This Day in Geek History: July 8
1881
A patron of Edward Berner’s drug store in Two Rivers, Wisconsin is unable to order flavored soda water for religious reasons, as it was the Sabbath. Berner compromises by offering the man ice cream in a dish with the chocolate syrup that was previously only served as flavoring in ice-cream sodas, making the first ice cream Sunday. The dish’s name will later be changed to “Sundae.”
1908
Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is demonstrated at a scientific meeting in Paris, France. The Lumière Brothers, who will go one to become two of the earliest film pioneers, are in the audience for the demonstration.
1937
Britain launches its 999 emergency services system and receives its first call at 4:20am.
1946
The University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering launches a summer program for computing that stimulates construction of stored-program computers at universities and research institutions. This free public lectures will be a guiding influence for the creators of some of the earliest computer systems.
1947
The Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) issues a press release stating that personnel from the field’s 509th Bomb Group had recovered a crashed “flying disc” from a ranch near Roswell, sparking intense media interest. Later in the day, the Commanding General of the Eighth Air Force will state that, in fact, a weather balloon had been recovered by RAAF personnel, not a “flying saucer.”
1952
The first over-the-air cross-channel television link between London, England and Paris, France is established.
1954
The first color television series to air on network television, “The Marriage,” premieres. The series is a sitcom staring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.
1957
The Control Data Corporation (CDC), a firm which will pioneer the field of supercomputers, is incorporated.
1963
The BBC changes its color television test transmissions to the French SECAM system but also acknowledges an interest in the PAL system developed in Germany by Telefunken after both systems, along with the NTSC system.
1966
Universal Studios releases Frankenstein Conquers the World, directed by Ishiro Honda and starring Nick Adams, Tadao Takashima, and Kumi Mizuno, to U.S. theaters. The film was released in Japan by Toho on August 8, 1965. The film features a Japanized version of the Frankenstein Monster, who becomes giant-sized to fight a giant subterranean monster, Baragon. IMDB listing
1967
The final installment of the Buck Rogers, the first science fiction comic strip, appears in newspapers around the country after thirty-eight years of daily publication.
1969
The IBM Customer Information Control System (CICS) transaction server is released for the 360 mainframe computer.
1976
The first Indonesian satellite, Palapa A1, is launched from Cape Canaveral. The satellite carries twelve transponders that will provide four thousand voice circuits or twelve simultaneous TV channels to the country’s over six thousand inhabited islands.
1991
Microsoft begins developing version 4.0 of the Excel spreadsheet application.
1995
Sega releases the Saturn video game system in Europe. The system comes bundled with the Virtua Fighter game. Price: UK£3.99
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