240 BC
Greek astronomer and mathematician Eratosthenes calculates the circumference of the Earth. As director of the great Library of Alexandria, he read in a papyrus book that in Syene, the shadows of temple columns grew shorter as the hour approached noon on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. At noon, the shadows disappeared altogether because the sun was directly overhead. However, on the same day, a stick in Alexandria, to the north of Syene, casts a pronounced shadow. After learning about the shadows in Syene, Eratosthenes realizes that the surface of the Earth couldn’t be flat and that the more its surface curved, the greater the difference in the length of shadows between different locations would be. Eratosthenes calculated that the distance between the two locations was one fifieth of a full 360-degree circle. He then estimated the distance between the two locations and calculated the planet’s circumference by multiplying the distance by fifty.
1911
The first state film censorship board in the United States is established in Pennsylvania.
1914
A radiotelegraphic link is established between Germany and the United States, and German Emperor Wilhelm II and US President Woodrow Wilson exchange telegrams to mark the event.
1931
The first commercial doors operated by a photoelectric cell is installed. The “magic eye” controls automated swinging doors between the kitchen and main dining room of Wilcox’s Pier Restaurant in West Haven, Connecticut.
1934
The Communications Act of 1934 establishes the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to supplant the Federal Radio Commission (FRC). The Act specifically forbids the FCC from censoring broadcasts or planned programs and requires broadcasters to give equal air time to candidates running for office during an election. Visit the official FCC website.
The first movie of the Sun not made during an eclipse is taken at the McMath-Hulbert Observatory in Pontiac, Michigan. Using a Spectroheliokinematograph, Robert Raynolds McMath took moving pictures of solar prominences, otherwise known as sun spots.
1946
RCA uses 525-line large-screen televisions to show the Joe Louis-Billy Conn boxing match to three- thousand people in Princeton, New Jersey. Sponsored by Gillette, the broadcast is seen by an estimated audience of 150,000 on 5,000 receivers.
1954
The animated Bugs Bunny short Devil May Hare debuts in theaters, introducing The Tasmanian Devil.
1963
Columbia Pictures releases the fantasy film Jason and the Argonauts, directed by Don Chaffey and starring Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, and Gary Raymond, to US theaters. It is notable for its ground breaking stop-motion animation sequences. The film was produced on a budget of one million dollars. IMDB listing Running Time: 1 hr 44 mins
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, returns to Earth at the conclusion of her three day mission aboard the Vostok 6. Tereshkova was chosen for the cosmonaut program due to her expertise in parachute jumping, becoming the first person to be recruited without test pilot experience. Her radio call name during the mission was “Chaika,” Russian for “seagull.”
1976
The NASA spacecraft Viking 1 enters an orbit of Mars at the conclusion of its ten month voyage from Earth.
1978
The comic strip Garfield, created by Jim Davis, is first published. Visit the official Garfield website.
1981
India launches its APPLE satellite, the first satellite to be stabilized on three axes.
Warner Bros. releases the action film Superman II, directed by Richard Lester and starring Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, and Margot Kidder, to 1,397 US theaters. It sets both one-day and three-day box office records, grossing US$5.5 million in its opening day and US$14 million through June 21st. Produced on a budget of US$54 million, it will gross US$14,100,523 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 2 hrs 8 mins
1984
The X Window System, the networking and display protocol which provides windowing on bitmap displays, is released by Robert W. Scheifler. X provides the basic framework, or primitives, for building GUI environments, enabling users to draw or move windows on the screen and interact with a mouse and keyboard.
1987
Friday, June 19 and Saturday, June 20, Atari Corporation hosts the World of Atari Exposition at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The show is the brainchild of J.J. Brown, the new vice president and general manager of Atari’s US operations. Unfortunately, Brown tries to ram the concept through without considering the needs of the five Bay Area users’ groups. The users’ groups are “expected” to participate in a number of ways, including supplying members to help set up booths and distribute equipment on the show floor. While planning for the show, hard feelings mounted until finally a telegram was sent to Jack Tramiel. The telegram inspired new discussions and finally an agreement to compensate each group with US$1,000 each, regardless of show’s profits. Bob Barton, president of the San Leandro Computer Club was among the most outspoken against Brown’s manner of setting up the show. Barton threatened to picket Atari Headquarters and to give Brown a piece of his mind at the show.
1996
America Online (AOL) suffers a software glitch that causes their email system to be inoperable for an hour.
SponsorNet, a Champaign, Illinois advertising-based internet host system, announces its intentions to discontinue operations due to a “shortage of capital.” The company was billed as the “web’s first advertising network” when it was created in the summer of 1995 by founders Luke Nosek, Max Levchin, and Scott Banister.
1997
CompuServe reports a US$12.2 million loss for their fourth quarter ending April 30, 1997. The loss follows a third-quarter loss of US$14.2 million. For the full year, CompuServe’s losses will total US$119.8 million or US$1.29 a share on revenues of $842 million. Visit the official CompuServe website.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia World Congress Center and The Georgia Dome, over three days. 37,100 people attend the event. During the Expo, Nintendo unveils Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64.
Jim Woodward, senior vice president of information technology consultants Cap Gemini America, announce that the “Millennium Bug” may actually strike computer systems in 1999 rather than in the year 2000. The Millennium Bug refers to the fact that countless computer clock chips and software applications cannot facilitate a year that cycles past 99 such as in 1999.
1998
American game publisher Interplay Entertainment makes an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of five million shares at US$5.50 per share. Visit the official Interplay Entertainment website.
Twentieth Century Fox releases the science fiction film The X Files: Fight the Future, directed by Rob Bowman and starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, Martin Landau, and William B. Davis, to 2,629 US theaters. The film is based on the Fox television series The X-Files. Produced on a budget of US$66 million, it will gross US$30,138,758 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 2 hrs 1 min
1999
BGO Music releases Pac-Man Fever on Compact Disc (CD). The CD includes all the original songs which have been remastered by the original artists, Buckner & Garcia, including Pac-Man Fever, Froggy’s Lament, Ode to a Centipede, Do the Donkey Kong, Hyperspace, The Defender, Mousetrap, and Goin’ Berzerk. Visit the albums official website.
2000
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) introduces the Duron processor, available in speeds of 550, 600, 650 and 700 MHz, featuring a 3DNow! multimedia instruction set, 192 kB Level 1 cache, 200MHz bus, 64MB Level 2 cache, and a 64-bit path to Level 2 cache. The processor incorporates 25 million transistors in 0.18 micron technology. Code-name: Spitfire Price: US$112, US$154, and US$192 in 1000-unit quantities
The Brazilian website of the Companhia de HabitaÇão do Estado de Santa Catarina is hacked by “x-s4nd3r”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
Datapoint, the company that commissioned the Intel 8008 microprocessor, sells its European operations and changes its name to Dynacore.
Intel introduces the Low Voltage Mobile Celeron processor, operating at 500 MHz, based on a 0.18 Micron process, using a voltage of only 1.35 volts and consuming less than 2 watts. The processors are intended for use in low-cost mobile computers. A Low Voltage Mobile Pentium III is also introduced, operating at 600 MHz. Intel releases 500, 600, and 650MHz mobile Celeron processors. Price: US$134, US$134, and US$181 each in 1000-unit quantities
Intel releases 600 and 750 MHz mobile Pentium III processors. Prices: US$316 and US$562 each in 1000-unit quantities
Microsoft releases the final version of the Windows ME operating system to computer manufacturers.
The website of the Kuwait Ministry of Information is hacked by “x-s4nd3r”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
2001
HarperCollins/Eos publishes the science fiction novel Hammerfall by C. J. Cherryh as a hardcover. (ISBN-13: 978-0061052606) Visit the author’s official website. Length: 400 pages
Los Angeles (LA) Animal Control workers discover a microchip implant in a dog moments before the dog is to be put down. The microchip enables the workers to determine that the dog belongs to Ms. Shauna Lukesh who lives about fifty-five miles East of LA. The seven-year-old Lhasa Apso named Lukee who ran away from its Fontana, California home on Tuesday, July 4, 1997. The family is contacted and reunited with the dog. The story makes national headlines as it represent one of the first dramatic successes of chip technologies in pet recovery.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled “Sexual Solicitation of Youth on the Internet” written by Hlaing et al. reveals that one in five United States (US) teenagers who regularly use the Internet say they have received unwanted sexual solicitations.
William Morrow publishes the urban fantasy novel American Gods by Neil Gaiman as a hardcover. (ISBN-13: 978-0380973651) Visit the author’s official website.. Length: 480 pages
2005
Version 0.6.17 of Skencil, a free software vector graphics editor formerly called Sketch, is released under the GNU Lesser General Public License. Skencil is notable is notable for being written almost completely in Python. Its first public version, Sketch 0.5.0, was released on October 31, 1998. Visit the official Skencil website..
2007
Activision releases Transformers: Decepticons for Windows, the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 in North America.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) refuses to certify the survival horror game Manhunt 2, leaving it illegal under British law to sell the game in the United Kingdom. Visit the official BBFC website..Visit the game’s official website.
Capcom releases the survival horror game Resident Evil 4 for the Wii in North America. It is the sixth installment in the Resident Evil franchise. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: M (Mature)
EA Games releases the simulation game SimCity DS for the in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Ubisoft releases the third-person shooter Brothers in Arms DS for the Nintendo DS in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
XSEED Games releases the roleplaying game (RPG) Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E10+ (Everyone)
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