1676
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek uses his own homemade microscopes from his own handmade lenses to observe water running off a roof during a heavy rainstorm. He discovers that it contains, “very little animalcules” that were not present in pure rainwater. The fundamental discovery demonstrates that the bacteria doesn’t fall from the sky. Leeuwenhoek will continue to use his crude lenses to describe an amazing world of microscopic life.
1874
Thomas Edison is issued a patent for a device concerning “Automatic Telegraphy and in Perforators Therefor.” (US No. 151,209) This is just one of many patents on telegraphy he obtains early in his career, beginning in 1868. The device produces a message directly onto a strip of paper that could be folded and sent to its destination using a 5 x 5 square of punch wires.
1930
Song of a Nightingale is broadcast live by the BBC from a wood in Berkshire.
1931
A microfilm camera is patented by New York City banker George L. McCarthy. (US No. 1,806,763) He developed the first practical commercial microfilm use in the twenties and was issued a patent in 1925 for his Checkograph machine, which was designed to make permanent film copies of bank records as a fraud deterrent.
1932
Canadian Broadcasting Act is passed, creating the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) to administer a national service with a monopoly on network broadcasting, although some private stations not required to form the national service are to continue operations.
1955
Live news coverage of the General Election in the United Kingdoms becomes the largest television production in the history of the UK. It involves 37 cameras, including 18 exterior locations, and a crew of over five hundred. The program makes headlines both because it is broadcast and because an electronic computer is used to analyze the results of the vote. The program runs until 4AM and runs through most of the next day.
1969
The Apollo 10 astronauts returns to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned Moon landing. Apollo 10 mission, launched 18 May, was a complete staging of the Apollo 11 mission without actually landing on the Moon. The mission was only the second to orbit the Moon, and it was the first to travel to the Moon with the entire Apollo spacecraft configuration. Astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan descended inside the Lunar Module to within 14 kilometers of the lunar surface (achieving the closest approach to the Moon before Apollo 11 landed two months later). Apollo 10 splashed down at 12:52 pm on 26 May, less than 4 miles (6.4 km) from the target point and the recovery ship.
1981
After a seven year wait, Satya Pal Asija becomes the first person in the US to receive a patent on computer software when he is awarded a patent on his program SWIFT-ANSWER (”Special Word Indexed Full Text Alpha Numeric Storage With Easy Retrieval”), which allows users to retrieve narrative information from computers in a human-like manner. (US No. 4,270,182) The program responds to users’ questions with the most likely answer, regardless of errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, or syntax without the need for programing skills. In 1986, Asija will publish a book about his struggle to patent the program entitled, “How to Protect Computer Programs – a Case History Of The First Pure Software Patent.”
1984
In Houston, Texas, fourteen top scorers from fourteen regions of the US compete in the Grand National Finals of Konami’s Track & Field arcade game. The top three will play in Japan in June against Japan’s top three players.
1994
Midway releases Mortal Kombat for the Sega CD in the US.
1995
Realizing that Microsoft had under-estimated the importance of the Internet, CEO Bill Gates writes a memorandum entitled, “The Internet Tidal Wave,” in which he calls the internet “critical to every part of our business” and the “most important single development” since the IBM personal computer. The memo describes Netscape as a “new competitor ‘born’ on the Internet.” The memo marks the company’s entry into the internet market. By August 24, 1995, Microsoft will launch MSN (Microsoft Network), as a direct competitor to AOL.
Universal Pictures releases the fantasy film Casper, directed by Brad Silberling and starring Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, and Eric Idle to 2,714 US theaters. The film, which is based on the Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons, is notable for being the first film to have a completely “digital” lead character.
1998
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) releases the K6-2 processor, available in 266, 300, or 333 MHz speeds with a 100 MHz bus and cache, 3DNow! instructions, and incorporating 9.3 million transistors.
2002
The Mars Odyssey finds signs of huge water ice deposits on the planet Mars.
2003
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) releases the Athlon XP 3000+ desktop processor, featuring a 400 MHz system bus. Price: US$280 in 1000-unit quantities
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) releases the Athlon XP 3200+ processor., featuring a 333 MHz front-side bus. Price: US$464 in 1000-unit quantities
Palm announces that it has sold one million Zire handheld computers.
2006
Twentieth Century Fox releases the science fiction film X-Men: The Last Stand, directed by Brett Ratner and starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, and Rebecca Romijn, to 3,690 US theaters. It is the third film in the X-Men series. Its story is based on two Marvel Comics story arcs, “Dark Phoenix Saga” and “Gifted.” According to associate producer Dave Gordon, it was “the biggest production ever filmed in Canada.” Produced on a budget of US$210 million, it will gross US$102,750,665 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG-13) Running Time: 1 hr 44 mins
2008
The Mininova bittorrent website announces that it has officially served its five billionth torrent. It also announces that the Dutch anti-piracy organization BREIN had announced that it would bring a lawsuit against the site. Visit the official Mininova website.
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