1604
German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes that an exceptionally bright star had suddenly appeared in the constellation Ophiuchus, which later turns out to be the last supernova to have been observed in our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
1881
Bell and Tainter donates a sound recording machine to the Smithsonian Institution that uses jets of air to inscribe sounds.
1885
A steel-making process is patented by Sir Henry Bessemer, a British inventor and metallurgist. His patent is a method of making steel by blasting compressed air through molten iron to remove impurities and excess carbon called the “Bessemer Process,” which makes it possible to mass-produce steel inexpensively.
1888
The first issue of National Geographic Magazine goes on sale. It will initially be published irregularly, only when the National Geographic Society accumulated sufficient material to fill an issue. Visit the official National Geographic Magazine website.
Thomas Edison files a patent for the first movie projector, the “Optical Phonograph,” which projects images just 1/32-inch across. Edison claims that it will, “do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.”
1907
The first commercial transatlantic wireless telegraph service, established by Guglielmo Marconi, is officially inaugurated. The line runs between Nova Scotia and Ireland. The first message sent from Europe was a statement from Lord Avebury to the New York Times. The first message sent from North America was from Canada’s Prime Minister, Wilfred Laurier to the London Standard. Messages are limited to fifty words each, and by 7:30pm over ten thousand words had been exchanged. In one message, English inventor Hiram Maxim sent a message to American inventor. Peter Cooper Hewitt, in which he wrote, “All honor to Marconi! Perhaps the next step will be to harness the whole energy of Niagara to make an attempt to communicate with the planet Mars.”
1919
Experimental radio station 8XK in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, set up by Dr. Frank Conrad, a manager at the Westinghouse plant in nearby Pittsburg, becomes the first to broadcast music from records. Due to widespread interest, Conrad announces that 8XK will broadcast music for two hours on Wednesday and Saturday evening. The local record store, Hamilton Music Store, provides records free in return for a mention of its name on air, which is the first radio advertising and sponsorship deal.
Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is incorporated in Delaware, established by the merger of the General Electric Company (GE) and the Marconi Company of America. Read more about the history of RCA.
1933
Physicist Albert Einstein emigrates to the United States, fleeing his former home in Nazi Germany.
1948
The first network television color film series, Ford Theatre premieres with the episode “The Storm” on NBC.
1949
In the United States, the toll dialing networks on the east and west coast are joined for the first time. For the first time, operators can dial long distance coast-to-coast. To encourage use of the network, toll coupon books will be sold for gifts during the Christmas season.
1956
The first Italian computer conference is held in Rome. The principal topic of the conference is the establishment of the International Computation Center in Rome.
The Queen of England opens Calder Hall, the world’s first commercial nuclear power station, in the shadow of the massive chimneys of the Windscale plant, where explosives were made for Britain’s first atomic bomb. In it also the world’s first gas-cooled nuclear power plant. In a speech she makes to mark the occasion, the Queen says, “This new power, which has proved itself to be such a terrifying weapon of destruction, is harnessed for the first time for the common good of our community.” At 12:16GMT, she pulls the lever which directs electricity from the power station into the National Grid for the first time. The event is attended by several thousand people, including scientists and statesmen from almost forty nations.
1957
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) states its intention of allowing subscription television experiments under certain conditions.
1958
The one hour television program An Evening with Fred Astaire is broadcast on NBC. It’s the first major television program to have been recorded on color videotape.
1961
International Business Machines (IBM) announces the IBM 7702 magnetic tape transmission terminal and the IBM 1013 card transmission terminal which transmit and receive data over telephone lines at speeds of up to 300 characters per second.
1962
Nick Holonyak Jr. publishes the first paper describing Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
1969
George Smith and Willard Boyle of Bell Labs invent the charge-coupled device (CCD), the image sensor upon which digital cameras will later be based, while attempting to develop a new kind of computer memory for computers. In less than a year, the device will be used to create the world’s first solid-state video camera. Read more about CCDs.
1975
In the UK, the science fiction television series Space: 1999 premieres with the episode “Breakaway.” In it, radiation from nuclear waste disposal site threatens a deep space probe. When the waste explodes, the Moon is hurled into deep space, along with Moonbase Alpha and all it crew. The series will run for two seasons and forty-eight episodes. Space: 1999 is the first large-scale science fiction series to be attempted following the cancellation of Star Trek in 1969, but while Star Trek wasn’t a hit during its original run, Space 1999 will fail to even match its ratings, much less its fanatical long-term following. However, many critics will later praise the series’ special effects, specifically citing its excellent scale model work and its sophisticated props and set dressing. TV.com entry
1979
Personal Software releases VisiCalc for the Apple II. Price: US$99
1981
Ex-jockey Pat Roper, president of a producer of educational films cakked National Career Consultants, runs an advertisement in the Dallas Morning News and the San Francisco Chronicle looking for game programmers. Ed Salvo, an Iowa high school student, answers the ad and submits a game called Skeet Shoot, which he Salvo had been working on at home. Hiring Salvo to work full time and using Skeet Shoot as its flagship, Roper launches Games By Apollo, one of the first third-party developer for the Atari 2600 video game console. Skeet Shoot will be released in December. Browse a database listing of all Games By Apollo releases.
Texas Instruments (TI) hosts an “afternoon with the management of TI” for the Southern California area TI-99/4 and TI-99/4a home computer users. Don Bynum, TI’s Personal Computer Division Manager, and Brian Gratz, TI’s Users’ Group Coordinator are the masters of ceremony. The event is held at 1pm in the Café Ricard room of the Airporter Inn in Irvine, California. Highlights of the event include demonstrations of TI’s EDITOR/ASSEMBLER package, text-to-speech technologies, and the LOGO programming package.
1984
Atari sells 640,000 warrants to Warner Communications for US$8 million. A warrant is a security that entitles the holder to buy stock of the company that issued it at a specified price, which is much higher than the stock price at time of issue.
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