1897
The Swiss Army Knife is patented by Carl Elsener. Beginning in 1891, regular Swiss army soldiers will receive a version of the knife containing a thick knife blade, two screwdrivers, a can opener, and an awl, otherwise known as a punch. Officers will receive swiss army knives also containing a corkscrew.
1906
The concept of sound movies is patented by John Ballance. (US No. 823,022)
1913
Pathé Frères studios releases the first animated cartoon made in the US with modern techniques, Dachshund (also known as The Artist’s Dream). John Randolph Bray invented and patented the process while producing the film. In it, a dog eats sausages until it explodes. Bray began his career as an artist for a newspaper. He patented many of his improvements on the animation process, realizing early on the business potential of these developments. One of these innovations was the use of translucent paper to make it easier to position objects in successive drawings.
1928
The first outdoor television transmission is made by John Logie Baird from the roof of his house at 133 Long Acre, London. The broadcast features actor Jack Buchanan.
1957
The Monsanto House of the Future attraction, set in the year 1986, opens in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Read more about it at Yesterdayland.
1965
The Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe is supported by the announcement of the discovery of new celestial bodies know as blue galaxies.
1967
The Soviet probe Venera 4 is successfully launched towards the planet Venus. On October 18, 1967, it will its descent vehicle will entered the Venusian atmosphere where it will become the first space probe to successfully return data from another planet’s atmosphere.
1979
The Gossamer Albatross, an airplane powered solely by human power, flies across the English Channel. Cyclist Bryan Allen used a pedaling mechanism.
1981
The film Clash of the Titans, directed by Desmond Davis and starring Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin, Maggie Smith, and Ursula Andress, is released to US theaters. The fantasy film is based on the myth of Perseus. The widely acclaimed film makes extensive use of stop motion animation to animate the various monsters. Produced on a budget of US$15 million, the film will be the eleventh highest grossing film of the year, ultimately grossing over US$41 million doestically. IMDB listing
1987
20th Century Fox releases the science fiction action film Predator, directed John McTiernan by and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall, to 1,623 US theaters. Produced on a budget of US$18 million, the film will gross $12,031,638 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing
1994
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “The Jem’Hadar” first airs. In the episode, Sisko, Jake, Nog, and Quark go camping on a Gamma Quadrant world but are captured by mysterious soldiers called the Jem’Hadar and meet a force to rival the Federation. Memory Alpha entry
1995
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Facets” first airs. In the episode, Jadzia Dax deals with feelings of inferiority as she encounters past hosts in a Trill rite of closure. Memory Alpha entry
1997
3Com Corp. and US Robotics Corp. complete their merger. In describing the largest business deal thus far in the networking industry, 3Com CEO Eric Benhamou says, “The combination of 3Com and U.S. Robotics creates a networking powerhouse in the continuing development of enterprise and carrier networks, while helping usher in a new era of simple, fast network access for small businesses and consumers.” US Robotics’ work focuses on remote access networking and modems, while 3Com has independently concentrated on network interface cards and network systems.
1998
Xicat Interactive, Inc. releases the puzzle game Wetrix for the Sega Dreamcast.
2001
Sierra Studios releases Half-Life: Blue Shift, the second, stand-alone expansion pack for the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life, for Windows.
The US cable television network TNT airs the first episode of its two season run of the Witchblade series. The last of the twenty-four episodes is aired on August 26, 2002. The series is based on the Top Cow comic book series of the same name.
2002
Intel releases the Celeron 1.8 processor with a 1800MHz speed and a 128KiB L2 cache.
2003
The game developer Obsidian Entertainment is founded. The company will go on to produce such games as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (KotOR II) and Neverwinter Nights 2.
2004
A 1.3 kg chondrite type meteorite strikes a house in Ellerslie, New Zealand causing serious damage but no injuries.
NASA receives the first close up images of the moon Phoebe transmitted by the Cassini–Huygens space probe.
2006
The persistent-world massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (mmorpg) Eve Online is released in China. Visit the game’s official English website.
GameSpot reports that major online retailers, as well as several brick-and-mortar stores have sold out of the North American version of the Nintendo DS Lites, which was released the day before, on June 11.
Midway Games releases the real-time strategy game Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War for Windows. Visit the game’s official website.
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