlayStation 2 in Europe. It is based on an ancient type of Japanese horror story called Kwaidan. Visit the game’s official website.
ArenaNet releases the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Guild Wars: Factions for Windows in Europe and the US. It is the second game in the Guild Wars series. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Codemasters releases the platform game Rainbow Islands Revolution for the Nintendo DS in North America. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Despite increased revenues, Microsoft announces that its Home and Entertainment division is posting a third quarter loss of US$388 million, largely due to the delays and costs of getting the company’s Xbox 360 video game system to market. Visit the official Xbox 360 website.
EA Games releases the expansion set Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods for the real-time strategy (RTS) game Black & White 2 for personal computers. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Midway releases Rampage: Total Destruction for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in Europe. Visit the game’s official website.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) releases the platform game Daxter for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Australia. Visit the game’s official website. OFLC: PG
Ubisoft releases the real-time strategy (RTS) game LostMagic for the Nintendo DS in Australia. Visit the game’s official website. OFLC: PG
2007
Nearly two years after death, about seven grams of
Almost two years after his death, approximately seven grams of the cremation ashes of Canadian actor James Montgomery are launched into space as requested in his will. Montgomery is best known for his role as “Scotty” on the original Star Trek series. His ashes, along with those of Project Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and more than one hundred seventy other individuals are launched on SpaceX’s second Falcon 1 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California along with the Pentagon communications satellite TacSat1.
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