1987
NASA announces the names of four companies that have been awarded contracts to build Space Station Freedom: Boeing Aerospace, General Electric’s Astro-Space Division, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics, and Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International.
1988
The 6th Canadian World of Commodore trade show is held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, over four days.
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.
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)
The first “official” version of the Apache HTTP Server, 1.0, is released. Visit the official Apache website.
J. Patton, former director of licensees and contracts, submits his resignation to Atari Corporation to work at Rocket Science.
1996
AOL begins offering its seven million customers unlimited internet access at a flat rate of US19.95 a month. Previously, the company offered limited access, and the new pricing structure will draw over a million new customers within just weeks. As a result, the company’s total daily online usage will climb from 1.6 million hours in October 1996 to 4.3 million hours in January 1997. AOL’s infrastructure will ultimately prove incapable of facilitating the additional traffic, and AOL’s system will lead to a number of crashes, which will lead five subscribers to file a class-action suit against the company in Los Angeles Superior Court in January 1997.
Bandai Digital Entertainment introduces the @World entertainment system in the U.S. 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 that will inspire the creation of The Great Geek Manual blog. Visit an archive of the website.
PGP, Inc. is repurchased by McAfee Associates, which becomes “Network Associates Inc.”
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.
In Norway, Ståle Schumacher and Teun Nijssen publish an international freeware version of the Pretty Good Privacy 5.0i encryption program for Windows 95 and NT. Based on the legally exported source code, 5.0i is the certified copy of version 5.0 from the U.S.
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.”
1999
The National Human Genome Research Institute, a team of scientists from Canada, England, Japan, Sweden, and the U.S., 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 (or “letters”). 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 U.S.
2000
The staff of GameFan Magazine and its sister website are laid off by its parent company, Express.com.
2003
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.
2006
New federal rules go into effect requiring all U.S. companies to keep track of all electronic communications, including e-mails and instant messages, generated by their employees. The rule, approved by the Supreme Court in April, will require companies involved in federal litigation to produce “electronically stored information” as part of the discovery process of a trial.
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