The Great Geek Manual

1841
The first steam-powered fire engine in the United States is tested in New York City.

1884
The first long-distance telephone phone call is made between Boston, Massachusetts and New York City by branch managers of the American Bell Telephone Company over the first copper phone lines. The new copper lines offer greater attenuation of the signal than the standard galvanized iron lines, which were used in the 1881 connection of Boston and Providence. However, while sound is carried satisfactorily over the line, maintaining a clear connection over long distance will remain extremely difficult into the turn of the century. The cost of a connection between the two cities will be two dollars during the day and one dollar during the night. New York and Philadelphia will be connected in 1885. Atlanta and Chicago will be connected in 1890, and New York and Chicago will be connected in 1892.

1893
American Bell Telephone Company places the first long distance telephone call to its branch office in New York.

1899
Guglielmo Marconi receives the first wireless signal transmitted across the English Channel, between Boulogne, France and his ship-to-shore station at the South Foreland Lighthouse outside Dover, England. The signal is a test held at the request of the French Government, which is considering licensing the invention in France, and it is observed by representatives of the French government at both stations.

1914
The first successful blood transfusion takes place in Brussels.

1930
The first radio broadcast from a ship at sea is transmitted.

1955
NBC dedicates the first television studio in history constructed exclusively for the purpose of producing color broadcasts on West Alameda Avenue in Burbank, California, just north of Hollywood. The facility will be dubbed “Color City.”

1956
Southern Bell, which serves Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, installs its five-millionth telephone in the office of the governor of Georgia.

1957
The 29th Academy Awards are held. Around the World in Eighty Days wins the Oscar for Best Picture, beating out both The King and I and The Ten Commandments.

1961
The first mobile computer center, a UNIVAC Solid-State 90 computer loaded into a motor van, is used by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation in Charlotte, North Carolina. The mobile center was created by Remington Rand UNIVAC, a division of Sperry Rand.

1969
Mariner 7 is launched on a mission to Mars.

1972
The Soviet space probe Venera 8 is launched on a mission to Venus.

1976
Bill Gates, age 20, gives the opening address as one of the principal developers of BASIC for at the First Annual World Altair Computer Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1982
The Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia album Pac-Man Fever peaks at the number nine position on the pop singles charts. Read the lyrics of Pac-Man Fever.

1983
According to Twin Galaxies, Ben Gold scores a record-setting 17,899,325 points playing the Gottlieb arcade game Q*bert at the Pro Video Game Center arcade in Dallas, Texas. Visit the official Twin Galaxies website.

Pages: 1 2 3