1868
Thomas Alva Edison of Boston, Massachusetts, applies for his first patent. The patent is for an “electrographic vote recorder,” which will enable a legislator to register a vote either for or against an issue by turning a switch to the right or left.
1923
Radio amateur Léon Deloy (call sign 8 AB) in Nice, France, connects on a 109 meter wavelength with F.H. Schnell (call sign 1 MO) in Hartford, Connecticut, USA in the trans-Atlantic radio transmission.
1948
The Polaroid Land Camera, the first instant camera, first goes on sale, at a Boston department store. The camera, invented by Dr. Edwin Land, would produce a sepia-colored photograph in approximately one minute. Price: US$89.75
1964
NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars from Cape Kennedy. On July 14, 1965, it will become the first satellite to transmit close-up photographs of the planet.
1967
The first pulsating radio source (pulsar) is detected by graduate student Jocelyn Bell, working under Professor Antony Hewish at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cambridge, England.
1980
Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) reduces the price of the TI-99/4 home computer to US$650, US$300 off the previous price of US$950.
1983
The COMDEX trade show is held in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the event, Radio Shack unveils the Tandy TRS-80 Model 2000 computer, featuring an 8 MHz Intel 80186 processor, 128KB RAM, two 720KB disk drives, and the MS-DOS 2.0 operating system. Base Price: US$2,750 Optional 12-inch monochrome monitor: US$250 Optional 10MB hard drive Optional color graphics card: US$750 Optional color monitor: US$800 Optional Extra 128KB RAM: US$300 Optional monochrome graphics card: US$450 Visit the event’s official website.
1984
EXEC-PC, which will eventually grow into one of the largest bulletin board systems (BBS) in North America, takes its first call at 2am on its only phone line. At its height, in the mid-nineties, the system will include over two hundred fifty lines and over 300GB of file storage.
1988
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Where Silence Has Lease” first airs. (No. 202) In it, the Enterprise is ensnared in a mysterious “hole” in space, controlled by a malevolently curious space-faring life form. When the alien becomes intrigued by the concept of death, he informs Captain Picard that he intends to kill half of the crew to test the different ways to die. Memory Alpha entry
1996
Aboard the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-80), astronauts Tammy Jernigan and Thomas Jones are preventing from taking a spacewalk when a hatch fails to open. “I’m pushing as hard as I can,” Jones said. “It just doesn’t seem to want to move,” Jernigan agreed. The malfunction will later be blamed on a loose screw.
1997
The website of the Local 2609, The United Steelworkers of America is hacked by “Magica de Bin”.
2000
Bidding on eBay for item number 507007174 for “The Ultimate Video Game Library!” closes at US$70,000. The winning bidder is listed as “skahcpunk” and the auction was created by baybuy1@aol.com.
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) introduces the PlayStation 2 in the US. The system features a 294.912MHz processor, a single analog DualShock2 controller, two memory card slots, two USB ports, one i-Link (IEEE 1394) port, and a 128-bit Emotion Engine graphics processor. The system is backwards compatible with PlayStation games and supports CD-ROM, Dolby Digital, DTS, DVD-ROM, and DVD-Video media. Price: ₤300 Weight: 5 pounds
2001
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Cold Front” first airs. (No. 111) In it, Archer finds out a crewman on Enterprise is helping to fight the Temporal Cold War against Silik and some of the Suliban. Memory Alpha entry
2006
Nintendo announces that it had sold over six hundred thousand Wii video game consoles in the eight days since its launch in the Americas. Along with accessories and games, Wii-related revenue has reached US$190 million.
Ubisoft releases the stealth-based game Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent for the Wii in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: M (Mature)
Xandros Incorporated releases version 4.1 of the Xandros operating system. Visit the system’s official website.
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