1904
John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube, otherwise known as the thermionic valve. The valve consists of a carbon or tungsten filament lamp with a metal plate insulated from the filament and a wire through the glass wall of the bulb to a third terminal outside. When battery current is applied to the filament, the space between the filament and the insulated plate will conduct electrons in just one direction. Vacuum tubes are used to amplify, switch, or otherwise modify, a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space, and they will remain the basis of electronic technology for decades to come.
1942
Construction of an experimental atomic pile begins. The pile will be used to investigate the world’s first artificial nuclear chain reaction under Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. The later research will be an important contribution to the Manhattan Project, a project to develop nuclear weapons.
1962
The International Business Machines (IBM) Data Processing Division (DPD) announces the IBM 1062 teller terminal and the IBM 7710 data communication unit.
1965
The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe on a mission to land on the surface of Venus, though the pressure of the planet’s atmosphere will crush the probe before it relays any data.
1973
NASA launches the Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral on an eighty-four day mission that will remain the longest American space flight in history for over two decades. The Skylab crew includes Gerald P. Carr, William R. Pogue, and Edward C. Gibson. The three crew members will conduct thousands of experiments during the course of the mission, including the observation and photographing of Comet Kohoutek on Christmas Day. After 1,214 orbits, the crew will return to Earth on February 8, 1974.
1977
Columbia Pictures releases the science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Franc¸ois Truffaut, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, and Cary Guffey to 272 US theaters. In it, a line worker, feels irresistibly drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where, after an encounter with a UFO, he is convinced that something spectacular is about to happen. Close Encounters is a landmark film for it ground-breaking special effects, as well as for its portrayal of benign rather than hostile extraterrestrials. The portrayal is a significant departure from past science fiction films, which nearly unanimously cast aliens as monsters and villains. Produced on a budget of US$20 million, it will gross US $5,379,460 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG) Running Time: 2 hrs 17 mins
1982
Steven Jobs writes a letter to Gordon Gow, the president of McIntosh Labs, a producer of high-end stereo equipment, requesting the right to use “Macintosh” as a brand name. Jef Raskin had chosen the “Macintosh” as the project name under which Apple Computer’s signature line of computers was developed. In the letter Jobs explained, “We have become very attached to the name Macintosh. Much like one’s own child, our product has developed a very definite personality.” Gow will visit Apple’s headquarters for a product demonstration shortly after receiving the letter, but he will initially reject the request on the advice of legal council. Apple Computer will finally receive a license for the name Macintosh in March 1983, and then, in 1986, the company will wholly acquire the trademark for “substantially” more than one hundred thousand dollars.
1984
Atlantic Releasing Corporation releases the science fiction horror film Night of the Comet, directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, and Robert Beltran, to 1,098 US theaters. In it, two girls from the Valley wake up to find that a passing comet has destroyed all life as they knew it and left behind a mysterious red-dust and packs of mutant cannibals. Produced on a budget of US$3 million, it will gross US$3,580,578 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG-13) Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins
USA Today launches one of the first electronic news syndication services, USA Today Update, for business news summaries through Datatimes, GEnie, Minitel, The Source, and Trintex, among others.
1987
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Battle” first airs. (No. 109) In it, a Ferengi captain returns the abandoned Stargazer to its former captain, Jean-Luc Picard, free of charge. Soon after, Picard begins to relive the so-called “Battle of Maxia.” Memory Alpha entry
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