1886
The first US patent for a typewriter ribbon is issued to George Kerr Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee. (US No. 349,026) The ribbons each contain a portion near the end of the ribbon that is colored differently from the rest to notify the operator that the direction of the ribbon feed needs to be reversed. Although the innovation results in type of a different color, it’s text isn’t lost. Previous uniformly colored ribbons would result in rapidly fading type as a consequence of the ribbon coming to the end of its reel and being left in its place.
1920
Paul Specht & His Orchestra become the first dance band to be broadcast over the radio in the US, on station WWJ in Detroit, Michigan.
1927
Gene Austin records My Blue Heaven for Victor Records. It will be the first “modern song” to become a major hit, selling an estimated five million copies.
1958
The first German post-war rockets, designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, reach the upper atmosphere.
1959
Bank of America adopts the Electronic Recording Method of Accounting (ERMA) system featuring checks pre-printed account numbers printed in a computer-readable font in magnetic ink. The Stanford Research Institute of Menlo Park, California developed the system.
The Soviet space probe Luna 2 impacts the Moon, east of the Sea of Serenity, thirty-six hours after its launch, becoming the first man-made object to reach a celestial body.
1964
The sci-fi series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, created by Irwin Allen and starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison, premieres on ABC. It is based on the 1961 film of the same name, and the series will go on to be the decade’s longest-running American science fiction series with a static cast of characters. TV.com entry
1973
Judge Sherman Christensen hands down his verdict in an antitrust trial between International Business Machines (IBM) and Telex, which began with a suit filed in January of 1972 by Telex accusing IBM of monopolizing the “plug compatible” equipment market (tape drives, disk drives, and add-on memories). In the 222 page verdict, Christensen found both Telex and IBM are guilty for the allegations waged against each other. Telex is awarded the trebled damage sum of more than US$350 million and IBM will be restrained in its ability to market its computer and software bundles. IBM is awarded a series of fines against Telex which come to about US$22 million. The decision spawns a tidal wave of similar suits against IBM from companies such as CalComp (300 million), Memorex (3 billion) and Marshall Industries (108 million).
1974
Charles Kowal discovers Leda, the thirteenth satellite of the planet Jupiter.
1984
Release 47 of the Infocom interactive fiction game The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for personal computers. It was designed by series creator Douglas Adams and Infocom’s Steve Meretzky. It is Infocom’s fourteenth game. The game loosely mirrors a portion of the series’ plot, beginning with the impending destruction of Arthur Dent’s house and subsequent demolition of the Earth by Vogons and ends when the player finally reaches Magrathea.
1987
It’s disclosed publicly that young German computer hackers calling themselves the “Data Travellers” have managed to break into NASA network computers and other world-wide top secret computer installations.
1989
“Fry Guy”, a 16-year-old in Elmwood, Indiana hacker is sentenced to forty-four months probation and four hundred hours community service.
1995
A live martial arts stage show titled Mortal Kombat: The Live Tour premieres at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) announce that domain registration will no longer be free of charge, effective immediately. According to the plan, new registrants will pay a US$100 fee for a two-year registration, and thereafter, will pay US$50 per year. Prior registered organizations will be charged a US$50 annual fee on the anniversary of their initial registration. Educational domains are still paid for by the NSF.
Nintendo releases Galactic Pinball for the Virtual Boy in the US.
Nintendo releases Mario’s Tennis for the Virtual Boy in the US.
Nintendo releases the puzzle game Mario’s Super Picross for the Super Famicom in Japan.
Nintendo releases Red Alarm for the Virtual Boy in the US.
UbiSoft releases the platform game Rayman for the Atari Jaguar. Visit the game’s official website.
1996
The website of Netch is hacked by the Swedish hacking group “Power Through Resistance” (PTR), also known as the Swedish Hackers Association. View an archived version of the defaced website.
1997
The Star Trek: Voyager episode “Nemesis” first airs. (No. 404) In it, Chakotay is trapped on a planet where two species are fighting a genocidal war against each other. Memory Alpha entry
1998
At the end of the day’s stock market trading, Microsoft stands as America’s most valuable company, at US$261.1 billion. Microsoft and General Electric are both valued at over US$300 billion in July, but Microsoft survived a stock market plunge better, putting it on top.
Bargain-hunters browsing stalls in the southern Italian city of Naples for cheap pirate media find a surprise. A ripped-off version of the software for Sony’s bestselling Playstation video game are labeled the apology, “Sorry Sony but we’re out of work,” on one side of the disc alongside an imitation Sony logo. Naples is Italy’s capital of counterfeiting. Media at a fraction of their proper price are hawked to drivers at traffic lights and throughout flea markets.
MCI Communications and WorldCom complete their merger, valued at US$37 billion, to form MCI WorldCom.
Motorola shows its Blackbird set-top box which features VM Lab’s Project X technology at the International Broadcasting Conference in Amsterdam. Motorola describes the Blackbird as “a cross between a broadband router, network computer and digital home theater.” It is comprised of three essential components including: a Motorola PowerPC processor, the Project X media chip, and an opertaing system. Offered in three forms, the systems are expected to be launched commercially within the first three months of 1999.
Nintendo releases the racing game F-1 World Grand Prix for the Nintendo 64 in Europe. ESRB: E (Everyone)
The website of Slashdot is hacked by the hacking group “H4G1S” (Hackers Against Geeks In Snowsuits). View an archived version of the defaced website.
Yahoo! launches Yahoo! Auctions.
1999
eBay, Inc. announces a decision to ban auctions of most alcohol and tobacco products from their auction service. The new policies will go into effect in thirty days.
Handspring, Inc. releases the Handspring Visor Deluxe handheld computer, featuring 16MHz Motorola Dragonball EZ processor, 8MB RAM, 2MB ROM, a Springboard expansion slot, the Palm OS 3.1, a 2.1×2.1 inch passive matrix 16-shade grayscale backlit display, an infrared port, a microphone, and a USB port. Price: US$250 Weight: 6 ounces
Nintendo releases Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64 in Europe. In the game, Mario, his friends, and his enemies play golf on a variety of Mario-themed courses. ELSPA: 3+
Seagate Technology, Inc., the world’s largest disk drive manufacturer, based in Scott’s Valley, California, announces plans to cut its global work force by up to ten percent in a plan to save US$150 million each year.
Silicon Graphics, Inc. announces that they have plans to lay off up to three thousand workers in a restructuring plan that will turn a profit in their second fiscal quarter. The layoffs represent about double the count initially projected in August.
2000
Microsoft introduces Version 8.0 of the MS-DOS operating system.
Microsoft releases the Windows Millenium Edition (ME) operating system for a limited-time promotional price of only US$59.95 for home users replacing Windows 98 and Window 98 Second Edition. The introductory price is valid through Monday, January 15, 2001. ME is designed for the home user. Unlike Microsoft’s Windows 2000 which offers advanced security, reliability, and networking features, Windows Me is basically just an upgrade to the DOS-based code on which previous Windows versions have been built. Within four days of its release, it will sell 250,000 copies.
Namco releases Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness for the PlayStation in the US. The game features 180 3D mazes in four settings. ESRB: E (Everyone)
2001
Eidos releases the survival horror game Resident Evil Code: Veronica as biohazard CODE:Veronica for the PlayStation 2 in Japan. Visit the game’s official website.
In Japan, Nintendo launches the GameCube video game system in Japan, featuring 405MHz “Gekko” processor based on the 256-bit IBM Power PC, 43MB RAM. 162MHz graphic processing unit, four controller ports, and two memory card slots in Japan. Visit the system’s official website. Code-name: Dolphin Price: ¥25,000
Nintendo releases Luigi’s Mansion for the GameCube in Japan. Visit the game’s official website.
Nintendo releases the racing game Mario Kart Super Circuit for the Game Boy Advance in Europe.
Nintendo releases the racing game Wave Race: Blue Storm for the GameCube in Japan. It is a sequel to the 1996 Nintendo 64 game Wave Race 64. Visit the game’s official website.
Sega releases the puzzle game Super Monkey Ball game for the Nintendo GameCube in Japan. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Version 4.00 of Job Access With Speech (JAWS), a screen reader program for the visually impaired, for Windows. It is produced by the Blind and Low Vision Group at Freedom Scientific of St. Petersburg, Florida. This version make several improvements to the interface and adds an optional tutorial. Its purpose is to make personal computers with Windows installed accessible to blind and visually impaired users. It accomplishes this by providing the user with access to the information displayed on the screen via text-to-speech or by means of a braille display and allows for more comprehensive keyboard interaction with the computer. Visit Freedom Scientific’s official website.
2002
The animated series Stargate Infinity premieres on the FOX network. The series tells the story of a team of young recruits led by a veteran member of Stargate Command that are framed for a crime they did not commit. The team must travel from world to world trying to find a way to clear their name, while protecting a strange alien being discovered in the first episode, which is believed to hold the secret to mysteries surrounding the Stargates and the Ancient race that built them. The show will be canceled after only one season due to its poor reception and ratings.
2004
Activision and Sega release the platform game Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut for personal computers in the US. This game is an enhanced port of the original Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure. ESRB: E (Everyone)
Baen Books publishes the fantasy novel Paladins by Joel Rosenberg as a hardcover. (ISBN-10: 0743488512) It is the first book in the “Mordred’s Heirs” series, set in on an alternate Earth on which Mordred defeated King Arthur. Length: 464 pages
Brady Games publishes Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life by Chris Kohler as a paperback. (ISBN-13: 978-0744004243) The book examines the involvement of Japanese developers in the evolution of the video game industry. Length: 312 pages
EA Games releases The Sims 2 for personal computers in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: T (Teen)
FreeCast, a free software application for peer-to-peer streaming, under a GNU General Public License. The application makes it possible to broadcast an audio or video stream to a large number of listeners over a simple DSL connection. Visit the application’s official website.
Microsoft Game Studios releases the roleplaying game Fable for the Xbox in the US. The game is very well received by critics for the quality of its gameplay, but it receives withering criticism from consumers, who rage over the failure of the game to include all of the features promised by creator Peter Molyneux. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: M (Mature) OLFC M15+
Sony Online Entertainment releases EverQuest: Omens of War, an expansion for the MMORPG EverQuest, for personal computers. It is the eighth expansion for the game. It adds five more levels, allowing characters to advance to level 70, new epic weapons, a ninth spell slot, a new tribute system, and a voice macro system, which allows player to make comments to each other.
Ubisoft releases the side scrolling fighting game Advance Guardian Heroes for the Game Boy Advance in North America. ESRB: E (Everyone)
2005
Activision releases the card game World Series of Poker for the personal computer in the US. ESRB: E10+ (Everyone)
The alpha version of MySQL Workbench, a visual database design tool that integrates database design, modeling, creation and maintenance into a single, seamless environment for the MySQL database system, is released. Visit the application’s official website.
Microsoft announces that the price for the upcoming Xbox 360 in Japan will be JP¥37,900 (US$345). The system will be released in North America on November 22, in Europe on December 2, and in Japan on December 10.
A seventeen year old Massachusetts teenager pleads guilty to nine counts of juvenile delinquency and is sentenced to eleven months detention at a juvenile facility for a string of crimes that include the online posting of revealing photos and celebrity contact numbers from Paris Hilton’s phone on the T-Mobile network. As an adult, he will then undergo two years of supervised release in which he will be barred from possessing or using any computer, cell phone or other electronic equipment capable of accessing the Internet. While his name is withheld from the press, it is known that he is the youngest member of the same hacking group that federal investigators allege was responsible for a series of electronic break-ins at data giant LexisNexis. The teen also pleaded guilty to making bomb threats at two high schools and for breaking into a telephone company’s computer system to set up free wireless-phone accounts for friends.
Square Enix releases the animated film Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, directed by Morio Asaka and starring the voice talents of Kenichi Suzumura, in Japan. IMDB listing
2006
Creative Technology releases the ZEN Vision W portable media player, featuring a 30 or 60GB capacity, a USB 2.0 interface, and a removable and rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Visit the player’s official website.
Humongous, Inc. releases Backyard Baseball 2007 for the Game Boy Advance, personal computers, and the PlayStation 2. ESRB: E (Everyone)
The Hungarian Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) Project announces the discovery of the extrasolar planet HAT-P-1b orbiting the Sunlike star ADS 16402 B through the use of telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii. Visit the HATnet official website.
Majesco releases Advent Rising for personal computers via the Steam online content delivery system. The game is based on Epic Games’ Unreal engine. Visit the game’s official website. Visit the game’s Steam website. Price: US$19.95 ESRB: T (Teen) PEGI: 12+
Namco releases the fighting game Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection for the PlayStation Portable in Australia. OFLC: M
The Namco Bandai Group releases Ridge Racer 2 for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Japan. Visit the game’s official website. CERO: A (All Ages)
Nintendo announces information concerning the release of the Wii game consoles in Asia, Australasia (Oceania), Europe, Japan, North and South America, including dates, prices, and projected unit distribution numbers. The announcement reveals that the majority of the consoles shipped in 2006 will be allotted to the Americas. Visit the console’s official website.
Nintendo announces a release date of November 19 for the Wii video game system in the US. Price: US$249.99
Nintendo releases The Nintendo DS Headset, featuring an earphone and a microphone, for the Nintendo DS in Japan. It plugs into the headset port on the bottom of the system, and it and is compatible with all games that use the internal microphone.
Nintendo reveals that the price of Virtual Console games in Japan will begin at JP¥500 for NES titles, JP¥800 for Super NES titles, and JP¥1,000 for Nintendo 64 titles, with points purchasable via credit card or a “Wii Points” card. In the United States, Wii Points are priced at one cent per point in denominations of US$10, US$20, US$30 and US$50, with game prices of US$5, US$8, and US$10, respectively.
THQ releases Barnyard for personal computers, the Game Boy Advance, and the Playstation 2 in Australia.
2007
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launches the lunar orbiter SELENE on a mission to study the origin of the Moon and its geological evolution. SELENE is an acronym for Selenological and Engineering Explorer and is also a reference to Selene, the Greek godess of the Moon. Visit the official JAXA website for SELENE.
Google announces the Lunar X Prize, a competition which will award US$20 million to the first corporation to successfully land and operate a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon. The competition also offers a US$5 million second prize and several US$5 million bonuses for achieving certain technological milestones, such as discovering ice on the lunar surface, photographing man made objects residing on the lunar surface, traveling more than five thousand meters across the lunar surface, or remaining functional through a lunar night. The X Prize deadline is December 31, 2012, after which the first prize will be reduced to US$15 million through the final deadline of December 31, 2014.
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