1928
A message is encoded by an Enigma machine for the first time. An Enigma machine is a cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt communications. It will be used by German forces during World War II, but by December 1941, British codebreakers will have secretly cracked the code to begin routinely intercepting intelligence.
1954
The first commercial jet transport plane built in the United States, a prototype of the Boeing 707, makes its maiden flight. The planes will soon replace propeller-driven planes on international routes.
1965
The NASA space probe Mariner IV return the first photographs of the surface of the planet Mars.
1983
Nintendo releases the Family Computer or “Famicom” video game console. Price: ¥14,800
1985
At Johnny Zee’s Family Fun Center in Victoria, British Columbia, James Vollandt, age 18, wins the 1985 Canada Iron Man Contest by playing the Williams Electronics arcade game Joust for over sixty-seven hours on a single quarter, with the exception of four twenty minute breaks (one due to a game malfunction), setting a world record for the longest game ever played on an arcade machine on a single quarter. According to Twin Galaxies, the final high score of this game is 107,216,700 points.
The National Computer Conference is held in Chicago, Illinois. At the event, Verbatim introduces a prototype of an optical disk drive capable of reading, writing, and erasing data. Visit the official Verbatim website.
1994
Microsoft enters into a settlement with both the European Commission and United States Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding allegations of monopolistic practices. Under the terms of the agreements, the company agrees to moderate its practices in regard to how it licenses its operating systems to vendors. Specifically, it can no long tie the inclusion or exclusion of other products, such as Internet Explorer, to the sales of Windows, but it remains free to continue to integrate new features into the operating system itself. In exchange, the Department of Justice begins to seek court approval for the consent decree. Read more about the case at the Department of Justice website.
1997
The website of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service is hacked anonymously. View an archived version of the defaced website.
2000
Microsoft introduces the C# programming language. C# is an object-oriented programming language based on the C++ programming language, which the notable additions of COM, Windows API, and XML support.
2002
AMD releases the 1533MHz Athlon XP-M 1800+ processor, featuring a 256KB L2-Cache, and a 266MHz Front-side bus.
Apple Computer releases version 6 of the QuickTime media player, featuring MPEG-4 support. Visit the official QuickTime website.
2003
AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape Communications Corporation and establishes the Mozilla Foundation. Visit the official Mozilla website.
2004
Microsoft announces that the Xbox Live multiplayer gaming service has surpassed one million subscribers. Visit the official Xbox Live website.
2009
Warner Bros. releases the fantasy film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, directed by David Yates and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, to US theaters. It is the sixth film in the popular Harry Potter series. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG) Running Time: 2 hrs 33 mins
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