1892
Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
1912
The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Elmer Booth, Lillian Gish, Clara T. Bracy, and Walter Miller, debuts in the US. It is the first gangster film. IMDB listing
1926
Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured.
1945
The first conference on Digital Computer Technique is held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The conference is sponsored by the National Research Council, Subcommittee Z on Calculating Machines and Computation.
1956
An airplane, an LC-47 transport plane, lands at the South Pole for the first time. When Navy Admiral George J. Dufek steps off the Que Sera Sera, he becomes the first American to set foot there. He and an advance party arrive to build the first permanent South Pole Station.
1974
Atari introduces the Ping Pong coin-operated arcade game.
1982
Coleco Industries announces that it has sold over 2.2 million table-top video-game machines to dat.
Kenneth Vance, age 18, scores 411,200 points on Atari’s Kangaroo after playing the game for two hours and twenty-seven minutes at Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1983
Texas Instruments (TI) cancels the US$50 rebate program for the TI-99/4A home computer, but they extend the offer to give a free Speech Synthesizer to qualified purchases of six program modules through Tuesday, January 31, 1984.
1988
At the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York, International Business Machines (IBM) officially announces the release of Operating System/2 1.1 Standard Edition with Presentation Manager. Code-name: Trimaran
1989
The Internet Service Provider Prodigy announces that it has 100,000 subscribers in households in eight major metro areas. Visit Prodigy’s official website.
1991
Konami releases the platform game Super Castlevania IV as Akumajo Dracula for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in Japan.
1992
The Vatican formally admits its error in condemning Galileo Galilei for heresy for over 359 years for his geocentric view of the solar system. After thirteen years of inquiry, the Pope’s commission of historic, scientific, and theological scholars brought the pope a “not guilty” finding for Galileo. Pope John Paul II himself met with the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to help set the record straight.
1993
Pagan Publishing announces a new Cthulhu role-playing game (RPG) called End Time in a press release. End Time is Pagan Publishing’s first role-playing game. It is set in the year 2094, after the stars have come right and Cthulhu and the other Great Old Ones have arisen and laid waste to humanity. It serves as a sequel to the award-winning Call of Cthulhu RPG published by Chaosium, Inc..
1994
Quantum Link (Q-Link), an online service for e-mail, games, news, and shopping on Commodore 64 and 128 computers, announces that it will withdraw from the Commodore market. Past subscribers are offered memberships on the new America Online (AOL) service.
1996
Eidos Interactive releases the third-person shooter Tomb Raider for the Saturn in the US. The game introduces numerous innovations within 3D third-person adventure games and will remain extremely influential for years to come. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: Teen
Midway releases the fighting game Mortal Kombat Trilogy for the Nintendo 64 in the US. ESRB: M (Mature)
1997
Activision releases the real-time strategy game (RTS) NetStorm: Islands At War for Windows. Visit the game’s official website.
Alternic founder Eugene Kashpureff is arrested in Toronto, Canada on wirefraud charges brought by the US for hijacking the URL of the InterNIC registry website and redirecting its traffic to his own Alternic website July 11 - 14, 1997 as a protest Network Solutions’ monopoly on the domain naming system. Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI), which runs the InterNIC, took Kashpureff to court in August, but the case was settled. Kashpureff apologized to the Internet community and tried to help inform it how to prevent someone else from perpetrating the same kind of domain name hijacking. NSI, however, was not satisfied with the court’s ruling and turned the case over the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The news of Kashpureff’s arrest shocks many. Richard Sexton, who worked with Kashpureff on the AlterNIC but disagreed with the actions he took, will later release a statement in which he says, “The most you could have lost is two seconds and one mouse-click. It is fraud, but the fiscal damage amounts to zero. He should be found guilty and fined a dollar.” Many will later characterize the protest as an act of civil disobedience. Visit the Wayback Machine archive of AlterNIC.net. Visit Eugene Kashpureff’s personal website.
Capcom releases the versus fighting game X-Men vs. Street Fighter for the Sega Saturn in Japan.
GT Interactive releases the first-person shooter (FPS) Duke Nukem 64 for the Nintendo 64. ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+
1998
Activision releases the fantasy third-person shooter Heretic II for personal computers in the US. ESRB: T
Activision releases the third-person shooter Apocalypse for the PlayStation in the US. It is most notable for its involvement of actor Bruce Willis to provide the main character’s likeness and voice. ESRB Rating: T
Arc System Works releases the fighting game Guilty Gear for the PlayStation and PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America. ESRB: T
The first public version of Sketch, version 0.5.0, is released. Sketch is a free vector graphics editor written almost completely in Python and released under the GNU Lesser General Public License. The application will later be renamed Skencil. Visit the application’s official website.
GT Interactive releases the first-person shooter Blood II: The Chosen for Windows. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: Mature (M)
The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 (H.R. 4151) is signed into law in the US. The bill makes identity theft a federal crime, with penalties of up to three years imprisonment and a maximum fine of US$250,000. It also directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help victims deal with the consequences of identity theft.
Microsoft Game Studios releases the real-time strategy game (RTS) Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome for Windows. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: Teen (T)
Psygnosis releases the platform game Psybadek for the Playstation in the US. ESRB Rating: E
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) releases the platform game Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped for the PlayStation in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB Rating: E
1999
Acclaim releases the fighting game Psychic Force 2012 for the Dreamcast and PlayStation in the US. ESRB: Teen (T)
Capcom releases the survival horror game Resident Evil 2 video game for the Nintendo 64 in the US. ESRB: M (Mature)
Interplay and Rockstar Games releases the platform game Earthworm Jim 3D for personal computers and the Nintendo 64. ESRB: Everyone (E)
Sega announces that 750,862 unit of the Dreamcast video game system have been sold in North America to date.
Sierra Studios releases the expansion pack Half-Life: Opposing Force for the first-person shooter Half-Life for Windows in North America. ESRB: Mature (M)
2000
The last of the Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) machines, a series of computers running an influential time-sharing operating system is shut down.
Napster announces a partnership with German recording company Bertelsmann AG (BMG) to develop a membership-based distribution system that guarantees payment to artists. Bertelsmann drops lawsuit against Napster in exchange for a stake in the business.
2001
Eidos Interactive releases Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 for the PlayStation 2 in North America. It is the sequel to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and the third game in the Legacy of Kain series. ESRB: M (Mature)
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “The Andorian Incident” first airs. (No. 107) In it, Archer, Trip, and T’Pol are taken hostage by Andorians in the Vulcan monastery of P’Jem. Memory Alpha entry
2002
Square releases a remake of Final Fantasy for the PlayStation in Japan. Visit the game’s official website.
Square releases a remake of the Final Fantasy II video game for the PlayStation in Japan.
2003
A bankruptcy court approves reorganization plans for telecommunication’s giant MCI, essentially removing the company from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MCI’s bankruptcy was the largest in US history.
Nokia releases MLB Slam! for the Nokia N-Gage in the US.
Sega releases Headhunter: Redemption for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in Europe. PEGI: 16+
The US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) releases a summary of a draft report concluding that cloned farm animals and their offspring pose little scientific risk to the food supply. Scientists and media outlets conjecture that the report could one day lead to products derived from clones being sold in grocery stores. No federal rule prohibits sale of food products derived from clones or their offspring, but food producers are unanimously observing a voluntary moratorium on cloned food products. Since clones still cost about US$20,000 a piece, however, they are unlikely to be be used as food anytime in the near future. A more practical use for clones may be using cloned animals for breeding desirable traits into existing stock.
2005
LucasArts releases Star Wars: Battlefront II for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (PSP), and Xbox in Europe. Visit the game’s official website. PEGI:12+
NCsoft releases the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) City of Villains for Windows in the US. It is the sequel to the MMORPG City of Heroes. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: Teen Price: US$19.99
2006
Atari releases the role-playing game (RPG) Neverwinter Nights 2 for Windows in the US. It is the sequel to BioWare’s Neverwinter Nights (NWN), and it is based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Electronic Arts (EA) releases the racing game Need for Speed Carbon and Need for Speed Carbon Collector’s Edition for personal computers, the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360 in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB Rating: E10+
Microsoft releases a download update for the Xbox 360 in the US. The update adds support for 1080p High Definition resolution, HD DVD support, the ability to play WMV files, and resolves eighty-four other issues.
Rockstar Games releases the driving game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: M
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) releases Killzone: Liberation for the Playstation Portable (PSP) in Canada and the US. It is the sequel to the first-person shooter (FPS) Killzone. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) releases the racing game ATV Offroad Fury 4 for the PlayStation 2. ESRB: Everyone (E)
Square Enix releases Final Fantasy XII for the PlayStation 2 in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen) (13+)
Tor releases the science fiction novel Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund in the UK and US. Length: 384 pages
Version 3.0.8, “Feynman,” of the Scientific Linux operating system is released. Visit the system’s official website.
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