1958
Jack St Clair Kilby demonstrates the world’s first integrated circuit to fellow researchers and executives at Texas Instruments (TI). The circuit contains five components, including germanium mesa transistors, resistors, and capacitors linked by wires, on a piece of germanium half an inch long and thinner than a toothpick. The purpose of the demonstration is to prove that resistors and capacitors can exist on the same piece of semiconductor material. The circuit was designed while the TI plant was officially shut down for a vacation. As a new employee, Kilby had not yet earned a vacation and was left virtually alone to determine that resistors and capacitors could be made from the same material and integrated together on a single chip. On February 6, 1959, he will apply for a patent, which will eventually be issued on June 23, 1964.
1959
The Soviet Union launches Lunik II toward the Moon aboard a Luna 8K72 carrier rocket. It will become the first man-made object to strike the Moon on September 13th at 22:02:04 UT, in Palus Putredinis, east of Mare Serenitatis near the Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters. The probe is equipped with Cherenkov detectors, geiger counters, a magnetometer, micrometeorite detectors, and scintillation counters, but it has no independent propulsion system.
The television series Bonanza premieres on NBC. The western is the first regularly-scheduled television program presented in color in the US.
1960
The Data Processing Division of International Business Machines (IBM) announces the IBM 1410 data processing system, a powerful intermediate computer marketed a midrange business machine. It contains large volume storage facilities and fast input/output units for up-to-the-minute, accurate punched card output and printed reports. Initial orders for the 1410 exceed 3,500, making it the most widely-accepted data processing machine in history.
1962
The “Space Race” begins when, in a speech at Rice University, President John F. Kennedy announces that America should attempt to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” (Some source claim that JFK gave the same speech to NASA employees earlier, on May 25, 1961)
1966
The manned spacecraft Gemini 11, piloted by Commander Charles Conrad Jr. and Lieutenant Commander Richard F. Gordon Jr., is launched. It is the twenty-fifth spaceflight. The mission will last two days and twenty-three hours and include forty-four orbits at an altitude of 1,368.9km.
1970
The unmanned Soviet lunar probe Luna 16 is launched. After twenty-six hours and twenty-five minutes on the lunar surface, it will become the first spacecraft to carry lunar soil samples back to Earth.
1981
The animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends premieres on NBC as a Saturday morning cartoon, featuring Spider-Man, Iceman, and introducing Firestar. The series will run for three seasons, through September 10, 1983, and it will later be re-aired from 1984 to 1986. TV.com entry
1983
Apple Computer reduces the price of the Lisa computer with software from US$9,995 to US$8,190, and also makes the Lisa available without software for US$6,995.
1985
At the Apple Computer annual board meeting, chairman Steve Jobs announces that he will start a new company with other “lower-level” employees, to build computers for the higher-education market.
Del Rey publishes the fantasy novel With A Tangled Skein by Piers Anthony as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0345318846) It is the third book in the Incarnations of Immortality series. In it, when the man Niobe loved was shot, she learned that she had been the target, in a devious plot of the Devil’s. Hoping for revenge, she discovered, too late, how intricate his scheming was, and that he had managed to trap her son and her granddaughter, Luna. Niobe’s only chance to save them was to accept a challenge by the Prince of Deceit—a challenge to be decided in Hell and in a maze of Satan’s devising! Visit the author’s official website. Length: 280 pages
Target Books publishes the Dr. Who novel The Myth Makers by Donald Cotton as a paperback. (ISBN 0 426 20170 1)
1986
Del Rey publishes the fantasy novel The Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen R. Donaldson as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0345332989) It is the first book in the Mordant’s Need series. Length: 642 pages
Del Rey publishes the fantasy novel Wielding a Red Sword by Piers Anthony as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0345322207) It is the fourth book in the Incarnations of Immortality series. In it, Mym, an Indian prince, defies his father’s plans for an arranged marriage, instead joining a traveling circus. He meets Orb, who teaches him to overcome his own handicap of a terrible stutter through song. He is soon discovered, and his father arranges for him to marry a princess by the name of Rapture. After fighting against this for days on end, he finally realizes that Rapture is worth loving, and so concedes to the marriage. However, a plot to separate him from her results in his decision to become the Incarnation of War. Visit the author’s official website. Length: 297 pages
1987
Del Rey publishes the fantasy novel The Black Unicorn by Terry Brooks (ISBN-10: 0345335279) It is the second novel of the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. Ben Holiday is disguised by the magic of the evil wizard Meeks. He must figure out how to restore himself to the throne and save Willow from her dangerous quest to find the Black Unicorn. Visit the author’s official website. Length: 286 pages
Release 219 of the Infocom interactive fiction game The Lurking Horror is published for personal computers. The game was written by Dave Lebling and inspired by the horror writings of H.P. Lovecraft. The game follows a student trying to finish a term paper at G.U.E. Tech, a large University. The player has braved a snowstorm to travel to the school’s computer lab to work on the report. The document is now mangled beyond repair, however; with the help of a hacker, the player finds that the file has been partially overwritten by the Department of Alchemy’s files (the title of the Department of Alchemy is a reference to a well-known hack at MIT, which several of Infocom’s founders attended). Although the game begins as a quest to try to salvage the term paper, alarming events soon unfold, revealing a powerful evil within the school’s depths. Visit the game’s official website.
1989
NEC Home Electronics introduces a coin-operated version of the TurboGrafx-16 video game system.
1990
Del Rey publishes the fantasy novel Chernevog by C.J. Cherryh as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0345359542) It is the second book in the Russian trilogy. In it, A young wizard, his best friend, and a woman magically restored to life find their idyllic forest existence shattered by the dark machinations of an old and implacable enemy. Length: 328 pages
1991
Sony introduces the Data Discman, a handheld computer that can operate on small compact discs costing US$20-50 each. The devices’ release is set for November. Price: US$550
1992
Electronic Arts announces that it will acquire Origin Systems, a game developer based in Austin, Texas.
NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on the fiftieth shuttle mission. (STS-47) Among the crew is Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to crew a NASA mission, along with Mark C. Lee and Mark C. Lee, the first married couple in space. Over the course of the eight day mission, Jemison will conduct research concerning bone-loss in zero gravity and space-sickness.
1994
Mosaic Communications announces its first products, the Mosaic Netscape web browser and the Mosaic Netsite line of servers.
1995
Dimension Films releases the horror film Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, directed by James D.R. Hickox and starring Daniel Cerny, Ron Melendez, Jim Metzler, and Nancy Grahn, to US theaters. In it, newly orphaned Josh and his brother Eli, of Gatlin, Nebraska are adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Porter after their father is murdered. Soon, they enter school and everyone finds out that they are the strange type. It turns out that Eli is actually a disciple sent by He Who Walks Behind the Rows, the demonic God of the Children of the Corn, and soon begins recruiting the local kids and teenagers to do their God’s bidding. IMDB listing
Toad Computer of Severna Park, Maryland announces plans to mirror the Atari software archive maintained by the University of Michigan. The library consists of over 700MB of compressed public domain software for the Atari 8-bit, ST, STe, TT030 and Falcon computers.
1996
David Bajer, Barbara Castillo, and John Skruch relocate to the corporate offices of JTS. The three, which are instructed to “work together” from distant parts of the building from each other, are the last remaining remnants of the Atari Corporation. Their relocation marks the end of any measurable autonomy. Meanwhile, Tom Mitchell, President of JTS, lays off ten percent of his company’s employees and hints at more to come. In an internal company-wide memo, Mitchell blames the merger with Atari as the cause of the layoffs.
The urban fantasy television mini-series Neverwhere, directed by Dewi Humphreys, created by Neil Gaiman and
Lenny Henry and starring Gary Bakewell, Laura Fraser, Hywel Bennett, Clive Russell, and Paterson Joseph, premieres on BBC Two. It is the first of six half-hour episodes. Neil Gaiman will later adapt the series into a novel of the same name. In the series, Richard Mayhew, an average Londoner, encounters an injured girl named Door on the street one night. Despite his girlfriend’s protests he decides to help her, but that unfortunately also means that he suddenly ceases to exist for regular people and becomes real only to the denizens of ‘London Below’, whose inhabitants are generally also invisible to the people of ‘London Above’. He loses his house, his job and nearly his mind as he travels London Below in an attempt to make sense out of it all and help Door survive. Visit Neil Gaiman’s official website. IMDB listing
1998
Nintendo releases Pokémon Yellow as Pocket Monsters Pikachu for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color in Japan. The game is essentially a remake of the previous two versions, Pokémon Red and Blue, featuring changes that make the game more similar to the animated series. Visit the game’s official website.
The website of Docklands is hacked by “BuG^ & Safety^”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
2001
Acclaim Entertainment releases the racing game XG3: Extreme G Racing for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2.
2002
Acclaim releases the puzzle game ZooCube for the Game Boy Advance in Japan.
The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, an interactive documentary examining the making of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty stealth action game released for the PlayStation 2, is released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan. The disc includes the polygonal models used for characters, demonstrations of the mechanics used in the game, the game’s soundtrack, and real time cut-scenes from the game. Other features include special behind-the-scenes footage, all of the game’s pre-release trailers, the completed script, Hideo Kojima’s original game plan, the chronicle of MGS2, and a gallery of Metal Gear Solid related products and merchandise.
Kemco releases the puzzle game Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in the US. ESRB: E (Everyone)
2003
LucasArts releases the roleplaying game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for the Xbox in Europe. The game’s system is based on Wizards of the Coast’s Star Wars Roleplaying Game, which is based on the d20 role-playing game system derived from the Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. Combat is round-based; time is divided into discrete rounds, and combatants attack and react simultaneously. However, the number of actions a combatant may perform each round is limited. While each round’s duration is a fixed short interval of real time, the player can configure the combat system to pause at specific events or at the end of each round. Visit the game’s official website. PEGI: 12+
Strategy First releases the turn-based strategy game Galactic Civilizations for Windows in the UK. Visit the game’s official website. PEGI: 7+
2005
eBay announces that it will acquire the voice over IP (VOIP) provider Skype for US$2.6 billion in cash and stock and another US$1.5 billion contingent on the company’s future performance. The company hopes to integrate the company’s telephony with its auction services and its Paypal banking service to expand from consumer services to business markets. Visit the official Skype website.
Sun Microsystems unveils a new range of Opteron based Unix servers: the Sun Fire X2100, X4100 and X4200 servers. They were designed from scratch by the team led by Andreas von Bechtolsheim to address heat and power consumption issues commonly faced in data centers.
THQ releases the platform game Scooby-Doo! Unmasked for the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in North America. In the game, the player uses Scooby-Doo to take down enemies and collect clues for Velma. Scooby-Doo and the gang are visiting Fred’s cousin Jed at his factory Monstrous Fright and Magic. Once they get there, Jed is missing, and his animatronics have gone haywire. Winslow Stanton tells them Jed is a thief and has stolen his mubber and animatronics. Scooby and the gang explore different areas in search of Jed. ESRB: E (Everyone)
2006
At a press event in held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California, Apple Computer announces the release of the second generation iPod shuffle, calling it “the most wearable iPod ever.” First shipments of the device are slated for an October 2006 arrival, but it won’t actually start shipping until Friday, November 3, 2006. The company also announces the iTV digital receiver. The device allows users to play media downloaded on a computer on televisions. iTunes 7 is also released, featuring the ability to download movies and improved video resolutions of 640×480 (VGA). Read more at CNet.
Atlus releases the survival horror game Rule of Rose for the PlayStation 2 in North America. Set in England in the thirties, the game revolves around a nineteen year old girl named Jennifer, who is trapped in a world ruled by young girls who have established a class hierarchy called the Red Crayon Aristocrats. Sony chose not to release the game in the US due to the erotic overtones of the storyline, which revolved around a group of young girls. However, the game’s developer, Punchline, insisted that the game’s eroticism was only a small part of the game and Atlus decided to release the game in place of Sony. ESRB: M (Mature)
Konami releases Bomberman for the PlayStation Portable in North America. Visit the game’s official website.
Konami releases the action adventure game Rengoku 2 for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). ESRB: T (Teen)
LucasArts releases Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy for the personal computers, the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, and Xbox 360 in the US. It is a video game based on the Star Wars themed Lego toy line and the sequel to the video game Lego Star Wars: The Video Game. The game will sell more than 1.1 million copies worldwide in the week following its release. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E10+ (Everyone)
Majesco Entertainment releases Cooking Mama for the Nintendo DS in the US. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Majesco Entertainment releases the action game MechAssault: Phantom War for the Nintendo DS. ESRB: T (Teen)
Namco release the third person shooter Bounty Hounds for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America. ESRB: T (Teen)
Sierra Entertainment releases the real-time tactics game Joint Task Force for Windows. In it, players command military forces in combat situations based on modern day conflicts. The game includes officially licensed vehicles and weapons systems from major defense contractors including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Sikorsky. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
Version 1.0 of Linkat, an RPM-based Linux distribution developed for the Ministry of Education of Generalitat de Catalunya. It is based on openSUSE 9.1 and uses GNOME as default desktop environment. Visit the system’s official website.
Version 11 of Corel Paint Shop Pro (PSP), bitmap and vector graphics editor, is released for Windows. Visit the application’s official website.
Wizards of the Coast publish Dragon Magic by Owen K.C. Stephens and Rodney Thompson as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0786939362) The manual is a part of version 3.5 of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Visit the game’s official website. Length: 160 pages
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