The Great Geek Manual

79
In the Bay of Naples, Mount Vesuvius erupts, killing roughly 16,000 to 20,000 people and burying the cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiae beneath ash and magma. Pliny the Elder, one of Rome’s greatest scientists, dies in the incident.

1456
The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed. Although it is not the first book to be printed by Gutenberg’s new movable type system, it will be the work for which Gutenberg will be remembered, it will mark the advent of the “Gutenberg Revolution” and the “Age of the Printed Book.”

1831
Charles Darwin is invited to travel aboard the HMS Beagle.

1853
The first potato chips are prepared by Chef George Crum, an American Indian, at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to later accounts, railroad magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was dining at the resteraunt, but he sent his fried potatoes back to the kitchen, complaining that they were “too thick.” The chef, George Crum retaliated by slicing paper thin strips of potatoes and frying them to a crisp. Vanderbilt loved these “Saratoga Chips,” and they became an immediate success.

1869
The first US patent for a waffle iron is issued to Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York. (US No. 94,093)

1891
Thomas Edison and W.K. Laurie Dickson apply for two patents on for a “Kinetographic Camera,” which will come to be known as the Kinetoscope, the first motion picture camera. They also apply for a patent for a film projector, which they describe as an “Apparatus for Exhibiting Photographs of Moving Objects.” Oddly enough, a patent won’t be filed for film for another six years.

1907
The Bréguet-Richet Gyroplane No. 1 makes what is generally accepted as the first vertical flight, hovering about two feet (0.6m) off the ground for about one minute, powered by a 45hp engine. It was built by Louis and Jacques Bréguet with assistance from Professor Charles Richet. It lacks stability or even any control system, and it takes four men to steady the craft as it hovers.

1912
Motion pictures are added to the list of protected works under the US copyright act. Films previously had to be registered as photographs.

1932
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop when she lands in Newark, New Jersey after departing from Los Angeles, California a little over nineteen hours prior.

1960
A world-record low temperature of -88°C (-127°F) is recorded at Vostok, Antarctica.

1962
The cover of Time Magazine features Russian cosmonauts Andriyan Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich, who flew the first two-man mission in space.

Television service is officially launched in Indonesia.

1966
The Soviet Union launches the Luna 11 lunar orbiter on a mission to explore the Moon.

Twentieth Century Fox releases the science fiction film Fantastic Voyage, directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O’Brien, and Donald Pleasence, to US theaters. The film was written by Harry Kleiner. Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached famed author Isaac Asimov to write it. Because the novelization was released six months before the film, many people mistakenly believed that Asimov’s book had inspired the movie. In the film, Scientist Jan Benes, who knows the secret to keeping soldiers shrunken for an indefinite period, escapes from behind the Iron Curtain with the help of CIA agent Grant. While being transferred, their motorcade is attacked. Benes strikes his head, causing a blood clot to form in his brain. Grant is ordered to accompany a group of scientists as they are miniaturized. The crew has one hour to get in Benes’s brain, remove the clot and get out. IMDB listing Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins

1967
Led by Abbott Howard “Abbie” Hoffman, a group of “hippies” temporarily disrupt trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing a cease in trading as the brokers scramble to grab them up.

1968
Gen Con I is held at the Horticultural Hall in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It is the first official Gen Con, though a similar gathering had been held the previous year at the home of the event’s founder, Gary Gygax. Between fifty and one hundred people attend the event. Visit the event’s official website.

France detonates a hydrogen bomb over a South Pacific testing ground and becomes the world’s fifth nuclear power. The Canopus test uses a three ton device suspended at an altitude of 600m from a balloon over the Fangataufa Atoll, 41km southeast of Moruroa. The device produced a yield of 2.6 megatons, and used a lithium-6 deuteride secondary jacketed with highly enriched uranium.

1981
Apple Computer runs a full-page ad in the The Wall Street Journal, twelve days after IBM entered the personal computer market with the release of its IBM PC. The ad will come to be known as “Welcome, IBM. Seriously.” The advertisement reads, “Welcome, IBM. Seriously. Welcome to the most exciting and important marketplace since the computer revolution began 35 years ago. And congratulations on your first personal computer. Putting real computer power in the hands of the individual is already improving the way people work, think, learn, communicate, and spend their leisure hours. Computer literacy is fast becoming as fundamental a skill as reading or writing. When we invented the first personal computer system, we estimated that over 140,000,000 people worldwide could justify the purchase of one, if only they understood its benefits. Next year alone, we project that well over 1,000,000 will come to that understanding. Over the next decade, the growth of the personal computer will continue in logarithmic leaps. We look forward to responsible competition in the massive effort to distribute this American technology to the world. And we appreciate the magnitude of your commitment. Because what we are doing is increasing social capital by enhancing individual productivity. Welcome to the task. Apple.” Many will puzzle over its purpose, believing it to be a surrender to secondary market position, but many experts call it a canny technique of establishing the company as the popular alternative to IBM computers. In any case, the advertisement will undoubtedly be the most effect Apple campaign in history.

National Semiconductor announces that it will withdraw from magnetic bubble memory manufacturing.

1982
Sierra On-Line releases the roleplaying game (RPG) Ultima II for the Atari and personal computers. The game is notable for not following the normal conventions of the fantasy genre. The game’s world map is identical to real-life Earth. During the course of the game, the player must visit such mundane locations as San Antonio, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. Modern-day and futuristic weaponry is used; and completely incongruous pop-culture references and in-jokes abound, such as an NPC cleric named “Sister Sledge” who only says “We are family!”

1987
NASA announces the discovery of dust storms on Mars the size of Earth tornadoes. The term “Martian Tornadoes” spreads through the media like wildfire.

1989
Fidocon ‘89 is held August 24 – 27 in San Jose, California.

The US space probe Voyager 2 completes its final planetary fly-by of its mission, leaving Neptune behind after taking photographs which show three complete rings and six previously unknown moons about the planet. It also collected data proving that Neptune’s atmosphere is stormy with a notable magnetic field oriented at an angle to its axis of rotation.

1993
Sales of Excel 4.0 becomes the world’s best-selling spreadsheet application when its shipments surpass those of all its competitors for Macintosh, MS-DOS, and Windows systems combined with the sale of its five millionth units.

1994
3DO announces that it will use Motorola’s PowerPC processor in an expansion module for its Interactive Multiplayer game system.

Singer Bob Dylan files a trademark infringement suit against Apple Computer in Los Angeles District Court over the company’s use of the name Dylan (short for “dynamic language”) for a new programming language intended for its line of Newton personal digital assistants. The two parties will later settle out-of-court in an undisclosed deal.

1995
Atari releases the first production batch of Jaguar compatible CD-ROM units to a select number of distributors and retail buying offices. Large quantities are withheld as production ramps up to quantities that will meet preorder demand.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) isn’t granted OEM rights for Windows 95 until fifteen minutes prior to the release of the operating system. Because of the uncertainty created by the delay, IBM machines are sold without Windows 95, while Compaq, HP, and other major PC manufacturers sell their machines with Windows 95 from day one. Not only is IBM the last company allowed to license the operating system prior to the product launch, it is also charged the most, at US$45.90 per copy. Later, in his finding of facts in the case of United States v. Microsoft, Judge Jackson will determined that Microsoft punished IBM for marketing the Lotus SmartSuite and other alternatives to Microsoft products “with higher prices, a late license for Windows 95, and the withholding of technical and marketing support.”

Microsoft launches Windows 95, a new version of its flagship operating system two years to the day after Apple lost the lawsuit it brought against Microsoft for infringing on the copyrights protecting its own operating system. The system features a completely new user interface centered around an innovative Start Menu. New features include dial-up networking, an integrated TCP/IP stack, and support for long filenames. It is also the first Windows systems that doesn’t require MS-DOS to function, though the system is included. Windows 95 consists of more than eleven million lines of code written by three hundred programmers and tested by more than fifty thousand individuals and companies before its release. Thanks to possibly the largest product launch campaign in history, the system’s sales will exceed all expectations. Microsoft’s worldwide marketing campaign cost an unprecedented US$250 million, including US$12 million for the rights to the Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up” – an investment equal to the amount spent in advertising by the entire video game industry in all of 1982. A ceremony is held in a circus tent on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington and hosted by William Henry Gates III and Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Over 12,500 people are invited to attend the launch and live satellite broadcasts are made available in forty-two US cities and world capitals. In New York City, the Empire State Building glows in Microsoft colors, and in Toronto, Canada, a thirty story banner is draped across the 1,800 foot high Canadian National Tower. More than twenty thousand retail stores offer the software for sale. About three hundred thousand copies are sold on the first day for approximately US$30 million in retail sales, and more than a million copies will be sold within the first four days of its release alone. Within two months of the release, over seven million copies will be sold worldwide. In preparation for the support calls it anticipates, 1,600 people staff tech support lines. Code-name: Chicago

Microsoft releases Windows 95 Plus !, a package designed to augment its new Windows 95 operating system. The package introduces the Internet Explorer 1.0 web browser, DriveSpace 3, the game Space Cadet Pinball, and twelve graphical system themes. Price: US$50

The same day it launches its new operating system, Microsoft also launches a major online service, MSN (Microsoft Network), as a direct competitor to AOL, and Microsoft Office 95, an office suite that integrates into Windows 95.

1996
Ghost in the Shell becomes the first and only Japanese animated film to reach the number one spot on the Billboard Top 40 Video Sales chart.

Microsoft releases Windows NT 4.0, an operating system designed as a small-scale business server systems with graphical user interface nearly identical to that of Windows 95. The “NT” designation in the product’s title stands for “New Technology,” according to Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. The system was released to manufacturing on July 29, 1996. The software is comprised of 16.5 million lines of code. Visit the application’s official website. Code-name: Cairo

1997
Gordon Spence discovers the 36th known Mersenne prime number, the largest known prime number discovered to date, which can be expressed as 2^2976221-1. It took fifteen days of solid processing time for Spence to prove that the At 895,932 digit-number was, in fact, a prime number using a 100MHz Pentium PC. Read more about Mersenne primes.

1998
Adobe Systems announces version 8.0 of Adobe Illustrator. Price: US$375 or US$129 (upgrade)

Cybernetics Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading in the United Kingdom becomes the first man in history to be surgically implanted with an RFID device. The device will remain implanted in his left arm for nine days is what will be called “Project Cyborg.” The device is 3mm wide and 23mm longs, and it features a microchip equipped with a Multiple Micro Electrode Array (MMEA), a hundred electrodes, each of which is capable of transmitting electrical signals throughout his body’s nervous system via radio frequency (RF). As part of the experiment, his home and offices are equipped with computer that detect, record, and react to Warwick’s presence, including doors that unbolt when he approaches them and lights that activate when he enters a room. In October, Warwick will tell Salon.com that, “After a few days I started to feel quite a closeness to the computer, which was very strange. When you are linking your brain up like that, you change who you are. You do become a ‘borg.’ You are not just a human linked with technology; you are something different and your values and judgment will change.” He will further admit that, “It does make me feel that Orwell was probably right about the Big Brother issue.” Visit the official website of Professor Kevin Warwick.

Intel introduces the 450MHz Pentium II processor. Code-name: Deschutes

Intel introduces the 300MHz and 333MHz Celeron processors with 128KB Level-2 cache. Code-name: Mendocino Prices: US$149 and US$192 in 1000-unit quantities

Internet Service Provider Internet Alaska is hacked anonymously using a smurf attack, leaving approximately two thousand of its twenty-eight thousand customers unable to access the web over the weekend. A smurf attack is a type of denial-of-service (DOS) attack name for the mentality of its users. In the attacks, a target is flooded with spoofed ping messages.

1999
A 9th Circuit Federal Court decision allows BLEEM!, a PlayStation emulation package, to continue being sold by its maker, Bleem, LLC. This is Sony’s fourth failed attempt to block sales before the case goes to trial Monday, April 24, 2000.

2000
Nintendo unveils the Gamecube video game system, featuring a 405MHz IBM PowerPC “Gekko” processor, a 202.5MHz System LSI “Flipper” graphics processor, a 101.25MHz 16-bit sound processor, and 24MB of memory. The system will be released to retailers in Japan in July 2001.

Nintendo unveils the Gameboy Advance handheld video game system, featuring 32-bit RISC and 8-bit CISC processors, 32KB WRAM, 96KB VRAM, a reflective 1.6 x 2.4 inch 32,000-color TFT LCD screen. The system will be released to retailers on March 21. Code-name: Project Atlantis

2001
At a media event held on Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington campus, Microsoft announces the release of Build 2600 (2600.xpclient.010817-1148) of the Windows XP operating system, the highly anticipated next major version of the Windows operating system, to computer manufacturers around the world. With development of the system complete, Windows XP is on schedule for a global release on October 25. Industry partners, computer manufacturers, and customers greet the news with general excitement.

Dimension Films releases the comedy film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, and Shannon Elizabeth, to 2,765 US theaters. The film is the fifth to be set in the “View Askewniverse,” characters and settings from the film Clerks. Produced on a budget of US$22 million, the film will gross US$11,018,543 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: R) Running Time: 1 hr 44 mins

Screen Gems releases the horror film Ghosts of Mars, directed by John Carpenter and starring Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, and Jason Statham, to 2,048 US theaters. In the film, set 200 years in the future, a Martian police unit is dispatched to transport a dangerous prisoner from a mining outpost back to justice. But when the team arrives they find the town deserted and some of the inhabitants possessed by the former inhabitants of the planet. Produced on a budget of US$28 million, the film will gross US$3,804,452 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: R) Running Time: 1 hr 38 mins

The Wireless Developer 2001 trade show is held August 20 – 24 at the Santa Clara Westin hotel in Santa Clara, California.

2005
Google launches a beta version of Google Talk (GTalk), a web-based instant messaging and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) application, for Windows. Google claims that the software “enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free-–anytime, anywhere in the world.” Visit the official Google Talk website.

2006
Apple Computer recalls 1.8 million Sony built batteries after receiving nine reports of batteries overheating, including two customers who suffered minor burns, and additional reports of property damage. The recall comes ten days after Sony and Dell admitted to major flaws in several Sony batteries that could result in the battery overheating and catching fire, recalling 4.1 million laptop batteries in the largest computer-related recall to that point in history.

Dell announces that it has discontinued the DJ Ditty in the face of competition from Apple, manufacturer of the iPod, and others. The announcement comes after Dell’s February 6th announcement that the company would no longer produce players with hard drives in favor of the DJ Ditty, which is a flash memory based player.

In a vote following a ten day General Assembly in Prague, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term “planet” so that Pluto is no longer considered a planet, more than seventy years after its discovery. Instead, Pluto is re-designated as a “dwarf planet,” on account of its small size. However, only 424 of 2,700 astronomers who remained in Prague for the last day of the meeting take part in the vote. Those who vote represent only about four percent of the world’s ten thousand astronomers, and the decision will later come to be widely criticized by astronomers and media commentators alike.

Release Candidate 1 (RC1) of Internet Explorer 7 (Build 7.0.5700.6) is released for Windows XP SP2, Windows XP x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 SP1. This was the last pre-release version of IE7 before the final release. 7.0 RC 1 Improvements in performance, stability, security, application compatibility and final CSS adjustments.

2007
In Europe, Microsoft reduces the price of the Xbox 360 bundle by fifty euros to €349.99 euros and the Xbox 360 Core by twenty euros €279.99. Visit the official Xbox 360 website.

The popular bittorrent indexing website TorrentSpy begins denying access to site visitors with IP addresses originating from within the United States in response to a May 29th court order directing the site’s administrators to begin logging their users’ activities on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America. Visit TorrentSpy.com.