1889
The Columbia Phonograph Company is formed in Washington, D.C.
1908
Edouard Bélin uses his Bélinographe, a system able to send remote photographs over telephone and telegraphic networks, to transmit a photograph 1,700 km from Paris to Bordeaux to Lyon then back. The historical event takes twenty-two minutes.
1939
The Uranium atom is split for the first time using the cyclotron at Columbia University, in New York City. The break through will lead to the creation of the atom bomb in Manhattan Project.
1946
US President Harry S. Truman creates the Central Intelligence Group, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency. Read more at the CIA website.
1968
NASA launches Apollo 5 on the first unmanned lunar module test.
1973
The International Business Machines (IBM) Data Processing Division (DPD) introduces the IBM 3740 data entry system and the IBM Diskette.
1982
Microsoft enters into an agreement with Apple Computer, for Microsoft to develop an office suite for the Macintosh with the restriction that Microsoft won’t release similar software until January 1, 1984. The software will include a BASIC interpreter, and the agreement will lead to the development of Multiplan. At the same time, the company begins working on what would eventually become Windows.
1984
Apple Computer launches what will become one of the best known ad campaigns in history during SuperBowl XVIII. The sixty-second commercial, is dubbed “1984,” an allusion to George Orwell’s classic novel of the same title. In the commercial, Big Brother, a reference to the market dominating IBM, is destroyed by a runner, who is intended to represent Macintosh. Apple only runs the commercial once, but it will be replayed by news and talk shows across the nation, making it one of the most famous campaigns in television history. The ad, directed by Ridley Scott, cost US$400,000 to produce, and the air time cost US$800,000. Two days later, Apple releases the Macintosh 128K, which will become the first successful mouse-driven computer with a graphic user interface, and the Lisa 2.
1985
Applied Computer Techniques (ACT) of Great Britain introduces the Apricot computer in the US.
1990
The first Argentine satellite, Lusat, is launched.
1992
The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on an extended scientific mission (STS-42), carrying the first International Microgravity Laboratory Spacelab experiment. During the mission, Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space. Read more at the Canadian Space Agency’s website.
At the NeXTWORLD Expo in San Fransisco, Steven Jobs“>Steve Jobs introduces NeXTstep 3.0, a version of NeXTstep that will run on an Intel 486 along with MS-DOS. All NeXT operating systems will eventually be made compatible with Intel x86 architecture.
1996
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer for the Macintosh.
1997
Oklahoma resident Lottie Williams allegedly becomes the first human to be struck by space debris that had re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. At 3am, in a Tulsa, Oklahoma park, she was hit on the shoulder by a 10 x 13cm chunk of charred, woven metal that will later be authenticated as a piece of the fuel tank of a Delta II rocket which had been used to launch a U.S. Air Force satellite in 1996. She was uninjured.
Microsoft settles its browser royalty dispute with Spyglass by agreeing to a one-time payment of about eight million dollars. The settle comes after Microsoft licensed the Mosaic web browser from Spyglass in 1995 as the basis of Internet Explorer 1.0 (IE), which was released as an add-on for Windows 95 in Microsoft Plus!. The agreement stipulated that Spyglass would receive a base quarterly fee for the Mosaic license plus a royalty from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer revenue. When Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer with its Windows operating system, thus earning no direct revenue for IE, they began paying only the minimum quarterly fee. In 1997, Spyglass threatened Microsoft with a contractual audit, in response to which Microsoft sought a settlement.
1998
Microsoft reaches an agreement with the US Department of Justice, in which Microsoft will give computer manufacturers the option of installing Internet Explorer with the Internet Explorer desktop icon hidden. The agreement is made as the company faces possible contempt citations from the Justice Department.
Netscape Communications Corporation announces its plans to make the source code of Netscape Communicator client software available for free online.
The website of the Kulturos Paveldo Centras is hacked by “DaBoo”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of the Unified School District in Oakland, California is hacked by “Tease”.
2002
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) releases a 1.3 GHz Duron processor. Price: US$118 in 1000-unit quantities
AOL Time Warner files a federal suit against Microsoft, on behalf of Netscape Communications, alleging that, by bundling Internet Explorer into its Windows operating system, Microsoft has harmed the browser market.
Intel releases a 650 MHz ultra-low voltage Celeron processor.
Intel releases a 750 MHz ultra-low voltage Pentium III-M processor.
Intel releases 850 and 866 MHz low-voltage Pentium III-M processors.
Intel releases 1.06 to 1.2 GHz mobile Celeron processor.
2003
Microsoft releases the DirectX 9.0 graphics library.
NASA receives the last signal from Pioneer 10, the most far distant man made object in the solar system.
2007
Intel and Sun Microsystems announce a general business alliance. Intel will endorse Solaris as a mainstream operating system for its Xeon processors and Sun begins using Intel Xeon processors in its x64 servers.
Scottish scientist Simon Lillico of the Roslin Institute announces the creation of genetically engineered hens capable of producing medically useful proteins in their eggs and passing the ability on to their offspring. Such proteins could be useful in the treatment a variety of conditions ranging from anemia to cancer. Read more at Science News.
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