1824
Stephen van Renssalaer founded the first engineering college in the United States, the Renssalaer School in Troy, New York. It will open on January 3, 1825, and the first class will graduate with ten students April 26, 1826.
1852
The first US national civil engineering society, the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects, is founded. Twelve engineers attend the event at which the society was founded, though an invitation had been extended to all civil engineers in New York. The purpose of the society is “the advancement of the sciences of engineering and architecture in their several branches, the professional improvement of its members, the encouragement of intercourse between men of practical science, and the establishment of a central point of reference and union for its members.” The organization’s architects will later split off into their own organization, and the organization will be retitled the “American Society of Civil Engineers” (ASCE). Visit the official ASCE website.
1895
George B. Selden of Rochester, New York, receives the first US patent for a gasoline-driven automobile. (US No. 549,160) In the patent, he describes the complete automobile incorporating such a clutch, a compressed air self-starter, and a steering system. As a patent attorney, he knows to delay the contention over the patent by sending amendments and other communications every two years. Meanwhile, others develop the actual working of the automobile, increasing the value of his patents, and making him one of the earliest successful “patent trolls.”
1906
Marie Curie becomes the first females lecturer at the Sorbonne university in Paris, France. In her inaugural lecture, Curie explains her treatise on radioactivity. One hundred twenty students attend the lecture, along with several members of the public and the media.
1922
Archaeologist Howard Carter excavates a further eleven steps and exposes a large portion of the plastered and sealed entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The first step had been discovered by a laborer the day before. Carter cables his financier, Lord Carnarvon, in England with the following message, “At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley a magnificent tomb with seals intact recovered same for your arrival congratulations.” The tomb entrance is refilled, to be uncovered fully November 23 – 24, 1922, after the arrival of Lord Carnarvon.
1930
A demonstration of the Baird closed circuit television system at the Hairdressing Fair of Fashion, held November 5 – 13, includes the first advertisement, a short promotion of the Eugène Method of permanent hair waving.
1940
American election returns are broadcast on television for the first time.
1943
Universal Pictures releases the horror film Son of Dracula, directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Robert Paige, Louise Allbritton, and Evelyn Ankers to US theaters. It is the third in Universal Studios’ Dracula trilogy, preceded by Dracula and Dracula’s Daughter. IMDB listing
1963
Archaeologists find Viking ruins at L’Anse-aux-Meadows in Newfoundland that predate Columbus‘ landing by five hundred years. The discovery supports the belief of many historians that Leif Ericson, second son of Eric the Red, was the first European to reach the North American mainland, at a place that he called Vinland.
1967
NASA launches the ATS-3 communications satellite. It will remain in service longer than any other satellite in history, remaining active for over twenty-eight years. It will return the first photographs of the the full Earth disk.
1970
The Data Processing Division (DPD) of International Business Machines (IBM) releases three new products: the IBM 303 control unit, the IBM 3420 tape drive, and the IBM 129 card data recorder with monolithic-circuit memory.
1974
Atari releases the duck hunting game Qwak! to arcades. The game is notable for being among the first games to feature a single-player mode with enemies with basic artificial intelligence (AI). The game marks the beginning of the trend of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence in video games. Earlier single-player games, such as Gotcha, Pong, and Spacewar! used discrete logic, rather than AI.
Kee Games, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari, releases the Tank! arcade game in North America. Tank is the first game to use IC-based ROM to store graphical data. Although Gran Trak 10, released in July of 1974, was the first arcade game to use ROM data, Gran-Trak’s ROM uses an earlier diode-based ROM technology. The game will become so popular that Atari makes its “secret” ownership of Key Games public knowledge, merging the company back into Atari and later releasing Tank under the Atari label as well.
1988
In the US, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) is signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. The law prohibits the “wrongful disclosure of video tape rental or sale records” outside the ordinary course of business. The act was passed after the video rental history of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork was nationally publicized. Violators of the law may be held liable for up to US$2,500 in actual damages. Read more about the VPPA at Epic.org.
1989
Del Rey releases the fantasy reference The Dragonlover’s Guide to Pern by Jody Lynn Nye, Anne McCaffrey, Todd Johnson, Todd Cameron Hamilton, and James Clouse as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0345354249) Length: 178 pages
FO-12, the first Japanese amateur satellite developed by the Japan Amateur Radio League and the NEC Corporation is taken out of service due to a battery failure.
1990
PC Week publishes a forceful letter from Brad Silverberg, Vice President of Systems Software at Microsoft and General Manager of its Windows and MS-DOS Business Unit, which denies that Microsoft has ever engaged in FUD tactics or that Microsoft has stolen features from DR-DOS, a PC DOS-compatible operating system, claiming that, “The feature enhancements of MS-DOS version 5.0 were decided and development was begun long before we heard about DR DOS 5.0.”
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Reunion” first airs. (No. 407) In it, Captain Picard is selected to arbitrate the selection of a new Chancellor for the Klingon Empire and, in doing so, find out who dishonorably murdered the old Chancellor. Also involved is Ambassador K’Ehleyr, who has a surprise for Worf, their son. Memory Alpha entry
United States President George H. W. Bush signs the Launch Services Purchase Act into law. The Act, in a reversal of the Space Shuttle monopoly, ordering NASA to purchase launch services for its primary payloads from commercial providers whenever such services are required in the course of its activities.
1991
Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles, California, officially declares the day “Nintendo Fun Day”.
Mayor Xavier Suarez of Miami, Florida, officially declares the day “Nintendo Fun Day”.
Version 1.10 of RemoteAccess, an early MS-DOS Bulletin Board System (BBS) program is released. Download the application at PC Micro.
1995
GameFAQs, a website that hosts a large database of profiles and walkthroughs of video games, debuts on the Internet. The website is created by Jeff “CJayC” Veasey. In May 2003, the site will be acquired by its sponsor, CNET Networks. Visit the website.
1996
Microsoft releases the first beta-test version of Internet Explorer 3.0 for the Macintosh. This version adds support for Cascading Style Sheets, HTML 3.2, and Java applets.
1998
Avadis Tevanian, a senior vice president at Apple Computer, testifies that Microsoft tried to intimidate Apple into abandoning the development of its QuickTime software which directly competes with Microsoft’s own media player.
GT Interactive, an American video game developer, acquires OneZero Media for about $15 million in common stock. Visit the company’s official website.
Titus Software, French software publisher, concludes the acquisition of BlueSky Software, an American software company.
1999
US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues his 207 page Findings of Fact, ruling that Microsoft has monopoly power over operating systems in the Intel-compatible personal computer market. The ruling further finds that Microsoft has engaged in anti-competitive behavior, using its power to restrict competition and harm American consumers. The ruling is a pivotal victory in the long-running antitrust trial that represents a major setback for Microsoft.
2001
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) introduces the 1.6 GHz Athlon XP 1900+ processor, featuring a 64KB Level-1 data cache, 64KB Level-1 instruction cache, 256KB Level-2 cache, three pipelined FPUs, and a 266MHz system bus. It supports MMX, 3DNow!, Enhanced 3DNow!, and 3DNow! professional instructions. It incorporates 37.6 million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Thoroughbred Price: US$269 in 1000-unit quantities
Build 0.1 of Aurora SPARC Linux, a distribution on Fedora Core, is released. The release comes after Red Hat dropped support for the SPARC architecture after version 6.2 of Red Hat Linux. Visit the application’s official website.
Nintendo begins shipping the GameCube and six game titles in the US. The GameCube features a 485MHz 128-bit custom IBM Gekko PowerPC CPU, a 162MHz ATI Flipper GPU, 24MB 1T-SRAM, 16MB DRAM, and a 16-bit Macronix DSP Sound Processor. Price: US$199.95
2002
Konami releases the stealth action game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for the Xbox in North America. It is the sixth game in the Metal Gear series. ESRB: M (Mature)
2003
Brazilian police arrest eighteen hackers in a massive operation dubbed “Trojan Horse,” which involves two hundred five law enforcement officials and thirty-three search warrants. The hackers are allegedly part of a gang which is responsible for stealing more than ten million dollars in a single year by breaking into banks and their clients’ computers over the Internet.
Intel releases the 2800MHz Celeron 2.8 processor, featuring a 128KB Level-2 Cache and a 400MHz Front-side bus.
The last Abilene Network segment is upgraded to 10Gbps.
Microsoft establishes a US$5 million reward fund to help track down the individual or group who unleashed the MSBlast or Sobig viruses.
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Twilight” first airs. (No. 308) In it, an anomaly causes Archer to lose his short-term memory. Much of the episode takes place in an alternate future after the destruction of Earth in which Archer (with the help of his caretaker T’Pol and Captain Tucker), seeks a way to correct the past. Memory Alpha entry
Warner Bros. releases the sci-fi action film The Matrix Revolutions, directed by The Wachowski brothers and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving, to 3,502 US theaters. In it, the human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith. It is the third film in The Matrix trilogy. It is the first live-action film to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters. Critics and fans alike criticized the film as being anti-climatic, while praising its action sequences. Produced on a budget of US$150 million, it will gross US$48,475,154 domestically in its opening weekend. Visit the film’s official website. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
Version 2.5.0 of PhpMyAdmin, an open source tool written in PHP for administering MySQL over the Internet, is released. This version introduces a MIME-based transformation system. Visit the application’s official website.
Version 5.8.2 of the Perl programming language is released.
2004
Apple Computer releases version 10.3.6 of its Mac OS X operating system.
Buena Vista Pictures releases the animated film The Incredibles, directed by Brad Bird and featuring the voice talents of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Brad Bird, Samuel L. Jackson, and Elizabeth Peña, to 3,933 US theaters. In it, a family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world. Produced on a budget of US$92 million, the film will gross US$70,467,623 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Researchers successfully send data using a 10 Gigabit Ethernet link between the University of Tokyo and the CERN research center in Geneva, Switzerland, breaking the Internet speed record. The T110 delivered a sustained 7.57Gbps throughput running standard 1500-byte Ethernet packets over a single TCP connection across an 11,490 mile (18,500 km) link using a uni-processor AMD Opteron system on each end of the connection. The connection is fast enough to transfer a full-length DVD in less than five seconds.
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Cold Station 12” first airs. (No. 405) In it, a space station crew is held hostage as Dr. Arik Soong and his Augments work to obtain hundreds of Augment embryos in hopes of reviving the new species. Memory Alpha entry
A trailer for the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith premieres before The Incredibles.
2007
China’s first lunar satellite, Chang’e 1 enters orbit around the Moon.
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