1875
Alexander Graham Bell first transmits speech using the magnetic microphone of his “harmonic telegraph.” The experiment will later lead to the creation of the telephone.
1880
Alexander Graham Bell transmits the first wireless telephone message using his Photophone, which operates by translating the vibration of light reflected from mirrors rather than electrical signals into sound.
1889
Construction of the first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed. The line runs fourteen miles between a generator in Willamette Falls and Portland, Oregon.
1902
Thomas Edison received a patent for a “Reversible Galvanic Battery.” (US No. 701,804)
1940
The daily comic strip Invisible Scarlet O’Neil, written and drawn by Russel Stamm, debuts in the Chicago Times. The strip follows the adventures of Scarlet O’Neil, one of the earliest female heroes, who has the ability to make herself invisible. Scarlet, who never wears a costume, uses her ability in order to help strangers and assist the police with apprehending dangerous criminals. The strip will run until 1956.
1948
Edward Brown, Jr. opens the first movie theaters for cars and small planes, Ed Brown’s Drive-In and Fly-In, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The theater has a capacity for five hundred cars and twenty-five planes, which could land in the airfield next to the drive-in.
The Hale telescope, the largest telescope in the world at the time, is dedicated at the Mount Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California. It is the first telescope in the world to be equipped with a twenty ton, two hundred inch (5.08 m) lens, which had to be slowly cooled over eleven months after it was cast before being ground and polished for another eleven years.
1953
The New York Times describes the CBS coverage of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in the UK the previous day as “the birth of international television.”
1965
NASA launches the Gemini 4 on the first multi-day mission for an American crew. During the mission, Major Edward H. White conducts the first US spacewalk, floating free outside the space capsule for twenty-one minutes at an altitude of 120 miles. During the spacewalk, White remained on a tether twenty-five foot tether and airline cord and used a 7.5lb jet propulsion gun to maneuver.
1969
The Star Trek episode “Turnabout Intruder” first airs. (No. 69) In it, Kirk’s consciousness becomes trapped in the body of a woman bent on killing him and taking over his command while she inhabits his body. It is the final episode of the series, which was canceled by NBC after seventy-nine episodes and three seasons. The show premiered on September 8, 1966. Visit the series official website. Memory Alpha entry
1983
Chen Chui, a system manager at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, New York discovers that a Digital VAX 11/780 computer responsible for monitoring radiation treatments had failed overnight. Upon investigation, he discovers that billing records worth an estimated US$1,500 had been deleted from the system, five new accounts had been created, and a trojan horse had been installed to steal user passwords. Over the next two months, the system will be breached repeatedly, until the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) finally track the exploit to a loose-knit group of hackers ages 15 to 22 in Milwaukee who call themselves the The 414s, after the city’s telephone area code. The group will be found responsible for a series of hacking incidents across the US and Canage, including an unclassified computer at a nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos. The incidents, along with the release of the film WarGames will bring the hacking phenomena to the attention of mainstream media and raising concerns among legislatures. By September, members of the group, most notably Neal Patrick, will be national celebrities, appearing on the cover of Newsweek and testifying before Congress on the dangers of hacking. As a result of the sensation, six bills concerning computer crime will be introduced.
MGM/UA Entertainment releases the science fiction film WarGames, directed by John Badham and Martin Brest and starring Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood, and Barry Corbin, to 843 US theaters. In it, a young computer enthusiast stumbles upon back door access to an artificially intelligent military super computer, which malfunctions after a series of games, triggering a lethal scenario which may end in nuclear war. The film is notable for bringing the hacking phenomena to the attention of the American public’s attention and ignites a media sensation regarding the hacker sub-culture. At a cost of US$1 million, the film’s NORAD set is the most expensive single movie set ever built. In prepartation for his role, the studio provided Broderick with Galaga and Galaxian for his personal use so he could get experience gaming first-hand before shooting the film’s arcade scenes. Produced on a budget of US$12 million, it will gross US$6,227,804 domestically in its opening weekend. Visit this film’s official website. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 54 mins
1984
The Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held, in Chicago, Illinois. Visit the event’s official website. At the event, Commodore International introduces the MPS 803 dot matrix printer, designed for use with the Commodore 16, the DSP 1101 letter-quality daisywheel printer, designed for the Plus/4, the MPS 802 dot matrix printer, and the 1531 Cassette Unit.
At the CES, Commodore International introduces the Commodore 16, formerly known as the TED-16. The system looks like the VIC-20 and Commodore 64, but it features 16KB RAM. It is expected to sell for about US$100. It will be marketed as “The Learning Machine”.
At the CES, Commodore International introduces the Commodore Plus/4, formerly called the Commodore 264, featuring four built-in programs. Price: US$300
1990
Nintendo sues Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. in an attempt to prevent the Game Genie from reaching market.
1991
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “In Theory” first airs. (No. 425) In it, Data becomes involved in a romantic relationship with Ensign Jenna D’Sora after she breaks up with her boyfriend. Data creates program to guide him through the intricacies of love, but, as his relationship with D’Sora advances, he discovers that logic isn’t always the most appropriate course in love. Memory Alpha entry
1992
Microsoft implements a three-for-two stock split approved by the board in April. Cash is paid in lieu of fractional shares. Visit the official Microsoft website.
1993
Casio and Palm Computing release the Zoomer personal digital assistant (PDA), beating the long-awaited Apple Newton to market.
In Chicago, Illinois, the 1993 International Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held, over four days. Nintendo unveils a new configuration for the company’s upcoming Nintendo video game system, which features a top-loading cartridge slot. Price: US$49.95 (including one controller)
1996
Del Rey releases the science fiction novel Ringworld Throne by Larry Niven as a hardcover. (ISBN-13: 978-0345358615) It is the third book in the Ringworld series. Length: 424 pages
Motorola introduces the Motorola StarTAC Wearable Cellular Telephone, the world’s smallest and lightest mobile phone to date. It is the first clamshell mobile phone. Its revolutionary small size will make the phone one of the most popular cellphones available, and it will continue to be popular well into the next decade. Price: US$1,000
Version 3.1 of the Slackware Linux distribution is released by creator Patrick Volkerding. Slackware is most notable for its policy of incorporating only stable releases of applications. It’s development philosophy is to maintain the system’s stability and simplicity in an effort to be the most UNIX-like Linux distribution. Visit the official Slackware website..
2000
The Brazilian website of Microsoft is hacked by “IZ c0rp”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
In a national radio address, US President William Clinton announces a plan to make US$128 million in grants available to programs to train teachers to use computers.
Tor Books releases the fantasy novel Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint as a hardcover. (ISBN-13: 978-0312865191) Length: 400 pages
The website of the AntiOnline’s AntiCode Archive is hacked by “rootworm”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
2002
SBC and Yahoo! launch a national internet dial-up service. Read the original press release. Visit the official SBC Yahoo website.
2003
Warner Home Video releases a collection of nine short films set in the Matrix as The Animatrix on DVD and VHS. The collection includes, “Final Flight of the Osiris,” “The Second Renaissance Part I,” and “The Second Renaissance Part II” written by the The Wachowski Brothers, the original creators of The Matrix trilogy. The collection also includes “Beyond,” “A Detective Story,” “Kid’s Story,” “Matriculated,” “Program,” and “World Record.” The development of the Animatrix project began when the Matrix film series’ writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film. While in the country, they visited some of the creators of the works of anime that had been the strongest influence on their work and decided to collaborate with them. Visit the official Animatrix website. IMDB listing Running time: 1 hr 29 mins
2004
Version 4.3.7 of the PHP programming language is released. Visit the official PHP website.
2005
Scientists with the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California announce in the journal Science that they have successfully sequenced the DNA of an extinct species of cave bear from cells extracted from the tooth of a specimen that had died approximately 40,000 years ago in Austria. Read more at the BBC.
2006
Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, receives an honorary degree from Knox College.
In Sweden, over five hundred people gather in Stockholm and another three hundred gather in Gothenburg and to protest the May 31st police raid on The Pirate Bay. The events were organized by the Pirate Party.
2007
The FeedBurner feed management service is accquired by Google, for an undisclosed sum, rumored to be US$100 million. A month later, two of its popular PRO services (MyBrand and TotalStats) will be made free to all users. By mid-August, Feedburner’s services will be migrated to its own site. Visit the official FeedBurner website.
Intel releases the 1600MHz E2140 and 1800MHz E2160 desktop Pentium Dual-Core processors, featuring 800MHz Front-Side Buses. Price: US$74 and US$84, respectively
2008
Intel launches its Atom processor at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. The small processor is designed for low-power, budget netbooks. Code-name: Silverthorne
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