1994
Netscape Communications, Spyglass, and the University of Illinois settle their legal battle over web browser patents out of court. Netscape agrees to pay US$2.2 million in damages and up to US$1.4 million in licensing deals with other companies.
Universal Pictures releases the action film Street Fighter, directed by Steven E. de Souza and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, and Ming-Na, to 1,671 US theaters. It’s based on the best selling video game series of the same name published by Capcom. In it, Colonel Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of Dictator M. Bison and his cohorts. Produced on a budget of US$35 million, it will gross US$6,859,495 domestically in its opening weekend. Produced on a budget of US$35 million, the film will gross US$6,859,495 in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG-13) Running Time: 2 hrs 42 mins
1996
JT Storage of San Jose, a disk drive company, begins releasing pallets of Atari Jaguar liquidator Tiger Software for US$20 each piece and software for US$1 per unit. Industry speculators expect that the units will be bundled and sold at clearance prices.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) extends its customer service to make it available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The expanded service is, in part, facilitated by a new automated phone system.
The website of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is hacked by “\StOrM\”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
1997
Civil libertarian John Gilmore publishes strong authentication source code on the Internet, despite attempts by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) to restrict such software. He publishes Domain Name System (DNS) Security software that contains a complete copy of the RSAREF cryptography software from RSA Data Security, Inc. Gilmore explains that, “Internet publication of cryptography software is considered an export by the US Government, and often requires government permission under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). But those regulations specifically exempt programs which merely prove that information is authentic (authentication), rather than hiding the information (privacy).” Visit John Gilmore’s Official Website.
On his personal website, “Robot Wisdom,” Jorn Barger writes “I decided to start my own web page, logging the best stuff I find as I surf on a daily basis.” This statement will later be cited by The Oxford English Dictionary as the root of the term “weblog,” and Barger will come to widely be considered the first blogger. A long time Usenet enthusiast, Barger launched his website in February 1995 to post essays and resources on James Joyce, internet culture, and technology trends. On December 17th, he began updating his site daily with “links to articles about politics, culture, books and technology that he found interesting.” Visit the official Robot Wisdom website.
The website of MPM Software is hacked by “z0mer”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
1998
Priceline.com announces that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise US$115 million through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of common stock. Visit the official Priceline website.
Version 1.3.3 of the NetBSD operating system is released.
2002
An Iraqi MiG-25 shoots down a US MQ-1 Predator. The incident marks the first time in history that a manned aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) have ever engaged in combat. Watch footage from CBS News.
United States District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz orders Microsoft to include the Sun Microsystems Java Runtime Environment (JRE) in Windows. Microsoft immediately announces that it will appeal the decision.
2006
Version 2.0 beta 1 of the EasyPHP WAMP bundle under a GNU General Public License. The package includes an Apache server, a MySQL database, and the PHP extension. Visit the application’s official website.
2007
Queen Elizabeth II, age 81, launches her own “Royal Channel” on the YouTube video sharing website. Representatives of the Crown report that the Queen plans to use the channel to issue her 50th annual televised Christmas message.
2008
Blizzard Entertainment announces that World of Warcraft has reached 11.5 million subscribers worldwide following the November 13th release of the game’s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Visit the official World of Warcraft website.
The last major supplier of pre-recorded VHS tapes in the US, Distribution Video Audio, Inc. of Palm Harbor, Florida ships its final truckload before discontinuing VHS sales. The event marks the death of the VHS format.
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