1877
Construction begins of a working prototype of a phonograph from a set of drawings made by Thomas Alva Edison.
1835
Hans Christian Andersen publishes first book of fairy tales.
1878
A telephone is first installed in The White House, in Washington, DC, by Alexander Graham Bell himself, for the use of President Rutherford B. Hayes administration. The first call made on the telephone is between Hayes and Bell, thirteen miles away. The first call made on the telephone is between Hayes and Bell, thirteen miles away. The first words he speaks into the phone are, “Please speak more slowly.”
1898
Danish electrical engineer and inventor Valdemar Poulsen patents the first practical magnetic sound recorder, the Telegrafoon, using magnetized piano wire as a recording medium.
1913
The Ford Motor Company opens the first moving assembly line in Highland Park in Detroit, Michigan. Using the assembly line, the factory is capable of producing a car every two minutes and thirty-eight seconds. The method will become so successful that the Ford will rapidly become the world’s largest car manufacturer.
1936
The first US patent for the soiless culture of plants in a large commercial hydroponicum is issued to Ernest Walfrid Brundin and Frank Farrington Lyon. (US No. 2,062,755) The word hydroponics was coined earlies in the decade by University of California at Los Angeles Professor Gericke to describe growing plants with their roots suspended in water containing mineral nutrients.
1953
Birmingham, Michigan becomes the second community to be able to dial “nationwide.”
1955
The first remote-control railroad passenger car goes into service.
1959
A camera mounted on the nose of a Thor missile launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida takes the first color picture of Earth from space; however, the data capsule containing the camera won’t be recovered until February 16, 1960 on the beach of Mayaguana Island, in the Bahama Islands.
1967
The Star Trek episode “Friday’s Child” first airs. In it, the crew of the Enterprise become entangled in a tribal power struggle on a planet where the Klingons are competing against the Federal for mining rights. Memory Alpha entry
1969
The fourth interface message processor (IMP) is installed at the University of Utah.
1973
University of California Berkeley signs a contract with Western Electric to develop UNIX version 5, which will, in time, lead to the development of BSD UNIX.
1982
Atari begins producing games for the international marketplace at the company’s facility in Ireland.
1989
FidoNet holds a global referendum on a motion which would explicitly put the International FidoNet Association (IFNA) in complete control of the FidoNet network. The motion fails, and on January 8, 1990, Thom Henderson will announces a special meeting of the IFNA to begin dissolving the organization.
1987
NASA announces the names of four companies who were awarded contracts to build the Space Station Freedom.
Square Co., Ltd. releases the scrolling shooter JJ for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in Japan.
1988
The 6th Canadian World of Commodore trade show is held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,, over four days.
Konami releases Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in the US.
1990
Kemco releases the puzzle game Bombuzal for the Super Famicom in Japan.
Nintendo releases the puzzle game Dr. Mario for the Game Boy in the US. ESRB: E (Everyone)
1991
Sega releases the Mega CD add-on for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan. The device allows the games system to play compact discs and CD+G discs.
1995
Atari begins shipping Missile Command 3D for the Atari Jaguar 64. ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults)
J. Patton, former director of licensees and contracts, submits his resignation to Atari Corporation to work at Rocket Science.
Nintendo releases the platform game Virtual Boy Wario Land as Bacharu Boi Wario Rando Awazon no Hiho (”Virtual Boy Wario Land: Secret Treasure of the Awazon”) for the Virtual Boy in Japan. ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults)
Nintendo releases the puzzle game Panic Bomber for the Virtual Boy in the US. ESRB: E (Everyone)
1996
Bandai Digital Entertainment introduces the @World entertainment system in the US. It features a 66MHz PowerPC 603 processor, 5MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, 28.8kbps modem, Mac OS System 7.5.2 in 1 MB of RAM, and a controller with trackball and buttons. The system is based on Apple Computer’s Pippin technology. Price: US$499
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announces that hardware and software revenues for the PlayStation video game system have exceeded US$1 billion since its launch on December 3, 1994. Visit the game system’s official website.
1997
Jupiter, Mars, Mecury, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, Uranus, and the Moon align from the West to the East in the night sky. The rare event is visible through December 8. It will be at least another century before so many planets will be visible so close together from Earth.
L4 Software first launches I.C. When, an enormous web-based chronology of the history of video games and computers, written by Don Thomas. It is this chronology Visit an archive of the website.
Seven websites, including Owner Direct, Portman Innovations, and Secure Network System, are hacked by “Magica de Bin”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
Version 5.0, “Hurricane” of the Red Hat Linux operating system is released. Visit the system’s official website.
1998
The AbiWord Team first releases the AbiWord word processor for most personal computer platforms under a GNU General Public License. The application’s name comes from the Spanish word for “open,” “abierto.”
Crave Entertainment releases the platform game Gex: Enter the Gecko for the Gameboy Color in North America. ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults)
Interplay releases the 3D shooter Incoming for the Dreamcast in North America. ESRB: T (Teen)
TV Books publishes the non-fiction history Nerds 2.0.1: A brief history of the Internet by Stephen Segaller as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 1575001063) Length: 400 pages
1999
The National Human Genome Research Institute, a team of scientists from Canada, England, Japan, Sweden, and the US, announces that it has sequenced the first human chromosome in an article published in the journal Nature. The second smallest chromosome, number 22, was chosen to be sequenced first because it is one of the most densely packed, with 33.5 million pieces, or chemical components. Dr. Francis Collins, chair of the Institute, says in a statement, “For the first time we can see the entire landscape of a human chromosome. I think this is probably the most important scientific effort that mankind has ever mounted. That includes splitting the atom and going to the moon.” Technically, researchers were only able to map out ninety-seven percent of the chromosome’s genetic material, but the scientific community considers the results complete for the time being, until future technological advancements allow for greater accuracy.
ISO C (C99) is released.
The most expensive internet domain name in history, business.com, is sold by “domain name investor” Marc Ostrofsky for a record-setting US$7.5 million to eCompanies. Business.com would be sold again in 2008 for US$345 million.
Microsoft announces plans to discontinue the “Modem BBS” option within LiveUpdate.
Nintendo releases the Nintendo 64DD disk drive for the Nintendo 64 in Japan. The system features a modem cartridge for connecting to RANDnet, the game Kyojin no Doshin (”Doshin the Giant”), Mario Artist: Paint Studio, a mouse and keyboard that plug into the controller inputs. The system is Nintendo’s attempt to compete with the Sony PlayStation’s compact disc system, but its cartridges can only hold 32 to 512MB. The device will never be released in the US.
Sega Europe releases Red Dog: Superior Firepower for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Europe. ESRB: T (Teen)
2000
The staff of GameFan Magazine and its sister website are laid off by its parent company, Express.com.
2001
Wizards of the Coast publishes the fantasy novel Conundrum by Jeff Crook as a paperback. (ISBN 0-7869-1949-3) The book is a part of the Dragonlance series. Length: 320 pages
2003
Microsoft Game Studios releases the music game Xbox Music Mixer for the Xbox. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Nintendo releases the puzzle game Pokémon Channel for the GameCube in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E (Everyone)
The use of hand-held cell phones while driving is made illegal in the United Kingdom.
2004
Lycos Europe releases a screen saver named “Make Love Not Spam” to help fight spam by keeping spam servers busy with requests in what some deem “vigilante denial-of-service attack.” The service will be discontinued within days in the midst of controversy after Netcraft reports that it is responsible for a number of server crashes and backbone providers subsequently block access to the download site.
2005
Gravity Corp. releases the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ROSE Online for personal computers. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E (Everyone)
2006
Activision releases Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Europe. Visit the game’s official website.
Eidos Interactive releases third-person shooter Bionicle Heroes for personal computers, the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360 in Australia. Visit the game’s official website.
Nintendo releases the platform game Yoshi’s Island DS for the Nintendo DS in Europe. Visit the game’s official website. PEGI: 3+
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