The Great Geek Manual

1665
The first edition of the first issue of the first scientific journal, Journal des Sçavans (”Journal des Savants”), is published as a twelve page quarto pamphlet in Europe. The journal, founded by Denis de Sallo, appeared only weeks before the publication of the first issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

1903
The first transpacific cable connecting San Francisco to Honolulu (completed January 1st) is opened to the public for the very first time.

1917
American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard receives a five thousand dollar grant from the Smithsonian Institution to develop rockets for the purpose of studying the upper atmosphere.

1940
Edwin Howard Armstrong demonstrates FM radio to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the first time. The new medium’s principal advantage is that it is free of static and interference, especially during thunderstorms, which almost completely disable AM radio. In 1941, the first FM transmitter will be established.

1948
Warner Brothers-Pathe plays the very first color newsreel, which includes footage of the Tournament of Roses Parade shot on New Years Day, in theaters. The footage was produced with the Cinecolor process.

1962
The first reference to Simula, one of the first object-oriented programming languages, is made in writing.

1967
The Star Trek episode “The Galileo Seven” episode first airs. (No. 16) In it, Spock commands a team aboard an Enterprise shuttlecraft that has crashed on the surface of an unexplored planet which is inhabited by aggressive aliens. Memory Alpha entry

1969
The Venera 5 spacecraft is launched, becoming the second spacecraft to return data from the atmosphere of Venus. Venera 5 will arrive at Venus on May 16, 1969. It will return data indicating that the planet’s atmosphere is composed of 93-97% Carbon Dioxide, 2-5% Nitrogen, and less than 4% Oxygen. The probe returns data until it comes within twenty-six kilometers of the surface, where it is lost when it is crushed by the pressure of Venus’ atmosphere.

1972
President Richard M. Nixon announced that NASA will develop a reusable, “low cost” space shuttle system, and he signs a bill allocating US$5.5 billion towards its creation.

1976
In South Africa, television service is introduced. It is the first system in the world to provide color service from its inception.

1981
A year and a half after announcing the technologies to the world, Texas Instruments (TI) releases a prototype of Extended Basic and a 32KB Memory Expansion to select users of the TI-99/4 home computer for beta testing, six months in advance of their release to retailers. The tests are generally criticized by industry insiders as “too little, too late”, since most of Texas Instrument’s competitors have already made similar expansions standard.

1984
Acclaimed software activist Richard Stallman founds the GNU Project, which will later lead to the Free Software Foundation. Visit the organization’s official website.

1985
The Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held in Las Vegas, Nevada, over two days. At the show, Atari and Commodore both introduce landmark computer systems, and Nintendo first introduces the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in the US.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Atari introduces the Atari XE and Atari ST lines of computers. These lines include: the Atari 65XE computer, with 65xx processor and 64 kB RAM for US$120; the Atari 65XEM, which is an Atari 65XE with a built-in music synthesizer, for US$150; the Atari 65XEP, which is a portable Atari 65XE with a built-in monitor and 3.5-inch disk drive; the Atari 130XE, which is an Atari 65XE with 128KB RAM, for US$140; the Atari 130ST, featuring 128KB RAM, 192KB ROM, Digital Research’s GEM operating system, 32KB screen RAM, a MIDI interface, and a mouse for U$399; the Atari 260ST, featuring 256KB RAM for US$499; and the Atari 520ST, featuring 512KB RAM, 192KB ROM, Digital Research’s GEM operating system, 32KB screen RAM, a MIDI interface, and a mouse for U$599. Dubbed the “Jackintosh” by media outlets, the 520ST is marketed as a system as powerful as a Macintosh for half the price.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Commodore unveils the Commodore 128 personal computer. It features a 8502 processor, Z80 processor, 128KB RAM, and a ROM cartridge port for US$300. Commodore also introduces the Commodore LCD laptop computer with built-in software, a modem, and a flip-top screen, and the 1571 Disk Drive for the Commodore 128.

1988
Version 2.000 of the Perl programming language is released. Visit the language’s official website.

1989
Nintendo of America files a countersuit against Tengen Games, a property of Atari Games Inc., in response to an anti-trust suit Atari brought against Nintendo accusing the company of improperly controlling the supply of game cartridges. In its countersuit, Nintendo alleges that Atari has violated federal and state trademark laws, engaged in fraudulent inducement of their licensing agreement, and had made and sold unauthorized cartridges.

1992
Version 0.12 of Linux kernel is released. The next release will be named version 0.95 in recognition of the kernel’s development into a full-featured operated system. Visit the system’s official website.

1994
Sanyo Electric announces it will manufacture 3DO Interactive Multiplayer video game systems.

1995
Bill Gates introduces the world to Microsoft Bob at the Consumer Electronics Show. Code-name: Utopia

1996
Texas Instruments (TI) releases the PS-6300, PS-6400 and PS-6500 personal organizers featuring 32K, 64K, and 128K RAM configurations. Price: US$80, US$90, US$120, respectively

Texas Instruments (TI) releases the TI-92 handheld calculator which “combines the power of a computer math lab with the independence of a calculator.” The calculator features a QWERTY keyboard, for which it will be labeled a “computer” rather than a “calculator” by American testing facilities. Subsequently, it can not be used during tests such as the SAT. Price: US$200 Weight: 20oz

1998
The homepage of Texas A&M University is hacked by “Zyklon”. Visit an archived version of the defaced website.

The stock value of the Netscape Communications Corporation sinks to an unprecedented low of US$18.56 on trading of 13.9 million shares following the announcement of a fourth quarter loss. Netscape attributes the loss to Microsoft’s policy of giving Internet Explorer away for free to virtually anyone.

Sukura, a Japanese bank database is hacked by “Fujisawa” and the customers’ data is stolen.

The website of Advanced Application Development, Inc. is hacked by “Magica de Bin”. View an archived version of the defaced website.

The website of the Prizon IRC Network is hacked by “Fike Force & net”. View an archived version of the defaced website.

1999
The Macworld Conference & Expo is held January 5 – 8, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California.

At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple Computer announces that they have sold eight hundred thousand iMac computers since their August release and plans to release a new set of lower-priced multi-colored machines. The new revision C iMac line will retail for US$1,199 and will feature a 266MHz PowerPC G3 processor, 32 MB RAM, a 15-inch monitor, and 6GB hard drive. The systems will be available in Blueberry, Grape, Lime, Strawberry, and Tangerine. The price of the original models will be reduced to US$1,049 from US$1,299.

At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple Computer introduces a new Power Mac G3 series of computers. They feature two-tone blue/white semi-translucent cases with handles at each corner, 300 to 400MHz PowerPC G3 processor, 100MHz system bus, up to 1GB RAM, ATI Rage 128 graphics card, 4 PCI slots, 10/100BaseT Ethernet, a CD or DVD drive, a keyboard, a mouse, two USB ports, and two FireWire ports. Price: US$1,599 – 2,999

At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Connectix introduces the Virtual Game Station, a PlayStation emulator that is compatible with G3 Macintosh computers including desktops, PowerBooks, and iMacs. The systems allows users to assign controller inputs to keyboard commands, and it allows users to “back-up” copies and Gold Disc-based games. Price: US$49

At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 4.5 for the Macintosh.

The science fiction television series Total Recall 2070 premieres on the OnTV television channel in Canada. It will run for one season of twenty-two episodes. It is loosely based on two short stories written by Philip K. Dick, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? TV.com Summary

2000
Apple announces that the new desktop design for their upcoming MacOS X operating system will be “Aqua”.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Bill Gates announces a new version of the Windows CE operating system called Pocket PC.

At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Steve Jobs announces that he has accepted the position as full-time CEO of Apple Computer.

2004
Adobe Systems releases Macromedia Director MX 2004. Visit the software’s official website.

2005
In a number of news stories releases around the Internet, it is revealed that a simple Google query can reveal a listing of publicly accessible security webcams.

Michael E. Brown, David L. Rabinowitz, and Chad Trujillo discover Eris, the largest dwarf planet yet recorded in the solar system, using images originally taken on October 21, 2003 at the Palomar Observatory.

Version 0.2.5 of the ReactOS operating system is released. This version features notable improvements in stability. Visit the system’s official website.

2006
The 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show is held in Las Vegas, Nevada, over four days. At the event, Microsoft announces that it will release an add-on for the Xbox 360 later in the year which will allow the system to play HD-DVD discs.

2007
Adobe Systems releases version 2.01 of Adobe Flex, a suite for developing cross platform Internet applications. Visit the official Adobe website.