1684
Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovers Tethys and Dione, two moons of Saturn with a refractor telescope.
1859
The first Zoological Society is incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following the disruption of the Civil War, the society will establish the country’s first Zoo.
1925
Wolfgang Pauli publishes his “exclusion principle” at the young age of twenty-four, in an article in the journal Zeitschrift für Physik. The Pauli exclusion principle states that two fermions, such as electrons, cannot be in the same quantum state at the same time. In 1945, Pauli will be awarded a Nobel Prize for this fundamental contribution to the science of quantum mechanics.
1928
Charles Lindbergh is awarded the Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight. Read more about Charles Lindbergh.
1942
Arthur C. Wahl and Glenn Seaborg submit a secret report suggesting the name “Plutonium” for artificial element 94, since it follows Uranium (element 92) and Neptunium (element 93) on the periodic table of elements. The paper will be remain secret until 1948, following World War II, when it will be published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
1962
A bear becomes the first creature to be ejected from a vehicle at supersonic speeds.
1965
NASA launches the Ranger 9 Lunar Lander on a mission to photograph the surface of the Moon. It will return 5,814 pictures before impacting the surface of the lunar surface. Browse photographs returned by Ranger 9.
1969
The Konami Company is founded as a jukebox rental and repair firm in Osaka, Japan. Konami will eventually grow into a leading developer and publisher of numerous anime series, tokusatsu, trading cards, and video games. Visit the official Konami website.
1988
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Heart of Glory” first airs. (No. 120) In it, Klingon fugitives attempt to hijack the Enterprise in order to take it into battle. Memory Alpha entry
1989
In a San Francisco Federal District Court, Judge William Schwarzer rules that Microsoft’s Windows 2.03 is not covered in the 1985 Apple Computer/Microsoft technology licensing agreement. The judge rules that only Windows 1.0 is included in the agreement,and that Windows 2.03 is fundamentally different. The ruling allows the issue to proceed to trial, in Apple Computer v. Microsoft, which was filed in March 1988.
1990
A hacker leaves a message on the computer of astronomer Cliff Stoll.
1991
Version 4.000 of the Perl programming language. Visit the official Perl website.
1994
Novell announces that it will acquire WordPerfect Corporation for US$1.4 billion and the Quattro Pro application from Borland International for US$145 million. Visit the official Novell website.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Genesis” first airs. (No. 719) In it, a medical treatment required by Lieutenant Barclay unleashes a virus that begins to rapidly de-evolve members of the crew. Memory Alpha entry
Vice President Al Gore delivers a speech at the International Telecommunications Union in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the speech, Gore discusses the potential benefits of the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) and possible means of achieving universal access. Gore also mentions the five fundamental principles of implementing GII, and the proposed the creation of a Global Digital Library. Read a transcript of the speech at the Interesting People website.
1995
Atari announces a new reduced price for the 64-bit Jaguar video game system of US$159.99. The new price for the system is without the game CyberMorph, which was previously bundled with the system. The bundle was previously sold at prices between US$189 and US$249.
1996
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) publishes version 1.0 beta of PGPfone, a utility for allowing users for securing telephone conversations over the Internet (VoIP) with a 4096-bit public key, for Windows 95. Visit the official MIT PGPfone website.
1997
Square releases Final Fantasy IV for the PlayStation in Japan. Visit the game’s official website.
1999
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones complete the first ever non-stop balloon flight around the world aboard the experimental Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon in just twenty days.
2000
America Online (AOL) announces that its internet service has exceeded twenty-two million subscribers.
|
|
|
