1535
The first complete English edition of the Bible, printed in Antwerp as translated by Miles Coverdale, is first published.
1675
Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens patents a pocket watch.
1830
The first power printing press capable of detailed book work is patented by Isaac Adams of Boston, Massachusetts.
1931
The Dick Tracy comic strip, created by cartoonist Chester Gould, debuts in The Detroit Mirror. The next week, The New York Daily News and hundreds of others newspapers will pick up the syndicated series.
1934
Enrico Fermi measures the speed of a neutron.
1955
Bell Telephone successfully places the first call using the world’s first solar-powered telephone.
1957
The Space Age begins when Russia launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite, into Earth orbit from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The craft will circle the globe every ninety-five minutes at almost twenty thousand miles per hour five hundred miles above the Earth for approximately three months, until January 4, 1958. The name Sputnik translates to “companion” or “fellow traveler”. The 184 pound satellite transmits a radio signal which amateur radio operators around the world will be able to track, and it carries instrumentation for temperature measurement. The launch highlights the technological achievements of the Soviets and sparks some worrying questions for the politicians of the US. President John F. Kennedy will state that “the nation was losing the satellite-missile race with the Soviet Union because of … complacent miscalculations, penny-pinching, budget cutbacks, incredibly confused mismanagement, and wasteful rivalries and jealousies.” The fact is, though, that the Russian “lead” is largely due to the fact that the US has suitably forward basing in Europe and Turkey from which to launch attacks, allowing them to focus on short-range rocket technology. The Soviets, on the other hand, lack overseas bases, and have been forced to develop long-range rocket technology.
Two Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory scientists tracking Sputnik find that they can determine the satellite’s orbit by analyzing the Doppler shift of its radio signals during a single pass. They conjecture that if a satellite’s position were known and predictable, then the Doppler shift of its signals could be used to locate a receiver on Earth. Thus, one can navigate by satellite. A system called Transit, a forerunner of the Global Positioning System (GPS), will be developed and, in 1964, be put into use on US nuclear deterrent submarines.
1958
The first transatlantic jet service is launched.
1959
The Soviet Union launches Lunik III, which will become the first satellite to photograph the dark side of the Moon.
1964
The science fiction television series Stingray premieres with the episode “Stingray” in the UK. In it, a World Navy submarine is mysteriously destroyed and Troy and Phones are assigned to investigate. However, they are captured by the Aquaphibians and sentenced to life imprisonment in the undersea penal complex of Aquatraz by Titan of Titanica. The series will run for thirty-nine episodes, until June 27, 1965. The series uses marionettes rather than live actors.
1965
The Soviet Union launches the Luna 7 space probe.
1968
Science magazine first runs the Hewlett-Packard advertisement that introduces the first programmable scientific desktop calculator, “the new Hewlett-Packard 911A personal computer”.
The Star Trek episode “The Paradise Syndrome ” first airs. (No. 58) In it, a mysterious alien device on a planet with a predominantly American Indian culture erases Captain Kirk’s memory, and he begins a life with them as a member of their tribe. Memory Alpha entry
1972
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases the B-movie horror film Night of the Lepus, directed by William F. Claxton and starring Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun, DeForest Kelley, and Paul Fix, to US theaters. The book is adapted from the novel The Year of the Angry Rabbit written by Russell Braddon. In it, Cole Hillman’s Arizona ranch is plagued with ‘mongrel’ rabbits, and he wants to employ an ecologically sound control method. As a favor to college benefactor Hillman, college president Elgin Clark calls in zoologist Roy Bennett to help. Bennett immediately begins injecting rabbits with hormones and genetically mutated blood in an effort to develop a method of disrupting rabbit reproduction. One of the test subjects escapes, resulting in a race of bloodthirsty, wolf-sized, man-, horse-, and cow-eating bunnies. Eventually the National Guard is called in for a final showdown with the terrorizing rabbits. IMDB listing Running Time: 1 hr 22 min
1985
20th Century Fox releases the fantasy film Legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, David Bennent, Alice Playten, and Billy Barty, to UK theaters. In it, the Lord of Darkness wishes to kill the last unicorn to plunge the world into eternal darkness so that he can emerge from the castle that shields him from the sun’s light. But only someone as beautiful and pure as Princess Lily can attract the unicorns. Capturing her, the Lord of Darkness prepares a wedding ceremony in which Princess Lily will kill the last unicorn, bringing doom down on all Humankind. Jack and a group of strange allies must enter the cave before night falls forever to rescue the Princess if there is to be any hope. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 34 mins
Free Software Foundation is founded by Richard Stallman to support the GNU Project in Massachusetts, United States. Visit the organization’s official website.
1987
Effective at midnight, Atari Corporation closes its tender offer for outstanding shares of the Federated Group of Electronics Stores and Federated becomes an official subsidiary of Atari.
1988
The Star Trek episode “The Cage” first airs. (Episode No. 01 / Prod. Code No. 99) In it, the Enterprise answers a fake distress call from Talos IV. Features Captain Pike commanding the Enterprise, with a female first officer. This episode is the series’ original pilot episode that went unaired during the series’ original run. Depending on the system you use, this episode is either episode number one or number eighty. Memory Alpha entry
1993
The Mission to Mars attraction in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World closes.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Interface” first airs. (No. 703) In it, Geordi tries to rescue his mother’s starship via a remotely controlled probe. Memory Alpha entry
1997
Version 3.04 of the Netscape Navigator web browser is released. Visit the application’s official website.
1999
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) introduces the 700MHz AMD Athlon processor, the world’s fastest and highest-performance x86 processor. Major computer manufacturers, including Compaq and IBM also announce the availability of systems based on the 700MHz AMD Athlon processor. Price: US$849 in quantities of 1,000-units
The Earth: Final Conflict episode “Crackdown” first airs. (No. 301) In it, US President Thompson declares a state of emergency and imposes martial law until the Resistance can be crushed.
HydraBBS version 1.05, is featured on the cover of the disk bundled with the October issue of AmigaActive Magazine. Its inclusion raises eyebrows in the BBS community as version 1.05 is six revisions behind the most recent release.
Intel Corporation reveals that they have chosen Itanium as the brand name for their new line of microprocessors. Previously, the chips were assigned a code name of Merced.
The Los Angeles Times blames Pacific Bell for the failure of a number of government computers whose failure caused state agencies in California to turn away citizens applying for drivers’ licenses, food vouchers, and vital services.
Palm Computing releases the Palm VII handheld computer with wireless support in 260 cities throughout the US. The Palm.net network costs start at US$9.99 for eighty transactions, with access to email, Internet messaging, and over one hundred content providers.
Palm Computing releases the Palm Vx handheld computer. It is based on the Palm V design, expanding memory from 2 to 8 MB.
Red Hat begins releases version 6.1 of the Red Hat Linux operating system, “Cartman”. This version includes the Star Office 5.1a office suite. Visit the system’s official website. Price: US$29.95 - US$140.95
2000
Maxtor announces that it will acquire the hard drive business of the Quantum Corporation for about US$1 billion in stock. Visit the company’s official website.
The Star Trek: Voyage episode “Unimatrix Zero” first airs. (No. 701) In it, Janeway, B’Elanna and Tuvok infiltrate a Borg Cube in an attempt to save Borg who are exercising their individuality. Memory Alpha entry
2001
Casio introduces the Casio Cassiopeia E-200 handheld computer, featuring a 206 MHz Intel StrongARM SA-1110 processor, 64MB RAM, a CompactFlash Type II slot, a Secure Digital and MultiMedia Card slot, and the Pocket PC 2002 operating system, a USB connection, and a 65,536-color reflective TFT display. Price: US$599 Weight: 7 ounces
Compaq Computer introduces the iPaq H3870 handheld computer, featuring a 206 MHz Intel StrongARM SA-1110 processor, 64MB RAM, Bluetooth wireless communications, a 65,536 color TFT screen, a Secure Digital expansion slot, and the Pocket PC 2002 operating system. The battery provides about twelve hours of operation. The device will be available in November. Price: US$649
In San Francisco, California, and London, England, Microsoft introduces the Pocket PC 2002 operating system. Code-name: Merlin
Toshiba America Information Systems introduces the Toshiba Pocket PC e570 handheld computer, featuring a 206 MHz Intel StrongARM SA-1110 processor, 64MB RAM, a CompactFlash Type II slot, a SecureDigital slot, a 65,536-color reflective display, and the Pocket PC 2002 operating system. The battery provides about eight hours of operation. The device will be available in November. Price: US$569
2002
Hacker Vasily Gorshkov, age 27, of Chelyabinsk, Russia, is sentenced to three years in prison for convictions on twenty counts of conspiracy, fraud, and related computer crimes. Gorshkov is also ordered to pay restitution of nearly US$700,000 for the damages he caused to the Speakeasy ISP of Seattle, and the online credit card payment company PayPal.
2004
Mandrakesoft acquires the professional support company Edge IT, which focuses on the delivery of services and support to the corporate market in France. Edge IT has six employees.
On the forty-seventh anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the privately-funded spaceplane SpaceShipOne wins the ten million dollar Ansari X Prize for reaching an altitude of one hundred kilometers for the second time in two weeks with the weight of three passengers aboard.
Version 2.0.0 of the R programming language is released. This version introduces “Lazy loading”, which enables the swift loading of data with minimal expense of system memory.
2005
Berkley publishes the fantasy novel Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris as a hardcover. (ISBN-13: 978-0425205686) It’s the first book in the Harper Connelly Mysteries. Length: 263 pages
Dell begins offering a new line of Dimension E510n desktop computers with no pre-installed operating system and a copy of FreeDOS, specifically for customers interested in installing alternative open course software. The system features a Pentium 4 processor; 512MB of advanced DDR computer memory; a 128MB ATI Radeon X300SE HyperMemory video card; an 80GB serial ATA hard drive and a one-year limited warranty. Price: US$849
Little Brown publishes Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean by British author Justin Somper as a hardcover. (ISBN: 0316013730) In it, Connor and Grace are twins, recently orphaned after their widowed father’s death. Their options are to be adopted by the town’s busybodies or to set sail for new pastures in one of their father’s possessions that was taken by the bank, his sailing boat. The twins set sail, but a vicious storm sees their boat capsize and the twins are separated. Two mysterious ships sail to their “rescue” – each picking up one twin before disappearing into the mist. Connor awakes to find himself on a pirate ship and is soon being trained up with a cutlass after saving the Captain from an attack which involved two hidden assassins in the vases of the Captain’s room. Meanwhile, Grace finds herself locked in a darkened room, as the vampirates wait for night to fall and their feasting to begin. They are determined to find each other, however intrigued by their new shipmates.
Microsoft holds the Xbox Show, “X05″, October 4 and 5 in Amsterdam. At the event, Microsoft revealed the launch line-up for the new Xbox 360 console, as well as new titles coming to the system.
Yahoo! purchases online social event calendar Upcoming.org.
2006
Comedy Central airs the South Park episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” lampooning the game World of Warcraft. In it, one of the characters wears a t-shirt reading “Dwarf Needs FOOD!”, a reference to the Gauntlet video games.
2007
Following two days of testimony and approximately five hours of deliberations, the jury in the first music piracy case to ever go to trial in the US decide to hold Jammie Thomas, a single mother of two, liable for infringing upon the copyright of twenty-four songs and order her to pay US$9,250 for each violation. While the US$222,000 in penalties is substantially less than the maximum US$3.6 million she could have been ordered to pay, the amount is shockingly higher than the minimum penalty of US$18,000. The incident was a landmark case not only because it was this such case to go to trial, but also because the plaintiff, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), wasn’t required to prove that filesharing software had been installed on her computer or that Thomas had been the one using the computer at the time of the infringement. The case was supported only by evidence of the defendant’s Internet protocol (IP) address and cable modem identifier in association with 1,702 songs on the Kazaa network. During jury instructions, U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis instructed the jurors that merely making songs available constituted copyright infringement in and of itself. September 24, 2008, this instruction will cause the same judge to declare a mistrial. The question of whether or not making files available constitutes filesharing will become the center of Jammie Thomas’ second trial.
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