1888
William Seward Burroughs of St. Louis, Missouri receives four patents for the first successful “Calculating-Machine” (US No. 388,116-388,119) One year after making his first patent application on January 10, 1885, he incorporated his business as the American Arithmometer Corporation of St. Louis, with an authorized capitalization of US$100,000. Within a year, he will produce fifty machines. The machines will ultimately prove difficult to use but Burroughs will continue to improve on them and go on to become a pioneer of the calculator industry.
1903
A twelve horsepower single-cylinder Model F Packard driven by “Tommy” Fetch from the Packard Motor Car works automobile arrives in New York City, completing a cross-country trip from San Francisco, California. Fetch, along with journalist Marius Krarup left San Fransisco on June 21, after dipping the car’s rear wheels in the Pacific Ocean. The pair traveled for fifty-one days at an average of almost eighty miles a day. They crossed the Utah desert and the Colorado mountains, and, according to the New York Times, replaced only three tires and a broken front spring during the course of the journey. Vermont doctor Horatio Nelson and mechanic Crocker Sewell had completed a similar but longer trip in a Winton car in July.
1911
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris, France by a Louvre employee. It will finally be recovered in 1913.
1969
Ralph Baer files a patents for creating a “Television Gaming Apparatus and Method.” This is just one of many pieces that will later become a component of the Magnavox Odyssey.
1974
Atari introduces the racing game Gran Trak 10. It is the first use of ROM in arcade games and is therefore the first game to have defined characters beyond a simple box (as with Pong) or a collection of dots, as with Computer Space. The diode-based ROM is used to store sprites for the car, the score, the game timer, and the race track. The game’s controls, which consist of a steering wheel, a four-position gear shifter, an accelerator pedal, and a brake pedals, are also all firsts for arcade games.
1980
International Business Machines (IBM) representatives meet with Microsoft to discuss their upcoming IBM PC. Specifically, IBM wishes Microsoft to develop a programming language for the system. Bill Gates agrees to license the company Microsoft BASIC. IBM expresses its interest in licensing the popular CP/M operating system, which will later lead to talks that will, in turn, lead to Microsoft licensing MS-DOS to IBM.
The science fiction novel Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus by Philip Hinchcliffe is published by Target Books. (ISBN 0 426 20125 6) Visit the book’s official website.
1981
Gary Kildall of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) meets with Bill Gates of Microsoft again, to talk in general terms about their planned personal computers. IBM asks if Microsoft will develop some programming language interpreters/compilers for it. Bill Gates agrees to supply BASIC and other software development tools. IBM also asks for CP/M, but Gates says Digital Research, Inc. will have to supply that system.
According to Twin Galaxies, Leo Daniels scores 269,230 points on Asteroids Deluxe by Atari“>Atari Inc. after playing the game for one hour and seven minutes at Jubilee Park in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. Visit the official Twin Galaxies website.
1985
A United States Federal Judge in New York approves a US$18.6 million settlement of combined shareholder suits filed against Warner Communications, Inc. all of which related to problems with the company’s Atari subsidiary before it was divested and relinquished to Jack Tramiel.
1986
Axlon, Inc. of Sunnyvale makes its initial public offering (IPO) of common stock raising nearly US$10 million. Axlon is a fledgling toy company founded by Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell also founded Atari and Chuck E. Cheese’s.
1989
The US space probe Voyager 2 fires its thrusters to bring it closer to Neptune’s mysterious moon Triton. With a 2,700km diameter, Triton is Neptune’s largest satellite. The smallest features resolvable in the images taken are about 47km across.
1992
20th Century Fox releases the sci-fi film Alien³, directed by David Fincher and starring Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Lance Henriksen, and Pete Postlethwaite, to UK theaters. It is the third installment in the Alien film franchise. It was released in the US on May 22. IMDB listing Running Time: 1 hr 54 min
1993
NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft, due to a design flaw in in the rocket thruster fuel tanks, three days before its scheduled entry into an orbit around the Red Planet. The Mars Observer was to be the first US spacecraft to study Mars since the Viking missions eighteen years earlier. The fate of the mission, which cost approximately US$980 million, remains unknown, though a commission studied possible causes for the failure.
The United States Justice Department takes over an investigation of Microsoft stemming from an investigation initiated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1990. The original investigation is to look into claims of collusion between Microsoft and International Business Machines (IBM).
1994
Atari introduces the Atari Falcon030 Computer System at the Atari Messe (Atari Fair) in Dusseldorf, Germany. The system will be discontinued a little more than a year later in order for Atari to consolidate all of its marketing on its Atari Jaguar video game console. During its brief availability, the Falcon will be widely criticized as a crippled system, owing to Atari’s decision to equip the system’s 32-bit Motorola 68030 microprocessor with a 16-bit data bus in an attempt to maintain compatibility with its other computer system, the STE. Code-name: Sparrow
1995
Nintendo launches the Virtual Boy portable video game system in the United States. The system, designed by Gumpei Yokoi, features a 32-bit 20MHz RISC microprocessor, digital stereo sound, double-grip controller with dual directional control buttons, and a display system designed by Reflections Technologies of Massachusetts. The special headset with two RTI mirror-scanning 384×224 pixel LED arrays which project two images onto two mirrored screens, one red image and one black image to create a stereoscopic 3-D environment. The game Mario’s Tennis is included in the hardware. Price: US$179.95
United States District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson approves a July 1994 consent decree between Microsoft and the United States Justice Department. Under the decree, Microsoft cannot force computer manufacturers to license other Microsoft products when licensing the Windows operating system; however, Microsoft may continue to develop “integrated” products.
1998
Autodesk, Inc., a leading developer of drafting and engineering software, announces plans to acquire Discreet Logic Inc., a developer and distributor of open-platform digital imaging processing software, for almost US$530 million in stock. Visit the official AutoDesk website.
New Line Cinema releases the comic book action film Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington and starring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Sanaa Lathan, and Arly Jover, to 2,322 US theaters. The film is based on the Marvel Comics character Blade who is a half-man, half-vampire superhero vampire hunter. Produced on a budget of US$45 million, the film will gross US$17,073,856 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 2 hrs
Nintendo Co. Ltd. announces that they have canceled a plan to transmit games directly to consumer’s homes through a satellite.
Red Storm Entertainment releases tactical shooter Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six for personal computers. ESRB: T (Teen)
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. ships its forty millionth PlayStation game console. This number consists of thirteen million units in Japan, 14.3 million units in North America, and 12.7 million units in Australia, Europe, New Zeland and other PAL-compatible countries. This is the first time that production for a Sony console in North America has exceeded any other region.
2000
Bandai releases the survival horror game Countdown Vampires for the PlayStation. ESRB: M (Mature)
MP3.com, Inc. states that they have reached a settlement of a pending copyright infringement suit made against them by Sony Music Entertainment. The agreement allows MP3.com to use some of its music on its Internet-based system at a cost expecting to reach as high as US$20 million.
The website of BombNet is hacked by “tyl0x”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of the Malaysian Department of Immigration is hacked by “VOL”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
2001
AOL Time Warner, Inc. confirms that it will cut 1,200 jobs in its Internet unit and take a third-quarter charge of up to US$125 million. An additional five hundred jobs will be lost as part of the alliance between Netscape and Sun Microsystems, Inc. Visit the company’s official website.
Acclaim Entertainment releases the racing game XG3: Extreme G Racing for the PlayStation 2 in the US. ESRB: T (Teen)
Brazil RNP2 is connected to the Internet2 Abilene Network over a 45Mbps line.
Capcom releases the survival horror game Resident Evil Code: Veronica X for the PlayStation 2 in the US. ESRB: M (Mature)
Nintendo releases the platform game Wario Land 4 for the Game Boy Advance in Japan. In the game, Wario has to gather four treasures to unlock a pyramid and save Princess Shokora from The Golden Diva. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Ubisoft releases Myst III: Exile for Windows in Germany. It is the third title in the Myst computer game series. PEGI: 3+ (re-release)
Washington, DC-based Riggs bank has its Visa customer database is cracked and 3,600 bank account names and files are stolen from the database by hackers. First Virginia Banks and SunTrust are also both compromised, with an additional four hundred Visa accounts compromised. All of the banks involved will later have to notify their customers of the breach and cancel all Visa debit cards.
2002
The first Atlas V rocket is launched. Most notably, the Atlas V series will later carry the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter into space.
Strategy First and Wanadoo Edition release the real-time strategy game Celtic Kings: Rage of War for the personal computer. ESRB: E (Everyone)
2005
Nintendo reduces the price of the Nintendo DS from US$149.99 to US$129.99 in the United States.
The Zappa chess engine, programmed by graduate student Anthony Cozzie of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is declared the winner of the International Computer Games Association’s thirteenth annual World Computer Chess Championship (WCC) for computer chess engines at Reykjavik University in Iceland with a score of 10.5 out of 11. The victory of the first-time entrant is especially impressive in the face of world-renowned competition from Deep Junior and Shredder, each of which have won the competition multiple times in the past. Zappa’s development will be discontinued in March 2008.
2006
From Software releases the stealth action game Tenchu: Dark Secret for the Nintendo DS in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: Teen (T)
The independently produced documentary Steal This Film is released online through The Pirate Bay bittorrent tracker. The film introduces prominent Swedish pirates, explores pirate culture, and presents a critical analysis of regulatory actions brought against pirate organizations. The film is thirty-two minutes in length and is the first of two installments. Download the film via Bittorrent. Visit the film’s official website.
Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs, who made headlines when he bought a virtual resort on an Asteroid in the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) Entropia Universe in late 2005, reports that his resort, “Club NEVERDIE,” has grossed US$100,000 in its first eight months of operation. The Resort opened on December 19, 2005. “It’s a tremendous vindication to reach the break-even mark so fast; very few people really believed a turnkey virtual business inside an MMORPG could do these kind of numbers, but the dynamic real cash economy in Entropia Universe is extremely conducive for operating a business or developing a trade; however, once you have the tools or skills it’s really up to the individual to serve the community and develop the business. It’s definitely work, but since it exists within a Video Game style world, I’m in my element,” said Jacobs. “But, not everyone is going to get rich. In many respects, Virtual Reality is like the wild west, you have to be bold and not a quitter; many of the laws that will eventually govern Virtual Reality are not in place yet; it’s fiercely competitive, there is always intense debate in the forums, of course not everyone is going to make money; you need vision and you have to place your faith in technology. But, this is definitely the decade of the gamer!” The US$100,000 Gross Revenue to the Asteroid consists of US$82,270 from the 5.5% hunting and mining taxes levied on virtual colonists who use the Asteroids bio domes to gather natural resources, US$11,340 from sales of Virtual Apartments which the players use for storage and socializing and US$6,340 from the sales of Shops in the Virtual Shopping Mall. NEVERDIE says, “Club NEVERDIE is the number one destination for live entertainment in Entropia Universe, and if the numbers are anything to go by, it is probably the most successful player-owned and -operated turnkey business in any Virtual world!” Visit the Entropia Universe’s official website.
Nintendo releases the stealth action game Tenchu: Dark Secret for the Nintendo DS in the US. ESRB: T (Teen)
The Sci Fi Channel announces that it will not be renewing the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 for an eleventh season due to the series’ declining Nielsen Ratings performance. In response, numerous fansites protesting the cancellation pop up around the web.
Version 1.4.0 of the Java Tcl programming language is released. Visit the language’s official website.
2007
2K Games releases the first-person shooter (FPS) BioShock for Windows or the Xbox 360 in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: M (Mature)
Nippon Ichi Software releases the roleplaying game (RPG) Dragoneer’s Aria for the PlayStation Portable in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E10+ (Everyone)
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) releases the tactical roleplaying game (RPG) Jeanne d’Arc for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
The Suprnova.org domain, which was the home of the internet’s most popular Bittorrent search engine from late 2002 to December 19, 2004, when it was closed due to legal action, is relaunched by The Pirate Bay. The relaunched website is largely the same in terms of design and layout as it’s predecessor, but it boasts a few behind-the-scenes technological advancements. The resurrection of the old site flies in the face of Swedish prosecutor Håkan Roswall, who made it clear earlier in the summer that he would press charges against the operators of The Pirate Bay.
Ubisoft releases the tactical shooter Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
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