1612
Simon Marius becomes the first person to observe the Andromeda galaxy through a telescope. He will describe his discovery in the preface to his Mundus Jovialis as, “like the flame of a candle seen through horn.”
1877
Thomas Edison files for a patent on his phonograph.
1903
The Wright Brothers make their first attempt to launch the Wright Flyer in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1958
Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles H. Townes publish the paper “Infrared and Optical Masers” in the journal Physics Review describing what will later be known as the laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) while employed at Bell Labs. Read the original document here.
1964
The first Italian satellite, San Marco 1, is launched.
1965
Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Four orbits later, it achieves the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7. The two crafts orbit the Earth together for over five hours.
1966
The Star Trek episode “Balance of Terror” first airs. (No. 14) In it, the crew of the Enterprise confronts a hostile, space-faring race, whose appearance raises suspicions about Spock. Memory Alpha entry
1967
The Star Trek episode “Obsession” first airs. (No. 42) In it, Captain Kirk becomes obsessed with destroying a murderous entity that killed many of the crew of his old ship. Memory Alpha entry
1970
The Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land on another planet when it sets down on the surface Venus. It is equipped with an external cooling device which allows it transmit twenty-three minutes worth of data.
1978
Philips and MCA launches the LaserVision video disc system is launched on the US market in three stores in Atlanta, Georgia. Price: US$695
Warner Bros. releases Superman, directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, and Margot Kidder to 508 US theaters in a limited release. It is the first major motion picture to feature the popular DC Comics character Superman. Produced on a budget of US$55 million, it will gross US domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG) Running Time: 2 hrs 23 mins
1983
The Chiat/Day advertising agency first airs “1984,” a television commercial for Apple Computer in the 1:00am sign-off slot of KMVT Channel 11, in Twin Falls, Idaho. The ad features a heroine running through a drab Orwellian world to hurl a sledgehammer into an image of Big Brother. The imagery is followed by an on-screen message and accompanying voice-over announcing, “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.” The advertisement won’t officially premiere until January 22, 1984, during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, however, the company customarily runs commercials slated for release early in the following year once “under the radar” in order to be eligible for advertising awards the following year. The commercial will go on to be nominated “Commercial of the Decade” by Advertising Age, and it will widely be considered on of the most influential marketing campaigns of all time. Watch the commercial.
1986
Business Week features an article written by Katherine M. Hafner in the People/Rejuvenators section. The headline is “Father knows best — Just ask the Tramiel boys; Jack Tramiel has turned a half-dead Atari into a $240 million family business.” Sigmund Hartmann, a friend of the Tramiel’s is quoted as saying, “Jack really wants to go down in history as the guy who offered computers at affordable prices to the masses.”
1989
Square releases The Final Fantasy Legend for the Game Boy in Japan.
Universal Pictures releases the film The Wizard, directed by Todd Holland and starring Fred Savage, Christian Slater, Beau Bridges, Jenny Lewis, Will Seltzer, and Frank McRae, to 1,155 US theaters. In it, a boy and his two friends run away from home and hitch cross country to compete in the Nintendo World Video Game Championships. While the film is poorly received by audiences and critics alike, it will become notorious for its campiness and the astounding number of errors and incongruities and, eventually, earn a cult status among gamers. It will gross US$2,142,525 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG) Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
1990
ISO C (C90) is released.
1994
Netscape releases version 1.0 of Netscape Navigator, the first commercial web browser. Because Netscape has significantly more resources than the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and the popularity of Netscape will rapidly outstrip that of the Mosaic web browser, the first popular graphical Web browser.
Richard D. Kenadek, the sysop of the Davy Jones Locker BBS in Millbury, Massachusetts, pleads guilty to criminal copyright infringement. The 43-year-old Millbury man admitted that he had illegally distributed a variety of copyrighted software programs to subscribers in 36 states and 11 foreign countries who paid a US$99 annual fee. In March 1995, Kenadek will be sentenced to six months of home detention and two years of probation.
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