The Great Geek Manual

1882
Leroy B. Firman receives the first patent for a telephone switchboard. (U.S. No. 252,576 ) The invention will play a fundamental role in the success of the telephone industry.

Thomas Alva Edison is issued a patent for the carbon microphone for the telephone. (US No. 252,442) The microphone consists of a conducting material, such as carbon, held between metal cups or rings attached to the telephone mouthpiece’s diaphragm. Sound waves cause the diaphragm to change the pressure on the carbon button, which, in turn, causes variation in the electric current passing through the carbon button. The variations correspond to the amplitude and pitch of whatever sound is passing through the mouthpiece.

1938
Howard Aiken submits a formal proposal for the construction of an automatic calculating machine, later known as the Harvard Mark I, to Havard University President J.B. Conant. The proposal includes a history of the computers built by Charles Babbage and Herman Hollerith and a discussion of the features that would be required in a machine intended for scientific calculations.

1949
The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, premieres.

1969
The Star Trek episode “The Mark of Gideon” first airs. (No. 71) In it, Kirk is abducted and held aboard an abandoned duplicated of the Enterprise. Memory Alpha entry

United States attorney general Ramsey Clark charges International Business Machines (IBM) with violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in the attempted monopolization of the electronic digital computer industry, on his last day in office. The suit will be withdrawn in 1982.

1984
The thirty second version of the groundbreaking Apple commercial “1984” is included among theatrical previews in movie theaters across the country. The commercial becomes so popular, it will often be replayed for audience at no cost to Apple. It was directed by Ridley Scott.

In the case of Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., the so-called “Betamax case,” the U.S. Supreme Court rules that using a videocassette recorder to tape television programming is not an infringement of copyright law.

1985
British Telecom announces the retirement of the United Kingdom’s iconic red telephone boxes.

1986
Apple Computer and NeXT Computer reach an out-of-court settlement in regard to the lawsuit Apple brought against NeXT, in which NeXT agrees not to use Apple technology.

1994
Microsoft and Sega Enterprises enter into an agreement under which Microsoft will supply portions of operating system software for controlling the newest Sega video game system.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Homeward” first airs. (No. 713) In it, Worf’s step-brother violates the Prime Directive by bringing a village from a doomed planet aboard the Enterprise. Memory Alpha entry

1996
Apple Computer reveals a sixty-nine million dollar first quarter loss and lays off thirteen hundred employees.

Geoffrey Marcy and R. Paul Butler announce the discovery of two new planets through the use of computer analysis to the American Astronomical Society (AAS). The unconventional method analyzes the movement of stars using spectrographic images taken over the course of eight years to find shifts in light that indicate the presence of planet’s gravity.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat, and Phillipine President Fidel Rhamos meet in a ten minute online chat session.

1997
The website of the Government of Victoria, Australia is hacked.

1998
The AVD website in the Netherlands is hacked by “critic”. View an archived version of the defaced website.

The website of KTBZ The Buzz 107.5 FM is hacked twice, the first time by “- I-h4k4″ and the second time by “H4ck3Rs w1th 4tt1tud3″. View an archived version of the website after its first hack. View an archived version of the website after its second hack.

The website of the SIT Sweden Scala AB software company is hacked by “critic”. View an archived version of the defaced website.

2000
The cross-platform first-person shooter engine Aleph One is released under a GNU General Public License. The engine is based on the Marathon 2: Durandal source code released by Bungie Studios. Download the game engine. Visit the official Aleph One website.

The website of the United States Library of Congress is hacked by “LmT” and “r00tcrew”, users are prevented from accessing congressional legislation. View an archived version of the defaced website.

2001
The US Surgeon General’s office releases a report entitled, “Youth and Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General“. The report concludes that media influences play a minimal role in contributing to youth violence. The immediate impetus for the report was the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre in which fourteen students died. Read the report online.

2003
Microsoft announces that it has sold eight million Xbox video game systems to date.

2006
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights both separately file lawsuits against the National Security Agency (NSA), challenging the legality of the warrantless spying program. The two suits, ACLU v. NSA and Center for Constitutional Rights v. Bush, include an a long list of plaintiffs, including defense lawyers, journalists, political activists, scholars, and a large assembly of organizations, including Greenpeace, all of which communicate regularly with the Middle East.

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) releases Ape Escape Academy for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America. ESRB: E10+ (Everyone)

2007
Jeffrey Brett Goodin becomes the first person convicted under the US Can-Spam Act. Goodin charged with wire fraud, unauthorized use of credit cards, misuse of the AOL trademark and attempted witness harassment after conducting a massive phishing campaign that duped AOL users into responding with their credit card information.

The Storm Worm is first discovered. Storm Worm creates a botnet by installing a Trojan Horse on computers running Windows. On August 22, it will set a record for the most emails sent by a botnet in one day.

Vivendi Universal releases the expansion pack World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft for personal computers in Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa. Visit the expansion pack’s official website.