1609
Galileo first demonstrates his telescope.
1889
The first ship-to-shore wireless message to be received in the US is, “Sherman is sighted.” US Lightship No. 70, San Francisco, announces the arrival of the US Army troopship Sherman to the crowd assembled at the Cliff House. Reporters there from the San Francisco Call, who relay this information to a city awaiting the return of its hometown regiment from the battlefields of the Spanish-American War. The lightship, miles out at sea in deep fog, relays the message via wireless telegraphy, which will later be known as radio, through the fog to the Cliff House. This is the first nineteenth century use of wireless telegraphy outside of England.
1956
Bell Laboratories announces their experiment with a “picture phone” transmission that sends pictures along with sound over regular telephone lines.
1962
First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite.
1966
The robotic Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
1973
The Intelsat communication satellite is launched.
1977
Bryan Allen becomes the first pilot to make a human-powered flight over a distance of a mile, winning the Kremer Prize. He accomplishes the feat in the pedal-operated Gossamer Condor in Schafter, California. Read more about the Condor at the Smithsonian website.
1983
Origin Systems releases the roleplaying game (rpg) Ultima III: Exodus for personal computers. It will have an immense influence on the development of both the American and Japanese traditions of role-playing video games.
1984
Baen Books publishes the science fiction novel Birds of Prey by David Drake as a paperback. (ISBN 0-671-55912-5) The novel follows Aulus Perennius, an agent of the Roman Empire, who must go on a quest to repel an Alien threat from another time in order to save humanity. The book’s historical details are highly authentic, but many readers criticize the book for its excessively graphic violence. Length: 348 pages
1985
Atlantic releases the comedy film Teen Wolf, directed by Rod Daniel and starring Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Scott Paulin, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, and Jay Tarses, to 1,416 US theaters. The film follows Scott Howard, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual heritage when he finds himself transforming into a werewolf. The film is loosely based on the 1957 cult film I Was a Teenage Werewolf, starring Michael Landon. The film will gross US$6,120,348 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 31 mins
The sci-fi monster movie The Return of Godzilla, directed by Koji Hashimoto and starring Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Yosuke Natsuki, Keiju Kobayashi, Shin Takuma, to 235 US theaters. Godzilla returns for the first time in many years to demolish Tokyo, but things have changed. The buildings are now taller than he is, and the humans have developed an attack jet called Super X. The film will gross US$509,502 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing
1990
Universal Pictures releases the comic book film Darkman, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Larry Drake, and Colin Friels, to 1,786 US theaters. Unable to secure the rights to either The Shadow or Batman, Raimi created his own superhero and struck a deal with Universal Studios to make his first Hollywood studio movie. The Marvel Comic series will come after the film. The film follows Peyton Westlake, a scientist who has discovered a way to produce synthetic skin, who is horribly burned after a gangster attempts to recover legal documents from his laboratory. Once the world believes Westlake is dead, he uses his amazing skills of disguise to seek out those who wanted him dead. Produced on a budget of US$16 million, the film will gross US$8,054,860 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hr 36 mins
1993
Nintendo announces that it has agreed to use Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) technology in a video game platform it’s developing with the 64-bit MIPS R4000 processor. The news instantly knocks the price of 3DO shares down by $4.50. The move comes as SGI enters a struggle with decreasing revenues and leadership changes that partnerships such as the one with Nintendo won’t stop. Nintendo anticipates that the system will have an operating speed greater than 100MHz and the ability to support High-Definition Television (HDTV). Ultimately the system will be repeatedly delayed and renamed. On September 30, 1996, Nintendo will finally release the Nintendo 64 in North America. Code-named: Project Reality Price: US$250
1995
New Line Cinema releases the sci-fi horror film The Island of Dr. Moreau, directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, David Thewlis, Fairuza Balk, and Ron Perlman, to 2,035 US theaters. It is based on the classic novel The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. It is the third major adaptation of the novel. In the film, Dr. Moreau has successfully “perfected” the use of human DNA in animals to make them more human, in an attempt produce the divine human, free of malice and hatred. The unsuccessful attempts are medicated to prevent them from regressing back into animals. They are controlled through implants that deliver shocks. However, when one of the creatures finds a way to remove the implant, the animal hybrids rampage across the island. Produced on a budget of US$40 million, the film will gross US$9,101,987 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 1 hr 36 mins
1997
Nolan Bushnell hosts a twenty year celebration of the debut of the Atari 2600 at his home.
The Oasis album Be Here Now has sold 696,000 copies in its first two days of release, making it the fastest selling album in the UK ever.
1998
The Brazilian website of Web Elite is hacked by the hacking group “HackPHR”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The Paramount website is hacked by “Zyklon”, a member of the Seattle hacking group “Legions of the Underground” (LoU). As part of the hack, the official webpages of eight different films are defaced, including those for Dead Man on Campus, Deep Impact, Free Truman, A Night at the Roxbury, Payback, Snake Eyes, Titanic, and The Truman Show. Visit the official Legions of the Underground website.
The website of Webelite is hacked by “HackPHR Group”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The world’s first professional auction of Atari memorabilia takes place at the Holiday Inn Boardwalk Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada during the World of Atari ‘98 show.
1999
Pyra Labs launches the Blogger personal website publishing system. As one of the earliest dedicated blog-publishing tools, it will be credited with popularizing the blog format. Visit the official website.
Sony reduces the price of the PlayStation in the US from US$129 to US$99.
2000
Acclaim releases the football game NFL Quarterback Club 2001 for the Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 in the US. ESRB: E (Everyone)
The BattleBots television series begins running on the Comedy Central cable network in the US. It will run for thirteen weeks with reruns twice every Saturday.
Intel announces the XScale processor for future handheld computers, and demonstrates a processor running at 1GHz.
2001
Capcom releases Devil May Cry for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
International Business Machines (IBM) launches a new marketing campaign that includes a new logo of their traditional blue-and-white stripes graphically pealed back to reveal the words: “IBM Technology.” The effort is reminiscent of when Intel Corporation launched its “Intel Inside” campaign several years earlier.
The Stargate SG-1 episode “Between Two Fires” first airs. (No. 509) In it, the Tollan offer Earth advanced technology that leaves SG-1 suspicious, and the investigation the ensues leads to unsettling revelations. GateWorld entry
2002
Acclaim releases the puzzle game ZooCube for the Game Boy Advance in Europe. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Apple Computer launches Mac OS X 10.2 operating system. This version includes several few features, including the instant-messaging client iChat and handwriting recognition technology Inkwell. For the first time since the original Macintosh launch in January 1984, the “Happy Mac” icon is not part of the system’s start-up sequence. It has been replaced by a silver-gray Apple icon. Code-name: Jaguar Price: US$129 for a single user or US$199 for a five-user package
Capcom Entertainment, Inc. releases Mega Man Legends 2 for personal computers in Japan.
New Line Cinema releases the sci-fi film S1m0ne, directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, and Rachel Roberts, to 1,920 US theaters. In the film, a disillusioned producer, who is desperate for a hit, is endangered when his star walks off the film set. Forced to think fast, the producer decides to digitally create an actress “Simone” to sub for the star–the first totally believable synthetic actress. The “actress” becomes an overnight sensation, with a major singing career as well, and everyone thinks she’s a real person. However, as Simone’s fame skyrockets, he can’t bear to admit his fraud to the world. Many of the film’s characters’ names are allusions to famous computers. For instance, Viktor Taransky is named after the Victor 9000 while Hal Sinclair is named after the computer HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film will gross US$3,813,463 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 1 hr 57 mins
The Stargate episode “Prometheus” first airs. (No. 611) In it, a news reporter threatens to expose a top-secret military project, but when Carter and Jonas give her a tour of the X-303, they discover that she is a pawn in a much larger plot. GateWorld entry
2003
Jesus Oquendo “sil” of AntiOffline releases the Border Router Attack Tool (BRAT) as part of “Theories in Denials of Service in an effort to make administrators aware of the possibility of a worm attack tool capable of breaking backbone routes on the Internet
2005
Astronaut wings are presented to retired NASA pilot William H. Dana and to the family of deceased pilots Joseph A. Walker, who was the first person to enter space twice, and John B. McKay.
Knopf Books for Young Readers publishes the fantasy novel Eldest by Christopher Paolini as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 037582670X) It is the sequel to Eragon. Length: 704 pp
Nintendo releases Advance Wars: Dual Strike for the Nintendo DS in Japan.
Vivendi Universal Games releases The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in the US. ESRB: T (Teen)
Yahoo! acquires forty percent of the Alibaba.com online auction site for US$1 billion US, and Alibaba will take over operation of Yahoo! China.
2006
The 2006 Games Convention is held August 23 – 27 in Leipzig, Germany. Visit the event’s official website.
2007
Ubisoft releases the tactical shooter Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW) for the PlayStation 3 in Australia and North America and for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Australia and North America. It’s the fourth installment in the Ghost Recon tactical series. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen) PEGI: 16+
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