1881
Sir William Huggins makes the first photographic spectrum of a comet (1881 III) and discovers Cyanogen (CN) emission at violet wavelengths.
1930
The first radar detection of an aircraft takes place in Anacostia, DC.
1938
Scores of eyewitnesses observe the explosive roar of a huge fireball streaking over Butler County, Pennsylvania. A cow is struck and injured by a falling stone, which turns out to be an olivine-hypersthene chondrite (amphoterite). Two pieces of the stone meteorite, named the Chicora for the region in which it fell, are found. The two halves have masses of 242g and 61g and are discovered several miles short of the calculated point of impact of the main mass, which isn’t found. The original total mass is an estimated 519 tons before it explodes about twelve miles up.
1947
The first known sighting of an unidentified flying object, or UFO, is recorded when pilot Kenneth Arnold reports noticing nine luminous disks he describes as “saucers” as he flies near Mount Rainier, Washington.
1963
A home video recorder is first demonstrated at the BBC News Studios in London by Norman Rutherford and Michael Turner of Nottingham Electronic Valve Company (NEVC). The recorder is a Telcan fixed-head longitudinal videotape recorder. The machine uses quarter-inch tape running at 120 ips (10 feet/sec) past fixed heads, carrying two low-resolution black and white 15-minute tracks. The open-reel machine is mounted on the top of a television cabinet. The machine will never go on sale, as both will the Telcan and NEVC corporations will collapse. Price: £61 19s (£61.90)
1964
The Picturephone video telephone system is first demonstrated in US.
1975
A moon tremor, caused by Taurid meteors, is detected by the seismometer network left on the Moon’s surface by American astronauts. The major series of lunar impacts between the June 22nd and 26th of 1975 represents five percent of the total number of impacts detected during the eight years of the network’s operation, and includes numerous one ton meteorites. The impacts are detected only when the nearside of the Moon (where the astronauts landed) is facing the Beta Taurid radiant. At the same time, there is a lot of activity detected in Earth’s ionosphere which is linked with meteor activity. The Taurid meteor storm crosses the Earth’s orbit twice a year, during the period between June 24th and July 6th and the between November 3rd to November 15th.
1982
Commodore International announces that James Finke will leave the company as president at the expiration of his contract on June 30th.
1983
Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut, returns to Earth.
Warner Bros. releases the sci-fi film Twilight Zone: The Movie, directed by Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller, and Steven Spielberg and starring Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers, Kathleen Quinlan, John Lithgow, and Burgess Meredith to 1,275 US theaters. The film remakes three classic episodes of the original Twilight Zone television series and includes one original story. The film is perhaps made headlines when a helicopter accident took the lives of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors during the film’s production. Produced on a budget of US$10 million, the film will gross US$6,614,366 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 41 mins
1986
Democratic House Representative Albert Gore introduces Senate Bill 2594, the Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986. The bill calls for a study of the possibility of creating fiber optic links to supercomputer centers, requiring the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to issue a report on the subject.
1987
Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) releases the sci-fi comedy film Spaceballs, directed by Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Daphne Zuniga, Rick Moranis, Mel Brooks, Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, and Joan Rivers, to 1,384 US theaters. The film’s plot and characters contains numerous parodies of elements from the Star Wars trilogy. The script was written by Mel Brooks in just six months, and it was approved by George Lucas, as he was a big fan of Brooks’ previous films. Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic was also involved in producing the visual effects of the film. Produced on a budget of US$22.7 million, the film will gross US$6,613,837 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 36 mins
1988
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, directed by Robert Zemeckis (live-action) and Richard Williams (animation) and starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer, and Kathleen Turner, to 1,045 US theaters. Produced on a budget of US$70 million, the film will gross US$11,226,239 domestically in its opening weekend. At US$70 million, Roger Rabbit is one of the most expensive films to date, but it will prove to be a sound investment, earning over US$150 million during its theatrical run. The film is notable for including a unique combination of animation and live action, as well as a combination of cartoon characters from different studios (Disney and Warner) in a single film. It is also one of the last performances of Golden Era voical actors Mel Blanc and Mae Questel. The film will win four Oscars at the 61st Academy Awards ceremony in 1989. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 43 mins
1993
Severe Tire Damage, without the permission of the Rolling Stones, use the MBONE to perform some songs preceding and following the Stones’ concert. Described in the press as a “renegade band” who “electronically crash[ed] the party,” Severe Tire Damage will take credit for being the first musical group in history to perform a warm-up set in a different city than the headliner band. Somewhat peeved, the Rolling Stones soon described their computer-savvy competitors as “furry Palo Alto Geeks.”
Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber.
1994
The Computer Game Developers Association is formed by Ernest W. Adams to promote and strengthen the video game industry and to promote computer games as an art form. Visit the organization’s official website.
1995
GTE Entertainment releases the 3D fighting video game FX Fighter for the personal computer. It is the first realtime 3D fighting game to be developed for the PC. The game features eight different characters, eight different arenas, movie cut-scenes, and forty attacks per fighter. The player selects a character to play against eight of the best fighters in the universe for the prize of the most powerful weapon in the universe.
1996
After repeated threats via email and snail mail Network Solutions drops 9,272 domain names from its Domain Name System (DNS) tables for failure to pay their domain name fees.
Electronic Arts releases the third-person shooter Fade to Black for the PlayStation in the US. ESRB: T (Teen)
GTE Entertainment releases FX Fighter Turbo for the personal computer.
Hewlett-Packard Co. announces new advanced ATM test capabilities, which it showcases at the Supercomm ’96 convention in Dallas June 25th through 27th. The new asynchronous transfer mode test options allows users to test equipment according to their specific class of service.
1997
3DO completes the sale of its hardware business to Samsung for US$20 million.
Nintendo releases the racing game Mario Kart 64 for the Nintendo 64 in Europe. It is the sequel to Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
The United States Supreme Court lets stand a ruling in favor of Nintendo that overturns a jury’s decision to award US$208 million in damages to Alpex Computer in a patent infringement case filed in 1986. Alpex’s claim was that the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) violated a 1977 patent for a device that displays video images.
1998
Midway releases the Mortal Kombat 4 for the Nintendo 64 in the US.
Symantec purchases Ghost, a disk cloning program developed by the New Zealand company Binary Research. The name Ghost is an acronym for “General Hardware-Oriented Software Transfer.” It is the program that created the market for disk-cloning software.
1999
The Cassini–Huygens space probe makes a gravity-assisted flyby of Venus on its mission to Saturn and Titan.
CompUSA, Inc. initiates dramatic changes to its chain of 211 stores. Changes include closures of up to fourteen locations, approximately 1,500 job cuts of 21,000 employees and a shift in focus away from desktop computers. Blaming low margins, weaker demand and highly competitive pricing, CompUSA also reports three consecutive quarterly losses. The chain will also close its distribution center in Grapevine, Texas.
ESP Software releases Grandia for the PlayStation in Japan.
Testimony in the US Justice Department’s Microsoft anti-trust case ends after eight months.
Tokuma Shoten releases Incredible Crisis for the PlayStation in Japan. It consists of several mini-games strung together.
Version 1.00 of the popular bulletin board software HydraBBS is released.
2000
US President Bill Clinton makes the first ever Presidential webcast. Among the announcements made during the webcast, President Bill Clinton announces a new website that will be able to search all government resources.
2001
Jerry Jessop initiates an auction on eBay for item #1249640557, a very rare Atari 2700 “RC Stella” game system prototype featuring wireless RF controllers. The system was originally unveiled at the 1980 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago, Illinois. A member using the handle “Buyatari” will ultimately be the highest bidder on the auction with a bid of US$2626.00.
2002
Hewlett-Packard releases the HP iPAQ Pocket PC H3950 handheld computer, featuring the Pocket PC 2002 operating system, remote control software, an infrared port, a Secure Digital slot, a transreflective display, an Intel 400MHz XScale PXA250 processor, a lithium-polymer batteries, 64MB RAM, and 32MB flash memory. Price: US$649
Hewlett-Packard releases the HP iPAQ Pocket PC H3970 handheld computer, featuring a 400MHz Intel XScale PXA250 processor, 64MB RAM, 48MB flash ROM, remote control software, an infrared port, a Secure Digital slot, the Pocket PC 2002 operating system, Bluetooth wireless connectivity, a backlit transreflective TFT color display, and lithium-polymer batteries. Price: US$749 Weight: 6.6 ounces
Hewlett-Packard releases the HP Jornada 728 Handheld PC, featuring a 206MHz Intel SA1110 processor, a modem, and 64MB RAM. Price: US$999
Intel introduces the 1.9 and 2GHz Mobile Pentium 4-M processor, featuring 8kB Level 1 data cache, 12kB Level 1 instruction cache, 512kB Level 2 cache, a 400MHz system bus, MMX, SSE, and SSE2 instructions, 64GB address space, and two pipelined FPUs. It incorporates fifty-five million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Northwood Price: US$401 (1.9 GHz) and US$637 (2 GHz) in 1000-unit quantities
Intel introduces the 1.33 to 1.5GHz Mobile Celeron processor, featuring 8kB Level 1 data cache, 12kB Level 1 instruction cache, 256kB Level 2 cache, a 400MHz system bus, MMX, SSE, and SSE2 instructions, 64GB address space, and two pipelined FPUs. It incorporates fifty-five million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Northwood Price: US$134 (1.33 GHz), US$149 (1.4 GHz), and US$170 (1.5 GHz) in 1000-unit quantities
Kyocera announces the Kyocera 7135 handheld computer, featuring a phone, keypad, color screen, Global Positioning System technology, a Secure Digital slot, a digital audio player, 16MB RAM, and the Palm OS 4.1. Price: Estimated US$500 Weight: 6.6 ounces
Sony releases the Clie PEG-T665C handheld computer, featuring a 66MHz Dragonball Super VZ processor, 16MB DRAM, 4MB Flash memory, a 320×320 pixel TFT color display, the Palm OS 4.1, a Memory Stick port, sixteen Sony applications, and eighteen third-party applications. It includes remote control software and infrared port allowing it to be used s a remote control for home entertainment equipment. Price: US$399.99
In Tokyo, Japan, Sharp introduces the Zaurus SL-A300 handheld computer, featuring a Linux operating system, an Intel 200 MHz XScale PXA210 processor, 64MB RAM, a 3.5-inch active matrix 320×240 pixel display, and a Secure Digital slot. It will begin shipping July 12. Price: 50,000 yen (US$411) Weight: 4.2 ounces
2003
Agetec releases the role-playing game (rpg) Magic Pengel for the PlayStation 2.
Nintendo releases Wario World for the GameCube in North America. It is the first 3D Wario game, and the first platform game in the Wario franchise. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E (Everyone) Price: US$49.99
Netflix receives a patent covering its subscription rental service as well as Netflix’s methods of communication and delivery. (US No. 6,584,450) This is one of two patents which Netflix will accuse Blockbuster of violating in the lawsuit Netflix v Blockbuster, filed on April 4, 2006 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Acclaim Entertainment releases the racing game SX Superstar for the Nintendo GameCube, the PlayStation 2, and the Xbox in North America.
2004
Activision releases Spider-Man 2 for the Xbox in the US. The game is the official game adaptation of the movie Spider-Man 2. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Intel releases the Celeron D 315, 320, 325, and 330 processors, which run at 2266, 2400, 2533, 2667, and 2800 MHz respectively. The processors feature Level 2 256KiB caches, 533 MT/s front side buses.
2005
Capcom releases Capcom Fighting Evolution for the PlayStation 2 and XBox in Europe.
EA Games releases Battlefield 2 (BF2) for Windows in Europe. BF2 is a first-person shooter with some strategy and RPG (role-playing game) elements developed by Digital Illusions CE (DICE) with a custom game engine. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Microsoft Game Studios releases the third-person shooter Conker: Live & Reloaded for the Xbox and Xbox 360 in Europe. ESRB: M (Mature)
Namco releases Tekken 5 for the PlayStation 2 in the United States. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Sony Computer Entertainment releases the karaoke game SingStar Pop, also known as SingStar Popworld for the PlayStation 2 in New Zealand.
Universal Pictures releases the zombie film Land of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero and starring Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, and Asia Argento to 2,249 US theaters as well as to Canadian theaters. This is the fourth installment in George A. Romero’s “Dead Series.” In it, the world is full of zombies and the survivors have barricaded themselves inside a walled city to keep out the living dead. As the wealthy hide out in skyscrapers and chaos rules the streets, the rest of the survivors must find a way to stop the evolving zombies from breaking into the city. Produced on a budget of US$15 million, the film will gross US$10,221,705 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hr 33 mins
2006
Microsoft releases Build 5456 of the Windows Vista operating system. Some of the new features included in this build include a revamped Aero subsystem and a completely overhauled and significantly less obtrusive User Account Control interface. “List view” has been brought back to Windows Explorer, after having been removed in Beta 1. Microsoft developer Ben Betz will later explain in a blog entry that, while developers felt that Explorer’s List mode made sense based on usability research and its inability to support Windows Explorer’s new “grouping” feature, the feature was restored because of feedback generated by beta testers. The disk space occupied by a clean installation is also significantly reduced.
Version 0.44 of Inkscape, a cross-platform vector graphics editor, is released under the GNU General Public License. This version adds a Layers dialog, support for clipping and masking, improved PDF export with transparency, and performance improvements. Visit the software’s official website.
Walt Disney Pictures premieres the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The film will be released to theaters on July 7, 2006. It is the first Disney film to use the new, computer-animated production logo that the Burbank-based studio spent a year designing. In just 30 seconds, Disney’s digitally revamped curtain-raiser travels from a star high above the clouds to reveal a jewel-colored landscape at dusk. The animated camera glides over a glistening lake to arrive at a glowing Disney castle where the studio’s classic logo is spelled out in a silvery new 3-D typeface. Read more about the new Disney logo at The Hollywood Reporter online.
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