The Great Geek Manual

3 AD
A planetary conjunction is visible from the Earth with the naked eye. Many astronomers will later speculate that this may have been the Star of Bethlehem mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible.

1865
After studying Louis Pasteur’s germ theory of disease which suggests that infections are caused by bacteria, Dr. Joseph Lister becomes the first surgeon to use disinfectant during an operation. Lister introduces phenol (carbolic acid) as a form of disinfectant into his surgery. His heightened standards of hygiene will reduce his surgical death rate from 45% to 15%.

1877
This date is often falsely marked as the date on which Thomas Alva Edison completed the first sketch from which the first phonograph will be built. However, the sketch won’t actually be created until November 29, 1877. The mistake will arise in 1917, when Edison mislabels that first sketch, but because construction of the first phonograph will begin just two days later on December 1, 1877, the error will easily be caught by historians.

1887
Thomas Alva Edison creates the first sound recording on a foil-wrapped cylinder with a device called the Edisonphone. The recording was of Edison reciting Mary had a Little Lamb.

1908
The construction of the first Model T is completed by Henry Ford.

1946
Richard Thomas demonstrates an additive color television system, Thomascolor, at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in the US.

1960
Echo I, the first communications satellite, is launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1977
The prototype for the space shuttle, named the Enterprise after the fictional vessel in the Star Trek television series, makes its first free flight within Earth’s atmosphere after being launched from a Boeing 747, and then, touches down in California’s Mojave Desert. It’s very first flight was February 18th, but it remained attached to a shuttle carrier throughout that flight.

1980
Charles LaFara sends letters to dealers and registered owners of the Texas Instruments, Inc. TI-99/a home computer inviting them to join the 99/4 Home Computer Users Group that he will incorporate in September.

1981
At the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, and in Boca Raton, Florida, International Business Machines (IBM) announces the IBM Personal Computer (PC), model 5150. The PC features a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 CPU containing 29,000 transistors, 16kB RAM (64 kB standard, expandable to 256 kB), 40 kB ROM, one or two Tandon brand 5.25-inch floppy drives (160 kB capacity), a mono display, and an optional cassette drive. The machine’s base price is US$1,565 and with the model with all of the standard features retails for US$2880, but a fully loaded version with color graphics retails for US$6000. IBM will sell the new computer to consumers through Sears, Roebuck & Co. and ComputerLand. The system will becomes an instant success. Over sixty-five thousand units will be sold in the first four months, and one hundred thousand orders will be taken by Christmas. Software options for the machine include: Microsoft BASIC, VisiCalc, UCSD Pascal, CP/M-86 for US$240, Easywriter 1.0, and Microsoft Adventure. Adventure is Microsoft’s first game. The system can run several different operating systems, but Microsoft’s PC-DOS 1.0 is far an away the least expensive at US$39.95 and will therefore become the most popular. It’s popularity will eliminate most other machines suitable for home or small business from the market, established the dominance of the Microsoft operating system, and set the industry standard for PC compatibles with the ISA bus.

After negotiations with Digital Research fail, IBM contracted Microsoft to provide a version of the CP/M operating system for the upcoming IBM Personal Computer (PC). For the deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products, which IBM renamed to PC-DOS. Later, the market will see a flood of IBM PC clones after Columbia Data Products successfully cloned the IBM BIOS, and by aggressively marketing MS-DOS to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones, Microsoft will rise from a small player to one of the major software vendors in the home computer industry.

1988
Orion Pictures releases Mac and Me, directed Stewart Raffill by and starring Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, Katrina Caspary, and Lauren Stanley, to 1,317 US theaters. The film largely rehashes the storyline of the blockbuster E.T., but it flops big time at the box office. It will go on to garner a small cult following, which will value the unintentionally humorous production values. In particular, the film will be remembered for its undisguised product placement. Even in its title, the “Mac” refers to an alien named after McDonald’s Big Mac. The film will gross US$2,061,464 in its opening weekend. IMDB listing

1990
Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, is discovered near Faith, South Dakota.

1991
Konami releases Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge for the Game Boy in Japan as Dracula Densetsu II.

1994
Version 3.0 of Vim, an open source, multiplatform text editor, is released. This version adds support of multiple windows. Visit the application’s official website.

1995
Hudson Soft releases Vertical Force for the Virtual Boy in Japan.

NEC Home Electronics releases Anime Freak FX Vol. 1 for the NEC PC-FX video game console.

Sam Tramiel of the Atari Corporation presents a check for US$10,500 to Matt Williams, third baseman for the San Francisco Giants. The check, a donation for the San Francisco Giants Community Fund, represents US$250 for every home run hit by Williams during the 1994 playing season. The presentation precedes a game against the Chicago Cubs. Many of Atari’s employees are present including Sam Tramiel (making the presentation) and his family, Ted Hoff, Ron Beltramo, William Rehbock, Greg LaBrec, Mike Fulton, Craig Harding, Renee Silveria, Francois Bertrand, Don Thomas, Tal Funke-Bilu, Normen B. Kowalewski, and Carolyn Smith.

1996
Gary Reback, a lawyer for Netscape Communications, sends a letter to the Justice Department accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior in its pursuit of a larger market share in web browser software.

Microsoft releases Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 Final Release, 32-bit version, for Windows 95.

1997
Intel files a lawsuit against Digital Equipment, alleging patent infringement on fourteen computer technologies.

The Northern Light web search engine launches. The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1998
Hasbro announces its intentions to acquire game developer MicroProse pending shareholder approval in September. Interestingly, MicroProse has been one of the most outspoken firms against Project X by VM Labs while Hasbro Interactive remains one of the most outspoken supporters of the system.

In the Wednesday, August 12, issue of Multimedia Wire, the leading story reveals that VM Lab’s Project X platform will be released in the first half of 1999 and before Sega releases Dreamcast. According to Bill Rehbock, vice president of third-party development, Project X will be launched with between six to ten titles and a total of twenty to forty by Christmas 1999. The two DVD manufacturers who have announced plans to release product integrating VM Lab’s proprietary chip are Thomson Consumer Electronics and Toshiba. Motorola will manufacture the chip and Activision, Berkeley Systems, Capcom Entertainment, Fox Interactive Hasbro Interactive, Psygnosis, and THQ are the announced software supporters. VM Lab’s claims upwards of two hundred developers are scheduled to attend their first Developer’s Conference at the end of the month.

2002
Capcom releases the platform game Disney’s Magical Quest for the Game Boy Advance in North America.

DreamCatcher releases Secret of the Scarlet Hand for Windows. It is the sixth game in the series of Nancy Drew computer games. ESRB: Everyone (E)

2003
The Blaster worm, also known as the Lovesan worm, spread rapidly by exploiting Microsoft Windows computers vulnerable to exploits first described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-026 and later in MS03-039.

2004
Jon Lech Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, announces on his website that he has defeated Apple’s AirPort Express encryption which lets users stream Apple Lossless files to their AirPort Expresses. Visit DVD Jon’s official blog now.

2005
The Battlestar Galactica episode “The Farm” is first aired in the US. In it, Adama and Roslin fight for the hearts and minds of the fleet’s population, as Starbuck finds herself trapped in a supposed resistance hospital.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:43 EST on the first Atlas V rocket used by NASA.

The Stargate Atlantis episode “Condemned” first airs. In it, Sheppard’s team stumbles upon a technologically advanced society that purposely leaves their criminals on a penal colony near the Stargate, for the Wraith to discover them first. But after the prisoners shoot the jumper down, they discover that things aren’t so clear cut. GateWorld entry

The Stargate SG-1 episode “The Powers That Be” first airs. In it, SG-1 is tricked by Vala into going to the planet she previously ruled as a Goa’uld. The inhabitants of the planet know nothing of the downfall of the parasites, and they believe that Vala is still their god, until a Prior shows up, and attempts to expose her for who she is. GateWorld entry