1831
The United States Copyright Act is revised to protect printed music. In addition, the term of copyright is extended to twenty-eight years, with a renewal period of fourteen years.
1862
At the age of only fifteen, Thomas Alva Edison, who has been selling candy and newspapers on the train since he was twelve, becomes the first publisher of a newspaper produced and sold on a moving train. He sets up a small press in the baggage car of the Grand Trunk Railroad train that rund between Port Huron and Detroit, Michigan. Obsessed with telegraph technology, he works manages to find a method of getting advance news. His weekly Grand Trunk Herald, a single sheet measuring seven by eight inches, includes local news and advertisements for his father’s store. Before long, Edison becomes renowned as a boy journalist. At its peak, his paper will sell about two hundred copies of his paper a day.
1879
The first demonstration of a practical incandescent filament electric light bulb is given to a seven hundred person audience by its inventor, Joseph Wilson Swan, at the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne. Swan will go on to established the first electric light bulb factory at Benwell in Newcastle.
1966
The United States launches its first operational weather satellite, ESSA-1. The satellite will provide cloud-cover photography to the National Meteorological Center for analysis. The satellite is equipped with solar cells which charge its sixty-three batteries and two cameras were mounted on opposite sides of its cylindrical body.
The unmanned Soviet spacecraft Luna 9 lands safely on the moon in the Ocean of Storms, three days after its launch. It’s the first rocket-assisted soft landing on any celestial body, and it’s the first space craft to successfully transmit photos from the surface of the Moon. It collects valuable data necessary for later manned missions to the Moon, most notably confirming that the surface is solid rather than a dusty quicksand. Upon striking the surface, the Soviet probe ejected a 250lb capsule with the camera that equipped with a revolving mirror system then enabled the spacecraft to take the valuable photos until February 6, when the craft’s batteries ran out.
1976
In his Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter for Altair users, “MITS Computer Notes,” David Bunnell publishes an article entitled “An Open Letter to Hobbyists” written by Bill Gates, age 21. In the article, Gates condemns both the open source movement and software piracy, lumping the two together to many people’s indignation. The article draws a great deal of attention in the computer industry, as it makes Gates the first programmer to publicly raise the issue of software piracy. The article accuses hobbyists of stealing software and preventing “…good software from being written.” He concludes with the article with what will later become the prophetic line, “…Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software.” The article is precipitated by the piracy of Altair BASIC which Gates and Paul Allen wrote. Read the full text of “An Open Letter to Hobbyists” online.
1977
Bill Gates and Paul Allen enter into an official partnership agreement.
1984
A Long Beach, California hospital announces the birth of the world’s first baby conceived by embryo transplant.
Mattel announces it is selling its Intellivision business for US$20 million to a group lead by Terrence Valeski, an executive of Mattel Electronics.
1986
The investigation into the Space Shuttle Challenger accident begins.
Microsoft registers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and sends out thirty-eight thousand copies of the company’s fifty-page prospectus in preparation for the company’s first stock offering.
Time magazine reports on consumer frustration over the slow development of software for use in the computer industry. Reporter Philip Elmer-DeWitt complains of the delays in the release of Microsoft’s new Windows operating system, which is still under development far after its promised shelf date. Silicon Valley pundits have coined the term “vaporware” for such software, according to the magazine article.
1989
Nintendo files an amendment to its January lawsuit against Atari Games, charging patent infringement.
1990
The Chicago Task Force raids the home of Richard Andrews, an alleged computer hacker. Read more in Bruce Sterling’s The Hacker Crackdown online.
1992
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Violations” first airs. (No. 512) In it, Troi becomes the victim of telepathic violations. Memory Alpha entry
1994
NASA launches the Space Shuttle Discovery on a the first mission of the joint Russian-US Shuttle-Mir program, carrying Sergei K. Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly in a US space shuttle. (STS-60) Visit the mission’s official website.
1995
NASA launches the Space Shuttle Discovery on a mission to rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir for the first time ever. (STS-63) Visit the mission’s official website.
1997
Hackers spoof the website of Eastern Avionics to steal credit card numbers.
Red Hat releases version 4.1 (Vanderbilt) of the Red Hat Linux operating system.
Wizards of the Coast releases the Visions card set for the Magic: The Gathering card game. It is the sixteenth set for game. The set features 167 cards, including: 62 common cards, 55 uncommon cards, and 50 rare cards.
1998
Apple Computer announces plans to phase out distribution of computers through major computer retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Computer City, Office Max, and Sears, in order to focus on distribution through the 148 stores of CompUSA. Visit the official website of Apple Computer.
1999
ASCII Entertainment Software announces the creation of a new subsidiary called AGETEC to develop video games and that ASCII Entertainment Europe will be renamed to AGETEC Europe. Visit the official website of AGETEC.
Microsoft agrees to reproduce a video demonstration that was proven flawed by a government attorney in the suit filed by the Justice Department and nineteen states against Microsoft. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson called the video supposedly created to show problems with the government’s modified version of WINDOWS ‘98 “very troubling”. Mr. David Bois, representing the government, discovered that the video that Microsoft said was produced by one computer, actually displayed different desktop arrangements. The difference indicated that two or more computers were actually used in contradiction to Microsoft’s claim. The discrepancy cast doubt on the validity of the remaining value of the tape.
2000
Capcom releases the survival horror game Resident Evil Code: Veronica for the Dreamcast in Japan.
The Ford Motor Company announces the it will give each of its 350,000 employees a free Hewlett-Packard (HP) computer and Internet access discounted to US$5 a month. According to Ford Chairman William Clay Ford, Jr., “The Internet will be the equilavent of the moving assembly line of the 21st Century.” Visit the official website of the Ford Motor Company.
Free-PC announces that it will no longer give away free computers or free Internet service. The company has given away about twenty-five thousand computers in the past year.
Microsoft announces that its next consumer-targeted operating system will be named “Windows ME,” short for Windows Millenium Edition.
2003
The Andromeda episode “The Dark Backward” first airs. (No. 312) In it, Trance runs traces the possible outcomes of an encounter with a deadly intruder through time.
Microsoft releases Windows Service Pack 1 (SP1). The release removes Microsoft’s Java virtual machine as per court order following the lawsuit brought against Microsoft by Sun Microsystem.
Wizards of the Coast releases the Legions card set for the Magic: The Gathering card game. The set features 145 cards, including: 55 common cards, 45 uncommon cards, and 45 rare cards.
2004
Ace Hardcover publishes the fantasy novel Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0441011306) Length: 320 pages Visit the author’s official website.
Ballantine Books releases the fantasy novel Seduced By Moonlight by Laurell K. Hamilton as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 034544356X) It is the third book of the Meredith Gentry series. Length: 384 pages Visit the author’s official website.
Spectra releases the fantasy novel Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0553801546) It is the third book in The Tawny Man series. Length: 640 pages Visit the author’s official website.
2005
RunUO Software releases version 1.0.0 or RunUO, an open source Ultima Online server based on Microsoft .NET based. Visit the official RunUO website.
2006
The Nyxem worm begins effecting computers by disabling filesharing and security software, then destroying all files of certain types, including Microsoft Office files. The worm is designed to continue doing so on the third of every month.
Wizards of the Coast releases the Guildpact card set for the Magic: The Gathering card game. It is the second set in the Ravinica block. The set features 165 cards, including: 55 common cards, 55 uncommon cards, and 55 rare cards.
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