1602
The Bodleian Library is established at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England.
1804
The first US patent for a separable electric attachment plug is issued to Harvey Hubbell of Bridgeport, Connecticut. (US No. 774,250) It screws into a light socket so that homes with the new electric lighting technology could also make use of other useful appliances.
1895
While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray at Würzburg University.
1919
The first large machine switching exchange in the Bell system is brought into service in Norfolk, Virginia. This exchange uses the step-by-step system and is installed by the Automatic Electric Company of Chicago for the Bell System.
1935
Experimental television transmissions with 180 lines of resolution are broadcast on short wave from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
1950
The world’s first battle in which a jet plane shoots down another jet plane takes place at about 10:00am, early in the Korean War during a raid near the Yalu River, which separates Korea and China. A group of about ten Soviet MiG-15 jet fighters approach the American bombers and are confronted by the four US fighter jets escorting the bombers, Lockheed F-80 “Shooting Stars.” Within about five minutes one MiG is destroyed, another is damaged, and the rest are in retreat. None of the US jets are damaged. US Air Force Lieutenant Robert Brown is credited with being the first pilot to take down another jet fighter.
1969
The first German satellite, Azur, is launched on a mission to examine the aurora, the Van Allen belts, and solar particles, as they effect the upper atmosphere.
1977
The Philips/MCA optical audio disc is first demonstrated in London, England. The disc features a capacity for thirty minutes’ worth of music per side.
1980
Scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology announces the discovery of a fifteenth moon orbiting the planet Saturn by the Voyager I spaceprobe.
1982
According to Twin Galaxies, Kenneth Vance, age 18, scores a record-setting 4,999,993 points playing the Atari arcade game Tempest after playing the game for three hours and five minutes at the Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit the official Twin Galaxies website.
A New York Federal Court judge issues a temporary injunction against Commodore International, preventing the company from making and selling joysticks that the court has ruled are imitations of Atari’s signature joysticks.
1991
Corel releases the version 5.1 of the WordPerfect word processor for Windows. Visit the application’s official website.
The first Turing Test is held at the Boston Computer Museum. The Turing Test seeks to demonstrate the achievement of artificial intelligence. Among the participants are eight computer programs talking through modems, and two human confederates also at remote locations.
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